Every year, round about now, I go on a huge chocolate chip cookie baking binge. I like to give my children's teachers a little something for the holidays and I settled on making them my homemade chocolate chip cookies. They are always well received and very much appreciated. Particularly with the high school teachers.Most parents are burnt out with teacher gifts by the time their children leave elementary school.
At first I got small cookie tins, since it was only a few teachers. But over the years, as the number of teachers increased, I had to switch over to gift bags. Thus the focus is on the cookies and not the container.
Each bag has a dozen and a half freshly baked cookies. Each child has six to eight teachers. Throw in a few extras like trumpet teachers, bus drivers, and clinic staff (Max has to stop by daily for medications during the school day) and you have a boatload of cookies. Pictured here were the eighteen bags I made up for today. There was originally 19, but I had already given one to Jacob's trumpet teacher who was here for Jacob's lesson. Anyhoodle, I make up the bags and put them into a grocery bag and it's up to the child to distribute the cookies.We had a successful operation cookie drop today, none were forgotten or misplaced.
Meanwhile when the kids were at school I started making another twelve for the remaining teachers plus another for our garbage collectors. So that's 32 bags or 48 dozen cookies.
Whew, that's a whole lotta baking going on.
Showing posts with label Holidays. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Holidays. Show all posts
Tuesday, December 10, 2013
Monday, May 27, 2013
Mansions of the Lord
Amongst the barbecues, parades, and parties don't forget the the reason for this holiday. Remember all those who have fallen and made the ultimate sacrifice for our country.
Thursday, February 14, 2013
Valentine Swag
Here are the goody bags Rebecca, Max, and myself got today.
Mine is pretty straight forward, a bag from my favorite chocolate and candy store in Richmond. Larry knows what my favorite chocolate is and never fails to get it for me. I love that man of mine and my dark chocolate covered salted caramels.
Max and Rebecca, on the other hand, made their bags at school. The bags were used to collect cards and whatever treats they acquired today.
I love how Rebecca's bag is a very feminine and a classic Valentine's Day and design. Max, meanwhile, is very much an eleven year old boy. He has no interest in the whole Valentine's day theme, instead he created a rather patriotic bag featuring the flags of the US and Israel (on the back) and a couple of soldiers. They may be twins, but they are polar opposites.
Mine is pretty straight forward, a bag from my favorite chocolate and candy store in Richmond. Larry knows what my favorite chocolate is and never fails to get it for me. I love that man of mine and my dark chocolate covered salted caramels.
Max and Rebecca, on the other hand, made their bags at school. The bags were used to collect cards and whatever treats they acquired today.
I love how Rebecca's bag is a very feminine and a classic Valentine's Day and design. Max, meanwhile, is very much an eleven year old boy. He has no interest in the whole Valentine's day theme, instead he created a rather patriotic bag featuring the flags of the US and Israel (on the back) and a couple of soldiers. They may be twins, but they are polar opposites.
Tuesday, December 25, 2012
Christmas Drop
A merry Christmas to all my friends that celebrate. Here's a movie to put you in the right frame of mind, courtesy of Laura over at Fetch My Flying Monkeys.
Monday, December 24, 2012
"God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen"
This is not your normal Christmas tune, it was arranged by Brad Gordon for a movie in 1967. Here is what he has to say about the song:
I love it.
In 1967 I went to Italy to score a Christmas Western starring Lee Van Cleef. It was called "Death Rides a Sleigh". Here's what played over the main credits. The film itself has tragically been lost. The version of this music with Lee Van Cleef singing has also-- but not so tragically been lost.
I love it.
Monday, July 09, 2012
Nature's Fireworks
We fully intended to go watch fireworks this year. The plan was to see the show over Lake Morey in Vermont. We would spent the afternoon swimming and head to the house we were staying in for a quick dinner. The fireworks would be a nice capper to a lovely day.
Mother nature, however, had her own plan. As the afternoon wore on thunderheads piled up in the western sky. A few heavy rumbles of thunder chased us out of the water and to the car. I was hopeful that the storm would quickly roll through, but that was not the case. We watched the clouds roil and mas as we ate dinner. The storm hit at about 7:30 and kept on rumbling. By 9 it was clear that we would not be going out.
I was a bit disappointed, but not overly so. Driving back on unfamiliar dirt roads late at night is not exactly fun. Particularly when a third of the passengers are a bit storm phobic. So I settled of filming some the storm after it had moved east of us (pretty much over Lake Morey).
There is no audio as the storm was a fair distance off and my camera can be obnoxiously noisy during quite scenes.
Mother nature, however, had her own plan. As the afternoon wore on thunderheads piled up in the western sky. A few heavy rumbles of thunder chased us out of the water and to the car. I was hopeful that the storm would quickly roll through, but that was not the case. We watched the clouds roil and mas as we ate dinner. The storm hit at about 7:30 and kept on rumbling. By 9 it was clear that we would not be going out.
I was a bit disappointed, but not overly so. Driving back on unfamiliar dirt roads late at night is not exactly fun. Particularly when a third of the passengers are a bit storm phobic. So I settled of filming some the storm after it had moved east of us (pretty much over Lake Morey).
There is no audio as the storm was a fair distance off and my camera can be obnoxiously noisy during quite scenes.
Tuesday, May 29, 2012
For the Police
In addition to the memorial wall I featured yesterday, there is a large block of highly polished granite in the same park.The block is a memorial to the police officers that had been killed while on duty.
It'd a beautiful creation fits in well at its location. A place that a fair number of people don't known at its existence. q found it a few years ago and just now I'm starting to take pictures. I should try to find other little parks in te Richmond area. It would be a good summer project for me and the kids.
It'd a beautiful creation fits in well at its location. A place that a fair number of people don't known at its existence. q found it a few years ago and just now I'm starting to take pictures. I should try to find other little parks in te Richmond area. It would be a good summer project for me and the kids.
Monday, May 28, 2012
Sunday, April 08, 2012
Happy Passover and Happy Easter
It's been a busy weekend with the First Night Seder at Meryl's home and the Second Night at our congregation. Both were wonderful and I was utterly stuffed by the end.
Today was a nice quiet break with some wonderful weather. It felt like an actual spring day and I enjoyed it by lunching al fresco, or as I thought of it al pollen, by my pansies.
Today was a nice quiet break with some wonderful weather. It felt like an actual spring day and I enjoyed it by lunching al fresco, or as I thought of it al pollen, by my pansies.
Thursday, February 23, 2012
What Happened on Tuesday
For whatever reason I got into the spirit of Fat Tuesday and decided I should make a King Cake. I don't know why I got this notion, but after a bit of searching on the internets I found a likely candidate over at Gourmet Girl.
I wasn't in the mood for the more traditional cinnamon type of cake, cream cheese filling was what I wanted. Mind you I have only had King Cake once before and that was about 16 years ago when I was in Louisiana for a field trial. So I'm far from an expert and this is uncharted territory for me. The recipe seemed to be fairly straight forward and I was willing to give it a shot.
It all came together very easily. I had most of the ingredients on hand, the exceptions being the colored sugars. Purple was impossible to find so I had to make my own with a few drops each of blue and red food coloring. The only modification I made was to the icing. I tasted it as I was mixing it up and thought it tasted to strongly of raw sugar. I made an impromptu double boiler with the bowl and a pot of boiling water and threw in a tablespoon or so of butter (everything is better with butter). After 10 minutes it tasted much better and was a breeze to drizzle onto the cooled cake. I sprinkled on the sugars and I was very pleased with the end result. As for taste, it was scrumptious! The lemon was a nice counterpoint to the sugar and the cream cheese. This one is a keeper.
Now I couldn't just have King Cake and I decided if I was in for a penny I should be in for a pound. I have always wanted to make jambalaya and this would be as good a time as any. I always thought jambalaya smelled wonderful, but each time I was offered some shrimp/crayfish/prawns were involved and I am horribly allergic to them. S back to the internet, I decided to make one with chicken and andouille sausage.
The jambalaya was little harder to make than the cake. I found the sausage right off the bat, but the seasonings were much harder to come by. In fact I never did find the file powder. Rebecca was a bit concerned about my skipping an ingredient, but I explained to her that this was spicy enough and we wouldn't miss it. Which brings me to the other modifications I made. I like some heat, but I could tell this would blow my socks off. I decided to half the amount of red pepper flakes and entirely omitted the hot sauce. Larry loves spicy food so I gave him the hot sauce on the side. As for the peanut oil, I switched it over to olive because Rebecca and I seem to have a minor peanut allergy.
Turns out toning down the spices was a very good idea. It was at the upper range of what I can tolerate and was beyond Max and Rebecca, Jake was basically okay with it as was Nate, and Larry happily poured on the hot sauce. It was very tasty, smelled wonderful, and will definitely be repeated.
It all came together very easily. I had most of the ingredients on hand, the exceptions being the colored sugars. Purple was impossible to find so I had to make my own with a few drops each of blue and red food coloring. The only modification I made was to the icing. I tasted it as I was mixing it up and thought it tasted to strongly of raw sugar. I made an impromptu double boiler with the bowl and a pot of boiling water and threw in a tablespoon or so of butter (everything is better with butter). After 10 minutes it tasted much better and was a breeze to drizzle onto the cooled cake. I sprinkled on the sugars and I was very pleased with the end result. As for taste, it was scrumptious! The lemon was a nice counterpoint to the sugar and the cream cheese. This one is a keeper.
Now I couldn't just have King Cake and I decided if I was in for a penny I should be in for a pound. I have always wanted to make jambalaya and this would be as good a time as any. I always thought jambalaya smelled wonderful, but each time I was offered some shrimp/crayfish/prawns were involved and I am horribly allergic to them. S back to the internet, I decided to make one with chicken and andouille sausage.
The jambalaya was little harder to make than the cake. I found the sausage right off the bat, but the seasonings were much harder to come by. In fact I never did find the file powder. Rebecca was a bit concerned about my skipping an ingredient, but I explained to her that this was spicy enough and we wouldn't miss it. Which brings me to the other modifications I made. I like some heat, but I could tell this would blow my socks off. I decided to half the amount of red pepper flakes and entirely omitted the hot sauce. Larry loves spicy food so I gave him the hot sauce on the side. As for the peanut oil, I switched it over to olive because Rebecca and I seem to have a minor peanut allergy.
Turns out toning down the spices was a very good idea. It was at the upper range of what I can tolerate and was beyond Max and Rebecca, Jake was basically okay with it as was Nate, and Larry happily poured on the hot sauce. It was very tasty, smelled wonderful, and will definitely be repeated.
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
Cookies!
This week has been cookie-palooza and related post, my annual chocolate chip cookie baking
marathon when I endeavor to give all of my children's teachers a gift bag
of cookies. Way back when I just had Jacob and Nate in elementary school
the teachers got tins, but when the elder boys started hitting middle
school and beyond I switched to bags. When it's one teacher per child,
no big deal. At 8 per kid, we are talking a serious expense in gift
tins.
So bags it is.
Each bag contains a dozen and a half of my prize winning chocolate chip cookies (this years variant had regular chocolate chips, white chocolate chips, and caramel balls) and our holiday card. I figure it's a pretty good bribe to keep the teachers happy with my children for another year. So far everybody has been very happy, if fact I got another rave review from Max and Rebecca's bus driver (the bus drivers get cookies as well).
This year it was 30 bags and seven batches of cookie dough (three double batches and one single). This covered all 18 teachers, two bus drivers and three music teachers. All I have left to do are our mail carrier (which is done and ready to go), the kennel where our dogs go to when we travel, and one more person. One more batch of cookie dough should take care of it.
So bags it is.
Each bag contains a dozen and a half of my prize winning chocolate chip cookies (this years variant had regular chocolate chips, white chocolate chips, and caramel balls) and our holiday card. I figure it's a pretty good bribe to keep the teachers happy with my children for another year. So far everybody has been very happy, if fact I got another rave review from Max and Rebecca's bus driver (the bus drivers get cookies as well).
This year it was 30 bags and seven batches of cookie dough (three double batches and one single). This covered all 18 teachers, two bus drivers and three music teachers. All I have left to do are our mail carrier (which is done and ready to go), the kennel where our dogs go to when we travel, and one more person. One more batch of cookie dough should take care of it.
Monday, May 30, 2011
Stars and Stripes Forever
In honor of Memorial day I present the Skyhawks band's rendition of the Stars and Stripes Forever.
This was part of the spring 2011 concert and was the closing piece. It was a rousing end after a wonderful tribute to all of the branches of the US armed forces. Representatives were found for each branch and had their anthem played as they marched down the aisle.
This was part of the spring 2011 concert and was the closing piece. It was a rousing end after a wonderful tribute to all of the branches of the US armed forces. Representatives were found for each branch and had their anthem played as they marched down the aisle.
Sunday, January 02, 2011
Home At Last
It has been a very busy winter break and I'm glad it's drawing to a close.
We have had a broken foot, long drives, a blizzard, lots of family, good food, and fun. Excepting the foot, I wouldn't have traded any of it.
Poor Jake was the one with the bum foot. He was walking about in the kitchen on the eve of our departure, Sunday, when he somehow rolled over the outside of his left foot and fractured the fifth metatarsal. Of course I thought he just sprained it and sent him off to bed with a couple of Ibuprofens. Next morning (Monday) he was still in pain, which is major for him being all stoic and with a high pain threshold.
So many hours and a few x-rays later he was determined to have a 90% chance of a fracture. He was issued crutches and the recommendation to see a orthopedist. With a fair amount of phone calls and a willingness to go to any office in the Richmond metro area we secured an appointment with a foot doc at 8:30 am Tuesday. Not to bad, we only delay by a day and Jake gets properly checked out. The best part was the doc is sort of kind of on the way up North and we would still get an early start.
Tuesday morning the foot doc agreed that it was most likely a fracture. Jake got an Aircast and an appointment for a follow up in January. We were on the road by 10 and had quite possibly the best drive north ever. We missed most of the traffic and had clear sailing.
As for the blizzard, it really wasn't a big deal. Where my mom lives we only got 13 1/2 inches and she was plowed out by 11:20 am. We were planning on heading back down to my inlaws' that day (Monday), but they got 18 inches of the white stuff and a snowdrift again the front door. It was decided that delaying by a day would be the prudent thing to do.
And really that was it. Again we had easy drive. We ate far too much good food, got to see some family and have a good time all around.
We have had a broken foot, long drives, a blizzard, lots of family, good food, and fun. Excepting the foot, I wouldn't have traded any of it.
Poor Jake was the one with the bum foot. He was walking about in the kitchen on the eve of our departure, Sunday, when he somehow rolled over the outside of his left foot and fractured the fifth metatarsal. Of course I thought he just sprained it and sent him off to bed with a couple of Ibuprofens. Next morning (Monday) he was still in pain, which is major for him being all stoic and with a high pain threshold.
So many hours and a few x-rays later he was determined to have a 90% chance of a fracture. He was issued crutches and the recommendation to see a orthopedist. With a fair amount of phone calls and a willingness to go to any office in the Richmond metro area we secured an appointment with a foot doc at 8:30 am Tuesday. Not to bad, we only delay by a day and Jake gets properly checked out. The best part was the doc is sort of kind of on the way up North and we would still get an early start.
Tuesday morning the foot doc agreed that it was most likely a fracture. Jake got an Aircast and an appointment for a follow up in January. We were on the road by 10 and had quite possibly the best drive north ever. We missed most of the traffic and had clear sailing.
As for the blizzard, it really wasn't a big deal. Where my mom lives we only got 13 1/2 inches and she was plowed out by 11:20 am. We were planning on heading back down to my inlaws' that day (Monday), but they got 18 inches of the white stuff and a snowdrift again the front door. It was decided that delaying by a day would be the prudent thing to do.
And really that was it. Again we had easy drive. We ate far too much good food, got to see some family and have a good time all around.
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
Sunday, July 04, 2010
Happy 4th of July
Here is the cake I made today featuring the American Flag.
And yes, it has all 13 stripes and 50 stars.
Patriotism never tasted so good.
And yes, it has all 13 stripes and 50 stars.
Patriotism never tasted so good.
Monday, January 04, 2010
Cookiepalooza 2009
Now that winter break is over and the kids are back in school I can tell you about Cookiepalooza 2009.
During the madness before school was out I was baking like a fiend. I have a tradition of filling a small tin with cookies for each of the kids' teachers and bus drivers. For me it is a pleasure to cook for the them and the cookies are always well received. The kids also enjoy distributing the tins to the teachers and bus drivers.
This year I decided to go with gift bags instead. Partially due to the dearth of acceptable tins and the vast number I now have to fill. When it was just one teacher per child and a bus driver it was not a big deal. But now, with Jake in middle school, I'm looking at seven tins for him alone. Add in three for Nate plus four more for Max and Rebecca (mercifully combined), you are looking at a whole lot of cookies.
Somehow I got the whole mess baked and doled out to the kids. Then there were the cookies for the recycle dudes (a really terrific crew that is more than willing to wait if I'm a bit late), the kennel, or letter carrier and so on. To say that I'm just a wee bit tired of making cookies by the end of all this is an understatement. I think it worked out to just over 7 batches of chocolate chip cookies. Honestly I lost count and I did at least three double batches.
And yet... I'm more than happy to do it all again.
During the madness before school was out I was baking like a fiend. I have a tradition of filling a small tin with cookies for each of the kids' teachers and bus drivers. For me it is a pleasure to cook for the them and the cookies are always well received. The kids also enjoy distributing the tins to the teachers and bus drivers.
This year I decided to go with gift bags instead. Partially due to the dearth of acceptable tins and the vast number I now have to fill. When it was just one teacher per child and a bus driver it was not a big deal. But now, with Jake in middle school, I'm looking at seven tins for him alone. Add in three for Nate plus four more for Max and Rebecca (mercifully combined), you are looking at a whole lot of cookies.
Somehow I got the whole mess baked and doled out to the kids. Then there were the cookies for the recycle dudes (a really terrific crew that is more than willing to wait if I'm a bit late), the kennel, or letter carrier and so on. To say that I'm just a wee bit tired of making cookies by the end of all this is an understatement. I think it worked out to just over 7 batches of chocolate chip cookies. Honestly I lost count and I did at least three double batches.
And yet... I'm more than happy to do it all again.
Thursday, December 24, 2009
Monday, July 06, 2009
Monday, May 25, 2009
Memorial Day
I thought this picture I took of The Lone Sailor was an apt one for today.
It is of a sailor, duffel bag at his side, gazing out across the water towards the bridge of the Battleship USS Wisconsin. Behind the statue are eight plaques commemorating Norfolk-based ships and submarines and one dedicated to the September 11th attack on the Pentagon.
It's a very simple memorial and a very moving one.
It is of a sailor, duffel bag at his side, gazing out across the water towards the bridge of the Battleship USS Wisconsin. Behind the statue are eight plaques commemorating Norfolk-based ships and submarines and one dedicated to the September 11th attack on the Pentagon.
It's a very simple memorial and a very moving one.
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Happy Purim!
And nothing says Purim like two dachshunds dressed as penguins!
Well sort of, but the kids are at school and I won't have time to post them in all their finery until tomorrow. This is what I have now.
Anyhoo, I think they are very cute with their little bow ties. I could have picked up some bunny costumes for them dirt cheap at Target last week, but it was just so wrong.
For crying out loud they EAT bunnies. Meryl really wanted me to buy them (ok the bunny ears were cute), but I resisted.
So break out your groggers, John and Dell have, and come celebrate Purim.
Well sort of, but the kids are at school and I won't have time to post them in all their finery until tomorrow. This is what I have now.
Anyhoo, I think they are very cute with their little bow ties. I could have picked up some bunny costumes for them dirt cheap at Target last week, but it was just so wrong.
For crying out loud they EAT bunnies. Meryl really wanted me to buy them (ok the bunny ears were cute), but I resisted.
So break out your groggers, John and Dell have, and come celebrate Purim.
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