Posted in Family, Growing Up, tagged 1960s Christmas, Akron, Christmas, Christmas Traditions, Family, Growing Up, Ohio, Santa Claus on December 25, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Christmas at 2320 North Short Hills Drive in Bath, Ohio in the 1960s was a magical time. It was a focus of the year for the five growing children in the Webner clan and lives on, rich and funny and idyllic, in my memory. The Webner Family Christmas was steeped in traditions that heightened the [...]
Read Full Post »
I have baked my last batch of Christmas cookies for 2009. Yesterday I baked some of the excellent Dutch spice cookies, and this morning I got up very early, baked the classic sugar cookies, and iced them up. These two recipes are perennial favorites, and I wanted to have some cookies to take up to [...]
Read Full Post »
I like a good, hard cookie that can be dunked into a cup of coffee or hot chocolate without dissolving. These cookies fit the bill admirably. Lemon-Pistachio Biscotti Ingredients: 1/3 cup softened butter; 2/3 cup granulated sugar; 2 teaspoons baking powder; 1/2 teaspoon salt; 2 eggs; 1 teaspoon vanilla; 4 teaspoons finely shredded lemon peel; [...]
Read Full Post »
I’m a traditionalist. I like a white, snowy Christmas. If Christmas were today, conditions would be perfect. The ground is snow-covered, and on this morning’s walk snowflakes drifted down, swirling in the streetlights and giving a feather’s touch to the skin. Unfortunately, the weather forecast is not cooperating. It is supposed to get gradually warmer [...]
Read Full Post »
Posted in America, Columbus, Ohio, The Economy, tagged America, Christmas, Christmas shopping, Columbus, economy, Holidays, Ohio, recession on December 20, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Yesterday Kish and I went Christmas shopping for a few things. It was a mistake. The roads to Easton, our nearby shopping megaplex, were jammed, and when we got there we could not find a parking place. As we drove through the Easton complex, we saw lots of shoppers, although not many seemed to be [...]
Read Full Post »
I like recipes that are a bit weird — and this one definitely falls into that category. What, no actual baking in a heated oven? Even so, these are a delicious, frothy-tasting treat. Forgotten cookies Ingredients: 2 pasteurized egg whites; 1/4 teaspoon salt; 3/4 cup sugar; 1/2 cup chocolate chips. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. [...]
Read Full Post »
In doing some baking over the weekend, I tried a new recipe of my own devising. It was motivated, in part, by a desire to use some unused ingredients and by a desire to create a concoction I could legitimately call a dirty snowball, which I think is a pretty good name for a Christmas [...]
Read Full Post »
I think assortments of cookies should be, well, an assortment. Different kinds of cookies and treats should be mixed together, to provide the sampler with a meaningful choice with respect to taste, shape, consistency, and color. Bar cookies, like this excellent recipe, are an essential part of the mix. Almond Chocolate Bars Ingredients: 1 8-ounce [...]
Read Full Post »
Posted in Family, Ipods, Music, tagged Bing Crosby, Bobby Helms, Burl Ives, Christmas, Christmas Music, Christmas Songs, Dean Martin, Edward Higginbottom, Elvis Presley, Family, Holiday Music, James Brown, Jose Carreras, Jose Feliciano, Leroy Anderson, Linda Ronstadt, Mahalia Jackson, Medieval Baebes, Mormon Tabernacle Choir, Music, Oscar Peterson, Robert Shaw Chorale, Rosemary Clooney, Tchaikovsky, The Carpenters, Vince Guaraldi on December 12, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Christmas is less than two weeks away and the signs of the approaching holiday are everywhere. The Christmas decorations have been taken from the basement and put in their familiar locations. This weekend we will get our tree, trim it with the ornaments we have collected over the years, and hang our stockings on the [...]
Read Full Post »
Well, the first batches of cookies have been boxed up and are ready for delivery. I included this concoction, made from a recipe I’ve had for years. The printed recipe refers to these as “Mexican Wedding Cakes,” which I suspect is a non-PC vestige of the ’50s, so I’ve given them a new namefor Webnerhouse [...]
Read Full Post »
Posted in Family, Food, tagged A Charlie Brown Christmas, Baking, Bing Crosby, Christmas, Christmas Cookies, Christmas Music, Family, Holidays on December 6, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Today I will be doing some Christmas baking. It is a crisp, frosty day outside. Kish is up in Vermilion visiting her Mom. The Browns stink, so there will be no NFL-based distractions. I’ve bought the ingredients and temporarily parked them on the kitchen island. Nuts, flour, sugar, brown sugar, spices, coconut, eggs, butter, and [...]
Read Full Post »
Here’s another submission, from a bit nuttier direction, that sounds awfully good: Chewy Noels Ingredients: 2 tablespoons butter; 1 cup packed brown sugar; 1 cup chopped nuts; 1/3 cup flour; 1/8 teaspoon baking soda; 1/8 teaspoon salt; 2 eggs; 1 teaspoon vanilla; powdered sugar In a 9″ by 9″ baking pan melt butter. Stir together [...]
Read Full Post »
I like it when people give you recipes that appear to be Xerox copies of the backs of ingredient labels or handwritten instructions stained with flour or slightly smeared with chocolate. You get the strong sense that the recipe has been tried and tested. This recipe falls into that category. Fantasy Fudge Ingredients: 3 cups [...]
Read Full Post »
We’ve received another recipe that sounds pretty darned tasty: Lemon Squares Bottom layer ingredients: 1/2 cup margarine; 1/4 cup powdered sugar; 1 cup flour Mix and pat into 9″ square pan. Bake at 325 degrees for 20 minutes. Top layer ingredients: 1 cup sugar; 2 tablespoons flour; 1/2 teaspoon baking soda; 3 tablespoons lemon juice; [...]
Read Full Post »
Posted in America, Family, Happiness, The Economy, tagged America, Christmas, Christmas shopping, economy, Family, Gift cards, Happiness, Holidays on November 30, 2009 | 1 Comment »
A relatively new book, entitled Scroogenomics:Why You Shouldn’t Buy Presents for the Holidays, argues that holiday shopping is wealth destroying because we end up buying presents people don’t want. The author, Joel Waldfogel, is an economist who makes a classic economics argument — that resources are most wisely allocated by people who make decisions for [...]
Read Full Post »
