Lionden Landing

In honor of Mardi Gras, this week's baking adventure was a King Cake to share with our friends from Louisiana.  We chose a traditional recipe with a cinnamon nut filling. When Froggy asked why,  I explained that this was a fun holiday that is popular in Lousiana where Aunt P grew up.  Froggy commented that it looked like they were trying to copy Purim. I replied that many people see the similarities.

Many Observant families won't celebrate Valentines day but we do. To me it is a secular holiday about friendship and love  At least that is what I tell Froggy.  This year it was all about homemade.   Abba and I do not usually give each other presents But I could not resist.  While helping Froggy get the materials for her string heart, I got inspired and needed to make this one.  Unfortunately, I forgot to take a picture of Froggy's before she gave it to her friend. We also scrapbooked a fun card for Abba And made cut out heart cookies with red and pink sprinkles.

For the first time in a long time, we invited friends over and made a fun seder.  The whole family worked together to make a fun centerpiece. We used a fun guide as the basis for our seder.  And had tons of fun sings songs and doing crafts.  We made bird feeder necklaces (currently decorating the centerpiece) and planted seeds.  I put out a variety and let everyone pick their own favorite.  Froggy and I picked the standard parsley but we also planted date pits as well.  They have not sprouted yet but we are tending them faithfully. 

Sunday - leftovers Monday -pizza and salad Tuesday - Shavuot regular challah since last year's special one was a disaster spinach salad with strawberries and vegan feta Creamy Corn Chowder Maple Salmon noodle kugel roasted aparagus chocolate chip cherry cheese cake Wednesday Kiddush - out and I dont even need to bring anything!!! woohoo Wednesday Dinner - An dairy antipasto spread Challah Quinoa salad Asian Slaw veggie plate (carrots, celery red pepper, peapods) hummus a cheese plate (purchased) lox rolls tuna salad dessert kebobs Shabbat -  challah tomato spinach soup gefilte fish loaf (in freezer)  apricot chicken honey roasted potatoes broccoli leftover salads (??) peach crisp with Peach icecream

 Even Purim morning I was still putting the finishing touches on my part of the costumes for Froggy's Purim shpeil.  I made "Chip" and "Cogsworth". Our shul always picks a theme for the year.  This year it is the 60s in honor of the 50th anniversary of the founding in 1964.  I went as Jane Goodall and Abba went as the Disney version of Pooh first pictured in 1962. That really was just an excuse because he always goes as Pooh Bear.  Froggy wanted to be Queen Esther regardless of the theme. Luckily Gramma keeps supplying Froggy with new dressup clothes so there is always queen clothes available. We made a ton of Mishlach Manot baskets.  The list of recipients is mostly done although I expect it will continue to grow right up until Purim.  The final total was 23.  We included 3 different foods  (although it ended up being only the requisite 2 brachot) Spiced almonds, clementines and 3 different kinds of Hamentaschen, funny ones, chocol...

We had three snow days this past week.  We used that time to start working on Froggy's valentines for her friends.  We got the design from here To start the adventure, we made homemade glitter glue.   It was super easy  and made tons as you can see. Then we added the glitter.  Froggy picked the colors from the wonderful stash Grandma gave her.  While the glue cooled, Froggy cut out all the hearts,  We used cardstock but construction paper would also work. Then she used one of our tiny cookie cutters to dip in the glue and stamp on the hearts

This year we made hot cocoa jars for some of the special adults at religious school.     We made decorated cut out cookies for our Hanukkah party.  We also shared them with our special friends on our Meals to Wheels route.   I was really pleased with how they turned out.  This is the first time I have ever gotten the piping to look pretty. We did not make any new permanent holiday decorations but we put up fun paper stars as well as "stained glass" stars.

Everyone else is getting ready for Thanksgiving.  While we do celebrate Thanksgiving, my big focus right now is Hanukkah. Sunday - Tacos, rice and beans Monday - Anniversary dinner out Tuesday - TofuCurry , rice and peas Wednesday - First Candle - Dill Salmon, this new latke recipe, broccoli and sufganyiot . Thursday - Thanksgiving at Aunt Petal's - I am bringing pecan pie and making latkes there. Friday - Thanksgivukah Shabbos - Challah, gefilte fish , tomato spinach soup, mixed greens salad, roast turkey, mashed potatoes, peas, stuffing, and Hanukkah surprise cake for dessert.

Hannukah is coming soon.  Yes everyone around is talking about Thanksgivukkah but I am not mixing the two anymore than circumstances dictate.  We are not putting out lots of Thanksgiving decorations like we normally do.  Instead we are surplanting those with our Hannukah decorations and preparing for our Hanukkah party.  Playing on Pinterest, I found this lovely recipe I am thinking of serving as a "grownup" beverage We are making these this week to give to Froggy's teachers and other special people in her life.  I am not sure we are going to go with traditional cocoa or fill it with this instead. I want to make these just because they sound so yummy.  But I cannot think of a way to make them and change it to fit Hanukkah.  This post was written and posted motzi Shabbos.

It took us a while this year but we finally got in the spirit and decorated for Halloween.   We used the placecard pumpkins from our Sukkot celebration  to make bat-o-lanterns.  Froggy painted all the pumpkins while Abba and I cut out the wings and eyes.  We hung them all over the yard.   And Abba decorated our family of pumpkins so we could all "Hop on Pop"     And the crowning glory in the decoration as far as I am concerned was the simplest of all    We made four lanterns out of recycled milk jugs.   We drew Sharpie faces on them and put in battery operated lanterns to light them up.   They got lots of compliments from our visiting ghosts and goblins.    Froggy was Merida for Halloween and she used her new quiver as her trick or treat bag.   She had fun pretending to shoot Abba before they headed out.  Abba agreed and it is the only time she is ever allowed to po...

This is the first year ever we have had no paper decorations in our Sukkah.  We try every year to have new decorations for the Sukkah.  (These photos were all taken after the holiday since I ran out of time before.  The table really did look more festive during the holiday.)   Our walls are fabric.  Every year we add a new handprint.  Typically it is is Froggy's right hand but this year the cast made it be her left. It will make for a helpful reminder years from now about exactly which year she broke her arm.  We also try to add more stamped fruit each year to fill it in.      We added a chandelier thanks to Design Megillah   We made polymer clay apple to welcome the Ushpizin .  One side is painted with the male guests and one with the female guests.    We also made little pumpkins and stars.  You can get an idea of the relative size in the picture below. I want to find a better way to han...

As we prepare to usher in 5774, we wanted to share some new tunes as well as some old favorites with you.   This is a new one shared from our Youth Director And this is still our favorite even after several years. This is not my style of apple dipping but you might like it

I made rugelach for Shabbat dessert for the first time ever.  It was much easier than I expected.  Despite looking at several yeast based recipes, I used this cream cheese dough instead, making some modifications to personalize it as well as make it parve.  These are very very forgiving cookies which can be modifyied to suit whatever is easy and appealing at the moment.   The next time I make them I will try more variations. I should have made the dough on Thursday rather waiting until Friday.  I usually make the batter for whatever cookies I am making in advance and then bake them right before Shabbat. I put the cream cheese out to come to room temperature but forgot to put out the margarine. I left it sit for a bit but it still took more beating than it should have and did not leave me much time chilling the dough.    I opted for discs rather than logs because that is the look I am used to.Each disc only makes 8 cookies, so an entire...

We have been at the beach all week so I did not plan a menu.  Yet now we are home and I just realized I actually need to make Shabbos and cook a real meal.  Here is what we will be having Challah (ofcourse :) ) gefilte fish loaf 16 bean soup - because I need something different before the chagim pot roast mashed potatoes green beans  add in bread chocolate rugelach

Tonight is the first seder.  We are hosting a few friends for a relatively small seder.  Froggy will be the only child present. 1st Seder - Veggies and guacamole, hard boiled eggs, gefilte fish loaf , Matza ball soup, brisket, glazed carrots, roasted asparagus, potato kugel (from a mix), store bought dessert. 2nd Seder - we are guests.  I am bringing this charoset, quinoa pilaf and a store bought dessert  Wednesday -lamb chops, mashed potatoes and salad Thursday - Oven Fried Chicken,  French fried potatoes, Broccoli Shabbat - Matza, Gefilte Fish Loaf, more matza ball soup, Apricot Chicken, Carrot and Raisin Salad, Butternut Squash with Baby Spinach, Store Bought Dessert. 

I am late in posting this but I wanted to share our Purim fun.   All week prior, we baked hamentashen and filled Mishlach Manot.  We made appoximately 20 mishlach manot this year.  We went to our shul for Havdalah and the Megillah reading.  The theme this year was Disney and there were some amazing costumes.  Abba wore his Pooh Bear costume and Froggy went as Silvermist.  I even got in costume as Haman. The Megillah reading at our shul an raucous affair.  This year they created humourous synopses in English for each chapter which were shown between chapters.  Froggy and the other Kehillah Tefillah kids made the synopses for the final chapter  Froggy's chorus put on a Purim speil for a local shul as well as an assisted living facility.  Froggy is the youngest and newest member of the group.  As such, she has only a tiny part but she did a great job with it. 

 For the first time, Froggy got to exchange Valentines like I did when I was in school. She worked very hard making 50 valentines to share with her friends.  We started with t hese printable bookmarks .    Froggy cut them all out.      Then  she made little thumbprint hearts on them.   We finished them off with a hole punched in the top and a ribbon tied through.  It took her about week of diligent working to get through them all.  She also made a mailbox to receive her valentines.