Wishing you a sweet Christmas!

10 things I love about Christmas:
-the time off work (aka: winter break)
-candlelight service
-gift-giving
-the celebration of joy/peace/love/the birth of Jesus
-big family meals
-Christmas lights
-Christmas music!!
-drinking tea while opening presents from "Santa"
-omelettes and cinnamon rolls on Christmas morning (every year, no matter what)
-did I mention the time off work?

This year, I claimed Christmas dinner's dessert as mine, and the hunt began for the perfect dessert...I think the hunt took me all of 5 minutes because I already knew what I wanted to make: Ollalieberry Roulade.

Okay, it is technically supposed to be Blackberry Roulade, but if you know my family, you know we loooove our ollalieberries, so naturally I ditched the blackberries and went to our trusty freezer for some home-grown ollalieberries! And it was divine.

Plates were licked, "mmm"s were heard for miles around (slight exaggeration), and the recipe was filed in the "definitely make again" file. It was time consuming...three hours...but SO worth it. The cake was light, the filling smooth, and the extra ollalieberry puree drizzled on top was the perfect "cherry on top". Fantastico!

December EXCITEMENT!

The past 48 hours have been intense, exciting, and memorable:

Great friends got engaged, we finally got a good rain storm, the Christmas season was rung in with a Christmas lights trolley ride...and I had a few spare hours to quickly bake a new cake!

The "Happy Engagement/Merry Christmas" Caramelized Banana Cake!

The cake takes time and a little patience (I have never been one to want to let my cakes cool...I get so antsy to see the finished product!) but it isn't too complicated and it is definitely worth the
hours in the kitchen!
Banana cake with a layer of caramelized bananas in the middle, covered in marscapone whipped cream frosting and drizzled with real dulce de leche...yum.

Congrats Tim and Kjersti!
Merry Christmas to all!

Fun Fact: I am ____ years old.

I never before realized how naive children are when it comes to the concept of age...and let me tell you, it is quite entertaining to hear them attempt age guesses!

As a substitute teacher, I am a small mystery. I am the "cool" person, the "new" teacher to get to know, and one of the first questions (other than "are you married" and "do you have kids") is "how old are you?"
When asked, I simply smile, shrug my shoulders, say "guess," and let the games begin.

Kindergarteners and 1st graders are the most entertaining because, with complete seriousness, they begin with "14" or "76". I try not to laugh out loud, but sometimes I can't control myself. They have no real concept of age...it's not their fault. When I tell them that isn't my age, some proceed to go even higher or lower! In their eyes, I have been seen as young as 11 and as old as 92. Awesome.

Third and fourth graders are a little more forgiving...but not completely on target, either. They peg me as in my 30s and occasionally in my 40s. I asked one class why they guessed so old (I mean, do I look that old??) and they said that they guessed those ages because that is the age of their parents. When they realized they guessed too old, they immediately dropped to 18. Gee, thanks.

Today, I actually had a sixth grade class that, despite the one guess of 18, got my age correct pretty quickly.
Lesson learned? If you need some "age therapy", talk to kids under the age of 10...chances are, they will make you feel young if you are old and old if you are young, which will probably make you feel pretty good about yourself.

Thanksgiving thankfulness.

I am thankful for...

Tasty treats (aka: food)

Health

Awesome friends

Nice family (I think I have the best...)

Kitchen Aid mixers

Siblings

God's love

Incredible parents

Vacations

Inventions (the lightbulb, the computer, the telephone)

Nice weather, all year round

God's forgiveness

...and a WHOLE lot more. I am blessed with blessings I don't deserve and it is kind of sad that we only have one day of the year dedicated to remembering to be thankful! Every day should be a day of thanksgiving...and I wouldn't mind the year-round pumpkin pie.

Persimmons!

Words (and sounds) that have been uttered in regards to these muffins:
"Oooh."
"Mmmm."
"Fabulous."
"Killer."
"These are MY muffins, right?"
"Awesome."

Seriously, they are THAT good.

I love persimmons and I was a little afraid that I would waste 6 precious persimmons on a mediocre recipe...but this is well above mediocre. The cognac adds a great touch, the persimmon adds a subtle sweetness, and they are nice and moist like a muffin should be!
The recipe is for 2 loaves of bread, but I made 12 muffins and 1 loaf...we are a muffin family.


Persimmon Bread (or muffins)
3½ cups sifted flour
1½ teaspoons salt
2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1-2 teaspoons cinnamon
2 to 2½ cups sugar
1 up melted unsalted butter and cooled to room temperature
4 large eggs, at room temperature, lightly beaten
2/3 cup cognac
2 cups persimmon puree (from about 4 squishy-soft Hachiya persimmons)
2 cups walnuts or pecans, toasted and chopped (optional...I didn't use nuts)
1 cup raisins (or other dried fruit, chopped)

Grease loaf pans or line muffin tins with paper.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Sift the first 5 dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Make a well in the center then stir in the butter, eggs, liquor, persimmon puree then the nuts and raisins. Bake the bread for 1 hour or until toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. The muffins bake for about 25 minutes.

L.i.f.e.

Let me start with a somewhat funny story because it has been so long...
Context: I was teaching 1st graders.
"Miss Heinz, Lucas said that camels are like dwarves."
"Oh?" (me)
"Yes, and it hurt my feelings because I like camels."

So, it's not THAT funny, but come on...it's a little funny.
Camels are like dwarves?!?
And saying that camels are like dwarves offends someone enough to hurt their feelings?!?
I had to hold in my smile and laughter.

Today is an exciting day. I got a long-term job!
As I sit and reflect on my life in the past months, I know, without a doubt, that I am where I am supposed to be (for now, anyways).
Yes, I am working A LOT. Yes, I am tired and tend to complain about the occasional 13 hour workdays (teaching + WS = exhaustion), but deep down, I truly love it. I love being busy. I love teaching. I love working at WS. I love long shifts and being friendly. I love answering questions. I love being a light to my co-workers.
I am home for a reason. I am in other peoples' lives for a reason. I am in the schools and workplace that I am in for a reason. It is exciting to know that God has me in His hand and He is working His plan in my life...
...and God has a bigger, more amazing plan than I could ever dream up for myself.

As for baking, I just bought a new cookbook! I had to. They had me dusting and re-stocking the cookbooks at WS and I happened across a clearance book that just happened to have my name on it. It also spoke to me and said "open me," so I did...that was my first mistake.
Anyways, there are a bunch of recipes that I would LOVE to create. If only I had a little free time...

"What were they thinking...?", continued

I am not going to lie...now, when I walk into a new classroom I consciously search out a class list so that I can peruse the names. Secretly, I WANT to see something odd, abstract, or ridiculous. If the names are normal, I am slightly disappointed.
Luckily for me, parents obviously want to make my days a little more entertaining because I continue to come across the world's worst names. I have quite the list of names NOT to name my children.
The latest additions?

Safari (girl).
Precious (girl). Aw, isn't that precious? No.
America (girl).
Stoney (boy).
Sailor (girl).
Clear Water (boy). The worst part about this boy's name is the story behind his name. When his mother's water broke, the water was clear...so she named the baby boy Clear Water.
Moon Face Man (boy). He is Clear Water's brother and he got his name because his face was white and round like the moon when he was born. (Oh.my.goodness.)
Rain (girl). And yes, her middle name was Cloud. I'm totally serious.

I am still waiting for a Cruise? Telephone? Or possibly California? The options are endless.