quiet time

4 / 18 / 14

Every Good Friday when we were growing up, my mom had a rule. Between the hours of 12:00-3:00, we were required to have “quiet time”, alone in our rooms. A time of quiet reflection during those hours when Jesus would die on the cross. As a mom of two adult children, I now have a new perspective.

First of all, you have to know my mom. She is funny. She has been known, at times, to maybe “stretch the truth” a little (?)… but it’s always funnier when she tells the story. She pulls her grandkids to the side and tells them outright, “Grandma lies.” They laugh. One of my brothers will roll his eyes (usually the dad of the one listening to Grandma’s story), and we move on. OK – So back to the subject… our “time of reflection on Good Fridays“.

Some of you may remember from earlier posts that I am the oldest of seven kids. When I was 10 years old, my mom was 29 and had five kids; me being the oldest. (Good news! Found a family pic from our church directory to capture just that moment in time… That’s me to the right of my mom – Ha!) So when Good Friday rolled around, off to our rooms we went. At 12:00. Until 3:00. To be really honest with you, I can’t really remember much of what we did during that time. My mom told us that it would rain at some time during that three hour stretch, so my sister and I (shared a room) would spend some of the time lifting the heavy shade on our window to peer out and search for those ominous, rain producing, clouds… One thing I DO remember (unfortunately), because she did it all the time. My sister always had more money than me; and she liked to count it. Out loud. Coin, by coin, by coin… She had me as an unwilling, yet captive, audience for three hours. Lucky her. Looking back, I have to laugh. I realized as an adult, that as kids, we actually had “quiet time” a lot!! Not just on “Good Friday”. You see, my mom was also very smart. And resourceful. She was merely attempting to maintain her sanity. That was why she would slip off to the bathroom with her coffee and a weeks worth of magazines. We would hear the “click” as the door locked behind her. The rule…? Don’t knock unless someone is bleeding. Bad.

I was (doubly) blessed with twins when I was almost 30, and they were, and still are, such a joy in my life!! In raising our kids, my husband and I made a conscious decision to pick and choose the pieces of our individual childhoods that we wanted to take forward with our own children. Kind of like combining really dark chocolate with… well; just about anything! It’s all about the mixture. “This” worked; “that” – Ummm… not so much. So guess what made the cut from my childhood? Yep. “Good Friday quiet time”. 12:00-3:00. They could read, work on puzzles, quietly listen to music (pre-appoved; by me!). There was no TV, radio, computer, phone or friends during that time. And they were fine with it really. The older they got, the more they understood why there were being asked to do it. It was a way for them to, hopefully, prepare their hearts for Easter Sunday.

So, Mom – if you’re reading this – you will be glad to know that I still, to this day, honor that quiet time every Good Friday. I usually plan a quiet “project”; something that I can do by myself, at home, without really thinking. Today is no exception. It is a beautiful day and the birds are chirping like crazy. Not a rain cloud in sight… I have selected a “project” (more on that later) and I am ready to put on some beautiful music and spend the time reflecting. Quietly. 12:00 until 3:00…

the “infamous” Easter cookies…

4 / 17 / 14

Carrots, bunnies, baby chicks, flowers, ducks…

So yesterday I talked about my nostalgic Easter memories, and mentioned our yummy Easter sugar cookies that we were, well… not to brag, but we were kinda known for…

Went searching for a good pic of them today, but was only able to get a so-so picture. That’s ok with me though. Considering the state of ~~complete and utter chaos~~ “slight disorganization” my photos are in… finding ANY picture with a cookie in it was nothing short of an Easter miracle. So enjoy it. Please. It did NOT come easy. Here’s the good news though. Actually, TWO parts to the whole good news thingie. First of all, I’m sharing our recipe with you; or should I say – Betty Crocker is sharing her recipe with you. It is actually from her “Cooky Book” (1963 – Page 18)! Ya – Vintage stuff!!

Mary’s Sugar Cookies

1 1/2 cups sifted confectioners sugar
1 cup butter
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
2 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cream of tartar

Cream sugar and butter together. Add egg and flavorings, mix thoroughly. Stir dry ingredients together and mix in. Refrigerate 2-3 hours. Heat oven to 375 degrees. Divide dough in half and roll 3/16″ thick on lightly floured board. Cut with cookie cutter and bake on parchment paper on baking sheet for 6-8 minutes or until delicately golden. (Makes 4 dozen 3″ cookies) ** After cooling, we liked to frost with a buttercream icing before ~~heavily~~ decorating with sprinkles!!

The second bit of good news? It’s Throwback Thursday & as I was frantically searching for the elusive “Easter sugar cookie pic” – I came across these treasures. Awww… So cute!! My kids are gonna love me for this one (wink, wink…) xo

a nostalgic Easter

4 / 16 / 14

Easter. Gotta say that I’m feeling a bit ~~teary~~ nostalgic about Easter this year. OK… a LOT nostalgic. Here’s the deal. My son in away at school finishing his Masters in Accountancy and studying for his CPA Exam. He gets up in the morning, studies all day, goes to bed. Next day… get’s up in the morning, studies all day, goes to bed. Basically it’s “Groundhog Day” (hated that movie!) with a gym workout thrown in here and there for sanity measures. And a couple beers on the weekend. He has taken Exam #1 (of 4) and #2 is May 1. Needless to say, he will not be home for Easter. My daughter recently started a new job, and is possibly scheduled to leave town for work. Soon. Like maybe Easter Sunday… morning?

OK. So back to the ole “nostalgic part“. I was lying there in bed last night, unable to fall asleep because my brain was in overdrive (been there, done that; right??) I remembered back to all of the funny little Easter memories that just tickle my heart to remember…

Making our easter sugar cookies (they were bee-you-tee-ful…gotta say!), the coordinated family Easter outfits, dyeing Easter eggs, chocolate nests for the Easter table, “the bunny corsage”. Sigh…! Makes me so happy inside just remembering everything. You know what else makes me happy inside at this time of year? Decorating the house for Easter and spring! Are you a “springtime decorator”? It’s a definite mood lifter for me!! It’s like chasing away the winter blahs, and making everything seem fresh and alive again!! So today I am sharing with you a few little snipits of springtime at the Toth house. Welcome…

Easter kitchen ceiling light fixture — Our kitchen light, taken from a rather unique angle. Lying on the kitchen table looking up through the light at the ceiling… teehee!

easter chicks

the bunny corsage

3 / 27 / 13

I LOVE Easter. It is a springtime holiday, and just for that reason alone it is a favorite of mine. Spring is cheerful and happy and hopeful… The flowers peeking up from the soil (sometimes right through the snow… like now!), there are little baby animals everywhere, warm rain and sunshine replace the sleet and freezing rain, we trade in the winter parkas for light jackets and pastel sweaters… I could go on and on and on. Suffice it to say that I simply adore spring. As a little girl in a big (Catholic) family, we had huge family gatherings for Easter. It would start with church and my first warm, fuzzy memory… a “bunny corsage“.

A carnation with googly eyes, pipe cleaner ears, little whiskers and a big bow. To this day, one sniff of a carnation and I am instantly transported back in time. Priceless.

After church we would head to my grandma and grandpa’s house for a day of celebrating with tons of food and sweets and extended family. There was always ham and scalloped potatoes and lots of cousins. We used the “pretty plates” and ate in the dining room under the beautiful chandelier. My Aunt Adeline would always make the coconut coated “lamb cake” and my mom would make little chocolate nests that would sit at everyone’s place.

These little nests are made by melting chocolate and mixing with torn up “Shredded Wheat” cereal to form little nests. Fill each nest with jelly beans and little “Peeps” or fuzzy bunnies or chicks. Funny story. One year my mom didn’t actually have “Shredded Wheat”, but she did have some “high fiber bran cereal” on hand. That should work. Well it worked all right. Really well, in fact. Especially for a few of my brothers who liked to sneak other people’s nests when they weren’t looking… (teehee!)

So time marches on… and suddenly you are in the position of “making” those special memories for your own children. Some childhood memories we did our best to “re-create”… others we made up as we went along. I still remember going to the florist when my daughter was maybe four years old and attempting to explain a “bunny corsage”. Ha! Aunt Adeline’s “lamb cake” became the inspiration for a happy little bunny cake that the kids used to make and decorate. The chocolate nests were a tradition that survived the test of time – Made with Shredded Wheat, that is. When the kids were little we had an Easter Village, Easter trees and even made an Easter gingerbread house one year. We were big on dying Easter eggs – our “trick” was to use 2 “tablets” per color to make them extra bright – and we made the most beautiful decorated Easter sugar cookies; chicks, bunnies, crosses, flowers, ducks… beautiful AND yummy; gotta say!! But once again, time marches on. Now those little people of mine are college seniors. Easter is… well; different. I still decorate, but I realize that is basically for me at this point. But that chandelier that hung in my grandma’s dining room is now hanging in my dining room. The “bunny village” is tucked away for safe keeping and I have saved all of the cookie cutters. Yep. I am patient and confident. There is no doubt in my mind that there will, once again, be bunny corsages in our future. Someday…

scalloped-potatoes-complete — Check out this blog, Dally’s Vintage Days, for a recipe for scalloped potatoes similar to the ones “Gram” used to make.

baked-ham-ck-1011300-x — Intimidated by the “How to’s” of a baked ham for Easter? Check out this video….

sugar cookies

7 / 9 / 12

So today is “National Sugar Cookie Day”… and for me, that brings back a flood of “warm, fuzzy” memories! With my mom, with my grandma, with my kids. Easter, Halloween, Christmas, just because. Sugar cookies on a stick for every “half birthday party” at school. Ahhh… It’s like a little trip down memory lane; and I am suddenly missing those “”above mentioned people” very much… Tuck these recipes away for a rainy day, and create a future memory with someone that you love. Enjoy!

Sweetopia’s Sugar Cookie Recipe

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups butter (at room temperature)

2 cups sugar

2 large eggs

Seeds from 1 vanilla bean (or 3 tsp vanilla)

5 cups flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

Instructions:

1. Cream the butter and sugar together in the bowl of an electric mixer on low tomedium speed. (Use the paddle attachment). Mix until thoroughly incorporated – forabout one minute. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a plastic spatula and mixagain for a few seconds more.Over mixing the butter and sugar in this step will cause too much air to be incorporatedinto the dough. If you’d like a light and fluffy cookie, that’s ideal, however the dough will spread more during baking;

not ideal if you’d like the cookie to hold its shape.

2. Add eggs slowly and mix. Scrape down the bowl with your spatula at least once andmix again.

3. Cut open your vanilla bean and scrape the seeds out. Add to mixing bowl. Alternatively, add liquid vanilla extract. Stir briefly.

4. Sift your dry ingredients together. (Flour, baking powder and salt).

5. Add all of the flour mixture to the bowl. Place a large tea towel or two small teatowels between the edge of the bowl and the electric mixer so that the flour won’tescape. Mix on low speed for 3o seconds. Remove the tea towels and observe the doughmixing; when it clumps around the paddle attachment it’s ready. It’s also important atthis stage not to over mix the dough (the glutens in the flour develop and the dough can become tough).

6. Roll the dough out between 2 large pieces of parchment paper. Place on a bakingsheet and into the fridge for a minimum of 1 hour.

7. Roll out the dough further if you need to, and cut out cookie shapes. Place onparchment paper-lined baking sheet. Re-roll scraps and repeat.

8. Put cookie dough shapes back into the fridge for 10 minutes to 1 hour to chill again.They will then hold their shape better when baked.

9. Preheat your oven to 350°F or 176°C.

10. Bake cookies for 8-12 minutes or until the edges become golden brown. The bakingtime will depend on the size of your cookie.

11. Let cookies cool to room temperature and decorate!

A few notes about the recipe:

*Butter – The butter needs to be soft, or room temperature. I leave mine out the night before I do my baking. If you forget, you can grate the butter on the largest hole of your box grater, so that the sugar and butter will mix together better.

*Baking powder – I hardly use any baking powder in my recipe because the dough willspread and rise more during baking, thereby making the shape of the cookie less crisp.