Christmas — Page 59

A Blue Christmas

December 23, 2012 at 9:08 am by Claudia

sunparakeet

sunlamp

sunmonty

sunrileydish

sunpiano

sunsnowglobe

sunjumpingjacks

sundollhouse

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Yesterday was raw and windy and the cold seemed to penetrate my bones and heart. All day long, relentless wind, which always leaves me feeling edgy and restless. I watched old episodes of The Big Valley and The Rifleman, which I found strangely comforting.

I’m feeling blue. As the day draws nearer, the realization that Don and I are going to be apart on Christmas has finally hit me. Our Christmases are never elaborate, always simple. We are used to being away from our families on the holidays. My family is spread out all over the country. Don’s is out in California. And, though I missed them all terribly, I knew that I had our Christmas to look forward to. Our little nuclear family.

This year, everything is different. There is a place right in front of me where Riley should be resting. He isn’t here this Christmas. He should be. I miss him so very, very much.

We made this choice, Don and I, because the job opportunity was such a good and rewarding one. And I’ve stayed positive the whole time, becoming the cheerleader I never was in real life, saying ‘yes! you have to do this,’ downplaying the Christmas part of the whole thing. But it’s caught up with me. And I’m blue.

That’s where I am on a Sunday morning.

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Where Was I?

December 19, 2012 at 7:30 am by Claudia

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vase

dollhouse

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scout

What do you think?

Where do you think I went yesterday when I was in NYC?

Cue Jeopardy music.

Okay. I’ll tell you. B & H Photo – my favorite camera store in the world. I was buying my Christmas present. A new camera!!!

This is a very extravagant Christmas present for this family, but we pooled some gift money we had on hand and some of my ad income and Etsy income and, and, and…..I got this camera:

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Eeeek! I am so friggin’ excited I cannot tell you. I am over the moon.

But, as always, when I buy something that I consider extravagant for myself, I feel guilty.

A list of what ifs goes through my head. What if something goes wrong? What if that money is needed for something else? Do you do that? Please reassure me that I’m not a selfish brat. Don’t say anything if you think I am a selfish brat.

But this is about my blog and my Etsy shop and taking my photos to the next level.

And I love, love, love photography.

I took the bus in. Took care of some quick business when I first arrived. Walked to B & H from the Port Authority Bus Terminal. Went upstairs to cameras and told the lovely lady who waited on me what I wanted (I had printed out the items from their website.) B & H, if you’ve never been there, has the most amazing system. You place your order, it’s entered into the computer, at some point during your conversation a blue box pops up from the bowels of the store with your items in it, the clerk scans all the codes but hangs on to the box, you are given a receipt, and you go downstairs to pay. In the meantime, your order travels on an elevated trolley system and somehow ends up downstairs, bagged and ready for you once you’ve paid your bill. This place is unbelievable. And it’s always packed with people, especially at this time of year. I mean, there were hundreds of people buying things there, yet the lines moved quickly and efficiently. I got there around 11:10. I was out of there and back at Port Authority by 11:45. That includes walking about 10 city blocks each way. I hopped on the 12:30 bus and was back home by 2:15.

Since it was a rainy day (endless rain lately) and it was dark, the photos I took have lamp light in them. Not the optimum scenario, but look how great they came out! I took these without doing any reading of the manual. I was experimenting with focusing on one item and blurring the background.

And of course, I had to take a picture of Scout. She was thinking, of course, where is my food?

There’s a little orb in the dollhouse photo, but I sort of like it. And let me tell you, I have never been able to get a photo of the exterior of the dollhouse that I like. Now, I have.

Look how great the doily lamp looks, so clear, so wonderful.

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Bokeh. I’ve been a wanting a camera lens that can do that. Bokeh: the way a lens renders out-of-focus points of light. (Wikipedia)

I’m in heaven.

I have much to learn but it will keep me busy while I’m missing my husband.

And I have some work coming up at the end of next week, a few days on a play my friend is directing in Hartford. 3 days next week and 2 more when the play goes into tech rehearsals during the second week of January. I have to decide what to do with Scout – do I take her with me and worry constantly whether she will bark when I’m at rehearsal (and she well might, she’d be nervous) or do I board her at my Vets. I’ve never boarded her because she was a rescue and I didn’t want to do that to her, but she just stayed at the Vets for 2 days when she was sick and she knows everyone. I’d know she was safe. Advice?

I’m off to play with my camera.

Happy, happy, happy.

Oh, a new scarf in the shop:

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Happy Wednesday.

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The Recipe

December 18, 2012 at 7:30 am by Claudia

Okay, guys, here it is. The recipe. Tasty, scrumptious coffee cake for your Christmas morning pleasure. This isn’t my recipe, it was developed by Whole Foods. I’ve been making it for at least 14 or 15 years, so you know it’s a winner!

Christmas Coffee Cake – Serves 12 (from the kitchens of Whole Foods)

Topping

¼ cup unbleached white flour

¾ cup brown sugar, packed

2 tsp. cinnamon

¼ tsp. salt

1 cup chopped walnuts

¼ cup cold unsalted butter, cut into bits

Cake

1 2/3 cup unbleached white flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. baking powder

½ cup unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 cup sugar

1 egg, at room temperature, lightly beaten

1 tsp. vanilla

1 cup sour cream, at room temperature

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Butter and flour a 10″ springform pan

To make the topping:

1. Combine the flour, sugar, cinnamon, salt and walnuts in a bowl.

2. Add the butter pieces and rub in until crumbly using your fingers or two forks.

To make the cake:

1. Sift the flour, baking soda and baking powder together in a large bowl. Set aside.

2. In a separate bowl, beat together the butter and sugar with an electric mixer until fluffy, about 3 minutes.

3. Add the beaten egg and vanilla; mix well.

4. Add half of the dry ingredients and mix just until the flour is blended.

5. Add the sour cream until blended, then the remaining dry ingredients. Mix until completely smooth.

6. Spread the batter into the prepared cake pan.

7. Sprinkle half the topping over the batter and fold in lightly, using a spatula, so the nut mixture is swirled into the batter.

8. Spread the remaining topping evenly over the batter.

At this point you can cover and refrigerate for up to 24 hours and bake it the next morning. However, I have found that baking it right away, then refrigerating it overnight and heating it up the next morning works best for us. Somehow, refrigerating the finished coffee cake overnight enhances the flavors. It tastes better.

Baking

Preheat the oven to 350° F. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 45 – 55 minutes.

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This is such a yummy cake. I know you’ll love it. The sour cream keeps it moist. Happy eating!

I’m off to NYC for a few hours.

Happy Tuesday.

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A Blue Christmas

Where Was I?

The Recipe

Lambs Like to Party

A Note

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