Friday, December 31, 2010

Happy New Year


Here's wishing you all (or y'all if your from these parts) a wonderful, happy and safe New Year. I want to take the time to thank all of you, my bloggy buds for leaving wonderful, heartfelt, loving and just too funny comments throughout my year of rants and art, or art and rants!! That comment reminds me of the time I asked my now deceased, wonderful Pop, when I was about 7 years old, if he suffered during the Great Depression. He said there was always food on the table, for breakfast, they would have beans and tortillas, for lunch, beans and tortillas, so I figured he had the same thing for dinner, but he said absolutley not, for dinner, they'd have tortillas and beans!!!! Para-pum!! Ok, you saw that one coming, but I was 7 for heaven's sake!!

So, I shall post my last blog here for this year and will return next year with more art and rants and even throw in a recipe or two....how about my recipe for Menudo??? I can just imagine what a particular gentleman in CT is doing just about now!!! Tristan, are you there???? LOL Off I go into the confines of my kitchen to cut the "panza" (stomach) sounds so much nicer in Spanish, and take out as much fat as possible, clean it thoroughly and throw into the my big stew pots with the pozole (hominy), ox tail, green onions and later, add the red chile sauce. Will cut up the limes, green onions, open up a brand new package of Mexican oregano and red chile seeds, heat up the bolillos (small French style rolls) and serve up a nice steaming bowl of menudo to warm the belly and heart. I'll have friends and family stopping by tomorrow, Tupperware in hands, for a bowl of my soup and leave here with great satisfaction and full container of my tasty treat.

HAPPY NEW YEAR, MY FRIENDS. Peace out.

Thursday, December 23, 2010

Straight No Chaser - The Christmas Can-Can (With A Special Greeting)

Sending you all the best of Christmas cheer, laughter, love and lots of eating!! I'm dedicating this song to my buddy, Cindi at http://oldblackcatboo.blogspot.com/. Enjoy this, my friend....hope it makes you smile!! Loves y'all. Peace out.

Sunday, December 19, 2010

Christmas Cookies And Then Some

Well, it's that time of year that the elf gets her fat arse in the kitchen and start making all those deliciously fattening, sweets for family and friends. The insanity began Friday. I mailed off my last Christmas gift to my buddy in Austin, then returned to my kitchen where all those little sugar plum fairies (just exactly what are sugar plums?? Or is it "sugared plums??") awaited for my arrival.

So my bloggy buds, today I'm going to show you how to make Mexican Bischochos. They are these little morsels of pure melt-in-your-mouth pleasure (not orgasmic, but pretty close!) Sorry, TMI, right??? They are a tradition in these parts and I've been making them for years. This is the only time of year I actually well go out and make a special trip to buy lard since it's not a staple in this house. Yes, my friends, it's made with lard and lots of butta!!! Also, due to the close proximity to the great state of New Mexico, state line just down the street from me, I also love the New Mexican version of "Biscochitos." They add anise seeds and pinon nuts. A couple of years ago, when my hubby and I were traveling to Ft. Collins, CO for a seminar, we passed through NM, necessary if we wanted to get to CO!! LOL Anyway, it was October and as we were north of Santa Fe, right off the Interstate, cars were pulled over and parked. I could see families in the wooded area, picnic settings, ladders and sheets of some sort on the ground around the trees. Turned out, they were pinon trees and the locals made a day of it by collecting the nuts from the trees. It looked wonderfully fun and if we weren't in a rush to get up to Ft. Collins, I think we would have done a little pinon nut picking!!

So here's the recipe, pictures and all!!

BISCOCHOS

1 LBS. lard

1 c. butter, (softened)

1 2/3 c. sugar

5 eggs

8 c. flour

4 teaspoons baking powder

1 teasp. vanilla extract

*A little brandy or whiskey to moisten the mixture

*Sugar and cinnamon mixture to use for coating bottom of glass to press down on cookie to flatten

In a large bowl, cream lard and butter together. Add sugar and continue to cream together. Add eggs, one at a time, then cream in vanilla. In another bowl, sift flour and baking soda together. Slowly, add dry ingredients to cream mixture and then add brandy or whisky slowly to get a sticky consistency (not too sticky, but firm enough so dough can form a ball without it sticking to your hands). Mix together and take a 1/2 Tablespoon of dough and roll into a ball. Place balls on ungreased cookie sheet (I still like spraying it with Pam). Take the bottom of a small juice glass and press onto dough in bowl, then set it down on a plate of sugar and cinnamon mixture, pressing ball of dough to flatten. Always press glass bottom in sugar/cinnamon mixture before flattening every cookie. Bake at 350 for 10-12 mins. till browned. Take hot cookies and coat in bowl of sugar and cinnamon mixture. Makes many batches!


This is what it looks like once it's mixed. When adding the whiskey or brandy (I used whiskey...had a bottle left over from a couple of years ago), make sure the dough is a "hard" sticky...ok, I'll admit that's a "Georginaism!!" LOL Guess you have to be there!!


Leetle balls!!! Now many folks will put the dough through a cookies press, but after years of doing that and my carpel tunnel really pitching major fits when I did, I devised this version.

Dip glass in cinnamon sugar and flatten...



Big a-- bowl of cinnamon sugar...

Right out of the oven...reeeeely hot!!!

Into the the cinnomon sugar...twirl bowl carefully to coat cookies....

Coated cookies.

So, here is a sample of my Christmas tradition. Today, Mexican Wedding cookies!!! In Italy, they're called "Liar Cookies." Last year when I was in Austin, I told my grandsons and they wanted to know why they were called that...told them to eat one and see where the powdered sugar ended up...around the mouth and on their shirts!! They got a kick out that one and caught them many times sneaking a cookies here and there....I think they just wanted to be found-out! LOL


A random picture of a pot of pinto beans (BTW, the best pinto beans come from CO)!! Was making beans while making the cookies...was planning on making enchiladas, but at the end of the day, I was pooped and made Chilaqueles instead...Enchilada casserole. Here's an idea on how to take the bitterness out of red chile sauce, add some "Abuelita" hot chocolate. It comes in round blocks and I cut them up and add the segments, one-at-a-time till I get the flavour I want.

Hope you enjoyed reading about some of my beaner traditions. It's late and I need to get into the kitchen and continue with the Diaz Bake-Off. Take care and if I don't send you all Christmas salutations, have a very Merry Christmas. Love you all!! Peace out.

Saturday, December 11, 2010

One World One Heart


Just a short post about something that's sound lots of fun!! Lisa at http://awhimsicalbohemian.typepad.com is having a blog event. I first read about this over at someone elses blog and I checked it out....sounds like a great way to start your new year. Regrettably, this is her final year of organizing this....where I've been the last few years??? I'm sorry I've missed the other 4 years!! This kind of reminds me of a great television show that ends while they're still on top, kind of like "Seinfeld" and now "The Closer!!" LOL I'm just happy to get on board now.

So go on over to Lisa's blog and sign up. Peace out.

Thursday, December 9, 2010

Doll Swap & Ornies

I just had to share with you this great doll swap I was recently involved with over at Zan Asha's Blog, http://vagabondcreations.blogspot.com. She has these wonderful doll exchanges once a year and I love participating because, one, you invariably get back a terrific piece of art work in the bod of a dolly and two, one really has to put on their creative thinking cap to come up with something equally terrific. This year's theme is "The Holiday Ball Swap," which she asked us to make a doll pertaining to any holiday. Of course, I thought of Halloween and Dia De Los Muertos, a no brainer for me, right? So I decided to challenge myself and try out something completely different...Valentines! So I made a Valentine doll, similar to one I made a couple of years ago, but definitely, a newer and very much improved version!!

One of the things that Zan will ask us, is if we have any preference as far as choosing other participants to partner up; my reply is always the same, surprise me! I have never been dissatisfied with any of the people she's paired me up with...(Oh no, I hear my fifth grade teacher's ghost scolding me for ending a sentence with a preposition!!). This year my partner was Marfi of "Incipient Wings," marfibradford.blogspot.com. Her doll was incredible!!! Not only was her doll fantabulous, but the packaging was terrific!! I wish I could show you the front panel of the box in it's entirety, but it does have some rather private information, ie. our addresses:






Here's the doll...

Pretty wonderful stuff, right?? Well, that's not all, look what else she added in her package...



She also included a bag of sugared popcorn and a little bottle of foo-foo spray, cotton candy scent. I love the purse and will have to just show it off!! I was so over-whelmed by this lady's wonderful talent and generosity!! Thank you Marfi for this royally fabulous gift and thanks to Zan for sponsoring these fun events. She will have a photo parade later on on her blog, so go over there and check it out and see all the talented folks that had a blast playing again this year!!

I also wanted to show you my new ornies I made for my little guys, grandsons, and another special little guy, I won't mention him now...don't know if they've gotten the package yet!! I decided last year to come up with a yearly ornament for my grandsons..kind of like Hallmark!! LOL Last year I made them the Christmas Worm. I was going to write a little story about the adventures of the 5 worms and how they finally got together to spend Christmas, but while researching, I got a bugger of a virus and it killed my poor leetle Dell!! So, almost a year later and an almost year old Gateway, I'm no way going to do anymore research on Christmas traditions around the world!! Just send them the ornie and let them figure it out!! LOL



Well, my hubby is on his way to CA to visit Son #2 and his family, leaving me here alone...left to my own devices!! Going to do some more studio stuff...working on some ornies for gifts and tomorrow, the Christmas Diaz Bake-off begins, making my breads this weekend. I will be making banana-nut bread, using all 3 contestants entries....yum, can't wait. Also, going to make Cranberry Orange giant muffins, so all this work should keep me out of trouble...well, maybe!! Peace out.

Saturday, December 4, 2010

Magic Wand

Good Afternoon, my bloggy pals. I don't have much to say today...ok, stop with the dramatics you all out there, I know what you're probably saying or at the very least I know there's some major eye rolling going on there!!! I wanted to share a Christmas gift I made my oldest grandson, Sean. He's 10 going on 4 million, hence his nick-name, The 4 Million Year Old Midget!! He's really into Harry Potter and has read all the books and seen all the movies, so he's a Potter expert.

While I was visiting in Austin this past October, he and I were having a very interesting conversation about all matters of Harry!! I actually enjoyed watching the next to last Potter movie and he explained everything, bringing me up on the current Potter dilemma. A week after I returned home, he won tickets to the premier. He attended with a couple of his mother's Potter fanatic friends and he even went in costume....super nerd, right??? THANK GOD!!!

During our discussion, he asked me if I knew how to make a magic wand and my reply was, "Can your Meema make a magic wand, well, hell yea!!" So I returned with this little conundrum, how in the hell do you make a friggin' magic wand!!?? Well, leave it to my mother, Miss Daisy the Sage. We were at Home Depot and I had the idea of getting one of those decorative moldings, have them cut it for me then adhere the two flat sides, then painting. Soo, there I am looking at just exactly what I was thinking of, but the price of this long wooden stick was outrageous!!! However, I was willing to go the whole enchilada with this wand. While she was waiting for me to make my decision, she asked, "Will this work better?" There in her hand was a unfinished chair leg!!!!!!! FRIGGIN' EINSTIENEAN, MOM!!!!!!! And the cost of said leg was just a mere $2.50, or less, don't recall now, but it was lots cheaper than that decorative stick!!

So here is the finished product with black bag and all. I know it's not exactly a Harry Potter wand, but hey, it's still magical, Meema magical!! I know Sean will love it and come up with all kinds of magic spells, while little brother Zachary, age 6, will undoubtedly, play "caveman" with it. Better contact the FBI and warn them about my weapon...er. wand!!! LOL I'm also including a pic of my 4 little guys. As you can tell, Senor Sammy is not too happy sitting on the fat guys lap...poor fat guy!! They are from left to right, Sean, Zachary, Santa (the fat guy), Sammy and Ryan.







Have a great weekend and for those of you under a blanket of snow, enjoy! My hubster is out on the links today...in the lower 70's out here!! Peace out.

Friday, December 3, 2010

Winner and Other Stuff

Ok, so I'm running a bit late on picking the winner for my banana-nut bread recipe contest. As I mentioned in my last post, I had only three people sign up who sent me their recipes. It was hard to pick just one out of the three, they all sounded delish, so this is what I've decided....drum roll if you please....all three of you are winners, so all three will get a little angel, however, I do have just one grand prize winner and that honour goes to...Jill Cooper! Jill, you'll receive a little something extra. The other winners are Linda from http://lindaomasoldebaggsnstuftshirts.blogspot.com/ and Phyllis Cooper. I will email you ladies with details and ask for your physical addresses so they can be part of your Christmas tree tradition, or wherever!! I'm looking forward to making the three recipes, well, four if you count Jill's other recipe and I'm sure my family and friends will enjoy, as I know I will!!

Yesterday Christmas finally arrived at our home. It has been 2 years since my house has seen nary a single glass ornament or poinsettias. In 2008, my father passed away 6 days before Christmas and had been quite ill a month before that, then last year, in order to avoid Christmas here at home, my mother took off to California to be with her baby boy and his family and I left for Austin, Texas to spend it with my baby girl and family.

The decorating was difficult for a bit, I remembered how my Pop loved Christmas with all his family around him. He loved the food too, our traditional Christmas Eve tamales, brisket (that's the Jewish influence since we grew up in a Jewish neighborhood..the only Mexican - American Catholics on the street....I was a Catholic school girl by day and a Jewish buddy after school!! LOL), breads, veggie plate then the sweets, which is my department. He loved the Rosettes, but since he was diabetic, I made them without any cinnamon sugar. As I said, it was a little difficult, but we bought a new tree, 4'.5 and have it on the sofa table. I have some of the larger ornaments displayed on the table since they were used on a larger tree. I have lots of adorable German ornaments I collected when I lived there back in the mid 70's...they hold so many wonderful memories of my children. I was doing great until I came upon my 3 oldest grandson's Santa hats...they wore them last in '07. I lost it then...remembering them and missing them so much. I will be sending my daughter the hats and some extra ornaments she grew up with for her "mall" tree. It's a huge tree and it's going to take her a lifetime to fill that tree up!

Well, need to get ready for my step-daughter-in-law, she's coming over for her monthly beer binge and rant...God knows the girl needs it. I'll make sure she has a full tummy, though...got some quiche, muffins and salad for lunch. Have a great weekend and I'll be back soon. Peace out.