Stollen 26 December 2007

Making Stollen, my Mom’s special Christmas bread. This is the first time I’ve ever made it. Well- this photo is actually my second attempt. Here is my first attempt:

That one we started first thing in the morning- set the yeast to rise- and then forgot to add the majority of the flour. There was this line in the recipe something like ‘add enough flour to make a soft dough’ but I didn’t realize it was like 4 or 5 cups. Anyway- I took the photo and sent it to mom to ask what was wrong with it while we went running at the dog park. When we came back we started the second attempt.

I think I called mom about 4 times for instructions. She promises next year to give us a lesson in making stollen- though I suspect Gail doesn’t need it.

James was super excited about this part of the recipe “punch dough”. You can see it on the recipe, except he added “donkey punch dough”
I suspect he may have punched it a few too many times. He really enjoyed it.

No rolling pin- so we patted it flat.

We did a couple small braided loafs and a few in a cupcake pan.

More photos tomorrow when it comes out of the oven

I am clearly a crybaby. 25 December 2007

Regular readers (and listeners to my whinging) will remember that this summer I got two root canals, one right before my mother’s wedding and one right before I jetted off to Kenya for a week. Two just wasn’t enough for me- I needed to get a third one in before the end of 2007… something about taxes, I think.

After the week of hell last week (really wonderful in retrospect but a bit anxiety causing during the training) I thought it would be a great idea to go to the dentist on Friday and try to figure out why I can’t go 6 hours without taking some major painkillers and what the heck is going on with my mouth. He banged on all my teeth with a metal hammer- no problem. Blew cold air on it- no problem. So why is it still hurting? He sent me to the endodontist.

I missed my work Christmas party to go to the endodontist for a root canal. Actually- she said it might be a cracked tooth causing the strange pain. She did a root canal (wonderful!) and said to come back in two weeks and let’s see if it still hurts then.

umm… I know it has only been since Friday and today is Tuesday- but this really really still hurts. Like, a lot. Like, worse than the other two. Combined. This is worse than I imagine childbirth to be. At least then there is a payoff at the end. This one is like steel jackhammers going UP through my jaw and into my skull. I expect to feel my brain oozing out my tooth any minute. I could barely enjoy It’s a Wonderful Life the other night because of it. I’m actually out of my pain medications and about to try to go cop some on the streets of Cincinnati on Christmas Day. Srsly.

The bruise on my cheek looks kinda cool though- it has settled into my dimple- so I have a blue dimple on my left side.

Hope you all enjoy your holiday eggnog with Teeth That Work and allow you to actually eat something today instead of gumming the vegetable soup to death! Special thanks to the Christmas Call from Thomas at 845 am this morning!

Decorating the tree. 12 December 2007

Not very impressed with all of this business in the house and will take the first opportunity to push the tree down.

 

James starts putting up the decorations after we added the red and white lights.

 

 

I really like just putting red and silver stuff on the tree- except for the special ornaments we have picked up along the way.

Here James is adding his Rainbow (or was it a Brook?) Trout ornament I got him in Colorado this summer.

 

 

 

Finished product, and Simpsons ornament in the lower right.

 

 

Beagle ornament on the bottom of the tree so Daisy can see it. Also… a simple job of vacuuming up the dropped icicles turns into a vacuuming the tree? We rethought the icicles after we realized that they might be irresistible to the cats if they were too low to the ground, so… Mom will be so proud of her son-in-law.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Setting up the Tree 12 December 2007

Christmas tree decorating. I really wanted a live/balled tree this year but when we got to the nursery I realized they were like $200 and not very exciting- so we settled for a nice big Douglas that is well over 7 feet and smells great.

I realized why he is making this face here- not because I surprise flashed him- but because he thinks he always blinks when I am taking a photo so he is concentrating extra hard on keeping his peepers open.

 

 

Some of you may remember when 16 year old James started shaving his head. He agreed to grow it out a tiny bit for me because I like his hair but and here is all the evidence he needs to start shaving it again- a nice big soft spot on the top!