What a Beautiful Bird

Happy Thanksgiving

There's nothing better than a fresh Plainville turkey from Plainville Farms.

First Batch of Fruitcakes

The first batch looks like they came out pretty good. I used coffee cans, and got 5 cakes out of one recipe.
I forgot to add the fruit to the date / raisin mixture, but everything mixed up easily.
I like the King Arthur Flour candied peels and fruits better than the Pennant brand the stores carry. I never knew Pennant was in Plant City, Florida.
I totally forgot to get cheesecloth! King Arthur Flour has the best. We don't have any fabric stores around here, and the cheesecloth they sometimes have at the grocery store is like fishnet.
Here's the recipe:
http://deskdiva.blogspot.com/2006/12/fruitcake-recipe.html

Mother's Best Lemon Sherbet

Mother made this using metal ice cube trays, which she'd put right in the freezer. It was a special day when she made it.
You don't need an ice-cream maker for this. I'll use a 9 x 13 inch pan.

Sherbet, Lemon (Gelatin)

1 envelope Knox Gelatin

1 quart milk

1 1/2 C sugar

3/4 (1/2) C lemon juice

1/4 tsp. salt

Soften gelatin in 1/2 C cold milk. Place dish over boiling water and stir until dissolved. Add to remainder of milk. Mix lemon juice, sugar and salt, add slowly to milk and freeze. Stir it several times while it's freezing.

Time to Think about Fruitcake

I should start baking my fruitcakes soon.
My coffee cans are ready. I like using them because they make a cute, round cake. I fill the cans up about 1/2 way with batter, maybe just a little bit less than half. They'll be about 4-6 inches high when they're done.

Here's the recipe for my Best Fruitcake
Even people who hate fruitcake will love this one.
I posted it here back in 2006. It was my mother's and grandma's recipe. Grandma got the recipe from Mrs. Suits. Mr. Suits was Chauncey Guy Suits, who was the director of research at General Electric in Schenectady from 1945 to 1965.
Here's his New York Times obituary:
C. G. Suits, 86, Electrical Inventor Who Devised Synthetic Diamonds

Dress Rehearsal for Trees

A few of us got together and decorated two trees for local non-profit fund raisers. I was hoping to win the larger of the two, but I didn't.

Decorations on the the larger, pre-lit 3 foot tree, include:
two sizes of pine cones, artificial berries, cinnamon sticks tied with a red bow, birds' nests, cardinals, multicolored sparrows, mittens, red berry wreath at the top, and three Christmas books tied with a ribbon. The skirt will be a white cloud thingy.
Its name is, Heaven and Nature Sing.










The smaller, 18 inch tree, without lights, includes:
Canadian hemlock cones, dried white Chinese lanterns, lots of wired artificial berries, cardinals, birds' nests, a red ribbon garland, some holiday notecards and a date planner tied with a ribbon. The base is wrapped in red plaid fabric.
It's name is, "Silent Night" - unless we change it.

P.S. We love glue guns. Next year - seashells.

Cyndi - I Drove all Night

Cyndi - Change of Heart

JetBlue Misses Me - Mr Soandso

The other day, I got an email from JetBlue saying they hadn't 'seen' me in a year, and that they 'missed' me. It started out,
"Dear Mr. Soandso,
We haven't seen you in a year and the truth is, we miss you! We really wish you would jet out of town so we can spend some quality time together ... "
Today, another email came from them with their apologies for incorrectly addressing the previous email. I didn't even notice the Mr. Soandso, but others must have, and complained. I wouldn't mind flying JetBlue again if they had a direct flight to TPA from SYR, or anywhere, other than JFK. I wouldn't mind seeing their new terminal, but it's not worth it. Flying just isn't fun anymore. Lousy terrorists. They've ruined everything, least of all, flying.