The Dog Ate the Mail and the Sugar Plums!

Tessa Mesa wasn’t home the day her local post office manager made a momentous decision. Delivery of priority holiday packages addressed to box numbers was running past the promised delivery date so it was decided to deliver the packages to the homes of the addressees. Tessa Mesa’s package was left on her door step in the belief that it was safe from lurking thieves. The mail person didn’t know that Tessa Mesa would be out of town until late Christmas day.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, Missy, the German shepherd left to guard the yard and house, was free to roam the grounds and inspect all packages left on door steps which meant tasting and eating contents of said packages. When Tessa Mesa returned home all she found were bits of colored red and blue boxes and bits of wrapping paper with my return address and labels saying, “Rum Sugar Plums”, and “Orange Sugar Plums”.

I received a phone call Christmas night with the above story, and asking me what sugar plums were, what they looked like, and how they were made. I told her it was a secret family recipe that I had promised never to divulge on pain of death or banishment from the clan.

Of course, it's not really a "secret family recipe" so I'm delighted to have put it in the following post...

Happy Holidays to All!

Sugar Plums

Tessa Mesa, (who lives in the wilds of Arizona north of Prescott,) has threatened to drag me and make me run along side her new pickup truck when we tour family cemeteries in Iowa during our genealogy quest this April unless I give her my recipe for Sugar Plums.

This is a currently popular, but very old recipe using dried fruits. Using an old fashioned food grinder or a modern food chopper, a thick paste is made by combining dried apricots, golden raisins, black currants, dried figs, dates and pecans. Flavorings such as Orange, Rum or Brandy are added. The paste is formed into marble sized balls and rolled in finely chopped nuts or finely chopped flake coconut.

Variations of the recipe are made by adding or subtracting the types of dried fruits, crystallized ginger, flavorings and extracts as well as the kinds of mixtures the balls are rolled in. Rather than grind the dates into the paste, pitted dates and citrus flavored pitted prunes can be stuffed with the apricot mixture. Taste and imagination determine portions of ingredients.

I hope the above recipe lets me have the back seat of the king cab all to myself!

Happy Holidays to All!

Apartment Living In Houston

When I made an inspection trip to see the damage to my house, it was a most stressful day! Not only is the damage ugly and extensive, SOMEONE HAS BURGLED THE HOUSE! Among the stolen items was my antique piano stool and quilt collection. A box containing gold colored Sacajawea dollars was emptied, but the box holding the money was left behind. The thief didn’t realize the box was more valuable than the few dollars they took. I can only hope more items in the house are not ear marked for another burglary attempt!

Until repairs on my house have been made, I’ll be staying in an apartment in Houston. Friends and family have loaned me furnishings, stocked the pantry and freezer and even hung bird feeders for bird watching! That’s one of the things I miss most, the variety of birds, especially the Cardinals, living in the woods outside my windows at home.

Houston’s city streets are decorated for the holidays and the shops are full of people. Night time is a kaleidoscope of colored lights and moving vehicles. One can’t help being enthused with holiday spirit!

The Houston Post Office gives hurricane evacuees a free post box for forwarded mail until they can return home. On days I check my mail, there are long lines of people waiting to mail holiday packages. If the size and number of packages could indicate the state of the country’s economy, I’d say we were in good shape!

I have a Harry Potter closet in my apartment and have decorated the doors with bells and bows. A small table top Christmas tree with ornaments and lights sits in a corner of my living room and when I turn off the radio which plays Christmas music 24/7, I practice playing Xmas carols on my violin.

There are thousands and thousands of evacuees in Houston; many of them are in dire straits. FEMA is attempting to limit the housing for evacuees but Houston’s city government is concerned that it will become known as the U.S. city with the most homeless people. I wish all the evacuees could be as well cared for as I am. When I feel sorry for myself, all I have to do is think of them and count my blessings!