Cookies, who needs them?

I think cookies are the ultimate 'comfort' food....they go with most beverages, milk, tea, coffee, water, wine, and yes maybe even some special drinks...like amaretto and shortbread, irish bailey's cream and peanut butter. But there's really nothing like a glass of cold milk and a few choice homemade cookies...oatmeal raisin with walnuts. It's the perfect breakfast. (if you are not watching your calories)

Speaking of calories, have you ever spent hours at the grocery store looking at the millons of choices of cookies boxes, searching for that tasty treat that is under 100 calories for 3? Well if you haven't done such a search, I have, and I can tell you it doesn't exist.

I am sharing my two favorite holiday cookies, from my mother's drawer of recipes. Straight out of 1950 Pillsbury Best...

Tis the Season!

Wow, it's already December! No blogging for 4 months- where does the time go?
It's friggin Christmas again! Time for the Fish Feast, A Italian Christmas Day Feast (Braciole?), and
hopefully the Truckee Tamale Feast! Feast for all and for all a good holiday!

It's also a time for frantic crocheting and knitting...finishing up those projects that I started last January, or maybe the January before...I can't remember. I tried to crochet a moccasin the other day and it turned out horrible, maybe I'll just toss it in the garbage ala Joan Henry.  I felted Kasey and Meggy some holiday neck warmers...

More to come! I have some down time finally so I can concentrate on my two favorite things - Cooking and Fiber Arts! Michelle is coming tomorrow and we are going to start the preparation for the Fish Feast....but first a few batches of our favorite cookies...

Real Italian Housewives Spaghetti Sauce

Of course, I would never give you my recipe for my Italian Spaghetti sauce (or gravy???)
But here are some key ingredients:

BLOG TIME

The Blog is back! After a long, hot, dry summer in Vegas, with little knitting and cooking accomplished, I feel the creative juices coming back...As many of you know, I am a little obsessed right now with the Real Housewives series on New Jersey. It just feel a little too close to home...I think maybe I may have ended up like one of them if my father wouldn't have come home that fateful day and said "Clara! Pack up the house, we are moving to California! I remember thinking "what the heck is "California" and no one really explained it to me (did they ever explain anything to me???) until we were at the airport saying goodbye to all my New Jersey aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents, friends...my whole life changed that fateful day...I may have stayed in New Jersey, and lived near Patterson, and drove  a  Cadillac, married a mobster, and had kids in my mansion....oh well...instead I had these gals:

Loser-ville

I just almost burned a pot with boiling water! What does this mean?????
Now I can't cook water?

Also, I ordered a yougurt machine from Target today - spent an extra $10 for the automatic shut off.
I'll keep you all posted...

Socks still suck

Yes. I'm insane. I started another pair of socks. I'm almost done with the first one, just a teeenny bit more of the toe to finish, then on to the next one.

Part of me is taking my time with the toe, so that I never have to start numero dos. These are for me. I love myself enough to not want to share any of these billions of tiny little stitches with anyone. Anyway, at least I'm still knitting.

And someday, I'll use the magic loop, two socks at time method, maybe when I have lots of time to whip up dozens of pairs. Next lifetime.

I guess I was on a blog vacation.

But I'm back!

I will have to be gut-wrenchingly honest here and confess that due to many batches of burnt food (salsa, beans, stews, and then hard boiled eggs), I felt unworthy to blog about my fine culinary adventures....

Then I decided to lose some weight and I sort of lost interest in cooking all my favorite foods like vine ripened marinara sauce, homemade salsas, the famous tamale feasts, eggplant parmagiana...

And I started making instant sugar free jello and crazy stuff like celery sticks and sliced cucumbers. I also became a salt fiend. I gave up chips and salsa and sugar and white flour. Life hasn't been that fun to blog about.

And I've lost 25 pounds since January 15th. So that's the good news!
This Saturday, Mike and I celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary, and then going to Memphis for 5 days to see Graceland and Beale Street...and probably find some damn good southern food, not fried, but tasty. I'll send pictures!

Michelle can't stop eating Tamales!

The hat came hot off the needles, as she knitted it up in a day, wore it for the Tamaleta...or Fiesta de Tamal, as Luis Munoz would call it...

I couldn't stop knitting, and got a little crazy....

coming next...new years day eggplant parmigiana at the Blairs!

Spent New's Years Eve at Joan's - knitting and drinking bubbly - YES it can be done!

Currently working on the Eggplant - stay tuned

Tamales - The Perfect 'in between' Culinary Event of the Year....

What do normal families do those lazy days between Christmas and New Years?????
Shop, return gifts, watch DVD's, play video games, pound the pavement power walking, ski, relax....??????

OR start a brand new tradition : Host a Tamaleta - that's Spanish for Tamale Party! (Or I just made the word up) OK, the official name is "Fiesta del Tamal" according to Luis Munoz, expert translator...and great South American Jazz musician.

It was lots of fun, and my favorite worlds collided as we used YARN (thin cotton classic, variegated) to wrap up the little presents of turkey, tomatillo sauce and masa. There was also a batch of sweet tamales, with bitttersweet chocolate wrapped in corn husks....try it instead of fighting the lines at the stores next year!

Where's Lou???? He's getting the shots of Patron ready for us!

after the tamales were devoured, we returned to our knitting posts and watched 30 Rock episodes. What a perfect way to end the closing days of the year!

slippers for Paloma

Here's a darling pair of slippers for Paloma - made out of Noro

Pom Pom's courtesy of Meridith's cardboard and knitting wisdom

(to be mailed tomorrow, Jan 2nd)

Christmas 2009

Christmas is over. It swoops in, much like Santa Claus on his sleigh, drops off some pretty wonderful gifts, and gallops off into the night, until next year....I didn't get to knit alot before Christmas, but I made up for lost time after Christmas when we drove to Truckee the next day.

Christmas is always a bittersweet time for me, I miss both my parents the entire 2 days. So it's really about showing up, giving gifts, eating the festival of 7 fishes on the 24th, and drinking Maria's Martini's to numb out the ache in my heart that Clara and Frank won't be there anymore. We started a new tradition (I guess last year, but I don't remember it, due to the Martinis)...get a bottle of Anisette (Marie Blizzard, or Brizard?)
and toast to everyonewho has passed on...we sat for a good hour talking about Uncle Jimmy (Caringella), Aunt Sue, Aunt Clara,Uncle Joe,  Frank and Clara, and all the great things we love and miss about them. There is healing with verbal communication. Then we opened gifts, laughed and I felt my shoulders were a bit lighter....

Post Crock Pot Episode : Thanksgiving   2009

We spent Thanksgiving this year with the Citrins. It was interesting to note how LARGE their family has grown in the past 4 years...kinda scary for me. Sometimes I look at Sara and Michelle, and try to imagine what it will be like when they both have 'significant others' and possibly even children!  Muni and Anneka were children in our wedding, and it's always fun to see how old they are now.It really makes me feel like it was just yesterday, living in Oakland, spoiling them rotten while Bessie worked on her PhD....

Now there is massive expansion in the Citrin - world. Muni married Naya, and they had Paloma (ok, she's very very cute, possibly the cutest I know). Anneka brought wonderful Amani to our family and Amani brought her wonders of books, movies and hi-tech knowledge to our Thanksgiving party. Bessie came, and was beaming from head to toe, to have her whole clan in one spot, along with our small clan (Michelle, don't grow up, ever!, stay 4 forever! - I say that because I never really wanted Michelle to grow up, and 4 was for me, the perfect age to maintain for life....)

Pictures to follow, once I find someone  to email me, who took the family shot at Alice Keck Park the day after Thanksgiving....Oh and the bird was fabuloso, the stuffing and fixings delicioso, and pies fantastico!

Crock of S*#$*((@*&$T....

Hi all! Okay I'm behind on my postings...so let's start with the Crock of Shit episode.....

I decided to make my wonderful daughters a nice pot of homemade beef stew-just like Mom made it....
Got the nice lean chunks of sirloin, braised it ever so sweetly over the stove with some olive oil, garlic, a dash of salt and sprinkle of flour....smelled yummy throughout the house. Nothing like the smell of browning beef and garlic to add aroma to the homestead...

Since I have to work for a living, and not stay home all day mothering my beef stew, I decided to pull down the good old crock pot. I've had it since the 80's, beige, baby blue and pink to proof the decade it came from (like my wedding dish set). Threw the beef in with all the delicious sauce it created all by itself, added plenty of water to get through the day....turned the crock pot on HIGH to make sure it stay at optimal heat, and went off to my meeting....

At 3:30 I called Sara, and she turned it off dutily...didn't LOOK in the pot, but it was off. When I came home at 5:00, it was a crock of black poop. Sorry, but it's really the only way to describe it. I couldn't believe a crock pot could burn something so badly...isn't that why they are used, to AVOID burning something while you're away? I mean, my culinary skills are limited, and already have a low percentage of success (50/50) and burning is my worst culinary defect. I really was disappointed in the whole crock industry, and have sworn them off for the rest of my life. I actually threw out the whole pot, lid, poop, and all.

Now I'm ready for that pressure cooker!