Tikatu's Travels Through Time

Had a lovely Independence Day celebration! Went down to my Bro's house for grilled burgers and hot dogs. SIL made her potato salad and cole slaw. I brought what ended up being a rather expensive salad based on one my SIs made when we were in MA last August. It included baby spinach, romaine lettuce, blueberries, dried cranberries, raspberries (she used strawberries, I chose the other), glazed walnuts, and goat cheese, tossed in a light raspberry vinaigrette. (I saved the goat cheese on the side for those who might be turned off by it.) The salad was a big hit with most everyone - except Mr. Picky Eater Boy #2. I'll make it again sometime, I'm sure.

Then we went to Heritage Park for a concert by the Greenville Symphony Orchestra, followed by a fireworks show. We'd had some rain during the day, but early enough that the grass wasn't too wet, and the temperatures were cool. The conductor, Edvard Tchivzhel, is originally from Russia and defected 20 years ago. He has a lovely accent that made some of his between-the-pieces introductions rather humorous. They did the 1812 Overture with real Civil War cannons! Wow! Hearing those go off made the fireworks sound tame by comparison.

The Girl is now at their house for a full week - she doesn't have any classes, and wants to spend some time with her cousin. It will make life around here quieter, and the boys will have to pull a little more weight around the house.

All in all it was a good day with family... kinda like these things are meant to be.

Now that the tree is all trimmed (I put it together with a little help from Boy #1; I did the lights and the garland, and chose the ornaments to go on it - though Hubby and Boy #1 actually hung the ornaments), the Christmas letter is sent (I wrote it, printed it, printed the return labels, and the address labels, bought the stamps - the Girl and Boy #2 stuffed the envelopes and put the various sticky things on; Hubby mailed them), it's now time for the fudge! Fudge is our usual gift to the teachers, and Hubby takes some to his workplace food thing during the weeks leading up to Christmas. This year, the Girl has a few extra people to hand out to, namely the librarians who have seen her through the years at GHS. Plus, she wants to take some to her "un-party" on Wednesday, and Boy #1 wants to use it as a gift at his party on Friday.

Guess who makes the fudge?

You got it.

Not only do I make it, but I cut it up and package it. And this year the packaging got a little more complex.

I usually head down to the If It's Paper store in a nearby town, not wanting to brave the traffic congestion of the road where the admittedly closer one is. But when I got there today, I found out that they were going out of business! (Just at that location, though.) It was good in a way; they had 75% off everything in the store, but it was pretty picked over by the time I got there. I like to use little Chinese food take out boxes (aka, food pail) as packaging - they're usually printed for the holidays and work really well to fit three to five really big hunks of fudge. I also like to get the larger ones to give as gifts to our mail carrier and the neighbors. This year, I found 9 of them at the store. 5 small white ones, two large shiny blue, and two large red. Far from enough for our needs.

But there was something else at hand - some little 2.5 x 2.5 inch boxes. Red, with snowmen printed  on top. Really cute, and big enough to hold some fudge - if I was careful about how thick it got. Good price, too, with the discount. My usual method is to make a double batch and pour it into a 9x13 pan. Makes for pieces at least an inch and a half thick, probably more. No way to do that with these little boxes.

So, I bought some smaller pans, and poured my double batch into both pans, spreading it out and reducing the thickness. Seems to have worked; I've done the servings for the boys, and they fit pretty well. The Girl doesn't want hers until Thursday so she can give them to all her teachers at once (one of them being her driving instructor - who she sees only on Thursday). I tried to cut the fudge up into pieces that would fit in the box, then cutting them into smaller chunks, wrapping them in waxed paper so they didn't stick. It worked, mostly. The boys put the boxes together.

The fudge was still very fresh and soft - I hope it firms up a bit more. Boy #1 wanted to refrigerate it, but that makes it grainy. At least it's wrapped up and the recipients can get it out!

I love the holidays, but I don't think the rest of the family realizes how much work goes into them... sigh.

Been a long while since I've done one of these.

Holiday Season Edition

What's your favorite holiday ...

Song? Angels We Have Heard on High

Movie or TV special? It's a Wonderful LIfe (actually, I tend to avoid TV and movies around the holidays)

Memory? Knocking over the Christmas tree by adding one itty, bitty satin ball to it.

Baked good or dessert? My SIL's pumpkin cheesecake; it is to die for!

Each year, what's the one moment that lets you know it's officially the holiday season? When the stores start prominently displaying all their baking supplies.