Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Christmas Cheer!


Christmas is upon us once again. It’s always a wonderful time of year; presents and food, what’s not to love about that?

I am always mindful that Jesus is the reason for the season and don’t get caught up in the extreme commercialization that has taken over Christmas, so I try not to get sidetracked too much. I did send a box of pressies home to my sister and nieces which I loved doing. Giving gifts always makes me so happy. Receiving them isn’t bad either.

I managed to weasel my gift from the Colonel already. I couldn’t wait until the 25th. As December’s birthstone is Turquoise, I have always been fond of that stone. It’s hard to find it in designs I like because mostly it’s set in silver, Native-American style. No offense to anyone, but I flipping hate that type of jewelry. Southwestern style and all that—it’s ugliness makes me gag. I like my turquoise in gold thank you very much. I had a pair of 18kt gold roman coin style earrings with robin’s egg blue turquoise years ago, a gift from a wealthy aunt in Italy. I lost them. They were perfect and I am still upset 20 years later about that.

My new ring is a Carol Brodie and as a Brodie piece it is perfect of course. The stone is set on a hand-carved Philippine wood, genius! I am now nuts about wood rings—the comfort and feel is amazing. As usual, Brodie has excelled herself. I love my Christmas present.
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I made some Christmassy florentines yesterday. I have made them before using cornflakes, but this time I followed a Nigella Lawson recipe which used chopped almonds instead. They are exquisite. I have knocked off most of them myself, in fact I had 2 for breakfast today. How naughty.

Nigella Lawson always comes up with recipes that even an idiot like me can make work. I added a whole lot more glace cherries than the recipe called for, simply because I love them. The result is biscuits that look like a technicolour yawn. They taste scrummy though.

I have to work Christmas Eve and Boxing day at an (expletives deleted) retail store. Can you believe the misery? Oh this working in retail caper was meant to be a nice break from teaching. A lovely low-stress job for a bit of fun; a way to get out of the house and meet people, but as far as management are concerned, the song "Ship of Fools" keeps coming to mind.

Nigella’s Florentines.



4 ounces whole, blanched almonds
7 tablespoons mixed candied peel, in
Whole chunks, not ready chopped
1 ½ ounces glace cherries
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/3 cup sugar
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
½ cup plus 2 tablespoons heavy cream
4 ounces bittersweet chocolate (dark)
4 ounces white chocolate
2 baking sheets, greased.

Preheat the oven to 375F.

Chop the almonds so that you have some fine pieces and some chunks of nut. Chop the candied peep and cherries into fairly small, even pieces. In a heavy-bottomed saucepan, melt the butter and sugar without letting it scorch. Add the flour rather as if you were making a roux for a white sauce; it should form a ball of paste. Take off the heat and whisk in the cream. The mixture should be smooth, so put it back on the heat briefly to beat out any lumps. Stir in the fruit and almonds.

Drop heaping teaspoonfuls of this Florentine mixture onto the greased nonstick baking sheets. It will look quite liquid and will spread, so leave generous space between the blobs. Place the sheets in the oven and cook for 10-12 minutes. They’re ready when they’ve spread into larger circles and the edges are golden brown. Take them out of the oven and leave for 2-3 minutes to firm up; at this point you can ease them back into shape if you need to, as they will be very malleable. When you feel they can be lifted, slip a metal spatula or palette knife underneath them and transfer to q wire rack to cool, ensuring you leave them flat.

Melt the dark and white chocolate in separate bowls in the microwave, and paint the flat side of each Florentine; I used a pastry brush for this. Be prepared to paint over and over to get a good thick coating.

Using a fork make wavy lines on the chocolate on each Florentine and leave to dry.

Makes 30.

Recipe taken from Nigella Lawson’s How to be a Domestic Goddess.

Sunday, December 5, 2010

Bright sun-shiney day!

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December 4th, my birthday, 28 years old: again. Well not really, 41, but I swear I don't look a day older than 50. :)

After what felt like an eternity of unbearable gloom, the sun finally came out on the 4th and there was no new-snow. What a birthday present indeed. I desperately needed to see some sunlight, being completely exasperated with the seemingly endless procession of dark, miserable days.


The snow looks pretty but is an endless source of work. Each time it snows I have to get out there and start up the snow-blower, making sure we have clear pathways to walk on. What a flipping chore that is. Being outside in sub-zero temperatures is an ordeal on it's own, add having to do manual labour in it and I am one unhappy camper.
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My nose drips like a tap in the cold, how undignified is that? "No dear that is not water on my face, it's something altogether much more disgusting and yes it is everywhere, encrusted all over my scarf, the one I bought in Florence in a little store on my way to the Palazzo Pitti." How far that elegant Florentine scarf has travelled, all the way from a glamorous, cosmopolitan Italian city, to the mountains of Idaho to be unceremoniously covered in my snot. I apologise to the Florentine scarf-makers for this atrocity.

The snow is a metre deep in parts so unless the blower comes up, we can't walk anywhere. It is motorized so no significant physical effort is involved, unless I go into uncharted territory and it gets stuck in the powdery snow, what a nightmare it is for me to get it out. My poor back. It's codeine-laden pain relief and constant hot-water bottles for me.

Having had a horrible cold, I have not left the property for 2 weeks. Having to go out into the cold to snow-blow has undoubtedly caused the cold to linger but I had little choice. On the plus side, I have found that being a recluse is quite desirable. No having to wash my hair everyday, heck washing my face became optional. The Colonel did all the grocery shopping. Sitting at home, where it is warm having my food bought to me, this is something I could quickly get used to. Alas, life goes on and now that I am better, it's back to work this week.
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The Colonel insisted I go out for my birthday. We went into town and gallivanted. I went to my favourite store in Sandpoint, Coldwater Creek and scored a new top. The Colonel sat on one of the "man-chairs" where all the poor suffering husbands sit and look completely bored while their wives tear around the store trying on clothes. The Colonel had the good sense to bring reading material, some other poor bugger occupying another man-chair, looked like he wanted to shoot himself in the head to end the misery.

Afterwards we had a lovely lunch in the upstairs wine bar. They make excellent cappuccino but I get so frustrated with the naked froth on American cappuccinos--that is white froth with no chocolate powder on top--a travesty! I need to start going around with a little shaker filled with chocolate powder to complete my own 'cinos!
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Later we went out for dinner at a really good Italian restaurant, Ivano's. I had the chicken parmigiana, of course!
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