On Friday, I pause and remember a single, wordless moment from the past week – inspired by The Warden’s Log.
Granddaughter and Daughter
Quick and Easy Peanut Butter Fudge
If you’re looking for an easy item to add to your New Year’s Eve snack table, this might be just right. Make it early in the day to allow for a 3-4 hour chilling period. Or make it days ahead of time and store at room temperature in a closed container. It’s my favorite peanut butter fudge because the peanut butter flavor really comes through.
QUICK AND EASY PEANUT BUTTER FUDGE
- 2 cups peanut butter chips
- 14 oz. can Eagle Brand condensed milk
- Dash of salt
- 1-½ tsp. vanilla
- ½ cup creamy peanut butter
- ½ to 1 cup of salted peanuts
Line two 8 inch plates with foil and butter the foil.
Have the peanut butter and peanuts measured and at hand.
In a large saucepan over low heat, place peanut butter chips, condensed milk and salt. Stir constantly until chips are melted and mixture is smooth.
Remove from heat and stir in vanilla. Add peanut butter and stir until smooth.
Pour half of the mixture onto a prepared plate. Mix ½ cup peanuts into the remaining fudge and pour onto the other prepared plate.
Cover with foil and refrigerate for 3-4 hours until the top of the fudge feels solid to the touch.
Remove foil and cut into squares.
Of course, you could make the entire mixture with peanuts by using the full one cup or eliminate the peanuts entirely for a creamy plain peanut butter fudge.
Once fudge is set, it can be kept at room temperature in a covered container.
Our First Christmas Together – 1952
On December 25, 1952, Frank and I had been married for 7 months. We were settled in a three-room apartment on the second floor of my parents’ two-family house (rent was the grand sum of $12.00/month). We were making payments on a living room suite and appliances purchased from Jake Tennenbaum Furniture in downtown Cincinnati and the rest of the furnishings consisted of family hand-me-downs.
I was secretary to an executive in the TV-Radio Advertising Department of Procter & Gamble and Frank was beginning a long career with the Cincinnati Water Works. This was ….
OUR FIRST CHRISTMAS
It wasn’t a very big tree – just over four feet tall – but it was broad and bushy at the bottom and tapered to a graceful, willowy top. And the ornaments were all brand new and shiny – little glistening balls of shimmering beauty that hung so proudly on this, our very first tree. There were tiny red balls with white sleighs gliding across them, and large pagoda-like wonders of yellow and purple; and the new, freshly-hung icicles were like glimmering trickles of a cold mountain stream that wound its way over each small green limb and hung precariously in places over the tiny pine needles. Each light was a star within itself, twinkling with friendly cheer and winking at the few people whose eyes chanced to look up at the second floor window and see the little tree.
This was our first Christmas as man and wife and we had planned and prepared as was fitting for a first Christmas in our own apartment. At each window a red, snow-bedecked wreath hung grandly and on a sheet-covered cedar chest were two elaborate silver candlesticks (wedding gifts) containing bright red candles, which glittered and shone in desperate competition with the tree lights.
In the clean whiteness of the new refrigerator a cool, pink turkey was awaiting his chance to be the center of attraction at the Christmas dinner. Plans were being made for pies and cake and fresh rolls – eye-tempting and tummy-filling produce for the visiting relatives.
This was our first Christmas – the decorations. the dinner, the squat little tree – all of these traditional and beautiful things made us feel like a family at last.
From my journal – December, 1952
Hope you all have a memorable Christmas.
12 Days of Christmas
For over 40 years, my oldest daughter and I have exchanged gifts for the 12 Days of Christmas. For us, the 12 days are from December 12 through December 23 – sort of a Christmas countdown. The idea originally was to have a small gift (around $1.00) to unwrap each morning. Even 40 years ago, it wasn’t easy to find things for a dollar and our exchanges have always included handmade gifts, depending on what our interests are at the time – crocheting, embroidery, lacemaking, sewing, quilting, decorative painting, jewelry making, homemade cookies/candy, etc.
Currently, our gifts average around $2.00 and my daughter has a special talent for finding unusual, inexpensive items at thrift stores and antique shops. She shops all year long and has a dazzling array of small gifts for our exchange. This is what I received this year.
Handmade items: Two crocheted Christmas mini-doilies, three pair of earrings and a felted credit card holder
Thrift shop and antique store finds: A 1970s child’s Scottie teapot and plate, a tiny covered dish with violets, two candle holder plates with a blue design, a lighthouse candle holder (I display lighthouse and beach items every August), a vintage cooking notebook with some handwritten recipes, a vintage Scottie greeting card (love Scottie designs), and probably the best buy at $2.00, a 100-year-old 1911 calendar plate.
My daughter lives with me and it’s such fun to get up each morning for these 12 days to open our gifts. We also wrap up a little dog treat so our 13-year-old hound, Rusty, can share in the celebration.
Pause and Remember – 12/23/2011
On Friday, I pause and remember a single, wordless moment from the past week – inspired by The Warden’s Log.
Daughter and Grandchildren Bake Christmas Cookies
Mini-Christmas Card Holder
Christmas cards – sending them and receiving them – used to be a major part of the season. Everyone sent cards to everyone – we exchanged cards with our minister, doctor, grocer, teachers, neighbors, friends and woe to the person who forgot an aunt or distant cousin when making out the cards.
My sister and I liked to buy the dime-store boxes of cards in which every piece was different. Then, we could match them up to the recipient – a funny snowman for a cousin, an English village scene for an aunt and uncle, a religious card for Grandma.
All personal cards were signed by hand, most with a short message, and addressed by hand. There was usually a TB sticker on the back of the envelope to show the sender had bought a page of stickers to fight tuberculosis.
Envelopes, stamps and stickers had to be licked, a job the kids usually got to do.
A lot of cards were mailed and a lot of cards were received. They were opened quickly and taped in a prominent place in the living room – surrounding the mantel or maybe attached to a velvet ribbon that traveled around a door jamb. Visitors were likely to look through the cards, admire the designs and take note of the senders.
Things have changed a lot. We still send cards but very selectively. So many of the people who used to be so interested in the annual Christmas greetings are gone now and the younger people like to send e-mails or say, “Merry Christmas” on their blogs. I receive 10 cards or so each Christmas now and don’t need a length of velvet to display them. This Christmas, I was inspired by a card-holder wall hanging I saw in a quilt shop. I made one to fit my mini-quilt rack – it’s basically a wall hanging with a pocket attached. It’s plenty big enough to hold my cards which are still treasured and admired just as they were 50 years ago.
The vintage cards are from my personal collection. The bank card and TB seal are from the 1920s, the other cards are from the 1940s.
Mom’s Bourbon Pecan Fudge
My youngest daughter loved the bourbon fudge she had ordered online and I put together this recipe to try to duplicate it. It’s not exactly the same, but very good and very easy to make. This is an adult candy but the bourbon flavor is not too strong. It just adds a nice mellow taste to a creamy, rich fudge.
MOM’S BOURBON PECAN FUDGE
4 cups Ghirardelli milk chocolate chips (two 11.5 oz. packages)*
14-oz can Eagle Brand condensed milk
Dash of salt
¼ cup bourbon
1 cup coarsely chopped pecans
* You could use any kind of chocolate chips – our family is partial to both milk chocolate and Ghirardelli chips.
- Line an 8-inch pan with foil and butter the foil.
- In a large heavy saucepan, place chocolate chips, condensed milk and salt. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly until chips are melted.
- Remove from heat. Stir in bourbon gradually, stirring until smooth. Stir in chopped pecans.
- Pour into prepared pan and refrigerate for 4-5 hours until fudge is set and completely cool – the top should feel solid.
- Remove candy from pan by lifting foil. Peel foil from bottom of fudge and place on a cutting board. Score the fudge into the size pieces you prefer. The eight-inch pan will hold fudge that is about one-inch thick. Cut the fudge into squares.**
Store in a tightly covered container. Once the fudge is set, refrigeration is not needed – store at room temperature.
**Makes 16 two-inch squares of fudge. Note that these are BIG pieces of fudge. You could also use a nine-inch pan and cut the candy into smaller squares.
The Manger Scene
Throughout the years while I was raising my four kids (beginning in 1954), I kept a journal where I periodically made notes about holidays, school, vacations, etc. As an occasion arises where I think one of my journal entries would be pertinent, I’m going to post it just as I wrote or typed it back in the day (except for an explanatory note or correction of a typo).
The children will be known here by the nicknames their grandfather used when they were toddlers: The oldest daughter will be Newsie (because she was as good as a newspaper for finding out the latest happenings), the oldest son is Bar (because he called Grandpa’s truck Bar and Grandpa called him Bar), the youngest son is Jackson, and the youngest daughter is Shanty (as in Shanty-Boat).
In 1954, I had an 8-month-old baby girl and was looking forward to her first Christmas.
Newsie, 8 months old, 1954
One day in December, I carried Newsie on one arm, a folding Taylor Tot on the other, and boarded the bus to go to downtown Cincinnati. My mother worked in the large Shillito’s department store and I liked to meet her at lunchtime to do a little shopping. That year, for my first Christmas with a baby in the house, I really wanted what we called a manger scene – or creche or crib – with the little figures to set up on a table. We found one with a cardboard stable complete with the Holy Family, angels, shepherds, wise men, sheep, a donkey and a cow.
I fell in love with it but didn’t have the $5 to purchase it. My mother bought it for me on the spot and it has held a place of honor for all these years.
I arranged the set on a low table so that little ones could get a good view of it. I don’t recall Newsie ever touching the figures, but the two brothers who soon came along were inclined to use the stable as a parking garage for their mini cars, with the figures scattered helter-skelter.
When little sister Shanty came along in 1970, she was just as fascinated with it:
“We are just about ready for Christmas, 1972. The tree has been up for a couple of weeks now and Shanty continuously takes down ornaments, rearranges ornaments, breaks ornaments….She fools with the tree constantly and is almost as bad with the manger scene. At any time we can find the whole set down on the floor where she has been ‘playing house’ with it.
December, 1972”
Shanty, 2 years of age, 1972
The stable has been replaced many times. Some of the figures were broken – the wisemen seemed to be particularly hard-hit – and I was lucky to find vintage replacements for them in an antique store about 20 years ago. Most of the figures are original with one headless sheep…
… and just a few chips here and there. Now, the manger scene sets as it always did, low enough for small children to get a good look at the figures and maybe even switch them around a little. I don’t mind the chips when I see little hands moving the angels forward a bit or repositioning the donkey. This year, the great-grandson arranged the figures as if they were on a stage with everyone facing the audience.
Pause and Remember – 12/16/2011
On Friday, I pause and remember a single, wordless moment from the past week – inspired by The Warden’s Log.
Great-Grandson likes The Nutcracker ballet
Mt. Shasta Cookies
Back in the late 1980s when I was entering a lot of county and state fair contests, I subscribed to a publication called Blue Ribbon Gazette. This was a collection of recipes submitted by prize winners from all over the country. I found this recipe and made it for Christmas in 1988. In my binder, I have a notation: “Excellent – buttery and chewy.”
These are easy cookies to make – the dough and the meringue both handle nicely.
MT. SHASTA COOKIES
Cookie Dough:
1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
¾ tsp salt
½ cup softened margarine (used Imperial)
½ cup light brown sugar
1 egg yolk
1 tsp vanilla
3 Tblsp. milk
1 cup chopped nuts
Topping:
1 egg white
½ cup granulated sugar
1 cup flaked coconut
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease cookie sheets.
- Separate egg and set aside. In a medium bowl, mix together flour and salt.
- Cream margarine, brown sugar, egg yolk, vanilla and milk. Add flour mixture, mix well. Stir in nuts.
- In a small bowl, whisk egg white until just frothy. Stir in ½ cup granulated sugar and 1 cup coconut.
- Put about 1 tsp dough on lightly greased cookie sheet.
- Flatten cookie dough with heel of hand to about 1-½ inches diameter. Leave about 1 inch between each cookie. Put about ½ tsp of meringue on top of each cookie.
- Bake 6-1/2 to 7 minutes @ 350 degrees F until cookies are lightly browned on bottom and meringue is just beginning to brown.
- Cool on a wire rack. I always leave a few cookies without the topping for those who don’t like coconut
.
Yield: About 60 1-½ inch cookies.
