Simple Pleasure: Gloves

It’s been an odd winter, very warm until our recent snowstorm, but even on those days when the temps hit the high 50s, I was wearing my favorite new winter accessory – gloves – just because.

As a knitter, I’ve been a hardcore mitten girl because there are so many cute and quick-to-knit mitten patterns out there. But for my birthday (back in the fall) my husband gave me an olive green pair of cashmere-lined, leather gloves (on sale now). My hands are my least favorite body part, but when I slip them into these gloves, they are magically transformed into an expression of feminine grace. Okay that may be overstating things, but I love them immensely. They make me feel so … classy and refined. Not the usual words to describe my style. Even if I wear them with something as pedestrian as my Patagonia puffer jacket, I feel ever so slightly more sophisticated.

And I’m hooked, since then I’ve acquired two more pairs – one was a gift from a friend, the other, a consignment store find – I’m enjoying having a small wardrobe of gloves and it comes as a complete surprise to me how hard I’ve fallen for them.

I’ll keep knitting mittens, like these, which are lined with lace-weight mohair, but I think they will become gifts in the future. Perhaps I’ll try some knitted gloves on tiny needles. The pair below have been on my list for at least a few years.

What are the accessories that have surprised you, either in how they make you feel when you wear them or how they add versatility where you didn’t expect it?

The Godfather

No, not Marlan Brando, I’m talking about the drink. Have you heard of it? I had not until I received a bottle of Amaretto di Saronno from my FIL for my birthday not long ago. I love many things about amaretto, especially the originale from Saronno – the shape and texture of the bottle, the color of the liquor, the creamy almond fragrance, the secret guarded recipe for making it, the fact that it has been around since 1525, and of course it doesn’t taste bad either, but as primarily a wine drinker, I don’t really know what to do with it or most liqueurs. I was explaining this to my mom who said “Oh, you have to make a Godfather.” She went on to tell me that I am not alone in my libational ignorance, everybody including most bartenders has forgotten about this drink. She said she always has to give barkeeps instructions when she orders it out. Having the two requisite ingredients on hand, I promptly mixed one for myself. Here’s how:

A Godfather

Mix 2 parts Scotch or bourbon whiskey with 1 part amaretto in an old fashioned glass with ice. Stir and enjoy. To make it fancy add a lime wedge.

I ended up adding a smidge more amaretto. The whiskey tempered the sweet of the amaretto and the amaretto smoothed the harshness of the whiskey. Happy weekend. Cheers.

It’s Finally Snowing!

This is what I woke to up this morning. At long last, the snow has arrived, covering everything in sight with a fluffy blanket of white. I’ll let Ogden Nash take it from here:

Winter Morning

Winter is the king of showmen,

Turning tree stumps into snow men

And houses into birthday cakes

And spreading sugar over the lakes.

Smooth and clean and frost white

The world looks good enough to bite.

That’s the season to be young,

Catching snowflakes on your tongue
Snow is snowy when it’s snowing

I’m sorry it’s slushy when it’s going.

Simple Pleasure: An Old English (possibly French) Pub Game

Like most families, we are a busy bunch. Everyone is running in a different direction, making it hard to connect with one another especially during swimming and mock trial seasons. One of our family traditions that has gotten a lot of play over the years and continues to be a source of spontaneous fun for us is a game called Shut-the-Box. We keep it on the kitchen table so it’s easy to reach for anytime two or more of us are sitting down together. We’ve been playing this game since the girls were small, they’re teenagers now and it still has not lost its appeal.

According to the game, Shut-the-Box is a traditional English pub game of dice and numbers. The object is to roll the dice and lay down all the numbered tiles and “shut the box,” or be the player with the lowest score. Some say the game originated in 12^th century France where it was popular with Norman sailors and fishermen as a gambling vice. Despite its salty past, it’s a great game for all ages. Yes, it teaches number sense, probability and strategy to youngsters, but more importantly it’s quick and engaging for all -- just the thing to regroup, even if all you have is five minutes with your kiddo before she’s off to the next thing.

Simple Gingerbread Cookies

Gingerbread is a holiday staple. Years ago, we used to make houses, an endeavor requiring mathematical calculations, vats of thick frosting and considerable structural engineering skills; challenging and rewarding, but not simple (for us anyway). Gingerbread houses gradually mutated to gingerbread men and women cut out one-by-one and wonkily decorated with blobs of icing with red hot eyeballs. Charming to be sure, but messy and time consuming; who needs that this time of year? As the demand for holiday gingerbread has not ceased in this household, my husband suggested we simply roll the dough into logs, wrap them in plastic and refrigerate like we do with butter cookies. When ready (the dough & us), slice the dough into discs and bake. Once out of the oven and cooled decorate to resemble snowflakes. Here’s how they turned out – we kept the rewarding and charming, omitted the challenging and time consuming.

And here’s the recipe. It’s from Rose’s Christmas Cookies, by Rose Levy Beranbaum (author of The Cake Bible)

Gingerbread People (Snowflakes)

Ingredients:

3 cups all purpose flour

¼ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

2 teaspoons ground ginger

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

½ teaspoon grated nutmeg

¼ teaspoon ground cloves

¾ cup firmly packed dark brown sugar

12 tablespoons unsalted butter

½ cup unsulfured molasses

1 large egg

-In a medium bowl, sift together flour, salt, baking soda and spices, them whisk together to mix evenly.

-In a food processor with a metal blade, process brown sugar until fine. Cut the butter into a few pieces and add it with the motor running. Process until smooth and creamy. Add the molasses and egg and process until incorporated, scraping the sides of the bowl. Add the flour mixture and pulse in just until the dough begins to clump together.

-Scrape the dough onto a sheet of plastic wrap and roll into a ball. Divide dough into quarters and roll each into a log shape. Wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.

-Preheat oven to 350. Slice dough into discs and bake 8-10 minutes. Decorate with royal icing.

Simple Pleasure: Making Time to Read

One of my goals over the past few months has been to carve out more time to read books. I read blogs, the newspaper, Ravelry posts, magazines, but I noticed I didn’t have a lot of recently read books to my credit. I love reading. Growing up I always had my nose in a book; I loved the library. Bookish and bookworm were words that once described me. When we bought this house eleven years ago, I had bookshelves built in my hallway which is a nothing space that now houses a miniature library of fiction, suspense, history, travel, how-to, children’s and young adult books. So what happened? Honestly, I don’t know. Apparently I got busy with other things. Sure, I read a few books a year, but not enough to warrant calling myself “a reader.”

A few months ago, after a long hiatus, I found my way to the local library where I rediscovered a lost world. The book I checked out planted me in Sarah Addison Allen’s charming and slightly magical world, which in turn led me to Alice Hoffman, Audrey Niffenegger and Erin Morgenstern. A string of other books followed; I just finished Still Alice, by Lisa Genova, told from the point of view of a brilliant Harvard professor suffering from early onset Alzheimer’s disease. I’m still thinking about that one. I have a whole new insight into that wretched disease, but isn’t that the point of reading – to broaden understanding; to glimpse other points of view. I’d forgotten how wonderful it is to read books. I’ve been making time to read everyday and it doesn’t hurt that I’m on a deadline – three weeks and those books have to go back to the library. I have many goals for the upcoming year, but I think making time to read tops the list. I’m currently reading Juliet, by Anne Fortier and next up after that will be The Imperfectionists by Tom Rachman. Ooh, I’m so excited! Have you rediscovered something you love to do but for some reason quit?

BTW – I’ve found it handy to keep track of my reading – books read and books to read at www.goodreads.com, as well as troll for new reading material.