When You're Nine Years Old.....

..... and you have a stomach virus, drinking ginger ale out of your new tea cup makes you feel a little better.

Happy Boxing Day

My friend Rachel told me about this English, Canadian, (Commonwealth nations) tradition. Here is how it is described on Microsoft Calendar Updates:

Boxing Day is celebrated on December 26th. It is a statutory holiday in the federal jurisdiction and in Ontario. If it falls on a Saturday or a Sunday, the working day immediately preceding or following Boxing Day is considered a legal holiday.
Boxing Day, also known as the Feast of St. Stephen (after the first Christian martyr), originated in England in the middle of the nineteenth century under Queen Victoria. It originated as a holiday for members of the merchant class to give boxes containing food and fruit, clothing, and/or money to trades people and servants. The gifts were an expression of gratitude similar to the bonuses many employers offer their employees today. These gifts, usually given in boxes, gave the holiday it's name, "Boxing Day".
Also related to the origin of Boxing Day is the tradition of opening the alms boxes placed in churches over the Christmas season. The contents of these boxes were distributed amongst the poor, by the clergy, the day after Christmas.
Throughout the Christmas season, many organizations keep the original tradition of Boxing Day alive by donating their time, energy, and money to fill the Food Bank and provide gifts for the poor.

Since we are already taking a gift of food to some folks, we decided to put it in a box and make ourselves part of this English tradition. We may make the giving aspect of Boxing Day a part of our yearly, after Christmas tradition.

Would you like to join us?

Merry Christmas

The Putneys

Creativity in Action

Caroline and Lydia helped prepare the table for our Christmas morning breakfast when we will have a few friends over. The Better Homes and Garden's website gave us an idea for folding napkins like Christmas trees. The girls made oragami stars for the tree napkin tops.

Remembering Grandma

I baked two new pies today because Grandma made them at Christmas- Lemon Mirangue and 1850 Blackberry Pie. My first attempt at mirangue actually turned out!

English Toffee

I am sharing our new favorite recipe for Christmas gifts- English Toffee.

This recipe came in my email newsletter from The Urban Homemaker. It is easy and delicious!

Enstrom’s Style Toffee
2 3/4 Cup sugar
1 pound salted butter
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup slivered almonds
1 - 12 oz pkg milk chocolate chip
3/4 cup whole almonds, chopped very, very finely in a blender- almost a powder

Melt butter in a medium sized sauce pan - about 3 quart size over medium to medium high heat. Add the salt. When the butter is almost melted, add the sugar in quickly. Stir slowly, using a figure 8 motion with a wooden spoon. The sugar will not immediately dissolve or mix in, this is normal.
When the sugar absorbs into the butter the mixture will look more homogeneous and smooth. This takes 5-10 minutes. Then add the slivered almonds. This is what it will look like when you add the almonds. A would call this the blonde stage.

Continue to slowly stir the mixture in the saucepan for about another 10-15 minutes until the mixture reaches the hard crack stage. This is 290 ° F on a thermometer. You will notice that the sugar mixture is turning a darker more caramel color and it is almost starting to smell like burnt sugar. You can also drop a small amount of the mixture into iced water to test for the hard crack stage. Do not under cook. This picture shows how much darker the mixture becomes.
If the mixture has reached 290 or hard crack, pour the mixture onto a large cookie sheet and allow it to spread out. Place the cookie sheet on a cooling rack NOT ON A COUNTER because the mixture is so hot it could warp your counter.

After the toffee hardens, about 30 minutes, melt half the chocolate chips in a double boiler and spread over the toffee in a thin layer. Sprinkle with finely diced almonds. When this is cooled, flip the toffee over and repeat. Spread the other half of the chocolate chips, melted over the toffee and sprinkle with finely chopped almonds. When it is totally cooled, put portions into cellophane bags tied with a ribbon to use for gifts.

Sometimes You Get Exactly What You Want.....

....and Nanny lets you open your fashlight early because you need to use it caroling (which was cancelled because of the snow storm :(