decorating for Christmas and other holiday musings

We pulled out our Christmas tree and all the trimmings the day after Thanksgiving.  Justin took the day off to make it an extra long weekend and the girls were bubbling over with excitement.  I, on the other hand was deep in the throws of the nastiest flu bug this side of the Nile.  But I was still in the sore throat achy phase of the virus at that point, so I made a cup of hot tea and joined in the festivities of decorating.

Felt mistletoe!  So we will always have a smooching doorway!

Every year, I am amazed at how many Christmas decorations we've accumulated over the years. Most of them being special heirlooms or homemade items like the gorgeous stockings my mother-in-law painstakingly spends half a year creating for each member of the family.  They are the items that I panic over misplacing every year.  Then we pull them out of their special bag and count them (4 right now, as Ashlynn's is still a work in progress) and breath a sigh of relief that they hadn't gotten lost over the year.

I've realized since living in this huge African concrete mansion, that having a fireplace with a grand mantel is a must for me now.  It's the perfect place to arrange spring flowers, picture frames, pumpkins or in the case of this time of year; stockings, Santa's sleigh, a little forest of trees and my snowman collection.

Okay, so I may overdo it a bit in the Christmas decoration department, maybe in the Christmas baking, party planning and caroling departments too.  Alright, I overdo Christmas entirely.  But really, what's overdone?  Overdone to me is all the holiday displays at the supermarkets in the US or the shopping events at the malls.  It's the Christmas print paper towels and all the commercialism that the holiday has turned into.  Christmas for us is what we make of it, IN. OUR. HOME.  There is no outside Christmas here in Ethiopia.  So really, I don't think of it as overdone in our family.  I think of it as being done right.

Santa's sleigh was my mother's and it housed her Santa collection when I was little.  Proud to have it in our collection now.

Justin brought his little German gem home after a business trip last year.  It's my new favorite!

Entrenching my children in family traditions is my job as their mother.  My own Christmas memories are grounded in the anticipation of doing the same things every year with my family.  Trekking to a farm to cut down the family tree, baking Christmas cookies with my mom and my sisters, picking out gifts for one another at the local craft bazaars or markets and celebrating with our extended family. Those memories are precious to me and helped me want to establish our own family traditions for our children.  Being overseas, has helped force us to create those memories at home and I know our girls can sense the excitement every year when we get out the butter to soften and pick our gingerbread house template.  They gaze at the tree and sing right along with Justin and I as we play our Christmas music.

Building our own amazing Christmas also helps Justin and I feel a little less homesick during the holidays.  Knowing that we can give our children and ourselves a merry Christmas makes being away just a tiny bit easier.

The wreath I picked up in Manila at a manufacturers that produced Christmas decorations for William Sonoma.

cookie memories

Last year my husband was raving about his favorite Christmas cookie.  It was a cookie that his late Grandmother made every year.  To hear him talk about it, she made tin after tin of these and they were everyone's favorites.  He was able to ask his Dad a few questions about the recipe. Turns out no one had the recipe and Grandma likely never used one after doing it from memory all those years.  But I was told that the dough was made with cream cheese that it was a Russian cookie.  It was rolled with walnuts in the middle and coated with powdered sugar.

Going on this information, I did a little research and was able find quite a few recipes that matched this description.  Turns out this cookie is very common and there is a version of it in Germany, Russia and Poland.  It's called a kolacki or kolacky, which essentially means cookie.

I set to work last year attempting to recreate this special memory for Justin.  Last year he got a little misty biting into the Polish Kolackis I made.  They tasted like the best of his childhood Christmas memories and I couldn't have been happier.  He packaged them up in a air tight container because the longer they sat and softened, the more they tasted just right!

The Polish Kolacki has joyfully been added to our Christmas cookie line-up and I made them a little bit earlier this year so Justin can enjoy them and "age" them throughout the next two weeks so they are just right for him.

The dough is very simple to make and the walnut filling is basic as well.  The challenging part of this cookie is the assembly.  I believe it's supposed to be more rolled and tube-like than the ones I am making.  I found baking them at a higher temperature prevented the dough from flattening a bit but I'm still working on the presentation.  They sure taste good!

Super excited for Justin to get home from work today and have his special cookies waiting for him.

Sara's attempt at recreating Grandma's Polish Kolacki recipe

 Dough

1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened

1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened

1/4 cup white sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 teaspoon baking powder (1/8 at high altitude)

Walnut Filling

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup sugar (1/4 brown ¼ white)

2 cups ground walnuts

1 tablespoon butter

Dash of vanilla

Pinch of salt

Powdered sugar for rolling/dusting

Walnut Filling: In a medium saucepan, combine all ingredients. Cook over low heat just until the butter has melted. Cool before using or store covered in the refrigerator and rewarm slightly when ready to use. 

In a large bowl, mix butter, cream cheese, sugar and vanilla until light and fluffy. Combine flour, salt and baking powder, and add to butter mixture, blending well. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate 2 hours or overnight. 

Heat oven to 370 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment paper. Dust work surface with equal parts granulated sugar and confectioners' sugar. Take dough out of refrigerator and roll to 1/8-inch thickness. Using a pizza or pastry wheel, cut into 3-inch squares. 

Place a rounded teaspoon of filling  at one corner and roll away from you (no need to tuck in the ends). Place seam side down on the baking sheet and shape into a crescent. Repeat with remaining dough.

Bake 12 minutes or until edges are lightly brown. Cool completely and store covered. Dust with confectioners' sugar when ready to serve. 

I regret not making notes about this recipe last year.  I'm certain I discovered these things last year but since I didn't write them down I had to discover them all over again.  

The dough gets sticky very quickly and you need to use powdered sugar on your work surface instead of flour.  

The thinner you can get the little squares, the better.  I also like working with

2 inch squares better.

Use a very small amount of walnut filling because it oozes out of the ends.  

Definitely bake them with the seam side down or towards the side. If you don't the corners spread open.  

Some of my ugly first attempts today.  Could have been avoided with notes from last year.

Happy Thanksgiving

I really feel like our Thanksgiving embodied everything good and gracious about our expat experience.  It was a last minute decision to host a potluck meal.  A friend of ours suggested it and I gladly accepted the hosting responsibilities.  I don't need much arm twisting to host any event.  If I get to bust out my collections of mix matched vintage silver, I'm in!

We had eight adults and eight children.  Having a place for all the grown-ups at the table for dinner is key for me.  I really love being able to all sit down together and talk and toast to a great meal.  The intimacy of the meal depends on sitting together.  Everyone brought a portion of the meal, which left me with only a few dishes to make and absolutely no stress.  I just made sure the table was pretty and there were oysters and olives to munch on as a starter.

Thanksgiving is about breaking bread with family.  Sometimes, family happens to be the people you share an experience with.  Our family this year is friends who are sharing the Ethiopian experience with us.  Truly, it's the people that make this experience amazing. Five families who, three months ago didn't know one another, are now spending Thanksgiving together.  That is what life as American diplomats is all about.  I am so grateful we had the opportunity to give thanks together over delicious food, good wine and great company!  The kids played, the babies cooed and the adults drank and filled our bellies.  Perfect evening.

The menu (cooked by all)
Honey glazed ham
Apple cider brined turkey breast
Turkey gravy
Spicy corn casserole
Scalloped potatoes
Cranberry apple stuffing
Kugel (a Jewish sweet noodle pudding)
Homemade crescent rolls with honey butter
Green salad with honey mustard vinaigrette
Roasted cauliflower and carrots
Green beans with caramelized onions and bacon
Pumpkin pie with whipped cream
Pecan pie with cinnamon ice cream

The meal was absolutely fantastic and truly a special treat while we are here in Ethiopia.  Things are hard to find (turkey and ham), special ingredients were used (butter and pecans) and extra special care was given to all the components of the meal.  Accomplishing a Thanksgiving meal in Addis Ababa is a feat of greatness.

centerpieces

I love experimenting with floral arrangement ideas here in Ethiopia because fresh cut flowers are really cheap.  The day before Thanksgiving, I purchased two large bunches of this yellow wild flower ($2.50) and a chunk of floral sponge (for $1.75).  My inspiration came from here.

Mine isn't nearly as awesome but it was fun to make.  I picked the hens n'chicks from our garden and chose a few really smooth limes to add to the arrangement.  A deep cereal bowl acted as my vase.  It was really simple!  I wet the sponge thoroughly and placed it in the bowl then started adding the flowers on the sides.  As the flowers started to weight the sponge down, I added more water to the bowl.  I used toothpicks on the limes.  As long as you keep the bowl half full of water the sponge stays wet and keeps the flowers fresh.

I'm excited to use the arrangement on our Thanksgiving table.

real pie

American households all over the world are rolling out pie crust, adding spices to pureed pumpkin, chopping nuts and baking lovely pies for Thanksgiving.  I made seven pies today!  Yup, seven!  Some pumpkin and some pecan.  Five of them are for customers who placed orders with me.  Two of them are an order from my husband for our Thanksgiving meal.

Everyone has their preference for pie. People get really defensive about their pies.  I get it. I personally like both pecan and pumpkin, because who can go wrong with pumpkin pie or pecan pie?  But how do you make the most amazing pie?  Do you line up your corn syrup and your can of evaporated milk next to your pumpkin puree?  Many do, and I'm not going to fault you for it.  It's better than picking up a pre-made pie at the store.  Baked at home, no matter how many fake ingredients, it's bound to taste better than fake from the local Safeway.  Just simply for that fresh out of the oven flaky crust and the lovely smell that permeates your home while it bakes.

So here's the deal.  I know Libby's has the monopoly on canned pumpkin and therefore the majority of folks are making pumpkin pie from the recipe on the Libby's can wrapper.  Canned pumpkin is awesome and even Martha Stewart's test kitchen admitted to preferring canned pumpkin from roasting and pureeing your own.  Fine, use the canned pumpkin, I do.  But have you ever looked at the ingredients in a can of evaporated milk?

Ingredients in Carnation evaporated milk: milk, dipotassium phosphate, carrageenan, vitamin D3.

Three out of four of these ingredients are in this product to that the milk can sit in a can on a shelf for a year or more.

So let's make real pie this year.  Use heavy cream in place of the evaporated milk.  It's fresh and the pie turns out lovely.

Sara's take on Libby's famous pumpkin pie recipe
1/2 cup granulated white sugar
1/4 packed light brown sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp fresh grated ginger
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground cardamom
2 eggs
1 can (15 oz) pumpkin puree (or if you're a purist-roast and puree your own)
1 1/2 cups heavy cream (12 ounces)
1 tsp homemade vanilla (vanilla beans soaked in bourbon for 6 months)
pie crust (I like to make my own and refrigerate it until ready for baking)

Preheat your oven to 425 degrees
Mix the sugars, salt, and spices in a small bowl and set aside.  Whisk the eggs in a larger bowl, add the pumpkin, sugar combination and whisk until combined.  Add cream and a dash of homemade vanilla bourbon extract if you have it.

Pour in your pie crust and bake at 425 degrees for 15 minutes.  Then turn down your oven to 350 degrees and back for 35-40 minutes.  If you live at 7,000 feet or above like me, plan on cooking your pie for about 10-12 minutes longer.

My pecan pie is the BEST. EVER. HANDS DOWN!  I love it so much because it's real.  No gross corn syrup and corn starch to thicken the juices which creates that unnatural jelly layer under the nuts.  Not in my pie.  Pecan pie is best when it's simple. Just butter, brown sugar, salt, eggs, flour, milk, vanilla bourbon and pecans.  I'm not going to divulge my best selling secret on the internet but if you search for pecan pie without corn syrup there are some awesome options.  Like this one. Or this one.  Cut the sugar a bit on either of those though, wow!  No one needs a cup and a half of sugar in a pie.  Sheesh!  Sprinkle course sea salt on top of the pie after it comes out of the oven.  The salt brings out the brown sugar flavors.

Promise you won't get out a can of that spray whipping cream after going to the trouble to make a real homemade pie.  Right next to the gallons of milk (Lord, I've forgotten what buying an entire gallon of milk is like-how convenient), is the little cardboard cartons of fresh whipping cream.  Buy one of those and keep it in your refrigerator.  Or if you live in Addis Ababa like me, pick up a bag of Mama's heavy cream. Right before you plan on serving your pie (either a bit warm or room temp), pour the whipping cream into your stand mixer or a mixing bowl.  Whip it on high for a minute or so.  When you start seeing the lines in the cream, add a tablespoon of powdered sugar and a dash of vanilla.  Keep whipping until it's big and fluffy but not too dry.  Taste it and whip in a little more sugar or vanilla if needed.  Dollop it right on top of your slice of pie.

Enjoy your pie!  No matter what's inside.  I'm just saying, you might enjoy real pie just a little bit more!

The Crust Addendum:
After I posted this, I received a few questions from friends about how to get the best crust possible.  And if we're being real here, the crust is truly the hardest and most crucial piece of pie! I thought it would be wise to include some tips for preparing and baking fantastic pie crusts.

1. Make the dough in advance, refrigerate it and then the next day roll it out into your pie plate.  If you don't make the pie right away, cover it with plastic wrap and refrigerate the entire thing.  I froze a few of my pie crusts this year and I like the results of the refrigerated ones better.
2.  When rolling out pie crust, take care to keep the dough even thickness.  Roll out the circle much bigger than your pie pan.  When you tuck your edges under it will give you a nice thick amount of crust on top to crimp.  The crust will not burn when thick and it will not bake unevenly if the crust is a consistent thickness.
3. Do not pre-bake your homemade crust.
4. Make you filling and pour it into a cold pie crust.
5. If your recipe asks you to bake the pie at a high temp for 15 minutes, watch the pie and after 10 minutes at the high temp go ahead and turn the temperature down.  It's OK to cut 5 minutes off that hot bake time.
6. Keep an eye on your pie as it's baking.  Rotate it periodically so the crust that is a the back of the oven doesn't brown too fast.
7. If you do see some dark spots, tear a piece of aluminum foil and fold it over that portion of the crust.
8. If you're extremely concerned about the browning of the crust too soon, turn the temp even further down.  Just plan on your pie taking longer to bake overall.
9. You can leave pecan pies out at room temp for up to two days.  Pumpkin pies should be refrigerated if you don't plan on serving them that day.

Success at Salem's

People have been kind enough to ask me how the open house event at Salem's went.  I feel like I've been moving from one busy week to the next and haven't found the time to blog about the lovely event.

Truth be told, it went smashingly.  There were so many people who visited over the course of the day.  Some faces were familiar to me, but the most exciting part of the day were all the new faces I had an opportunity to meet and talk to.  I was able to have a few conversations with people whom I've known for awhile in passing but never really had the opportunity to speak with for any length of time. Maybe I'm just starved for grown-up conversation after all my days at home with the girls!

The baked goods went over well.  I brought with me four batches of scones, three batches of cookies, 14 loaves of sweet bread, and two batches of cupcakes.  All but a dozen cupcakes were sold for charity by the end of the day.  I was so pleased.

Adelaide ran down the stairs as I was packing up the car that morning, asking if she could join me for the day.  I hesitated, knowing it would be a long day but agreed that she would be a great helper.  In the end, she really saved me!  She sat with the photographs that were for sale while I dealt with bakery customers.  She was a tremendous help.

I was pleased to run across a few folks who purchased a few of the photos for themselves to frame in their homes or even use as postcards and souvenirs of the time in Ethiopia.  One woman honored me with the proposal that if I sent her the original file of the photos she planned to print them out at her United Nations office to hang in their conference room.  Pretty exciting.  I can't wait to go look at the photos displayed.

 Helping Salem throw an open house like this was on my list of things to accomplish while I was in Ethiopia.  She really didn't end up needing much of my help but I was pleased to have been apart of it.

ch-ch-ch-changes

Adelaide is at the age where all her teeth are falling out!  For the past few weeks she's had either a tooth that is dangling by a thread or a new grown-up tooth pushing down and loosening another baby one.  It's adorable and I love her in-between snaggle tooth phase.  She's growing so fast.  To top it off her bangs are growing out as well.  She's in the midst of some big changes.