Guilty Pleasures, Added Upon

Annie wrote in her blog about her enjoyment of drinking hot chocolate this time of year. She melts a minty candy cane in hers to flavour it.
She comes by the habit honestly. Her Nana has long been famous for her hot chocolate habit. Or Milo, as she drinks in New Zealand. All year long. Only one cup a day, she claims, but we all know better!
I am partial to a steaming cup of cocoa in the winter. My guilty pleasure is a splash of flavoured coffee creamer. Yum. The flavour of the moment is "CoffeeHouse Inspirations Caramel Macchiato."
It even SOUNDS sinful.

THAT was not an easy photo to take.

No flash, left-handed, while pouring.

Hence the ever-so-slight blurriness.

What is your guilty pleasure?
And don't try telling me you don't have one!

P.S. This post got me thinking about some defining hot chocolate moments throughout the years at our house. When Jeff and I were first married and had no money at all, one of our big treats was a cup of hot chocolate with a scoop of vanilla ice cream floating on top. It was blissfully delicious. Then we went through a cinnamon-sprinkled-on-top stage. The kids, of course, loved mini-marshmallows the best. Then Costco, in our more affluent years, started selling the Swiss Miss (or maybe it was Nestles) packets of flavoured hot chocolate mix. Raspberry, caramel, hazelnut, French vanilla. I love to heat up a big pot of milk when we have a crowd in the house, adding bits of this and bits of that until I arrive at chocolate Nirvana. It is such a comforting drink, nothing beats it for me.

Coconut gluten-free heaven

When Kenzie was visiting last week, I made Bethany some coconut macaroons. They are gluten free and very delicious. With a slight modification, I made a small dairy-free batch for Joshie.

Ambrosia Macaroons

1/2 c unsalted butter

3/4 c sugar

1/8 tsp salt

2 tsp finely grated orange zest

3 eggs

24 oz sweetened flaked coconut

melted white or dark chocolate

Beat butter and sugar until smooth. Add zest and eggs. Mix in coconut. I used my hands at this stage to mix it more thoroughly. Form balls with hands and flatten on a Silpat or well-greased cookie sheets. You can place them close together because they don't spread. Bake at 325F for 20-25 minutes until golden on the bottoms and browned in spots. Cool on sheets and drizle with melted chocolate, using a fork. I used lemon zest with a bit of juice instead of orange zest and drizzled them with white chocolate.

I substituted condensed coconut cream for butter and drizzled them with dairy-free dark chocolate to make Joshie's cookies.

We all liked them, even the gluten eaters!

"To Do" lists

Kenzie came to stay for a couple of days this week.
We read together, watched Night at the Museum, Battle of the Smithsonian, which is as funny as the first, and made snickerdoodles. On the last day we made a "to do" list and got most of the way through it, except for Make paper airplanes, which was Kenzie's idea.
She is notoriously scatter-brained, so I thought the concept of a list might resonate with her, because she loves to write messages and love notes on pretty paper. Dear Nana, I love you. I hope you are not sick like I am. Love Kenzie. (This note was embellished with googly eyes and a yellow feather.) The list was quite long, so she decided to divide the tasks into two separate lists, one for work and one for fun.

Work list.
Vacuum.
Finish Christmas decorations.
Put away Christmas boxes.
Mail packages to Annie and Charlie.
Clean kitchen.
Clean table.
Put rug back in living room.
(I broke a large water globe the night before, while setting Kenzie's bed up on the couch, and it had created a correspondingly large mess.)

Fun list.
Make snickerdoodles.
Make paper airplanes.
Make cards.

The list idea worked very well, especially for me.

I forgot how motivating a list can be.

And did you notice I figured out how to change my font colour?

I have also started downloading my photos onto the blog using Picasa, which is infinitely more efficient.

Ha! Take that, you 21st century, you!

Kenzie is 9

Our (not so) little McKenzie was nine on Saturday. Jonnie had worked Friday night so Jeff and I picked up Jenny and the boys.

They were ready and waiting for us, eager for the festivities. These three love a good party. I am often sad that I can't better communicate with Jenny because I hear from those who know that she is a very fun person.
The four grandsons revel in each others' company and their enthusiasm is hard to dampen. They are like bouncy little puppies, but I managed to get them to sit still for a few moments while they kept saying"cheese" and waiting for me to figure out my camera's settings.

Kenzie loved this jewelry box from Jon and Jenny.

I think that the part Thomy and Jeff like best about parties is when they get to play with the new toys.

There are rodents in my Christmas tree!

Christmas is a'comin'...

...and the goose is getting fat,
Please to put a penny in the old man's hat.
If you haven't got a penny, a ha'penny will do.
If you haven't got a ha'penny, God bless you!

In the good old days when the kids were young and we dragged Jeff out every year to cut our own Christmas tree, we sang this and other memorable Christmas carols all the way home. Jeff was inevitably grumpy because he hated cutting the tree, so we had to be careful not to push the merriment too far. It was always a fine line that we trod.
As Jonnie got big and manly enough to wield a saw, I would take the kids out while Jeff was at work and we did the dirty deed without his cantankerous presence. Then we just had to deal with "putting the tree in the tree stand," a whole other onerous chore.
Then I found a nice little tree farm close to home that cut the tree for you after you tromped around in the mud and chose it. The trees were not magnificent, but we tolerated them because the season became more peaceful and they were cheap. I will not mention certain children of mine who accused us of copping out. For a couple of years, I got away with doing it on my own. Then the remaining children insisted on being included and Jeff even tagged along.
About three years ago, our neighbours gave us their artificial, pre-lit tree because it was too big for their living room. Jeff has been in Christmas tree heaven ever since. This year, Jonnie lugged it down from the high shelf in the shed because Jeff had knee surgery the week before. On Monday night, Jeff set up the tree, carefully arranging the branches to his satisfaction.


It really is a pretty tree.


I have a thing for beautiful boxes. This one stores some of our bird ornaments.


I see that it is now Friday.
Today, I shall finish decorating for Christmas.
Really.

Menopausal Marauders

Last Friday was the annual World's Largest Christmas Bazaar in Portland. I've been attending, with various and sundry friends and relatives, for a few years. Memory being what it is these days, I couldn't tell you how many years, but I do know that at my first bazaar I bought the balloon guys that hang in the rec room. So I'm thinking maybe eight or ten years ago. (Missing balloon picture)
Kind of freaky aren't they? That corner is a cobweb magnet. I should've remembered before I took the photo. Or at least climbed on a chair and dusted it. But they fitted my adventurous hot-air-balloon-chasing lifestyle of the day. And my rec room decor. So home they came, from the World's Largest Christmas Bazaar. Which will be referred to hence as TWLCB. Six friends, including Bethany, joined me on the expedition. Intrepid souls one and all. I mean, I take these things seriously, no wimps allowed on my shopping excursions. We spent four hours wandering the two cavernous spaces of the Expo Centre, spending our cash on such delights as creamy fudge and telescoping Santas. The fudge was one slice for $8 or 4 slices for $12. What is a fudge lover to do? Hitting the bargains at the Avon booth, hoping for some magical anti-wrinkle cream. Contemplating buying $220 Z-coil shoes so that I can spend more time meandering the corridors of capitalism without leg pain. I may still visit the store and spend the money, although my doctor questions the validity of their claims. She actually CHUCKLED at the thought of springs in the heels. Bouncy gait. But it feels so good! We were supposed to meet at one o'clock to go home, but Karen and I decided we needed another hour. Somehow Bethany didn't get the message and sat in the foyer for almost an hour, thinking that we had gone home without her. For some reason, I didn't hear any of her calls to my cell phone. So sad. I felt like a terrible mother. On the way home we stopped for Thai food, in spite of my protestations. I despise Thai food. I had orange chicken. Much yummier. But a slight detour brought us to this adorable cottage. I couldn't resist the juxtaposition of these photos. Hot women, one and all. Who could not resist making rowdy comments about the aforementioned detour. Yes, Lori may look all sweet and innocent, but let me tell you, she has a sublime comment for every occasion. And Karen, driver extraordinaire, who blamed my navigating for the detour. And many other things. On the way home, a final note of irony. This was before the sheer numbers of his infidelity had come to light. Poor Tiger.