Grandma's rolls

For as long as I can remember, my mom has made my Grandma Walter's crescent rolls for special dinners like Thanksgiving, Christmas, big family dinners, my birthday, etc. They are my very favorite rolls. Mom always got up early (sometime between 5 and 6 am) to roll them out so they could rise and then be cooked before it was time to use the oven for other things. To this day, seeing them sitting on the table under the white dish towels as they rise makes me happy.

I always used to think they were hard to make or took a lot of time. I remember there have been times when my mom made the rolls for my aunt's Thanksgiving dinner. Then I decided one day to take the plunge and learn to make them myself.  Well, they are super easy to make, and require no kneading. I think they might seem a little labor intensive because the dough has to be refidgerated over night and then they have to be rolled out and have to have about 5 hours to rise. Of course, I plan it out so I don't have to get up early to roll them out, but even that takes only about 30 minutes.

Mom still makes them better than I do, but she has 30+ years of practice on me.  Even without all the practice, they are dang good!

Applesauce

I helped my mom and dad make applesauce the other weekend. Mom has 2 apple trees. Homegrown apples and then homemade applesauce are so good. It's kind of a messy job (or maybe it's just us) but it's worth it in the end.

I took my bottles home and immediately made a batch spiced applesauce bread with pecans and chocolate chips.

Books I love, part 2

Another series of books that I really love is the Death In…  series by M.M. Kaye.  M.M. Kaye was born in India and was a British army wife who spent a good part of her life in exotic foreign places where her husband was stationed. She wrote mysteries or “whodunits” in some of the places she had lived.  The book are Death in Cyprus, Death in Zanzibar, Death in Kashmir, Death in the Andamans, Death in Berlin and Death in Kenya.  Goodreads gives them an order but they don’t need to be read in any particular order since they don’t have any characters or places in common.  I tracked down hardcover copies of every one of them some years ago through online used book stores and re-read them every couple of years or whenever I need a pick-me-up.

These books are a prime example of why I read. I will never be a British army wife and definitely not get to visit war torn Berlin, or Kashmir, or Kenya’s Rift Valley of those days, but for a few hours when I’m reading these books, I can be transported to a life vastly different from mine.  While they are works of fiction, I can get a glimpse of what life might have been like for women traveling in the 1940’s and 50’s or following a husband’s army regiment. Some of the language is a little old, as are the slang phrases, and can take some getting used to. I can see why not everybody would love them, but I do and would highly recommend them to anybody who likes historical fiction or cozy mysteries.

Autumn is my favorite time of year

A few of my fall favorites: pumpkins, pomegranates, leaves changing colors, cool nights, warm afternoons, hot cocoa, backyard campfires, apples and making applesauce, baking, spiced cider, warm blankets, and candy making at Thanksgiving.

But maybe my very favorite thing is to watch how summer fades away and is replaced by glorious fall days as nature slowly prepares to go to sleep for the winter.

This is definitely my favorite time of year!

Books I love

I just finished a book in a series that is fast becoming one of my all-time favorites and it got me thinking about other series of books that I really love.  One of the very earliest series that I read was The Chronicles of Prydain by Lloyd Alexander. I believe I was in 4^th grade when my teacher, Mr. Jeppsen, read The Book of Three aloud to us. That book seriously changed my life.  I’ve always loved to read, but up to that time had read books like Ramona by Beverly Cleary, or the Childhood of Famous Americans series (I loved those books and read every single one my library had).  But.  The Book of Three opened up a new genre to me and introduced me to a world I had no idea existed. I was captivated. I loved Taran and how he wanted to be more than he thought he was. And then there were his friends, mentors, and trusty sidekicks: Elionwy, Gurgi, Fflewddur Fflam, Coll, Dallben, Doli, and Gwydion.  (ha ha… as a weird side note, I always thought that Gwydion should have married Aurora from Disney’s Sleeping Beauty. J To my young mind, the 2 of them were made for each other, forget Prince Philip J. )

Anyway, I devoured the rest of the series and went on to love the fantasy genre and it wasn’t long before I was reading books by Terry Brooks, David Eddings, Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman, just to name a few authors I read as  child/teenager.  I still have a soft spot for The Chronicles of Prydain. Its funny how, after all these years, Prydain is very much alive and as real to me as some of my own memories. Books are funny that way.

Waffle Cookies

It would be hard for me to choose my favorite cookie between chocolate chip and waffle cookies. Ha ha...warm chocolate chip cookies with milk are like food for the soul. But I do love me a waffle cookie, which are also best served warm with milk. :)

Our recipe comes from the 10th Ward Cook's Corner cookbook that my ward put together in 1981. We've made them in my family since I can remember. In high school, a friend and I ruined my mom's waffle iron by trying to cook chocolate chip cookies in it. Since then I've stayed with the tried and true and it really can't be beat.

Waffle Cookies

Melt 1 cube margarine and add:
3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
4 tsp cocoa
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup flour

Mix all the ingredients together. Cook on pre-heated waffle iron on medium heat by dropping one spoonful of batter on each square. Cook for 3-4 minutes. Frost while warm. This recipe makes about 16-20 cookies, depending on how small they are. I usually double it when I make them.

Frosting:
powdered sugar
cocoa
vanilla
milk
butter or margarine

I don't have measurements because I just dump in the bowl and mix. It used to drive all of us crazy that my mom couldn't give us the actual measurements, but we must have learned well because now my sisters and I make frosting the way mom does. :)

A few notes:
Butter can be used instead of margarine, but the taste changes slightly, of course. I've also tried baking chocolate squares when I was out of cocoa and they make a rich chocolate flavor, but change the texture of the cookie slightly. And finally, I prefer homemade frosting instead of store bought kinds. The frosting melts a bit because you put it on the warm cookie and store bought frosting seems to change a bit when it sets back up.

YUM!!!

Perfect moments

Do you ever have that perfect moment? The one where everything is peaceful and worries and stress disappear, and for that small moment in time you are perfectly happy.  I had one this summer and I was thinking about it the other day.  I was in Sweden at Anna’s summer home.  It was mid-morning and the sky was blue and the birds were out. The sun was shining and warm. The sea was close, although I couldn’t see it through the bushes and trees. I was lying on my back on the grass next to my sister and we were finding shapes in the clouds.

I cherish moments like those.

Sometimes I have perfect moments in the middle of noisy family gatherings, or snuggled in a blanket with hot chocolate watching the snow fall.

 

Whatever your perfect moment is, I hope you have one soon.