Mincemeat and Sea Glass

 On the morning of the 24th, we all descended on the kitchen and made mincemeat. This is a family tradition that's been around since before I was born. Other people make pickles or salsa. Rob's family always made applesauce. Mine makes mincemeat. Yup, it's true. And we make true mincemeat, which contains meat and doesn't have any brandy. Here Grandpa and Sebi have got the unenviable job of grinding the suet. And if you don't know what suet is, I won't ruin your next meal by telling you. 
 Pretty much a hive of industry.
 John and will had to peel all of the apples. Back when I was a kid we would often buy the apples in Watsonville while we were down at the beach during General Conference weekend. What?! You didn't go to the beach for General Conference? Well that explains why you don't make mincemeat. If you did, then you would.
 Maddie got the fragrant job of stirring in all of the spices and raisins.
 And Joss and I juiced and zested all of the lemons and oranges. He is an excellent juicer.
 This is the only picture I got of my mom, she was zooming around so fast. In all the other pictures she was simply a blonde blur. After we'd assembled our parts and stuck them all into the great pot, Rob and I rounded up the kids and drove them up to the beach behind the racetrack. And we left Grandma and Kiecoo to do the careful and hot work of canning.
 The kids needed to be loud and get wet and searching for sea glass manages all of those things and more.
 I agree with my friend Janet -- all of those picturesque beaches named Sea Glass Beach never have any sea glass. What is required for sea glass are broken bottles and rocks. The beach behind Golden Gate Fields has plenty of both!
 Joss managed better than most kids to get himself sopping wet. But if you can go to the beach on Christmas Eve day? Knock yourself out. We may have even gotten a little bit sunburned!
Some of our sea glass haul. Once we'd gotten all the squirrelies out, we were ready to drive back home via Berkeley and see our old haunts.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Mohr im Hemd

Image
I finally got up the nerve to try my own Mohr im Hemd. This was the dish that we always ordered if we found it on the menu. It translates as "The Moor and His Shirt" which is so politically incorrect that it isn't easy to find, even though it is a traditional Viennese dish. It is a steamed pudding, like the Christmas dessert I grew up on and it is very moist and very chocolate, though not as sweet as an American dessert. It was successful enough that Rob had me make it twice more in the same weekend. Happily, after learning how to make it, I feel less guilty about eating the stuff. How often does that happen? Here is the recipe I used, as opposed to the top secret family recipe that I don't even have, or the recipe from my Austrian cookbook that asks for 'gratified butter': MA's Mohr im Hemd 3 bread rolls, crusts removed and cubed 1 c milk 3/4 c unsalted butter 1/4 c sugar 8 oz best and darkest chocolate you can find 8 eggs 1/2 c sugar 1/2 c walnuts,
Read more

The Trip Home: A Report Card

Image
Our Itinerary: Stuttgart to Atlanta and Atlanta to Salt Lake. It was a good schedule, flying out at 11:00am and getting in at 9:00pm on the same day (flying back across 8 time zones too, so about 23 hours of travel door to door). German taxi driver: A+. cheerful, knowledgeable, efficient and with candy for the kids Stuttgart airport: C-. inefficient, poorly-designed, and not very helpful; had to show our passports 5 times in 5 different places. took 1 1/2 hours to process us from curb to gate. ugh. Delta: B-. The flight attendants all looked "rid hard & put away wet" and the bare bones service just can't keep up with their [government subsidized] European counterparts with their dewy-skinned attendants, steaming towels, toys for the kids, and gourmet meals instead of astronaut food served in foil pouches. They got us there and did it on time, but it feels more and more like riding on a bus with a lot of rules. German Family With Four Kids Who Sat Next To Us On The
Read more

Gumdroppapalooza

Image
I am behind this year on Christmas, and really noticing a difference. Normally I aim to meet Flylady's holiday deadlines to have my presents bought, menus planned, nonperishables stocked, cards mailed, and everything wrapped. This gives me the whole month to obsess over neighbor gifts (which I loathe). This year I'm playing catch up on all of those things. The one thing I've done right is to wrap and label the presents but not stick bows on them. This way I can hide and stack them, I know who they're for, and I'll have the perfect job to do while I'm helping the kids wrap their gifts. OK, the other thing I've done right is use Amazon. Not only do I love their wish list and the universal wish list button so that I can add things to the kids' lists as I think of them whenever I'm "looking for the end of the internet" as Liesl's sister calls it. I also love their gift organizer which lets me create an idea list for family and friends
Read more