Little lessons learned in 2010

2010 was the year of distractions. That much was evident from the response to my Christmas letter this year: "I can't believe everything you did despite things..."

2010 was the year of setbacks. Camping trips were put off after my husband's shoulder and knee injuries. Great plans put off due to financial hiccups. Little plans set aside due to the ups and downs of parenting.


So 2010 was not a year of great revelations. It was instead a year of little lessons learned, most at the hands of my children.


We watched as Hermie, and more Hermies, and still more Hermies (apparently caterpillars love my carrot leaves), found new life as a butterflies.

We went on hiking trips, played in ponds and destroyed mom's garden more than once.

We learned that generosity doesn't take a certain dollar figure, and sometimes love takes the form of cards to hospitalized kids or outgrown shoes sent abroad.


I learned that despite my summer gardening failures, there's always another season, and basked in a bowlful of fall carrots after my first real attempt at fall gardening.


What happens in the coming year I have no idea. I'm already viewing my year in pieces: the part before our big project that peaks in March, and the life after.

Maybe next year I should just stick with what my children told me: Just eat more dessert.

Note to self for next Christmas

Reminder to self for next Christmas:

If Kid 1 brings home "Reindeer food," make sure you have all applicable ingredients before you promise to make some for Kid 2.

Smoked paprika is not an acceptable substitute for red and green sprinkles. Even if you tell the child some reindeer like theirs spicy, when said reindeer go to "eat" it, the end result looks like a big blood stain in the snow...

Chestnuts roasting and other Christmas classics

The children are nestled snug in their beds, and it's nearly 7 a.m. That in itself is my Christmas Eve miracle.

We're looking forward to four days as a family, a rare treat.

I know a lot of people seemed surprised when we'd tell them we were spending the days just the four of us, but we have never had a quiet Christmas just as a little family. Not in 14 years of marriage. Not even the year I came home after a c-section on Christmas Eve. (Though I didn't mind sharing my son, that Christmas was exhausting.) And while I'm happy to host or travel to see the grandparents, as my husband's aunt put it, "little ones should be in their own homes for the holidays and in their own beds to wait for Santa. That's where the best memories are made for them!"

This year, we want to make some memories for them. And yes, we've done Christmas activities at school, at church and with others, but now it's time for us. We've watched classics like The Christmas Carol (not the best thing for a 5 year old with an active imagination before bedtime, in retrospect). Baked cookies. Meeting the rush of shoppers at the store before this afternoon's winter snow. Slipping back into our old pasttime of noshing our way through Christmas Eve day, rather than sitting through a meal. Avoiding the hurriedness and excitement of traveling and sitting through Christmas Eve service in favor of a much more settled-down version tomorrow morning.

I've got chestnuts, found at an apple orchard, which we'll try roasting for a recipe. (One less thing to explain - "What are chestnuts?") I've got a gingerbread train, given to my son for his birthday, that we may assemble once the excitement settles down. I've got carrots for our snowmen we'll likely make (when the kids aren't hurling snowballs at mom).

But mostly, I've got time.

In the end, I don't care what we fix for Christmas dinner, what's opened from under our tree or what we end up doing. The important part is we reconnect as a family. And that, as my 5 year old continues to tell me, is what Christmas is about. Family.

Merry Christmas!

Grandma Johnson’s XMAS Cookies

Grandma Johnson’s XMAS Cookies
2 cups sugar
2 cups shortening
4 eggs
2/3 cups milk
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons baking Soda
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 teaspoons salt
6 cups flour or a little more


Mix altogether. Roll out on a floured board. Cut with cookie cutter and bake in 375 degree oven until light brown. Frost when cool, or sprinkle with sugar before baking.

Apple streudel: From Grandma's Kitchen

I intended to only do 20 days' worth of recipes, but this one is a must-have. In honor of my brother, Grandma's apple streudel recipe:





Grandma Johnson's Apple Streudel

Dough:

4 cups flour

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1/2 cup lard or shortening (we use butter or margarine)

2 beaten eggs

1 cup warm water



Filling:

2 quarts peeled and sliced apples(or more)

2 cups sugar

2 handfuls of Corn Flakes

1/2 cup raisins

Cinnamon



Mix flour, salt and shortening. Add the eggs and enough warm water to make a soft dough. Knead on floured board until smooth and elastic (the longer you knead the better it pulls later). Cover with a bowl and let rest about 2 hours.Cover table with a large cloth. Sprinkle cloth all over with flour. Roll dough long and narrow to get it started. Then put hand under the dough and keep stretching dough gently until it is very thin, trying not to tear it.When dough is stretched very thin, scatter the sliced, cut up apples all over the dough. Sprinkle with the sugar, cinnamon, raisins and the crushed Corn Flake crumbs (or you may use 1 cup fried bread crumbs).Roll up into a long roll. You may do this by raising one side of the cloth and the strudle will roll up by itself. Cut the roll in half. Place streudel rolled with open side up, on two greased cookie sheets with four sides. Pinch ends shut. Grease top with melted butter or margarine.Put in 400 degrees oven for 15 min. Then reduce heat to 350 degrees and bake about 45 min. more until brown. Remove from oven. Cut into 3-inch pieces. Remove from pan while hot using a pancake turner. Is best when warm.Note: The dough pulls easier in a warm room rather than in a cold one.