Granny Camp 4 Me – Holiday Afterglow-- Continued

      Well, it has been several days since I last blogged and I really didn’t mean to go so long.  We experienced the death of a dear friend so were wrapped up for a few days with the family.  As a fellow sister in Christ, I am confident that we will be reunited with her in the future.  We have a lot to look forward to and eternity is a long, long time.  When I think of our friend’s passing, I am reminded of the scripture:  “Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of a saint.”

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      Now I will continue to share some of our GrannyCamp holiday experiences.  By this time in my telling, Christmas was behind us and we were approaching New Year’s week end and the out-of-staters had arrived on the scene.  Come on baby, let the good times roll!   Yes, that means that all 8 of our grand children were in town.  Let’s see if I can get this right:  The twins are 6 yr. old.  Then we have one 7 yr. old,  two 9 yr. olds,  two 10 yr. olds  and  one 11 yr. old.     

      Our out-of-stater son, along with his four, were our houseguests and the other four stayed at their own home, here in town.  Well actually, except for two nights when Grana stayed at our house with the two girl cousins.   You may have noticed that there was no mention of the out-of-stater daughter-in-law being here.  She stayed home, having been scheduled to work a couple of those days and it gave her a chance to put up Christmas decors, etc..  I’m sure you mama’s out there are envious of her having those 4 days to herself, even if she did have to work a couple of them.

      The highlights of the four day week end were numerous and much of it for the children involved just having a blast being together.   So there we were--- the out-of-staters had just arrived, the in-towners came on over and it was just too dark to send them all out side.  Now, I don’t know about you, but I never allowed my children to play hide and seek in the house.  And I’m not sure if I can explain why I let these 8 energetic, imaginative, excited grands do such a thing.  But that is exactly what they did.  Somehow, while the grown ups were busy “catching up”, preparing food and watching football, the children just did it.  They basically turned the upstairs of our house into a playground.  I bet you thought I was going to say, “They turned the upstairs of our house upside down.”   Well--- pretty much.  No, not really.  They didn’t break anything (that I know of) and no one got hurt.  But it did end up a mess.  Actually the hide & seek didn’t last very long before they were all herded downstairs for supper.  Before calling them down, I just had to go upstairs just to take a look.  From the laughter, squeals, thumping, etc. it was pretty evident that they were having lots of fun.  I just wanted to see some of those smiles and witness their excitement of being together.  (Glad I took my camera.)  As I approached the top of the stairs, this was the view I had, looking into the loft:

We have here 2 hiders and 1 seeker.

Do you see the person hiding on the couch?  And do you see the person hiding at the desk?

      No,  RhythmMan is not aspiring to become a monk.  He has probably never heard of such a thing.  Actually, he is aspiring to be invisible or at least make the seeker think that he is Granny since he is camoued under my robe, wearing my glasses and reading my Bible.  I crept over for a closer look and couldn’t resist snapping a picture.

      So at about this point, we straightened up a bit and made our way down stairs for supper and talked a little about things they wanted to do together.  The out-of-staters asked if I would be making them some Christmas Granny Bread and some regular Granny Bread.  I assured them that I would.  Tank  wanted me to assure him that we would have  “Granny Pancakes” for breakfast.  Of course, I said, “We sure will.”  Then he said, “Did you get us some Virginia Apples?” 

       “I sure did.”  was my reply.

       “I want to see ‘em.”  With satisfaction, he admired what we call the Virginia Gold.  Golden Delicious are our favorite eating apples. 

      So those are the anticipated traditions when they come to Granny and Doodie’s house---  Granny Bread, Granny Pancakes and Virginia Apples.  And when it is Christmas time, the Christmas Granny Bread is also expected.  [In my previous post, we saw Christmas Granny Bread, in depth.]

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        So what did we get into the next day?  I had not had time to do "The List" but for sure, I had a plan!  But first we needed to take care of some necessary matters--- like breakfast.   Then we needed to make two batches of sour bread dough--- one for the CGB and one for the RGB.  So to start with, breakfast was a “hapnin thang”:   

Booker and RhythmMan enjoyed making the pancakes together:

Now it's time to add Granny's special homemade pancake mix. 

We don't dare tell them it is very healthy and very high in fiber.

Don't over stir!  It needs to be lumpt.



That's right, don't over stir.



 And they enjoyed being the first ones to eat some:

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Now Booker and Dancer get to the dough making---- 2 batches this time, you know:

 

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     Now, on with the GrannyCamp Plan---   I must tell you that this particular idea came as a result of my amazing trip, the previous May, to Israel.  While floating on the Dead Sea and enjoying the Dead Sea Mud, I thought about my grands and how they would so enjoy this experience.  What fun we could have!!  So I decided then and there that, at some point in time, I would get some Dead Sea mud and share the experience with my grands.  I did not buy any while there because of weight and space in my luggage, but I knew I could order it later on, when the time was right.  So a few weeks before Christmas, I did order some from the following web store:    http://www.judaicawebstore.com/uwi/  . 

 I had four takers:



Hey, we're game!  Just tell us what to do.
Don't you just love eager participants?!



Dead Sea Mud and Lotion with Dead Sed Minerals ...... Oh, so nice!



 



This is pretty weird.



More please.



Hey---   works for me!

More for me too.

I'm really gettin into this mud thing!





More is good.



I'm DONE !



I'm DONE !



SOOOOO----  Now What?

Instead of letting it dry for a few minutes, all were eager to get on with the rinsing it off...

 

                                                      
Ummmmmm,  moisturizzzzze............

After all that, it's great to relax in Granny & Do's bed and watch The Wizzard of Oz.

~>~>  Today’s Granny Camp Recipes  <~<~

Instant Hot Cocoa Mix

1  (16 oz.) jar  non-dairy creamer

1 ½ lb.  Nestles Quick

½ to 1 (1 lb..)  box  powdered sugar

8-qt. size  (10 2/3 c.)  nonfat dry milk

Mix all ingredients together.  Store in airtight containers.

Put approximately ½ c. mix in mug, add boiling water & stir.

This Hot Cocoa Mix is a fav of all our grands.  Also, it makes a great Christmas or wintertime gift.

Corn Pone Pie

1  lb.  ground beef

½  c. chopped onions

¾  t.  salt

1  t.  Worcestershire sauce

1  c.  kidney beans or pinto beans 

1 can tomatoes or tomato sauce

1 c.  thin corn bread batter ---- Blend 1c. self rising corn meal, 1 egg,  2 T. oil,  milk to reach desired consistency

Brown meat & onion,  add all ingredients except batter. Simmer 10-15 min.  Pour into greased casserole dish.  Add corn bread batter over top. Bake at 425* for 20 min. or till corn bread is done.

Golden Chicken Nuggets

4  whole boned chicken breasts

½  c.  unseasoned fine dry bread crumbs

¼  c.  grated parmesan cheese

2  tsp. seasoned salt

1  tsp. salt

1  tsp. dried thyme

1  tsp.  dried basil

½  c.  butter melted

Cut each chicken breast into six to eight nuggets, about 1-1/2 sq. inch each.

Combine bread crumbs,  cheese,  seasoned salt,  salt  and herbs.

Dip chicken nuggets into melted butter,   then in crumb mixture.

Place in single layer on foil-lined baking sheets.   Bake 400* for 10 min.

Serve chilled or warm.   Yield:  4-5 dozen nuggets.

Marinated Wieners

1  c.  catsup

10  oz. jar currant jelly

2   pkg. wieners, cut into bite size pieces

Simmer catsup and jelly  to  boiling.  Add wieners and simmer 20 min.

It just would not seem like New Year's Day or Super Bowl Sunday without this family tradition simmering on the stove.

 

Granny Camp 4 Me – Holiday Afterglow

      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.  





When I said press down your dough, before I could blink an eye, he hopped up onto the counter and started in on it.  I  His technique definitely gave him some good leverage.

                                                                                                       "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.)

                                                                                                                                     

"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 ~>~>



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.

Christmas Granny Bread in North Carolina --- Grana's first taste.