Figgy Cookies!!!

Oh bring us some figgy pudding
Oh bring us some figgy pudding
Oh bring us some figgy pudding
Oh bring them right here

Oh bother (sorry, that's Pooh, not Dickens)

I have  no idea what that line in the classic carol talks about because I've never researched or baked a "figgy pudding".  I honestly don't care.  I know I should care because a baked pudding is enchanting, and I do have some cooked figs in the fridge tonight.  But I do care about figgy cookies.  Because they are really and truly awesome.  So for tonight it's figgy cookies -- for Christmas weekend, who knows!  With Google, many things are possible...

And we DO have a recipe for figgy cookies tonight.  It's not anything-free, but if you're like us, you'll adjust and adapt so that you can enjoy this and every recipe, no matter what your dietary restrictions may  be.

This is a sacred (more than 50 years in my family) recipe.  Use it or not as you wish, but it must not be lost, so I'm sharing.

So......My Nonny's Fig Cookie Recipe

1 cup dried figs (chopped)
1/2 cup water
1 3/4 cups flour
2 tsp. baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
1 cup margarine (that's what the recipe says, we use butter)
1 cup brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/3 cup flaked coconut

Cook water & fig.  Cream margaring, sugar.  Add egg & vanilla.  Add cooked figs, flour, baking pwder & salt.  Roll in balls and in coconut.  Press down center with half pecans. 

Now a few notes of reality.  I cooked my figs this year in the crockpot, covered with water while I was serving at my obligatory day job.  When I got home, I shut it off and cooled the figs, then drained them and added them to the recipe.

Another thing, even if I could find margarine, I wouldn't use it.  It's unhealthy.  OKOKOK, I already know.  White flour, brown sugar, none of it is healthy.  But I only ever use butter.  That's just me.  I STRONGLY suspect my mother wrote margarine because she was a child of the depression.  At some point, margarine cost 10% of what butter cost.  Yeah, well, do whatever you need to do.  If you use "spread" you're throwing your money away and you'll waste your time and ingredients and your recipients will think you're a really lousy cook.  These cookies are awesome with butter.  I can also remember them being awesome with margarine, but I don't really think you can find "mazola, corn goodness" margarine any more, so don't even bother.

Another note, that was a "depression era" amount of coconut.  You'll need a lot more.  Trust me, it's worth it.

Hugs to you all tonight, I really hope that you appreciate this insight into the culinary history of us humble folk here at The Haney Place.  Thank you all for your continued support, despite our recently sporadic publication.  We truly do appreciate it.  We are so encouraged by the fact that folks do find our posts helpful and informative. 

An End - And A New Beginning

We've been quiet for a while.  It's not that there hasn't been plenty going on.  For a time, I decided to forego the blog to make time for another writing project I've been working on.  Well...as it just so happens, I don't think it's the blog that's taking up my time.  Also, there are so many times I've thought "I need to blog this or that".  This blog has a life of its own.  Even for me -- at the very least it's an archive of me and my family.  Recipes, moments, good times, food, food, food....  well.....

At any rate, a chapter closed this past week with the passing of Big Steve's dad.  He had been quite ill for some many months.  Even so, it's so hard to say goodbye.  Once again today (as has been his habit for the past several months), Steve ran the course of the NYS Thruway on his way home from his parents' house, and this time, he brought a remembrance.  So I took a picture:

Some cards and well wishes, along with some really fragrant flowers from a memorial service.  My own plants add a bit of symmetry.  This is a remembrance of someone whose art was much too far-reaching for me to even try to represent in this blog.  This is our dining room right now.

So on to the kitchen, and what greeted me this afternoon as I passed through.  I'm torn between being sorry that it bloomed so early, and will be gone by Christmas, and then the beauty of it flows through me, and God's beauty knows no human season.  I was so overcome by its glory, I hope this digital photograph shows something of the newness of life that I felt.

If I was a real photographer, I would have staged it with proper lighting, etc.  But then it wouldn't have projected exactly the simple, yet exquisite beauty that I enjoyed while entering my kitchen this afternoon.

At any rate, I guess I'm back to blogging.  Thank you so much to everyone who has inquired where we've been and fear not, Christmas baking and merry-making is in our immediate blogging future.

Thanks so much each and every one of you who has stuck by us this far.  It humbles us to realize what an effect this silly, simple little blog has on people.  Thanks again.

Clean House(Pets) and also, the Withering Look....

Well, it would appear we had a flea problem earlier in the week.  Oy!  It seems much longer than a week since that fateful day we took Elsa and Pearl to be groomed.  Oh, ok.  I know, I KNOW.  We can and should be doing this ourselves.  BUT...bottom line, we took them to a groomer.

So.............they came home clean, BUT WITH FLEAS!!!!  I kid you not, and actually, it's not surprising  Lots of puppies are there only for flea relief, and fleas being the pesky sons-a-guns they are, well, it was just a matter of time.

So....like proper yuppies (well, we don't really want to be yuppies and if you call us that we'll deal with you in short order, but when we're miffed, we try to do it, but we don't do it well at all!!!), we went back to said groomer and they said they would be happy to re-bathe said puppies at no additional cost (mentally does the math -- what on earth???  More fleas????).  So no, that didn't work.  I don't need even more fleas. 

We purchased the vet supplied chemicals to eradicate fleas, which it did, but then the poor pups suffered with toxic diarrhea/other symptoms.  It's been so long since I have dealt with fleas, that I was ill prepared to the task at hand, so again, Haney Place dogs deserve the best we can give them.  Henceforth, these puppies will only be dealt with homeopathically and naturally, but too little too late, we still had itchy, toxic puppies here.  Something HAD to be done!

Steve rigged up really AWESOME dog washing apparatus in the upstairs (master) bathroom.  Oy....  It was effiencit, for real, but dogs being what they are, and the fact that they have never been bathed at home yet, the tension was mighty high.  I rolled up my sleeves and prepred to get down to business!!! 

Yes, well, I'm pretty sure he told me the status of the various valves, switches and stuff, but long story short, the warm water wasn't forthcoming.  I saw a valve I thought was at fault.  I had to step up on something, tippy toed, face fully extended to the shower head, and WHAM!!!  Before we even began, a face full of something...

Oy....but anyway, we proceeded.  I don't know if you've ever experienced a shy dog evacuating their anal gland, but...it should only happen in the shower, just sayin'....

Wash one dog in emollient oatmeal shampoo (huff, puff, puff) and turn to second dog (WTF????)  No way, and yet, by golly, I've raised kids meaner than you, so in you go, and the second one gets a good bath.  So sweet, so happy, so relieved, we're all really proud of the job we've done.  So we RUN for the back door, and that AWESOME rare October sunshine.  This weekend really is a gift to Upstate NY after all we've been through recently.

So.....................Big Steve is sitting in the sun out back, sipping something bubbly and cold, and when I express my (then) stress over all the water upstairs, he counters with something like "Didn't you put towels down on the floor"?????

NOW....THE WITHERING LOOK!!!!!   LOLOL!!!  Men, don't try this at home.  That look could wither the oldest walnut tree!!!

So we proceed to the cat.  Egads.  It has been decades since I bathed a cat.  Not a pretty sight.  Lots of blood (mine).  But hey, I figured I had trendy goods, which any cat would be proud to be bathed in!

I don't know about you, but I absolutely adore and look forward to those cherished moments with my stylist.  Oh, wow.  The warm water, the massage, the fixing of everything that's wrong with how I appear (in her power, albeit...but I digress).  At any rate, Calvin wasn't exactly into it, but he was really ok...God love him, he was really ok!

Well, what I was dreading most (bathing the cat) turned out to be the easiest task of all.  Glad I saved it for last.  Mr. Calvin Cat totally accepted and even seemed to enjoy his bath with his trendy shampoo.  I won't say he loved every part of it, but I can honestly say that I have the cleanest, and calmest cat on the block.  And this episode of fleas is over.  For real. 

And this has all inspired me to complete the homeopath training for once and for all. 

Chemicals stink, in your nose, and metaphorically.  I'm done with them.  And so are my furbabies!  I almost feel like we've won a small battle today!

Regarding Babies...and Dust...and Such....

I shared this with a friend tonight....and it brought back such wonderful memories.  I've got lots of firsthand knowledge of babies, but of course, no two babies are the same, and no knowledge of any one baby gives one the right to assume they know about babies.  Babies are something else.  They change your entire world.  Everything you think is important is either still important and elusive, or else it's not so important any more.  At any rate, there is no denying that babies, human or otherwise, change our lives forever.  Someone shared this poem with me when I had three babies in diapers.  I took it to heart, and I believe it's as true today as the day it was written, and the day that author was born, and her mother was born, and her mother was born, and...well, you get the idea...To my  mind, it just proves the greatness of God....

Song For a Fith Child, by Ruth Hamilton. 1958

Mother, oh Mother, come shake out your cloth

empty the dustpan, poison the moth,

hang out the washing and butter the bread,

sew on a button and make up a bed.

Where is the mother whose house is so shocking?

She’s up in the nursery, blissfully rocking.

Oh, I’ve grown shiftless as Little Boy Blue

(lullaby, rockaby, lullaby loo).

Dishes are waiting and bills are past due

(pat-a-cake, darling, and peek, peekaboo).

The shopping’s not done and there’s nothing for stew

and out in the yard there’s a hullabaloo

but I’m playing Kanga and this is my Roo.

Look! Aren’t her eyes the most wonderful hue?

(lullaby, rockaby, lullaby loo).

The cleaning and scrubbing will wait till tomorrow,

for children grow up, as I’ve learned to my sorrow.

So quiet down, cobwebs. Dust go to sleep.

I’m rocking my baby and babies don’t keep.

Fall - New Beginnings

I love the fall.  I love everything about the fall.  I love that there is change in the air.  I don't mind that the days are getting shorter, but even still, they're not that short.  I love that feeling of "vacation's over, back to work" even though Big Steve and I didn't enjoy much vacation goodness this summer.  When I was a little girl, I used to LOVE the smell of that new box of crayons for school.  I loved the new school year, the clean slate, the potential A+'s, the new teacher I hadn't aggravated yet.  It was all so good.

There's a precious little girl in my life with all the same optimism.  Even though I assured her the garden was spent, she wanted to explore.  I tried to explain how the weather made all the veggies come in extra early this year and there wasn't the same Labor Day bounty we have come to expect.  Nothing would dissuade her.

So....as one should expect, eternal optimism paid off.  I need to take a page out of little Lekya's book.  Expect good things, expect blessings, and that's exactly what will happen.  As evidence:

Now, I assure you.  We did not plant pumpkins this year.  It's a gift from God.  We didn't sow, but we reaped.  And what a lovely pumpkin it is!!!  It came out of the compost pile, just the way that God uses the compost of our lives to bless us and those around us.  What a wonderful Father!

Zippy Chicken

OK - I know that's a lame title, but that's just what it was.  Tasty, zippy chicken.  If I did it again (and I will) it would be just a little bit zippier (a little more red pepper flakes).  But it was so good, and the leftovers are my lunch for tomorrow.  Yummy!!!!  And cheap eats.  I'm guessing dinner for two with leftovers for lunch -- under $5.  Good stuff!

Big Steve and I started low-carbing a week or two ago.  We've both lost several pounds already.  But we had reached a crisis stage.  You see, we had a wonderful houseguest for the summer who ate neither beef nor pork.  No problem, we adore chicken and meatless meals.  So we had chicken this and chicken that during the summer.  I enjoyed it, but Big Steve is a red meat kind of guy.  So he got a bit overdosed on chicken and a bit underdosed on red meat.  So for the past two weeks it has been red meat this and red meat that.  Honestly, I was just about to puke red meat two days ago.

So..............yesterday we had awesome shrimp and the last of the green beans  from the garden.  But for tonight, I took some so-so looking drumsticks from the freezer and wondered what to do with them.  I wanted something with a soy sauce base. 

Enter zippy chicken!  (And mashed faux-potatoes...low carb yumminess!!!)

Pineapple Angel Food Cake

I won't try and kid you into thinking this is in any way good for you, but it's got the be the easiest "homemade" cake for summer.  It's light and refreshing, did we mention easy?  Two ingredients - and you're done.  And it would be perfect to take to a picnic or a cook-out.  One of our guests had his with whipped cream and cherries.  But I don't really think it needs a topping.  Unless you're young and trim and can afford the extra calories!

Spicy Summer Chicken & A Revelation

Tonight we had something I'll call "Spicy Summer Chicken".  I had some chicken breasts to use up and I was trying to think of something new.  I also wanted to tap into the goodness of the fresh garden veggies. 

Now when I'm alone in the kitchen cooking, my mind is usually going a million miles an hour.  Tonight was no exception.  So I'm cutting up onions the way I always have - I cut them in half, then in quarters, and then slice them right into whatever I'm making.  It makes a slicey dice.  It's just the way I do it for lack of a better way.  So I get to thinking "someday I'm really going to have to learn to chop onions the right way".  And then it hits me...I've always done it like this, it has always worked.  I raised four children doing it this way, also fed countless others goodness knows how many thousands of meals over the years (I'm a feeder).  I'm content, it gets done, what am I thinking???  No, seriously, this was my revelation.  It may seem silly and small, but why do we always second guess ourselves?  Why do we always think someone else has a key or some knowledge or skill that we don't?  Why can't we just be ourselves and be content?

I'm wondering how much of this negativity toward myself I really do carry around.  It's good to examine and improve ourselves, but probably not a good thing to always think we're not quite up to the mark.  So I'm going to try to be more conscious about this in the future. 

I'm not sure if this makes sense to anyone else but me, there it is.

And now a recipe, or as we call it here, a method. 

I know that's not a good picture, but it's the best I could get in a dim room.

At any rate, I cut up the chicken breasts into tenders-like pieces and put them into an oiled baking dish.  Then I made the sauce.

Drizzle some oil in a skillet, then add
chopped onions (we used two medium onions tonight)
chopped garlic (as much as you like of each)
(You could also use peppers, if you wanted them)

Stir over medium heat till the onions just start to soften.

Then I added:

3-4 large fresh tomatoes, cut up (you could use canned)
salt & pepper
whatever you like to make it spicy - I added crushed red pepper, tabasco sauce, cumin
Soy Sauce (we use Bragg's)

Simmer this 5-10 mins, then pour it over the chicken in the pan.  Bake at 350 for about 30 minutes.

Voila!  It's low fat, it's fresh and taty.  It really was tasty, and the chicken was nice and tender.

On the side, we cooked some zucchini in chopped tomatoes with garlic, oregano, etc.  Yummy!

And then there were mashed potatoes. 

It was really very satisfying, not really expensive, and you could actually do a lot of it before work, if you like, and then have an easy meal to come home to.

Enjoy!