For a week or so after Christmas, we work several jigsaw puzzles as a way to relax and wind down after a hectic holiday season. Usually, we complete about five during that time. This year, though, we've done only two so far, because one of them was a real challenger...a couple of white seal pups on a landscape of snow and ice, with a blue sky above. Seven hundred and fifty pieces of varying shades of white and blue takes some concentration.
Our approach to jigsaw puzzles is to sort the puzzle first, separating out the straight-edge border pieces, and laying the other pieces, face up, in several flat boxes or lids. Then we complete the border.
After that, we each use our own method for puzzle construction. Mother's is to find a space on the border that she thinks will be easiest to find pieces for, and then methodically try pieces until she finds ones that will fit.
My favorite approach is to gather pieces I think will fit together to form an obvious part of the motif...a face, a fence, a barn door, etc. Once a part is complete, I place it within the border in the approximate place it belongs and work around it.
Generally, I'm assigned to complete areas such as the sky, the sand, the pine trees, and so on, because the subtle variations of colors in these places are hard for 85-year-old Mother to distinguish.
When working in a same-color area like blue or black, I use two methods...looking for distinctive shapes and subtle changes in hue, or, like Mother, simply trying every piece of that color in the space until I find the one that fits.
Mother is more patient at working jigsaws than I am. She can happily sit for hours at a stretch, trying piece after puzzle piece in the space she has chosen. I, on the other hand, am a sporatic puzzler. I spend 30 minutes or so at it, until I get stumped and unable to locate pieces, and then I jump up to do other tasks like putting a load of clothes in the washer, or answering e-mail, or programming the DVR. Then I return to the puzzle, eyes rested, and work successfully for another 30 minutes or so.
Sometimes, I get stumped no matter what. All the likely pieces for a puzzle section are before me, but none seem to work. So I scrounge through the boxes trying to find more. When I find that there are no more, I resign myself to using what's in front of me. Oddly, at that point the pieces (which I've thought I've tried a hundred times before) start falling right into place.
Between the two of us...patient, methodical, organized Mother, and semi-organized, sporatic, easily-discouraged me...we manage to complete fairly complicated puzzles in a day or two. Hubbie doesn't join in. He has absolutely no patience for puzzles.
Saturday, December 29, 2007
Friday, December 28, 2007
Easy Cheese Dip, and Italian Cream Cheese Ball
A couple of years ago, we were visiting my sister at holiday time, and sampled a delicious dip made by my niece. I don't know where she got the recipe - maybe the Internet - but she shared it with me. It's a favorite with all the family. Here it is:
EASY CHEESE DIP
1 pkg. ranch dip mix
2 pkg. chive and onion cream cheese
Seasoned pepper blend
Mix dip mix and cream cheese until well blended. Top with pepper blend.
Another favorite of the family is Italian Cream Cheese Ball. There are probably dozens of recipes for this, but the following is one that Mother and I experimented with until we got exactly the flavors we wanted:
ITALIAN CREAM CHEESE BALL
8 oz. cream cheese
1 chopped fresh green onion
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp. dried basil
1/2 tsp. dried parsley
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 cup chopped pecans
Allow cream cheese to soften to room temperature, then mix all ingredients together thoroughly. Form into a ball, wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerate until ready to use. The cheese ball improves with age.
The dip and cheese ball are good served with varieties of snack crackers or with raw veggies.
EASY CHEESE DIP
1 pkg. ranch dip mix
2 pkg. chive and onion cream cheese
Seasoned pepper blend
Mix dip mix and cream cheese until well blended. Top with pepper blend.
Another favorite of the family is Italian Cream Cheese Ball. There are probably dozens of recipes for this, but the following is one that Mother and I experimented with until we got exactly the flavors we wanted:
ITALIAN CREAM CHEESE BALL
8 oz. cream cheese
1 chopped fresh green onion
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp. dried basil
1/2 tsp. dried parsley
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 cup chopped pecans
Allow cream cheese to soften to room temperature, then mix all ingredients together thoroughly. Form into a ball, wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerate until ready to use. The cheese ball improves with age.
The dip and cheese ball are good served with varieties of snack crackers or with raw veggies.
Christmas Eve
Christmas Eve is quiet at our house. The parties, plays, parades, potlucks, concerts, and family gatherings are over. Shopping, wrapping, baking, and cooking are done. It's just the three of us, alone, to entertain ourselves.
So as soon as it is dark, we make our annual trek through town to see the Christmas lights and outdoor decorations. Tonight, a brilliant moon loomed large in the eastern sky against a royal blue, velvet sky. Most times, the moon appears as a flat, white dish in a black sky, but this night it appeared three-dimensionally round...suspended...so close, I might reach out and touch it.
It's hard to compete with nature's light shows, but in our small town, three homes, in three different residential areas, stood out for their lighting displays. No inch of roof, house, window, fence, or lawn was untouched by string upon string of lights, lighted nativity scenes, lighted Santas and reindeer, animated wire deer and snowmen (lighted, of course), and huge, lighted, inflatables like snowmen, Santas, and snowglobes featuring animations and snow flurries inside. There were plenty of other lighting displays, too, but none so grand as those three.
Commercial businesses got into the act, as well, particularly one downtown bank that was outlined in colorful lights. Every bush, too, was neatly strung in lights, and a Christmas tree fashioned from lights, with a big star of lights on top, shown forth from the rooftop. A back-lighted wood silhouette of the nativity graced the lawn.
We spent a couple of hours enjoying the displays, while listening to Christmas CDs, before returning home to open gifts...a tradition at our house, because like little children we can't wait until Christmas morning.
So as soon as it is dark, we make our annual trek through town to see the Christmas lights and outdoor decorations. Tonight, a brilliant moon loomed large in the eastern sky against a royal blue, velvet sky. Most times, the moon appears as a flat, white dish in a black sky, but this night it appeared three-dimensionally round...suspended...so close, I might reach out and touch it.
It's hard to compete with nature's light shows, but in our small town, three homes, in three different residential areas, stood out for their lighting displays. No inch of roof, house, window, fence, or lawn was untouched by string upon string of lights, lighted nativity scenes, lighted Santas and reindeer, animated wire deer and snowmen (lighted, of course), and huge, lighted, inflatables like snowmen, Santas, and snowglobes featuring animations and snow flurries inside. There were plenty of other lighting displays, too, but none so grand as those three.
Commercial businesses got into the act, as well, particularly one downtown bank that was outlined in colorful lights. Every bush, too, was neatly strung in lights, and a Christmas tree fashioned from lights, with a big star of lights on top, shown forth from the rooftop. A back-lighted wood silhouette of the nativity graced the lawn.
We spent a couple of hours enjoying the displays, while listening to Christmas CDs, before returning home to open gifts...a tradition at our house, because like little children we can't wait until Christmas morning.
Thursday, December 27, 2007
The Measure of a (Young) Man
In our family, both on Hubbie's and my side, the children anticipate growing to be as tall as my mother....a signal to them (having reached the lofty height of an adult) that they themselves are just shy of adulthood.
This year, an 11-year-old grandson on Hubbie's side of the family found, to his great excitement, that he had reached that height...a soaring four feet, nine inches.
This year, an 11-year-old grandson on Hubbie's side of the family found, to his great excitement, that he had reached that height...a soaring four feet, nine inches.
Family Time, Part Two
Last Sunday was a perfect, sunny, clear-blue December day to travel to another town to celebrate Christmas with the rest of Hubbie's family at his daughter and son-in-law's home near the lake. Some of those who had visited us on Friday were also there.
Daughter decided to serve what she called a non-traditional lunch of pasta varieties that included chicken spaghetti, plain spaghetti with sauce, and pasta Alfredo. My contribution was an 11-bean soup with ham and Rotel to start the meal, and Daughter made a large salad, and toasted butter-and-herb bread to accompany the pastas.
Hubbie's other daughter tried out a new recipe on us, using Brie cheese as a filling for a hot, crusty appetizer. Mother and I really liked it, but most of the others turned their noses up at it... this daughter's son said it tasted like bad wine. Since no one else liked it, we brought it home, and Mother and I enjoyed slices of it for several days.
Besides those foods, a card table was laden with dips, cheese balls, cookies, cakes, and fudge. There were also chocolate and coconut cream pies, a cheesecake, and a big platter of fresh fruit.
There was no excuse for anyone to leave that house hungry!
While the meal was being prepared, some of us worked a jigsaw puzzle...a nutcracker motif...that we had brought along as part of the day's entertainment. Some of the guys entertained themselves with a football game on TV. The little ones played or napped, and got generous helpings of cuddling and kissing from doting grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins.
After lunch, we gathered near the Christmas tree to open gifts. Daughter surprised Mother and me with a large tote of scrapbooking supplies. Hubby got a novel sprinkler for the garden.
Then it was time to gather for the family snapshot. We had to squeeze together to get all 18 of us in the picture. A grandmother cautioned a young grandson to keep a straight and smiling face for the picture or he wouldn't be allowed to open a gift when he got home. This same youngster had made awful faces for the snapshots I'd taken the Friday before. Boys will be boys.
Shortly after that, we gathered our belongings and headed home. The sun had just sunk below the western hills, leaving a red glow that silhouetted the winter-bare trees. And in the eastern sky, a full and dazzling white moon was already well above the horizon against a soft pink sky, bordered below by pale blue...nature providing the perfect end to a perfect day.
Daughter decided to serve what she called a non-traditional lunch of pasta varieties that included chicken spaghetti, plain spaghetti with sauce, and pasta Alfredo. My contribution was an 11-bean soup with ham and Rotel to start the meal, and Daughter made a large salad, and toasted butter-and-herb bread to accompany the pastas.
Hubbie's other daughter tried out a new recipe on us, using Brie cheese as a filling for a hot, crusty appetizer. Mother and I really liked it, but most of the others turned their noses up at it... this daughter's son said it tasted like bad wine. Since no one else liked it, we brought it home, and Mother and I enjoyed slices of it for several days.
Besides those foods, a card table was laden with dips, cheese balls, cookies, cakes, and fudge. There were also chocolate and coconut cream pies, a cheesecake, and a big platter of fresh fruit.
There was no excuse for anyone to leave that house hungry!
While the meal was being prepared, some of us worked a jigsaw puzzle...a nutcracker motif...that we had brought along as part of the day's entertainment. Some of the guys entertained themselves with a football game on TV. The little ones played or napped, and got generous helpings of cuddling and kissing from doting grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins.
After lunch, we gathered near the Christmas tree to open gifts. Daughter surprised Mother and me with a large tote of scrapbooking supplies. Hubby got a novel sprinkler for the garden.
Then it was time to gather for the family snapshot. We had to squeeze together to get all 18 of us in the picture. A grandmother cautioned a young grandson to keep a straight and smiling face for the picture or he wouldn't be allowed to open a gift when he got home. This same youngster had made awful faces for the snapshots I'd taken the Friday before. Boys will be boys.
Shortly after that, we gathered our belongings and headed home. The sun had just sunk below the western hills, leaving a red glow that silhouetted the winter-bare trees. And in the eastern sky, a full and dazzling white moon was already well above the horizon against a soft pink sky, bordered below by pale blue...nature providing the perfect end to a perfect day.
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