Musings on Holiday Baking

I’m home today starting on my Holiday baking. It is a satisfying project which makes me remember my dear Grandmother, who did this every year – long after her kids grew up and moved far away. As a child, I remember waiting for ‘the box’ that would arrive sometime in November filled with Christmas cookies homemade by her using those old German recipes. Lebkuchen (Honey cookies), spiced and chewy after sitting for couple of weeks to let the flavors and texture develop. Date Nut cookies, chunky with moist dates and crunchy pecans. Old fashioned Molasses cookies, rich with dark molasses, strong coffee, cinnamon, cloves, allspice, nutmeg and ginger.

I am still using her recipes which came to her from her mother and grandmother – all the way from the Black Forest of Germany. These delights are made with ‘real’ ingredients, not all the chemical additives and high-fructose corn syrups of store-bought foods of today. It is amazing that such simple, minimally-processed ingredients in various combinations, can yield such wonderful treats.

This morning I made Fruit Cakes. Many people say they don’t like fruit cake (or hate it, even), but it is my theory that what they don’t like is the strange stuff called fruit cake that is sold in stores that is made in factories by workers parsing out cheap ingredients that accountants have told them they must use. The batter is a chemical stew of stuff no one should eat, the fruit is of inferior quality, and the nuts are almost nonexistent and chopped to oblivion. When I have coaxed people to try the fruit cake that I make – “just one small bite – just to say you’ve tried it,” they are amazed. Mine is full of real fruit and LOTS of nuts – big chunks of toasted pecans and walnuts, and slivered almonds. I use real butter and rich, dark organic brown sugar. I also use VSOP Brandy. I know! Who would put VSOP brandy in fruit cake? Well, I do, and it makes a big difference! What’s not to like here? Trust me.

I ended up with 9 – one-pound fruit cakes today. They are just the right size to gift to special friends or take to share at a Holiday party. I wrap each one up tightly so they don’t dry out, and as they age, I periodically pour more good brandy over them. Sometimes, I douse them with Meyers Dark Rum, or some Knob Creek Bourbon. Oh, my! They smell and taste so good with those lovely spirits mingling with the buttery brown sugar and spices of the cakes.

I first start out marinating the fruit and nuts in a spice mixture then I make the actual cake batter. I prepare small foil pans by lining them with buttered parchment paper. I love the part of the recipe that says to “cream together the butter and brown sugar.” You know it is going to be good. Have you ever tasted creamed-together butter and brown sugar? Just plain – before you add anything else? It’s heavenly! Then I add the eggs, continuing to beat the mixture until it is light and fluffy. Then another tiny taste. OMG!

These days, people are warned not to taste any batter or dough that has raw eggs in it. The fear is salmonella. I am closing in on 70 years of age and I grew up tasting all kinds of batter and cookie dough made from store-bought eggs, and home-grown eggs, and I never once got sick. Neither did any of my kids, who would lurk around my baking projects and fight over licking the beaters and spoons. How about eating homemade Caesar salad dressing? That has raw eggs in it. I suppose the thing is to not think about it too much. Something will eventually be the downfall of each of us.

Another day soon, I will make the Lebkuchen and the Molasses cookies and the Date Nut cookies using our wonderful Yuma dates. These cookies need time to sit to develop their wonderful chewy goodness. When I make these, I think so much about the love that has come down to me in those old family recipes and I think about the women who gifted this legacy of recipes to me. How I would love to share a baking day with all of them together at once, mixing and tasting and chattering away about love, and life, and familiesI I would cover them with kisses and tell each of them in German and in English – Ich Liebe dich (I love you).

Fruit Cake – Dark & Delicious

1 cup plump raisins
1 cup currants
1 cup dates – coarsely chopped
2 lbs. mixed glazed chopped fruit
1/2 cup diced glazed orange peel
1/2 cup diced glazed lemon peel
1/2 cup diced glazed citron
1/2 cup glazed whole red & green cherries (save some for very top)
1/2 cup glazed pineapple chunks (save some for very top)
2 cups shelled pecan halves
2 cups shelled walnut halves
1 cup slivered almonds
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp. ground cloves
1 tsp. ground allspice
1/2 cup dark molasses
1/2 cup brandy
1/2 cup butter – softened
1 cup dark brown sugar
3 large eggs
2 cups flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking soda
dark rum, Brandy, or Bourbon (optional)

Pre-heat your oven to 325 degrees and prepare loaf pans of your choice of sizes by greasing them and lining them with well-greased parchment paper on sides and bottoms. You’ll end up with about 8 pounds of fruitcake mix. Prepare several pans of different sizes, if you like. I often make a few very small ones in foil pans to give away as gifts.

In a huge mixing bowl, combine all the ingredients on this list down to the molasses part. Save out a few of the whole colored cherries and pineapple chunks for a decorative garnish on the tops of the fruit cake loaves. Stir very well to coat all fruit and nuts with spices. Cream together butter and brown sugar. Add beaten eggs, molasses, and brandy. Sift together flour, sugar, salt and soda. Combine with butter/eggs/brandy mixture into a batter. Pour batter over mixed fruit and stir very well to combine everything together well. Don’t worry if it looks like you have much more fruit than batter. It’ll work out perfectly in the end when they are baked. Just make sure you stir it well from the bottom of the bowl right before you place it in the prepared baking pans.

Bake at 325 for about 2 hours. Cool completely and pour more brandy and/or rum over them. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap or place in Ziplock bags with all the air squeezed out and freeze or put in refrigerator. They’ll keep at room temperature for a long time. You can add more rum or brandy every now and then. They improve with age. 

Visiting Italy – Rome

So, it was off to Rome for David, Paul, Dan and me! David had purchased our tickets the day before on a sleek, rapid Eurostar TrenoItalia, leaving the Piazza della Stazione in Florence. Treno is the Italian word for train.

Euro-star train arriving at the train station in Florence.

We had a very comfortable grouping of 4 seats around a center table with places to plug in your computer or whatever.

David & Dan on the train to Rome.

The Eurostar was an express train, arriving in the Stazione Termini in Rome, just 1 & 1/2 hours later. It was so nice to sit back and enjoy the scenery of the Italian countryside with its vineyards, olive groves, and ancient, walled city/villages perched on top of the hills, while David explained what we’d be seeing when we got to Rome.

As soon as we got to Rome, we walked a few blocks to the beautiful little Hotel Camelia on the Via Gioto. We checked in to our two bedroom family suite on the top floor. It was the same place David, Nathalie and kids stayed with Chris and Toi when they all visited Rome. I would recommend this hotel to anyone wanting to stay in Rome.

We grabbed some sandwiches in a deli on our way to see the Coliseum during the afternoon. We took Rome’s modern subway system, getting off at the Colosseo station.

David, Joanie and Dan in front of Constantine’s Arch.

The weather was a little cold and overcast as you can see by our attire, but it was not raining enough to spoil our afternoon – just a slight, steady light drizzle – pretty much like living in Oregon in December.

Coliseum on a sunny Sunday before we left Rome.

We walked all the way around the lower and upper areas of the Coliseum that were open to the public. Dan and I kept saying to each other “Can you believe we are actually standing in the Roman Coliseum? This place is over 2000 years old!” Emperor Vespasian, who founded the Flavian Dynasty, had the Coliseum built in 72 B.C.E. The lower arches use Greek Doric columns, the second level uses Greek Ionic columns, and the third level uses Greek Corinthian columns. Each arched entrance was numbered as was each level, row, and seat so people knew exactly where to sit. It held 55,000 people and most of our modern sports stadiums are designed basically the same as this magnificent ancient wonder.

Interior view showing cut-away view of supporting structures under the main floor of the arena.

Tile mosaic of a lion fighting a Gladiator.

Many of the interior passageways were elaborately decorated with tile mosaics. There were food stalls and restrooms for the spectators, as the events were often all-day affairs

By the time we finished touring the Coliseum, it was getting dark. We briefly looked over the ruins of the ancient City of Rome and decided we’d need to come back to it on Sunday when we had more time to explore it.

We went back to our Hotel Camelia after first stopping at a wine store to buy a good bottle of Italian wine for a Happy Hour celebration in our room while we rested up a little before dinner. David chose two bottles of Banfi Brunello di Montalcino, a storied D.O.C.G. (Denominazione di Origine Controllata Garantita) Chianti. He paid 25 Euros in 2004, the equivalent of about $30.00 US. In our local wine shop here in Arizona in 2013, those same bottles of Chianti go for $100.00 each! We ate dinner at a little African restaurant, just around the corner from the hotel, that served Ethiopian food, one of our absolute favorites.

The next morning, after breakfast and cappuccino at the hotel, we lit out for the Vatican to see the museum, St. Peter’s Basilica, the Sistine Chapel, and the Vatican Square.

Fountain in St. Peter’s Square.

We visited selected sections of the Musei Vaticani as it is far too vast to see all at one time. The museum holds the world’s largest collection of Classical and Renaissance art. One section, called The Gallery of Maps records 16th Century history and cartography. We saw the beautiful Raphael Rooms decorated with frescoes, as was the Sistine Chapel. The museum is so large that it is a 20 – 30-minute walk from the museum entrance to the Sistine Chapel and Raphael Rooms, not counting any time for viewing! We saw paintings, frescoes, sculpture, mosaics, tapestries, and works by Leonardo da Vinci.

Our museum tour culminated in the Sistine Chapel. No photography was allowed and visitors were required to be silent. It was magnificent. The frescoes on the walls and the ceiling were painted by some of the finest artists in the 15th and 16th Century; Michelangelo, Perugino, Botticelli, to name a few. Sadly, I recently heard that they may close the Sistine Chapel to the public, as so many people breathing inside there is degrading the art work.

We decided to have some lunch and walked a few blocks away from the Vatican in order to find a less ‘touristy’ place to eat. We discovered we would have had to walk far more than a few blocks away to get away from tourist places. We found a little trattoria/pizzeria called Al Cuppolone. A friendly, stout Italian Signora seated us and brought our menus. We were starving. Paul and I ordered a pasta and marinara sauce dish. The friendly lady asked us (in Italian, of course) if we wanted meatballs and mushrooms with it. We thought that sounded great. David and Dan ordered some things off the menu and we got a liter of tavala (table or house wine) and some ‘frizzante’ water all around. She brought a basket of bread. We all ordered a cappuccino. When we finished our lunch and got the bill, it was for 110 euros or $131 American dollars. For lunch!! Yikes!!

When we asked her why it was so much, it turned out that all those delicious-sounding things she suggested so sweetly, like the meatballs and mushrooms to go on the pasta dishes, etc., were all separate items that were 8-10 euros each! I gave her our Visa card and she had the nerve to ask if she should add in a 20% tip!!! David pointed out to her that the menu stated that the tip was already included in the price of the food. I mentally cast a spell on her and we left. That was the only time we were in Italy that we really felt totally ripped off. If you ever visit Rome, stay away from a restaurant called ‘Al Cuppolone’ on the Borgo Pio.

We walked back over to St. Peter’s Basilica. Constantine built the first church with the altar on the tomb of St. Peter in 324 AD. The new church was begun in 1506 by Pope Julius II and took an entire century to build. Michelangelo was named the chief architect and he designed the Dome but died before it was completed. The sculptor Bernini designed the colonnade and all the sculptures along the top of it.

The Dome of St. Peter’s Basilica.

We took an elevator to an area at the bottom of the Dome. There were spiral stairs leading the rest of the way to the very top of the Dome. David and Dan climbed clear to the top while Paul and I sat just outside on a roof area and looked at the views of the city. We couldn’t believe it, but we just stepped out a low, open window and actually sat right on the roof! What a fantastic view!

View from the roof of St. Peter’s Basilica.

Bernini’s Colonnade in front of St. Peter’s.

Michelangelo’s ‘Pieta’ in St. Peter’s Basilica.

Our next and last stop of the day was the Pantheon. This engineering marvel of Rome was designed and built by the emperor Hadrian in 118 AD. The round opening at the top of the dome, called an oculus, let in the only light. No one had ever designed such a huge spanning structure before. The walls supporting the dome are 19 feet thick. Hadrian designed the sections of dome with coffers to reduce its weight. This was the first of its kind in construction and many Roman officials were sure it would ever work. It was built to honor “all of the gods” of Rome. It later became a Catholic Church.

The Pantheon.

Interior view of ‘coffered’ dome with oculus.

There are tombs lining the interior walls for people such as the artist Raphael who decorated the interior to many of the kings of modern Italy. In the 1600s, Urban VIII had the enormous bronze doors of the Pantheon melted down for Bernini’s 4-story tall Papal altar canopy over St. Peter’s grave in St. Peter’s Basilica.

Interior of St. Peter’s with Bernini’s 4-story altar canopy.

We took a cab back to the Hotel Camelia from the Pantheon and collapsed for an hour before heading off to dinner. Following a recommendation from the evening desk clerk, we walked a few blocks to a small ristorante called La Famiglia. We enjoyed a classic Italian pasta dinner and a wonderful house Chianti. It was owned by one large Italian family who all worked in the restaurant – cooking and serving. The food was delicious and the service was fantastic- warm and friendly. The prices were very reasonable. It was bustling with Italian people and families – obviously a place where the locals ate. We planned our last day in Rome for Sunday. Our train left the Termini at 4 PM, so we basically had all day if we got an early start.

Sunday morning we took a cab over to the Galleria Borghese and just made it in for the 11 AM grouping. They allowed each group just 2 hours to see the whole thing. We needed to seriously keep moving in order to see everything.

We were not allowed to take any photos in the Borghese. Many of the sculptor Bernini’s finest works are part of the Museum’s collection. He was only 17 years old when he sculpted the famous Apollo and Daphne, and his sculpture of David reflects the artist’s own face. His Rape of Proserpine is one of the greatest ever carved. Pauline Borghese was Napoleon’s sister and her Galleria has many Old Masters’ paintings.

We left the Borghese at 1 PM when our time was up and took a cab back to the Roman Forum which was next to the Coliseum. It consists of the ruins of the ancient City of Rome. We saw the grave of Julius Caesar, and stood on the steps of the Forum where he was stabbed to death. We saw the Temples of Saturn, Castor and Pollux, Vesta, and Venus.

Temple of Saturn

Grave of Julius Caesar.

Temple of Romulus (round building with arches on left). Santa Francesca Romana with bell tower (Coliseum walls in background), and Temple of Castor and Pollux (three columns on right)

Roman Curia (building with 3 windows) where Mark Antony delivered his famous “Friends, Romans, Countrymen” oration from the front steps where Julius Caesar was killed.

There were many other parts remaining of the ancient buildings, gardens, fountains, and baths. There were partly-crumbled facades that had fallen off of elaborate structures over the ages. You could stand there and close your eyes and just picture how it must have looked when it was a thriving, bustling city of markets, government buildings, and temples.

We climbed the long hill and stairs out of the ruins and crossed over to the Campidoglio or the Capitol. Michelangelo created this imposingly beautiful piazza which is reached from the Via Teatro Marcello by a long flight of stairs.

Dan and Joan on the steps to the Piazza Campidoglio.

Victor Emmanuel – Italy’s first King.

We had just enough time to take a cab back to the Termini train station to catch our train back to Florence. Our visit to Rome ended much too soon. There is a year’s worth of sites to see in Rome, but at least, we saw some great highlights. Next up, day-trips to Greve in Chianti, and Pisa. Then we will all be off for a few days to spend in Sorrento, Naples, and Pompeii.

Ciao, Joanie

Not Exactly a Ticky Tacky House

Many of you may remember the folk song sung by Pete Seeger in 1963 called “Little Boxes.” It was written by his friend, a folk song writer named Malvina Reynolds. She composed it in reaction to seeing all the urban sprawl of the post-war – inexpensive tract houses that sprung up around many large cities in America. Think Daly City, California south of San Francisco, and Levittown, Pennsylvania, northeast of Philadelphia.

Here are the words to the song from the internet.

Little boxes on the hillside,

little boxes made of ticky tacky,

little boxes on the hillside,

little boxes all the same.

There’s a green one and a pink one 

and a blue one and a yellow one,

and they’re all made out of ticky tacky

and they all look just the same.

And the people in the houses

all went to the university, 

where they were put in boxes

and they came out all the same,

and there’s doctors and lawyers, 

and business executives,

and they’re all made out of ticky tacky

and they all look just the same.

And they all play on the golf course

and drink their martinis dry,

and they all have pretty children

and the children go to school,

and the children go to summer camp

and then to the university, 

where they are put in boxes

and they come out all the same.

And the boys go into business

and marry and raise a family

in boxes made of ticky tacky 

and they all look just the same.

There’s a green one and a pink one

and a blue one and a yellow one,

and they’re all made out of ticky tacky

and they all look just the same.

We are all familiar with such tract homes which are available for all income levels these days. You can imagine the problem you might have finding a specific house in a multi-acre subdivision spanning many square miles, when they all look just the same.

I live in a house made out of ticky tacky. One of my houses anyway – I’m talking about our part-year home in the Arizona desert. It is partly a manufactured home, partly traditionally ‘stick-built,’ and we have a park model for a guest house right next to our main house. Unlike in the City of Yuma, it is a mishmash of building styles out in the Foothills where people have traditionally played fast and loose with minimal building code requirements. It is all surrounded by pretty Mexican brick walls, patios, palm trees, fruit trees, colorful plants and flowers. A stone fountain burbles away outside our front door amongst hibiscus and hummingbird bushes loaded with colorful blossoms.

This is pretty much like what all the other part-year residents (mostly old, retired people) live in when they are in the Yuma Foothills for the winter season. Its inexpensive and serviceable with many near-by beautiful golf courses. We have friends who have much nicer homes built in a more conventional fashion. But we are happy with our little treasure of a funky home. We’ve been doing some up-dating and renovation on it and we decided it needed some painting on the outside. I just couldn’t get exited about painting it in a traditional manner – all one color with a contrasting trim. You can only do so much to class up a trailer – or can you?

I have a good friend who is a very talented artist. Her name is Lia Littlewood. She is a painter. She paints fantastic pictures and she also paints murals – inside and outside – of businesses mostly. I decided to hire her to paint our house – not all one color, but with murals all over it. I wanted it to look happy, welcoming, and fun, with scenes to reflect who we are and our beautiful desert environment. I came up with a plan. I told Lia what I wanted to accomplish and she ran with it, incorporating the items I wanted into the overall plan. I absolutely love it! No one would have any trouble finding our house in our neighborhood.

Here is the drive-way side wall to our Arizona room before the painting began. An Arizona room is basically an enclosed porch that is used like a regular room off the main house. Pretty boring, eh?

Here is Lia getting started with the actual painting. She drew the basic outline of the drawing right onto the wall using a red felt-tipped marker pen.

Over the next several hours, the mural began to really take shape.

I wanted a picture of our little West Highland Terrier, Yuki, included in the scene, and Lia captured her perfectly. Yuki is such an important member of our family.

Lia painted a blank flag into the scene where I wanted to have the word “welcome” in English; and Spanish – to reflect the Hispanic cultural milieu of Yuma, Arizona; and Thai, in honor of our daughter-in-law from Thailand; and in French, in honor of another daughter-in-law who is of French extraction.

I also wanted her to paint some of our favorite local desert wildlife into the scenes. She added a family of burrowing owls peeking out from under the house, a family of quail, a hummingbird, and a roadrunner on the guest house.

Around the east side of the main house, next to our fruit trees, she painted a howling desert coyote.

In a future mural, I want her to picture some jackrabbits, owls, javelins, a rattlesnake, and a scorpion. Friendly-looking ones – that is.

Lia next worked her way around the front by adding some lively paintings to the front of the guest house, where our son lives, ever since changing careers and going back to college. This is how it started out and ended up. Way better.

Before:

And, after:

After mostly finishing the front of the houses, she moved around to our back patio where we have a large hot tub. I wanted this area painted with a tropical island theme. I wanted a mermaid and some tropical fish, and other sea creatures. I wanted it happy and inviting and colorful. Again, Lia came through to the max. We now have a fun scene next to where we lounge in the hot tub during a desert evening happy hour.

Here is the scene she painted for the hot tub area. We are so happy with it.

Here’s Lia hard at work on the mermaid painting.

On the very front of the house, just around the corner from the coyote, is a painting of a saguaro cactus. It adds some life and color to a drab area next to our front patio area next to our fruit trees.

Lastly, here’s the finished front mural along the Arizona room side of the house next to our driveway.

In the near future, Lia will be painting a desert scene mural along the side wall of our laundry building which is along the other side of our back patio. It will be a perfect compliment to the tropical sea painting next to the hot tub.

If anyone is interested in having a fun mural for their patio wall, or their house, or anywhere, Lia can do any kind of painting with any theme or idea you might have. If you don’t have a specific idea, she can work with you to come up with a keepsake that you’ll love. She will keep modifying it until you are completely satisfied with it. Lia does not advertise – she gets all the work she can handle by word-of-mouth from satisfied customers and from people who see her work and want her to do things for them, too. She can brighten up a bedroom or dining room wall – anything – inside or out.

Lia told me I could help her paint the scenes if I wanted to, and she’d show me how to do it. I’ve done some artistic painting before – oil, acrylic, and pastel, but I did not feel that I had the skills to tackle a project like painting scenes on the side of a house. Someday I may try it! When I do, I’ll let you know how it comes out.

Lia Littlewood can be reached via email at: goaskalice20@yahoo.com. She also is on Facebook.

Obamacare Website – Failure to Launch – Opinion

Whine, whine, whine. I am sick of Washington politicians and Kathleen Sebelius complaining and desperately trying to make excuses for why the Obamacare sign-up website doesn’t work. “There are just too many people trying to log on at once.” “It is being overwhelmed by too many users.” “It is crashing and we are desperately trying to fix it.” “We are working on it 24/7.” “It should be up and running soon.” “A few more weeks and it will be fixed.” On and on.

This is my opinion. Why didn’t Health and Human Services get some advice from the producers of the Multi-Player Online Video Games to help them design their website? These people wrote the book on how to design and handle websites that have millions of people all logging on at once – from all over the entire world, too! Blizzard Entertainment of World of Warcraft and Starcraft fame; Lego of Minecraft; Treyarch of Call of Duty. How about enlisting the help of the IT people who designed and run places like Amazon? Amazon has the highest web traffic of any organization in the world!

I have played World of Warcraft for most of the past 10 years. I play with various characters who live all over the world! Literally, millions of people are logging onto this game, from all over the entire world, to play together. There have been very few crashes, and those crashes are repaired and the game running again, often within seconds or minutes. Blizzard would be so instantly out of business if they told their customers that the game would be running again in a few weeks! Unimaginable!

I just don’t understand how in this age of the internet, that our American government with all of its resources, can be so utterly incompetent at accomplishing something that the entertainment industry and global companies do, and have done, every minute of every day, for a decade or more. This is inexcusable! It shouldn’t be this hard!

Whoever won the contract to design the Obamacare website (probably the lowest bidder) ought to be fired on the spot. I wonder if the Health and Human Services people who hired them even looked at what their track record was for designing a system that would have a lot of people logging on at once from all over? Have any of those HHS bigwigs who gave them the contract ever played an online video game or ordered anything from a website? Common sense should tell them that it should be a no-brainer to build a website these days that can handle a lot of users at once.

Get with it Sebelius and hire one of those companies full of 20-somethings out in Silicon Valley who have grown up with online games and know how to design and build websites that can handle something simple like a bunch of people signing on all at once. The technology and know-how are there. Companies use it every hour of everyday. You just need to get a competent IT website design company who deals with the modern online computer-age world that exists all around us.

This is the opinion of the Carpy Harpy who loves to play World of Warcraft and knows what is possible with a computer.