Fun and Games Blogfest!

Quote of the Day:  Would you rather go forward in time a million years, or backward in time a million years? question from the game Would You Rather?

Our wall of games!

I'm participating in Alex's Fun and Games Blogfest!  I couldn't resist.  I've loved playing board games since I was a youngster growing up on the farm.  Back in the olden days (70's & 80's), we didn't have nearly as much tv to watch, and during the occassional power outage, we had to do something!  When our Iowa cousins came up to visit, we'd have Monopoly playing marathons.  I also liked card games like Old Maid, Crazy Eights, Kings in the Corner, and Clue.

The boys and I still like Clue.  The original with Professor Plum, Colonel Mustard, and Miss Scarlet is still my favorite.  You can get it in several versions nowadays, like Harry Potter, and Discover the Secrets.

My very favorite large group game is Guesstures which is charades with four point cards and a timer that comes down like a "Scene One" arm, clicking in place and setting the clock ticking.  One of the boys got it for Christmas, and we played it that night.  It's exciting and filled with acting and running around and cheering, by me.  My son Zach even said, "You're fun!"  Yippy! and Merry Christmas to me!!

My "go-to" game at the moment is Would You Rather.  Everyone is playing all the time.  The question asker writes her answer to an either/or question, like the one above, and the other players have to answer as a group, after a bit of discussion, which is over after the sand runs through the tiny hourglass.  You really get to know your fellow players.  There are also challenges, which can get silly, and ones that stretch you out of your comfort zone, and times where you can write your own question.  I'll use one of mine for the journaling prompt.

I also love, love Cranium because it includes several different kinds of games, charades, sculpturades, sketching (sometimes with your eyes closed), trivia, and word puzzles.  It has everything and is great for couples' night.  I haven't played it in several years.

If I were to review the rules of this blogfest, I believe Alex asked us to write about our top three games.  I'm also one to change the rules just a bit to fit the players involved.  It's okay to change the rules as long as everyone knows them and is playing by the same set of rules.  It is NOT okay to change the rules so that you always beat your sister (Nancy)!

Journaling Prompt:  What are your favorite games?  Answer the above question, or this one:  Would you rather be trapped in an overcrowded airport during a snowstorm, or trapped alone in your car?



Spring

Life is Good

Quote of the Day:  "...a talent is something given, that opens like a flower, but without exceptional energy, discipline, and persistence will never bear fruit."  - Mary Sarton, Belgian-born American writer

From my Mom's flower garden.

Her spring flowers were gorgeous this year.

When I discovered Orioles in my yard, I set out oranges and readied my camera, but it was the grape jelly that brought them to my porch railing.  Birds have amazing brightness of color.  I'm a bird watcher, but not a true "Birder."  I don't know all my varieties, I just like looking at them.  I heard an ad on the radio about a yard service that makes your yard bird friendly with the right plants, feeders, etc.  I'm tempted to have them come here.

The Oriole likes grape jelly!

School's out for summer, and I'm prepping myself to share my space.  With my own four sons and various friends and neighborhood boys running in and out, I find myself craving quiet time and creative space.  I need to claim it.  Make some dates with myself at coffee shops.  Shut the door and tell them to find their own food.  I can do it, but it takes more discipline.  It's good for them to see me taking time to do what I love, creating, writing, making music, nurturing my own friendships.

And, they're not little kids anymore (sigh).  They're getting more independent. My oldest son is a senior, now, and starting his first job - lifeguard at the Y.  Yay for him!  The three younger ones will go to scout camp for a whole week without me this August.  What adventures await them?

What adventures are waiting for me?

Don't lose yourself in caring for others.  Find what you love and nurture it, too.  Then, you won't feel so empty when the chicks start to leave the nest.

This was the fastest school year, yet.  How fast will next year fly with a senior in the house? Too fast. I can already hear the clock gears speeding up.

Tess Hilmo, a blog friend, is challenging us to write how "Life is Good."  She's also giving away prizes and promoting her first book, With a Name Like Love.  I was a winner last week, among my treats are See's candies and her book as soon as it's released, Sept. 27.  Thanks, Tess.  Go check out her book and great prizes, and tell her how "Life is Good" in your world.

Go. Create. Inspire!

Journaling Prompt:  When you claim time and space for yourself, where do you go and what do you do?



Today is National Donut Day!

Oh, the glorious donut!  Frosted, Glazed, Fried and Baked...any way you make them the donut is delicious.  I have seen them covered in sprinkles, coconut, and sugar, sprinkled with bacon, filled with anything you can think of and topped with any flavor icing you can imagine. In honor of the sweet breakfast treat I am re-posting one of my early recipes.  These donuts are best warm and remind me of when I was little and we made homemade donuts.

A few donut facts...

• The doughnut has existed since the beginning of time. So long that archaeologists continue to unearth fossilized bits of what look like doughnuts in the middens of prehistoric Native American settlements.
• The doughnut, as we know and love, supposedly came to Manhattan (then still New Amsterdam) under the Dutch name of olykoeks--"oily cakes."
• The first doughnut machine was invented in 1920, in New York City, by a man named Adolph Levitt, a refugee from czarist Russia. Levitt's doughnut machine was a huge hit causing doughnuts to spread like wildfire.
• During World War II, Red Cross women, known as Doughnut Dollies passed out hot doughnuts to the hard fighting soldiers.
• Today, in the United States alone, over 10 billion doughnuts are made every year.  

 

Doughnuts

Recipe Source: Better Homes & Gardens Cookbook (1979)

3 to 3 1/2 c all-purpose flour
2 pkg active dry yeast
3/4 c milk
1/3 c sugar
1/4 c shortening
1 tsp salt
2 eggs
Cooking oil or shortening for deep-fat frying
Glaze or sugar (optional)

In a large mixer bowl combine 1 1/2 cups of the flour and the yeast. In saucepan heat milk, 1/3 cup sugar, shortening, and salt till warm (115 F to 120 F) and shortening is almost melted, stirring constantly. Add to flour mixture in mixer bowl; add eggs. Beat at low speed for 1/2 minute, scraping sides of bowl constantly. Beat 3 minutes at high speed. Mix in as much of the remaining flour as you can to form a soft dough. At this point you can knead by hand or continue letting the mixer run and allow it to do the kneading for you. Knead until smooth and elastic (5-8 minutes). Shape into a ball. Place in a lightly greased bowl, turning once to grease surface.

Cover dough and let rise in a warm place until doubled. Punch dough down; turn out onto a lightly floured surface. Divide in half. Cover; let rest 10 minutes. Roll each half of dough to 1/2-inch thickness. Cut into doughnuts using a floured doughnut cutter with hole in center--or a glass like I did and then cut circles out of the middle with a small round cookie cutter. Cover and let rise in a warm place till very light and fluffy (35-40 minutes). Fry a few doughnuts at a time in deep hot fat (375 F) till golden, about 1 minutes on each side. Drain on paper toweling. If desired, dip warm doughnuts in glaze or shake in a bag of powdered or granulated sugar. Makes 15-18 doughnuts.

Glaze: Combine 2 c powdered sugar, 1/4 c milk and 1 tsp vanilla

Chocolate Doughnuts: Prepare doughnuts as above except heat two 1-ounce squares of semisweet chocolate with the mil, 1/3 c sugar, shortening, and salt. Cover and let dough rise 1 to 1 1/2 hours the first time. Cut with cutter. Let rise. Fry in deep hot fat (365 F) about 1 minute on each side. Dip warm doughnuts in Chocolate Glaze, then in 1/2 c finely chopped nuts, or shake in sugar.
Chocolate Glaze: In a saucepan, melt 2 oz chocolate and 2 T butter or margarine over low heat. Add 2 cups sifted powdered sugar and 1 tsp vanilla. Stir in 1/4 c boiling water until smooth

Saving Lives

Quote of the Day:  I truly believe that when people face death, when they face the loss of all the trivia of modern day society and are face to face with the "bare essentials" of what is human, that they are the happiest, with less to gripe over and less to worry about.  I think people are people only when they suffer! Chaplain Ray Stubbe in a letter home from Vietnam, 25 November 1967. From the book Grace Under Fire - Letters of Faith in Times of War

We arrived a bit late for the Memorial Day service.  They were saying the prayers as we walked closer.  I regretted missing the message from the speaker, hearing the band, and yet, I was glad I'd taken the time to pick up my boys and bring them here.  We heard the 21 gun salute.  We saw the soldiers pause and reflect.  We were reminded of the extreme sacrifice of many so that we could enjoy living in freedom.

The boys noticed new things this year - all the flags for the soldiers, the larger headstones for families who lived and died here, and how large the cemetery is.  I explained that not everyone buried here is a soldier.  It's a community cemetery that goes back about 100 years.

I felt grateful to be walking around above ground, to have my boys at my side, and to watch them play.  We stopped at a playground where I soaked in the sun and the joy of the day, took pictures, and wondered how long they'd still like playing at playgrounds.

How long will they feel the carefree life of being a kid?

And, I felt grateful that my home has not experienced disaster, especially after reading Doris' blog, "Hold my Hand" a social worker's blog, which has a moving story of how the medical community responded to the disaster in Joplin, MO.  Dr. Kevin Kikta wrote about the chaos and the care during the first hours of the devastation.  He writes, "Tragedy has a way of revealing human goodness."

Go. Create. Inspire!

Journaling Prompt:  What are you feeling grateful for today?

Chocolate Cocoa Nib Cookies . . . (Cocoa Nibs: A Startling and Delightful Flavor Conundrum!)

Maybe this is too personal, but I just have to ask . . . Are you into cocoa (aka cacao) nibs? Because I am. And I love 'em. What are they, exactly? They're fragments of shelled, winnowed, roasted cacao (pronounced kuh-KOW) beans, the precious beans that bring us chocolate. Okay, big deal, you say. So what makes them remarkable? Well, I'll tell you. Each tiny nib is its own special-delivery parcel of profound flavor. Bite down, and it's like a little grenade going off in your mouth--intensely bright and dark at the same time. Ka-boom!

The effect a modest sprinkling of nibs can have on an otherwise mundane recipe is startling. Stir a handful into cookie dough. Sprinkle them judiciously over waves of whipped-cream on a mocha cream pie. Swirl them into homemade ice cream before you put it into the freezer to ripen. Add them into that buttery almond brittle recipe you're so famous for. Do you see where I'm going with this? Limitless possibilities, fellow bakers!

They taste kind of like coffee, but not as bitter, with a complex and curious finish that evokes tropical fruit. Sometimes I can even picture a banana in there! No kidding. And, of course, they also taste like dark chocolate, but not overtly so. You'd think they'd be chocolate-chocolate-chocolate all the way through, but that's not always the case. They're a mysterious and delightful conundrum.

And as for texture? Nibs, while hard and crunchy, are apt to shatter between your teeth more readily than something like a roasted coffee bean or a toasted almond. If you're unfamiliar with them and a little gun shy, try this: Put a few nibs on your tongue--not too many--close your eyes, and concentrate. Pay attention when you bite into them. If the grenade analogy is too scary for you, think of it as a flavor-parade marching through your mouth. You can't ignore a parade, can you? Definitely not. Cocoa nibs are like that. Once they're in food, they won't be ignored.

Though they're scarce in regular markets, you can often find them in health/gourmet food stores, where they're sometimes sold in bulk and are not necessarily too pricey. Maybe you, too, should add them to your baking arsenal?

About this recipe . . . 

Adapted from the luscious new cookbook, Milk & Cookies, by pastry chef Tina Casaceli of New York city's Milk & Cookies Bakery, these treats are easy to toss together and will more than satisfy your cocoa craving. I customized the book's "base chocolate dough" recipe by adding in a half cup of nibs, along with dark chocolate chips and semisweet chunks. I also  increased the amount of salt, and used coarse kosher; the very subtle saltiness is a critical component of this cookie's character. And, as usual, I fiddled with the recipe's directions, reflecting exactly what I did.

I'd initially hoped for cookies that would be thicker and not quite so spread out, but their thin, chewy/crispy quality was actually rather appealing. (But the next time I make them, I think I might add in a few more tablespoons of flour and see if that helps reduce the spreading.) Even after a couple of days, the baked cookies didn't harden completely but remained chewy-crispy. Tuck one of these babies into a petite scoop of vanilla ice cream, and it makes a mighty satisfying dessert.

Chocolate Cocoa-Nib Cookies . . . with Chocolate Chips

(For a printable version of this recipe, click here!)

Preheat oven to 350. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.

2 and 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup Dutch processed cocoa powder (I used Penzey's brand. Really good.)
1 tsp. baking soda
3/4 tsp. salt (I used coarse kosher salt.)
1/2 cup cocoa nibs
1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
2 large eggs, room temperature
1 Tbsp. vanilla extract
1 and 1/2 cups dark chocolate chips (I used Ghirardelli brand.)
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips (Actually, I used Nestle semisweet chunks; they're about twice the size of regular chips.)


In a medium size bowl, gently whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, cocoa powder, and cocoa nibs. Set aside.

In the large bowl of your mixer, using the paddle attachment, beat the butter for about three minutes or just until light and creamy. Still on medium speed, gradually pour in the white and brown sugars; keep beating until the mixture again looks light and creamy.

In a small bowl, break up the egg yolks, and lightly mix the eggs together with the vanilla. Pour this into the mixer bowl in two parts, beating to incorporate the liquid. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl after each addition.

On low speed, slowly add in the flour mixture, and beat just to combine. Take the bowl off the mixer and briefly stir by hand, using a spatula or wooden spoon. Add in all of the chocolate chips, just to evenly combine.

Chill the dough for at least an hour if it's extremely soft.

Use a small scoop or tablespoon to portion the dough onto the parchment, and leave plenty of room between each cookie (a couple of inches) since they spread quite a bit. Bake the cookies for about 12 minutes. They are done when they seem slightly browned/dry around the edges but still slightly soft in the middle. Let them cool for a few minutes on the cookie sheet before removing them to a cooling rack.

The cookie dough can be successfully frozen for about a month, or kept in the fridge for about a week.


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Memorial Weekend Recipes

I don't know about all of you but I love a great get together with great friends and great food.  Since Memorial Weekend is the kickoff to backyard get-togethers for most of us, I wanted to post some of my favorite grill friendly recipe,s side dishes, and, of course my favorite part of any meal, desserts to go with them.  Enjoy!

Salt Rub Chicken on the Grill

BBQ Sauce for the chicken

Fresh Corn Salad

Warm Potato Salad with Blue Cheese Dressing

Calico Beans

 Roasted Red Pepper Dip


Prosciutto Wrapped Asparagus

Margarita Cupcakes

Lemonade Floats

Black and White Brownies