So we did it! We celebrated Christmas and New Years and are here to tell about it! I have been just too busy to blog, plus I don’t know about you, but I’m still tired and my house is a wreck! BUT--- we had lots of fun and built lots of memories to show for it. We shared life at some of its best! My husband and I had a good bit of quality time with the grands--- sometimes one-on-one and sometimes all 8 together. Let me catch my breath!! Yes, their parents and my parents were a part of much of the goings on. As well as a family friend, who is a widow.
That reminds me of a story:
A few months ago, two of our grandsons went with me to take some food to a couple of elderly ladies in our church. I thought, “Well, this will be a good experience for them.” On our way to the first house, I explained that these women were both widows and asked if they know what that meant. They did not, so I explained and one quietly responded, “Gosh, I’ve never seen a widow before.” I went on to tell them, “Our friend, JoAnn, (who they know pretty well) is a widow.” They had not known that. And I told them that the Bible instructs us to care for widows and orphans. So with all that in mind, they were excited about going to visit widows. This was a great experience for these two young boys and they got some pleasant, unexpected surprises at these two ladies homes, about which I’ll elaborate another day.
Back to the AFTERGLOW----- Are you basking in your favorite memories of the past month or so? Yes, of course we’re all recovering and cleaning up and putting away. But let’s bask while we do all of that! As we get things back in order, we’re reminded of different aspects of the celebrations and get-togethers---- many memories are good and I’m sure some are maybe not so pleasant. After all, when we are dealing with people, we must not expect perfection. If we’re looking for perfection, we need look no further than the One whose birthday we celebrate--- God’s perfect gift to mankind--- His Only Son, Jesus.
So what did my GrannyCampers do this Christmas season, since my last blog entry? Lets look at some examples:
Mighty has been asking for weeks when we can make some Christmas cookies. So finally, it happened. He was the only one available on this partcular day and we dug in.
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"Pick out about 3 cookie cutters and let's not dirty them all." SURE!
Naturally, his first choice was the F-14 since his dad used to fly them. Besides, when the Navy retired them a few years ago, perhaps Santa started using them. Surely they can have something to do with Christmas. Actually the biggest and best of his F-14 cookies was chosen for Santa. (But don't tell the children that the family dog got to it before Santa.)
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"How 'bout I do one of my hand?"
"Now that's a good cookie!"
Then there's the gift wrapping. A lot of that goes on. Thanks for you help, Mighty! Or tonight, I guess it's "Luke the Mighty."
We have a Christmas breakfast tradition at our house that has gone on for about 25 years. It consists of Chritmas Granny Bread, ham and fruit. What is Christmas Granny Bread? you may ask. When our sons were young, they called it, "That thing Mom makes with Herman at Christmas." It is actually my sour dough made into a tea ring type thing that is loaded with cinnamon/brown sugar/butter, pecans, cherries and glaze. It goes into the oven looking like this:
And comes out of the oven looking something like this:
So just how does it come to this? Well, Grana is getting pretty good at it. Let's let her demonstrate:
So--- bake, decorate it and this is what you get. Makes for a pretty nice edible center piece for Christmas breakfast!
This was the quietest Christmas I have ever experienced with children around. Sure was never that quiet when our boys were youngens! It's a whole new world we live in.
But the grandpa doesn't mind the quiet as he tries out his new laptop lap blanket that Grana made for him.
<~ <~ Todays Granny Camp Recipes ~>~>
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| Christmas in Georgia a few years ago. "Dancer" gets some Christmas Granny Bread for the first time. |
Connie’s Christmas Breakfast Ring [Now known as Christmas Granny Bread]
[Original name “That Thing Mom Makes at Christmas With Herman”]
If you want this for breakfast: Mix up the dough the morning before; shape dough, following directions below, the night before and then bake it in the morning. Waa-lah!!!
Ingredients:
One batch of Sourdough, made up
2 c. light brown sugar
2/3 stick butter, melted
1- 2 tsp. cinnamon
¼ tsp. salt
½ - 1 c. pecan halves
Maraschino cherries for garnish
Oil to pat on top, prior to baking
Glaze: 1 c. confectioners sugar, 3 T. milk, ½ tsp. vanilla extract, dash of salt.
Mix up sourbread dough according to recipe. On floured surface, knead the dough about 6 times. Re-flour surface &, using a floured rolling pin, roll out the dough into a rectangle, about 3/4” thick. Because of the dough’s elasticity, this will take some time--- Just keep rolling, back & forth/side to side, being sure it does not stick to your work surface. If need, add more flour under dough.
In a small bowl, blend brown sugar, melted butter, cinnamon & salt. Crumble this mixture all over rolled dough up to about 1 inch from edges.
Roll up tightly, beginning at wide side. Seal well, by pinching edges of roll together. (This is the same technique used in making a Swedish Tea Ring.)
Place sealed edge down, shaping into a ring, onto a well greased, very large baking sheet. (I cover my baking sheet with 2 sheets of heavy duty foil, overlapped, so that the foil extends beyond the sheet edges & then fold up edge of foil to create a small lip so melted sugar/butter cannot run off pan & mess up stove. A jelly roll pan is not large enough for this masterpiece. A large industrial size pan might work. To simplify, or if you have a small oven, divide the dough & make two smaller rings instead of one large one.) Pinch the ends together, forming a ring. Don’t worry if it seems a bit lopsided.
With large blade kitchen shears, make cuts ¾ of the way through the ring at 1” intervals. Turn each section on its side.
Pat oil all over ring & randomly place pecan halves around on ring, pushing them slightly into the dough. You may brush on the oil, if you wish, but I prefer patting using my 3 middle fingers. Cover ring with overlapping dishtowels, allowing for rising ring to double & stay covered. Allow to rise 10 – 12 hours.
10- 12 hours later: Preheat oven to 350* & set oven rack one level up from bottom. Place ring in center on oven rack and bake about 40 min., or until just golden. Brush with butter all over top. Allow to almost cool, drizzle with glaze & place on cherries.
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| Christmas Granny Bread in North Carolina --- Grana's first taste. |
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