>Bread Machine, Breadmaker, Breadmaker, Bread Machine. You know what I mean. It’s the appliance that allows us busy cooks to have fresh bread with a minimum of fuss.
Category Archives: holidays
>Banana Bread with Crumble Topping
>Recipe from Bakesale Betty: Oakland, CA. This was part of our Eating the Opponent challenge as the Packers prepared to play the Oakland Raiders.
The Fabled Fairies of Thanksgiving – Reprise
What are you doing reading blogs on Thanksgiving Day? Go spend time with friends and family!
The laundry fairy washes, dries, and presses the table linens, including the cloth napkins. If she’s feeling generous, the sheets and towels might get folded, too.
The turkey fairy will practice her specialty and make sure the bird is cooked and carved just in time for dinner. White meat and dark, it’ll all be moist and savory and leave just enough leftovers for sandwiches and a turkey noodle soup.
The baker fairy will take care of pies, pumpkin and otherwise. He’s an expert on flaky crust, selected spices, and the perfect portion of whipped cream. Don’t let that Simple Simon guy get in the way; the kitchen’s too small for anyone who begs to taste the wares.
The brownie — the cunning little house elf — will clean the home thoroughly, put the leaf in the big table, and get the extra chairs out of the basement.
I wouldn’t dream of neglecting the wine fairy: the sommelier so tiny she only recommends, never lifts, a bottle. Her taste is impeccable. Now if we could stop her before she over-imbibes and falls asleep on top of the piano…
Did I mention the decorator fairy? She’ll fix the fireplace mantel with something tasteful and seasonal before she makes sure the couch and rocker are properly arranged for the annual holiday gladiator contests known as NFL football.
The ambiance fairy keeps the wood fire crackling in the fireplace, the aromas wafting deliciously through the home, and the family discussions neutral and unpolitical.
The kitchen fairies: really, there must be a whole crew of these talented sprites. One to do the shopping early and avoid the crowds, another to make sure the cranberries are perfect (and local, of course), and a magical maestro with the potato masher. Then we’ll need a feisty fairy, one with attitude — yes, you, Tinkerbell, you can make the coffees.
Mom, you can send the fairies over to my house now that we’re hosting the annual family Thanksgiving dinner. Let them know that I’ll have their room ready and their favorite cookies baked. If they arrive on Sunday there should be enough time to get everything done.
Wait. What do you mean…they’re…not….real?
>Hint, hint…
>Dear family;
>I love a parade!
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>A Mother’s Garden
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Bunny Wisdom
This one has been traveling the Interwebs all day, and I couldn’t resist sharing. It’s not a Daisy original, but it’s good.
Everything I Needed to Know I learned from the Easter Bunny
Don’t put all your eggs in one basket.
Walk softly and carry a big carrot.
Everyone needs a friend who is all ears.
There’s no such thing as too much candy.
All work and no play can make you a basket case.
A cute little tail attracts a lot of attention.
Everyone is entitled to a bad hare day.
Let happy thoughts multiply like rabbits.
Some body parts should be floppy.
Keep your paws off other people’s jellybeans.
Good things come in small-sugar coated packages.
The grass is greener in someone else’s basket.
The best things in life are still sweet and gooey.
An Easter bonnet can cover the wildest hare.
>Home Made Ice Cream!
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>Zippy Turkey Hash
>Hash by nature is a mix of leftovers.
>Dreams
>In the wake of the Tragedy in Tucson, and in recognition of Dr. King’s Dream, below is a re-post from times past.
I dream that differences will be valued, not disdained.
Eye color, hair color, body shapes, and skin shades will be appreciated for their beauty and variety.
Cultural traditions will not disappear, but will thrive and grow together into a rich and fascinating sharing of knowledge and beliefs.
I dream that blindness will be merely a different way of seeing, and deafness impair only the quantity, not the quality of the language ‘heard’.
Children will matter because they own the future. Their education, academic and social, will become and remain of utmost importance.
The mediators and the peacemakers will be recognized as the strongest leaders.
Questions will come from curiosity, not ignorance, and the answers will breed respect.
Knowing each other, knowing ourselves, will lead to knowing that fights and conflicts, wars of all kinds, will cease to be of value.