Holiday Triflings

In the midst of the Moving, it's been sort of hard to keep up on the fact that Christmas is fast approaching. My usual Christmas Cookie Baking has gone on hiatus this year due to all that, though one never knows what I might be inspired to do on Christmas eve.

Meanwhile, as we retrieved more car and truckloads of stuff from the old house, it was also in our minds that our Holiday Staff Party was this evening, and so there were Secret Santa gifts to purchase, and the business of participating in the night's potluck buffet...which gave me a chance to pull out one of my favoritest classic Christmas treats: the holiday trifle.

Before even compiling ingredients, the trifle bowl is key. Of course, you can use any old bowl, but nothing shows off the layering like a real trifle bowl. I was blessed years ago with co-workers who knew of my trifle fixation, and they gifted me with such a bowl as a birthday gift.

I'm always happy to trot it out when the occasion arises...and, as it turned out, it was one of the first dishes to be unpacked from the move.



Now, for the ingredients, at least as I chose them this time out.

The nice thing about trifle is you can alter the contents and make something different each time.

If you've found the bowl and want to try your hand, you'll need:


1 pound cake (sliced)
2 packages, instant Vanilla pudding
2 large cans, sliced pears, drained
1 large jar, raspberry jam
2 cans, Reddi Whip whipped cream, extra creamy (it holds up better in this format)
1 small bottle, Harvey's Bristol Cream


Now, at our house, compiling ingredients is all the time it takes to attract some attention about what's going on the kitchen, and Em appeared in her pretty Christmas scarf (recently discovered in the Move)to see what was going on, and if there was any anything for her. Fortunately, I'd bought more pound cake than I needed.

Before you start, you'll want to make the pudding and drain the fruit. And it helps to put the booze in a measuring cup, so you can control the flow a little better than straight out of the bottle.


So, when you are ready to begin(and the dog's been satisfied), you line the bottom of the bowl with cake slices, cutting them to fill in the holes and gaps. Then, lightly pour the booze of choice (Amaretto also works very nicely...) to soak the cake.

With a wooden spoon, spread a layer of jam across the soaking cake. Pour in a layer of pudding. Arrange pear slices in the pudding and then top with whipped cream. Then you start with the cake again and begin building the layers up, until you've reached the top of the bowl. I got three layers into this particular bowl.

Here's the finished product:

Since I was making this an hour or so before we were due at the party, I brought the remaining can of whipped cream along, so I could top things off festively once we'd arrived there, to account for the settling which occurs.

I'm pleased to report it was quite yummy, and very popular on the dessert table. And there was just enough leftover to bring home for a couple nights worth of post-dinner treat!

And the party?!







It was terrific!

Friday

Last night I dead-headed many of the early bulbs, primarily daffodils and hyacinths... even the grape hyacinths' moment in the sun is drawing to a close. But there's so much more to anticipate.

In fact, this time of year, there seems to be something new in bloom every day...like these white blossoms that suddenly appeared on a few trees in the woods yesterday.

And as you can see, the vinca's been putting on a show for a while now, in assorted locations around the property. This is just the first time I've managed to capture a good picture of it.


In the back garden, my little golden allyssum plant from the Farmer's Market is coming into bloom, too.

So there's no reason to be sad, since the show's just getting started...and there'll be so much to see this year.

I've been meaning to stop into the doctor's office in Orleans shown here for a years now, with a mind toward inquiring as to the identity of this red-blooming upright shrubs. They are quite handsome, but a complete mystery to this gardener.

Meanwhile, in one of our shady beds along the kitchen walkway, violets previously transplanted have filled in the border blooms quite nicely.

Following an afternoon drink, these red primroses are downright sexy in the late day sun.

And another different species of miniature daffodil has surprised me with its blossoms. I love the way they hang off the stems like little ballerinas. If they bloomed just a little later (and it won't be long, actually), they'd be a perfect partner with our columbines.


Here's another of this gardener's favorite things about the coming season!!

After Dark

Owen took us out for a ride in his new truck (a Ford Ranger) tonight to look at some of the holiday lights. Our neighbors down the road have added more lights and inflatables to their display. We are especially fond of the penguins and the inflatable Scooby Doo!

Tonight we welcomed Tann (short for Tannenbaum, couldn't you guess?), our Christmas tree for 2006. His trunk is a little crooked...but with lights already quite beautiful!!

And once Tann had been stabilized in his stand, and dressed with some lights, it was time to hit the baking pans one last time for a double batch of bright and tasty snickerdoodles...why is it this simple recipe is the one that gives me so much trouble each year?

Also today, DC Comics released their 2006 Christmas card on their website, and I couldn't resist sharing it here!! Now if only I could find a copy of their Infinite Christmas Special in a store somewhere...

Baking Day

After a morning of gift wrapping, the baking commenced full force with a double batch of Chocolate No Bake Cookies.



Once those were cooled and put away, the business of cut-out cookies got underway, turning the kitchen table into a bakery display rack.


This sort of activity brings out all sorts of interest, particularly among those trying to make a show for Santa of what a Good Girl they are.


The piping bag and my icing didn't work out as I'd hoped, but I'm still pleased with the results. Such a festive looking bunch...

...and by the time all the dishes are done, maybe the frosting will having set up enough to be packed away.

Thanksgiving Day

Today, I am thankful for many things.
I give thanks that I have so many people in my life who love me: my husband, my family, my pets...so many friends. (And I give thanks for the people who don't think I'm so great, too: they keep me real, and give me things to improve.)

I'm grateful for my sense of humor, which helps me accept the things in life which seem sad or unfair: it helps me to almost always have a smile when I need one...or when someone else does.

I'm thankful there are so many people who can help us to see the funny things in life, when we're not able to see them for ourselves.

I give thanks that I have things to believe in, like Love, or Santa Claus, or gardens that grow.

I am thankful to be healthy, to have a home and a good job.

I'm glad for the natural world...for the animals, the trees, flowers, rocks...and beautiful sunsets.

I'm thankful to live in a country that allows us to be free. A place where each of us can be the person we truly are and accept one another for that. And I'm grateful there are people are who are willing to step up and defend that right to live free...and offer their lives if need be.

I am thankful for music and art and stories and dancing.

I'm grateful for the sound of silence, too...and the inky blackness of space. Without them, how could we appreciate the sound of a babbling brook, or a coyote's howl...or the glitter of stars in the midnight sky?

When I think about it, there is more to give thanks for than you could possible count in just one day of the year, so maybe I'll try to remember to count these things every day.

Oh, yes...I also give thanks for pecan pie and carrot cake!

Our Christmas Wish

We wish you all an unending plate of holiday cheer to carry you far into 2006!!! Merry Christmas to all the world!