Times Square

Eight balls have dropped in Times Square on New Year's Eve since 1908 (the tradition also began that year). The current ball is two years old and is embellished with 2,668 Waterford crystals and has 32,256 LEDs. The ball weighs 11,875 pounds and measures 12 feet tall.

These are interesting tidbits provided by Real Simple magazine.

Even more interesting -- to me, anyway -- is that the buildings comprising Times Square are required to have at least one illuminated sign that stays lit until 1:00AM. I knew NYC is the city that never sleeps, but I did not realize it was mandated.

Wishing you health and prosperity in 2011... Happy New Year!!!

Friday's quote

"Happiness is neither virtue nor pleasure nor this thing nor that but simply growth. We are happy when we are growing."

William Butler Yeats

The help

Lauren has been helping with laundry for quite a while now.



(Please pretend not to notice the condition of our washcloths.)

She has become very proficient in the folding of "wasscloffs" and immediately asks for them any time she hears either of the machines in use.



Recently, when I explained there were none to be folded, she kept persisting until I finally asked if she wanted me to take some out of the closet to fold. (Look how proud she is; she folded that entire stack.)



Now she regularly asks if she can have some out of the closet to fold.

Birthdays and aging

Today is my birthday.

I managed to remain 28 for several years -- so many that I would have to think for a moment about my real age, when called on in situations where I had to be truthful. I continued to be 28 until it was no longer believable, and then I moved up to 32. So now I will stick with 35 for a while as an homage to the below Wilde quote:

Thirty-five is a very attractive age. London society is full of women of the very highest birth who have, of their own free choice, remained thirty-five for years.

-Oscar Wilde

A merry little Christmas

Wishing you and yours the merriest Christmas and a wondrous New Year.

Christmas ornaments

Why am I just now discovering this?



And how could I have possibly missed this?

Ballet

Last week at ballet, the parents were treated to a dance exhibition. Above, they are waiting to perform. Below, they have politely taken a seat after the performance.



Here's the crowd awaiting a candy cane.



And here's the big dance:

Ballet performance 12-14-10 from Cathi Lindsey on Vimeo.

Perfect harmony

The Hilltop ad originally aired in 1971. I'm not completely sure, but I believe the below is a subsequent version (the original versions are much too grainy to post). This is the one I remember as a very small child. In fact, this is probably the earliest advertisement that halted viewers in their tracks. For the record, we did not watch the commercials out of necessity, because the remote control had not become ubiquitous yet. There were other things to do, like procure snacks, visit the restroom or talk; it was a simple time. No matter what was occurring, we dutifully watched this ad.

Friday's quote

People usually consider walking on water or in thin air a miracle. But I think the real miracle is not to walk either on water or in thin air, but to walk on earth. Every day we are engaged in a miracle which we don't even recognize: a blue sky, white clouds, green leaves, the black, curious eyes of a child -- our own two eyes. All is a miracle.

Thich Nhat Hanh

Christmas card & Christmas party 2010

This week Kelly is discussing Christmas cards. I realize people are drifting away from mailing Christmas cards, but this is a tradition we will likely continue for quite some time. I like greetings of all varieties, from postcards to Christmas letters and everything in between. Normally, I use printed photo cards. However, I found several boxes of the photo cards that you assemble yourself that I had purchased a couple of years ago, and therefore, I used those instead -- since I already had them and since I had not gotten around to ordering the other kind. We used the above pic.

The other news is that the big preschool party was yesterday. I always appreciate the job our teachers do, but, when I see them making order out of holiday chaos, I firmly believe they should receive hazard pay for the month of December.

Here is the whole class:



Getting ready to party:



Singing a few songs:



After the book exchange, they settled in for a nice snack:





After the party, we came home and CRASHED with an almost three-hour nap. These girls love to party, but they also love to sleep.

Here's to plenty of sleeping and partying for your weekend!

Recipe of the week

Even though I am tempted to post another dessert (since it is the holiday season), we'll talk about an actual meal this week. I am a big fan of one dish entrees; Skip is not. We can agree, however, that the crock pot is the single most underrated kitchen tool. Accordingly, we try to use ours at least once every week or two, and we have worked to expand beyond the roast option.

Recently, we tried Chicken & Mushrooms in wine sauce. (We omitted the mushrooms because we are not very 'shroomy.)

Here's the recipe.

Chicken & Mushrooms in wine sauce

3 cups sliced fresh mushrooms
1 large onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 1/2 - 3 pounds meaty chicken pieces (breast halves, thighs and drumsticks), skinned
3/4 c chicken broth
1 6-ounce can tomato paste
1/4 cup dry red wine or chicken broth
2 tablespoons quick-cooking tapioca
2 tablespoons snipped fresh basil or 1 1/2 teaspoons dried basil, crushed
2 teaspoons sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
2 cups hot cooked noodles
2 tablepoons finely shredded Parmesan cheese

Directions:

1) In a 3 1/2 to 5-quart slow cooker, place mushrooms, onion and garlic. Add chicken pieces. In a medium bowl combine chicken broth, tomato paste, wine, tapioca, dried basil (if using), sugar, salt and pepper. Pour over mixture in cooker.

2) Cover and cook on low-heat setting for 7 to 8 hours or on high-heat setting for 3 1/2 to 4 hours. If using, stir in fresh basil.

3) Serve chicken and mushroom mixture over hot cooked noodles. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.

Although I did not snap a pic of the finished product, I'm sure you can get the idea. Give it a try.

Free TV

We're toying dangerously with the notion of ending our relationship with our cable provider and returning to a prior era -- the time before cable/satellite television. We rarely watch television and begrudge the monies spent monthly for a service we do not use. This article discusses the trend.

Overheard

Yesterday morning we had some snowfall. It snowed for approximately an hour and a half with no accumulation. Lauren wanted to play in the basement (no windows), while I encouraged her to play upstairs (windows galore) so that she could watch the snow.

Me: "Lauren, don't you want to see the snow?"
Lauren: "Not really."
Me: "You don't like the snow?"
Lauren: "I don't like the little snow. I only like big snow... like at the North Pole... where Santa lives."

Bundles

One day last week, the monkeys were watching Sesame Street. I walked through after finishing some laundry and saw that they had cleverly retrieved a couple of old comforters from the master bedroom. They were bundled up for the duration of their viewing.

Christmas Tour 2010

Welcome to the Christmas Home Tour hosted by The Nester via Kelly's Korner. Welcome, and Merry Christmas!







This table in our foyer gets some daily adjustment from Lauren and Grace, our four year old twin daughters. The card holder usually hits the floor a couple of times a day, and the cards keep disappearing. Tis the season...



Stockings hung by the chimney with care...



The dining room table...



This is the upstairs landing, leading to the girls' decorations.



The girls received this cute pink feather tree from Uncle Bill and Aunt Kathy last year for Christmas. This poor tree has been assaulted by four little hands, but it still looks great. It has really held up.



Below is the little four foot tree we have in the girls' room. I have been stalking Target to pick up their six foot green tree (for $20!) over the last two weeks -- with no luck. Associates always tell me that inventory reveals there are two in the store (I did say "stalking," didn't I?), meaning the display and one that is currently in someone else's cart. The associate kindly gave me the truck delivery schedule, and told me to "get there early" on the next delivery day. Since I was there that particular morning at 8:20am, I assume I will need to stand in line on the sidewalk prior to the store opening to nab one of those trees. Needless to say, that has not happened, and we are continuing to work with our four foot tree.

They love their tree. The ornaments include Dr. Seuss characters, Scooby Doo, and all of their milestone ornaments.



This is the last of the pink trees... a Barbie fiber optic tree.



And finally... I cannot believe I do not have a pic of our main tree. I will try to include that later today.

The Lindsey Family wishes for you and yours much peace and joy this Christmas.

Merry Christmas!

iPad apps

Cool apps for the lucky iPad users.

Friday's quote

"Love all, trust a few, do wrong to none."

William Shakespeare

Baby, it's cold outside

As the temps have dropped, we have scurred to find gloves, scarves, etc. Even Skip wore an overcoat when he traveled up north for a day trip this week!

Food: Chocolate molten cake

As part of an ongoing Thursday project, I will be posting some recipes each week. I promise to move on to actual food, but this week features another dessert, a delicious chocolate molten cake. This recipe is also a Martha Stewart recipe, but one featured in her Everyday Food book. Those recipes live up to their billing, that they were designed to be simple and straightforward.

Here is the recipe:

Chocolate Molten Cake

Ingredients

4 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for muffin tins
1/3 cup granulated sugar, plus more for muffin tins
3 large eggs
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
8 ounces bittersweet chocolate, melted
Confectioners' sugar, for dusting
Whipped Cream , for serving


Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Generously butter 6 cups of a standard muffin tin. Dust with granulated sugar, and tap out excess. Set aside.

2. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and granulated sugar until fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. With the mixer on low speed, beat in flour and salt until just combined. Beat in chocolate until just combined. Divide batter evenly among prepared muffin cups.

3. Place muffin tin on a baking sheet; bake just until tops of the cakes no longer jiggle when the pan is lightly shaken, 8 to 10 minutes. Remove from oven; let stand 10 minutes.

4. To serve, turn out cakes, and place on serving plates, bottom sides up. Dust with confectioners' sugar, and serve with whipped cream, if desired.



We use the whipped cream recipe very frequently to add a little zing to any pie or other confection. Here is the very simple recipe:

Whipped Cream
(Makes 2 cups.)

Ingredients

1 cup heavy cream
1 to 2 tablespoons granulated sugar

Directions

1. In a deep mixing bowl, beat the cream until soft peaks form.

2. Sprinkle sugar over cream; beat until soft peaks return. Do not overbeat. Whipped cream can be refrigerated, covered, for up to two hours before serving.

30

Thirty years ago I was eating lunch in my elementary school's lunch room when a student at the end of my table said, "Did you hear one of the Beatles was shot last night?" I remember thinking, "Not John... don't let it be John."

The parade

One of our annual traditions is to attend our town's Christmas parade. Of course, this year it was slightly colder than usual (by our standards), and we made a point to bundle up in blankets and watch the parade march by. Grammy joined us this year, and she was not necessarily a fan of the cold weather. In fact, her exact words were, "I have managed to avoid the parade all these years..." I think she had fun, in spite of the chill. The big highlight, of course, was getting to see Lexy march with the band and waving to Melinda who was riding in one of the (heated) cars.

Christmas program

As mentioned yesterday, the big choral debut occurred this past weekend. I realized how strong the potential would be for some behavioral issues when I sat in on a practice last Wednesday night. In the below clip, they are singing one of the first songs in the program, and everyone is doing great. (Lauren and Grace are on the second row, wearing yellow and teal head dresses.)

Untitled from Cathi Lindsey on Vimeo.

By the below number (the 3rd or 4th song in the program), everyone was restless. Remember, this is a group of three and four year old preschoolers. When the scene opens, one choral member is walking off the stage, and Lauren is about to join him. Luckily, we were able to give her some direction from the audience to remain seated.

Christmas Program II 2010 from Cathi Lindsey on Vimeo.

Other than a couple of minor incidents, they did a fabulous job, and we look forward to next year's production.

Christmas Program 2010

After months of work, this weekend was the preschool choir Christmas production. The girls were very excited to say the least.



Photos from the first performance, where they sang more Christmas carols, were a blurry affair, and the girls were positioned out of my lens range. For the second show, we had a much better vantage point, and I was able to capture a few pics, as well as some video that will be posted tomorrow.



See Gracie, below, in the teal shepherd head dress:



Below, Lauren is the second yellow head dress from the left, and Gracie is turned around, presumably glaring at her fellow choir mate who is intent on kicking her:



Shepherd Lauren:



I am really surprised that the girls participated to the extent they did and that they had a great time (no tears, etc.). However, with a group of three and four year olds, the production did have an issue or two, as tomorrow's video will demonstrate, but overall the performance was great.

The foyer

Today we are viewing foyers. So... ta-da! Here is our foyer. Our dining room is to the right; the keeping room is to the left; and the family room is straight ahead.

The rug is usually occupied with a Disney Princess tent or any other number of toys. Over the summer the girls pretended the rug was their "beach," and they would read books while lying on the beach.



Lately, I have used the front door as a back drop for photos, only because it is a good place to have them cornered (lovingly) -- with minimal distraction. Sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn't.



I believe this is the final stop on the home tour. Thanks so much for stopping by and, as always, have a fabulous weekend.

Friday's quote

"Do one thing every day that scares you."

Eleanor Roosevelt

Baking: caramel cake

During our dating years, we dined in restaurants almost exclusively. Now we live in an area where restaurants are either chain establishments or average. Putting those two factors together, we have tired of dining out. Of course, we still do, sometimes weekly, but that leaves a lot of meals for us to prepare ourselves. Over the last few years, we have made it our mission to compile some menu options that we prefer, and I have recently acquainted myself with the kitchen and, specifically, the oven. Who knew the oven was capable of more than storage?

In addition to the working menu we have for our family, we have also committed to incorporating new meal ideas each week. While I would be redundant and eat the same meals over and over, Skip is more of a foodie. For the next few weeks, I thought I would share some of those discoveries here, probably on Thursdays.

First up, we'll talk about dessert and discuss the caramel cake with caramel frosting we made for Skip's birthday at the end of October.



Look tasty? Believe me, it was delicious and very comparable to any cake you could order at a bakery. By way of warning, this is a Martha Stewart recipe, but I knew I had some built in forgiveness/understanding in the event that it was a complete disaster. Also, I knew I could purchase some type of replacement, in a worst case scenario situation.

Here's the recipe:

Caramel cake
(Makes one 9-inch layer cake)

1 1/4 cups (2 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened, plus more for the pan and rack
4 1/2 cups sifted cake flour, plus more for the pan
2 tablespoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups milk
1 1/2 tablespoons pure vanilla extract
2 1/4 cups sugar
7 large egg whites
Caramel Frosting (recipe follows)

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter two 9x2-inch round cake pans. Line the bottom with parchment paper; butter the parchment and sides of the pan; dust with flour, tapping out excess. Set aside. Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt into a medium bowl; set aside. In another bowl, combine the milk and vanilla, and set aside.

2. Beat the butter in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment until it is creamy. With the machine running, add the sugar in a steady strem; continue beating until the mixter is light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Reduce speed to low. Add the flour mixture in 3 batches, alternating with the milk mixture and starting and ending with the flour. Be careful to avoid overbeating; set aside.

3. In a clean bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form. Gently fold one-third of the whites into the batter to lighten, and then fold in the remaining whites in 2 batches.

4. Divide the batter between the prepared pans, and smooth the tops with an offset spatula. Bake until a cake tester inserted in the centers comes out clean and the cakes spring back when pressed lightly in the center, about 40 minutes.

5. Transfer the pans to a wire rack; let cook 15 minutes. Brush the rack with butter. Loosen the sides of the cake with a paring knife; invert onto the greased rack. Reinvert the cake to prevent it from splitting; let cool completely.

6. Using a serrated knife, slide the domed tops off the cakes; discard. Place 1 layer cut side up, on a serving platter, spread a layer of caramel frosting on top. Stack the second layer, cut side down, on top; generously spread the top and sides of both cakes with frosting.

Caramel Frosting
(Makes about 5 cups)

5 cups sugar
1 cup water
2 cups heavy cream
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks)unsalted butter, cut into pieces

1. Bring 4 cups sugar and the water to a boil in a medium saucepan over medium heat, stirring until the sugar has dissolved, about 8 minutes; wash down the sides of the pan with a pastry brush dipped in water to prevent crystals from forming. Raise heat to high; gently swirl the pan (do not stir) until the caramel is a deep amber color, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat.

2. Meanwhile, heat the cream and remaining cup of sugar in a small saucepan over medium heat until the sugar dissolves, stirring frequently, about 5 minutes. Turn off heat; cover, and set aside.

3. As soon as the caramel is the desired color, add the hot cream mixture in a slow, steady stream, stirring to combine. Be careful, as the caramel may splatter when the hot cream is added. Stir in the vanilla, and continue stirring until the mixture no longer bubbles.

4. Prepare an ice-water bath. Transfer the mixture to the bowl of an electric mixer, and place in the ice bath, stirring until it is cool. Transfer the bowl to the mixer; using the paddle attachment, beat on medium speed 5 minutes. With the machine running, gradually add the butter, a few pieces at a time, beating to incorporate fully. Let the frosting stand 20 minutes to thicken before using.

Delicious.

I would rate the difficult as a 6/10. Although the sweetness of this dessert is not for the faint at heart, I would prepare this again, although not too frequently for fear of immediately going into a sugar stupor.

Difficulty: 6/10
Taste rating: 10/10

Chickadee

Today I purchased some chicks -- actual chickens -- two flocks of chicks, in fact. They won't be residing in the back yard, however. I ordered the flocks through Heifer International, and their destination will be a mystery. Since 1944, Heifer International has been empowering hungry families to lift themselves from poverty to self-reliance through livestock and extensive training. In the last 65 years, Heifer has assisted more than 12 million families in more than 125 countries (including the United States). Heifer works in the areas of livestock and agriculture to develop programs that alleviate hunger and poverty.

Donation points start as little as $10 toward shares of any number of animals, the receipt of which could change a family's life. Read more about Heifer here, and consider purchasing a gift here.

For efforts to end hunger, President Ronald Reagan awarded Heifer the President's Award for Voluntary Action in 1986, and President George H. W. Bush presented Heifer with the Presidential End Hunger Award in 1990.

"...Heifer International has brought dignity and self-reliance to families in need all over the world with its brilliantly simple solution -- livestock and training for food and income." -- Barbara Bush, former First Lady

"...Heifer International has inspired hope in hungry communities, where the gift of one animal can bring health, prosperity and peace." -- Former President Jimmy Carter

"With all the money donated to help fight famine around the world, with all the grandiose plans conceived to conquer poverty, sometimes all it takes to save a child is a goat." -- 60 Minutes

"The idea behind Heifer...is similar to the notion that it's better to teach a man to fish so he can feed himself than to give him a fish that will feed him just once. One animal could eventually benefit an entire community." -- The Associated Press

"...Heifer International has provided needy families around the world with livestock ranging from water buffalo to bees as a stepping stone to self-sufficiency... the simplicity of its approach and its track record appeal to many..." -- The New York Times

"Because of Heifer, hundreds of thousands of families are able to feed their children and give them a better future. Heifer provides much more than food. You bring hope and triumph to the human spirit." -- Former President Bill Clinton