It is Thursday! The wind is up from the northeast and the rain in pelting down. A day to stay inside and clean my bathroom. Really! I did say it was Thursday and on Thursdays I always clean the bathroom. Don’t you?
Now it’s not an absolutely unpleasant task as I do give the toilet and sink a flick and a promise most every day. BUT Thursday is EXCITING. Who knows what guests will drop by for a Friday evening chat or for some peas soup on Saturday! Perhaps there’ll be bums in seats around the table for our Sunday meal. And it goes without saying that the toilet must be presentable. This might sound a little embarrassing – a topic to be avoided maybe. But in my house, it is a BIG deal.
You see our water comes from a dug well fed by a natural underground spring. In particular, in the Fall and Spring there are a lot of minerals flowing – iron, copper and that sort of thing. Now don’t worry, all of it is well within the safe limits for human consumption. But it does mean that sinks, dishpans and TOILETs will get discoloured from rust. Get the drift?
By Thursday, it’s necessary to give it more than just a promise. I could describe the whole cleaning process to you but it would probably gross you out so I won’t go any deeper. In case you ever have the same problem as me, I will share that I use a 3M Marine Product – works wonders and it doesn’t scratch the enamel. A few minutes of elbow grease and the toilet is sparkling like new.
Well, Thursday’s work is done and now I’m sitting at my computer, laughing out loud! I can almost hear my grandchildren when they read this blog.
NAN!!!
Each of us has our own little traditions. What are yours, I wonder? Is it:
- pizza and a movie on Friday
- peas soup on Saturday
- family and friends around the table for a meal on Sunday
- cleaning on Monday
- potato-turnip hash on Tuesday
And then there are those special days throughout the year. Whether it is Labour Day and a picnic, Thanksgiving and a harvest meal, Christmas, Eid, Valentines, Canada Day – what is that special something you try to do each time? And isn’t it the littlest thing that brings a smile and pleasant thoughts as it comes to mind?
My Christmas Card Tradition
Finding the RIGHT recipe! You see each year I experiment with recipes and determine which one is the best to include with my Christmas cards. Not a big deal – one would think. Oh, but one would be soooo wrong in that thought process. There are a lot of considerations:
- will it be a dessert, cookies, a main meal, side dish or or or
- should it be easy and fast or can it be a little more complicated
- do the ingredients need to be simple, every day items or can I think outside the pantry
- should it be low budget and economical or can I splurge a bit
Oh but the pressure of it all! And, at some point every year, I will say,
“It’s time to give it up. Who uses them anyway?”
And what about the Christmas Card. What will it look like? What will I say this year?
I started making homemade cards and recipes many years ago – it was 1989. What began as a ‘just one year’ thing turned in to a more than 30 year tradition. It is my special gift to family and friends.
Now if you follow my blog, you will know that I switched to electronic cards a couple of years ago. Not by choice, mind you, but my Christmas Card list had grown so large it had become unaffordable – the postage, the paper, the ink! Ah but the fun continued – just in electronic form. I still make some paper cards for those living close by but for the most part the cards are sent from my website.
All in all, whether paper or electronic, it doesn’t change the planning and decision making process. Choosing the recipe and designing the card are still a BIG thing in my world – sort of like cleaning the toilet on Thursdays except that this tradition is a LOT more fun.
It starts around the first part of September. The recipe will be chosen, produced and discarded a dozen times before the final decision. Same thing with the card – the design, the sketches (or pictures), the wording – all of it will change until just the right combination strikes a chord.
And just so you know … it’s the 2nd week of November and still no decisions on the recipe or the card. The pressure is on!
Another Tradition
Several years ago my granddaughter and I made Christmas cookies for the neighbours, family and friends. What fun we had figuring out which recipes to use, how many we would need and what containers to prepare. Some cookies we made together after school. The rest I made and froze when she was too busy with life. And by Christmas Eve, all was in readiness for the best part. She and her friend would divide them out taking care to select just the right number and kinds for each family. Each container had to have a To/From tag – handwritten of course. It was quite a production line with lots of laughter and fun.
Once again, it started as a “one time’ thing and we’ve been doing it ever since.
Our Cookie List
Gingerbread
Snowballs
Brownies
Shortbread
Ewey Gooey Cookies
Date Squares
Fruit Jumbles
Chocolate Chip
Stained Glass
Carrot Cookies
Peanut Brittle
I will be visiting my friend next week and we’ve decided we’ll make Peanut Brittle. Who knows, perhaps it will become another tradition. Here’s the recipe we’ll be using. If you have a different one, be sure to leave a message on this blog and let me know what it is so I can experiment.
Ingredients
1 1/2 tsp baking soda1 tsp water1 tsp vanilla
2 cups sugar1 cup water1 cup light corn syrup3 tablespoons margarine1 pound shelled unroasted peanuts
Butter 2 cookie sheets (15×12″) and keep them warm. Mix baking soda, 1 tsp water and vanilla and set aside.
Mix sugar, water and corn syrup in a 3 quart saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until a drop of the mixture in very cold water forms a soft ball that flattens when removed from the water. (about 18 minutes, or if you have a candy thermometer it should read 240)
Stir in margarine and peanuts. Cook, stirring constantly, to 300 (about 12 minutes or until small amount of mixture dropped into very cold water separates into threads that are hard and brittle).. Immediately remove from heat and stir in baking soda mixture.
Pour half the mixture on each cookie sheet and quickly spread it to about 1/4 inch thick. Cool and break into pieces.
Traditions Don't Last Forever
Don’t you find that there is a time and a shelf life for most everything? Times and families change over the years, allowing room for old traditions to be set aside and for new ones to take their place. It’s often a little sad to see traditions change, but all in all, it is the way it should be. We will have our memories which are always filed in the back of our minds where we can bring them forward when it is time to reminisce.
Traditions are all about making memories!
Otherwise, why would anyone ever need to clean their toilet on Thursdays?
You are one amazing lady! Love reading your blogs. Take care and keep writing. 😘 🫂
Hi Beulah
I have a recipe for peanut brittle my cousin, Caroline, made every Christmas!
2 1/4 cups white sugar
1/2 cup Karol or light corn syrup
1 1/3 cups water
1/4 cup butter
2 cups salted peanuts
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tsp baking soda
Cook sugar, Karol and water to hard cook stage – 15-20 minutes. Medium high – stirring occasionally.
Add butter and peanuts. Hard cook stage. Stir 10 minutes.
Remove…Add salt and sofa. You need a candy thermometer.
Keep writing the blogs….nice read.