It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? is hosted by Kathryn at Book Date
Hey all! Last week was a whirl! I had so much to catch up on, plus homeschool, and also of course Christmas things – shopping and planning and activities with Wyatt. It’s that time of year! And, to think I am keeping it simple! We are in the home stretch now!
Wyatt also has a follow up MRI on Tuesday from his hospital visit. If everyone could please send prayers and good vibes for my little guy I would appreciate it.
Reading:
I am still working on the Amanda Flower book, but I am enjoying it! I am also listening to The Christmas Bookshop by Jenny Colgan, who is one of my favorite authors. I just love her books!
So much! We watched We’re No Angels – which I highly recommend- and Coyote Creek Christmas. We also watched Mickey’s Once Upon a Christmas with Wyatt, and he giggled through the whole thing. He loved it, and I loved watching him love it.
When we aren’t watching Christmas movies, we are watching Lark Rise to Candleford and I am obsessed!! Has anyone else watched?
And that is it from me today! I hope you are all are doing well!
Note: I have posted this before, once in 2018 and then again in 2020
My grandmother was a fantastic baker. I live in the same house where she raised my mother, aunt and uncle, with the world’s tiniest kitchen (for real), yet she could make holiday dinners for the whole family, and baked every single day, some sort of treat for my grandfather who had a very big sweet tooth, in that tiny kitchen. Two things she was famous in our family for- her coconut tarts and her Empire biscuits.
My family is divided into two camps: The Coconut Tart people, and the Empire Biscuit people. Don’t get me wrong, we will gladly eat either/or, but..we have a preference for one or the other. I love a good Empire Biscuit, but Coconut Tarts are my weakness. My grandma made them every Christmas and it was the dessert I looked forward to the most.
When my grandmother passed away, my Uncle Art took over the making of the coconut tarts and Empire biscuits, and one afternoon I spent learning how to make coconut tarts with him. It is one of my favorite memories of him, as we lost him to COVID in Nov. 2020. And now I am crying while typing. My uncle and I had a special relationship, with him trying to teach me to garden and bake and even knit, which I never did learn. He did his best work teaching me to love gardening, although I CAN make coconut tarts.
When I posted this in 2018, my aunt called to tell me just how tickled Uncle Art was that I posted on my blog about our day together. I hope he is somewhere up there with my grandma, still being tickled about this being posted.
So to make these bad boys – because they are delicious but most definitely not healthy, read on…
Ingredients for the gooey coconut filling:
3/4 cup sugar 1 can Eagle Brand condensed milk 1 tsp. vanilla 1/4 lb. butter melted 1 egg 3/4 cup coconut, firmly packed
For the pastry : 2 c. flour 2/3 c. butter flavored Crisco + 4 additional TB (my mom uses cold butter but I don’t know how much) a pinch of salt 2/3 c. water
Preheat the oven to 425.
We made the filling first, but I don’t think it matters which you start with. It was easy! Basically, just combine all the above ingredients in a bowl, and whisk until everything is mixed really well. You want to make sure you really incorporate the sugar, it has a tendency to want to sit on the bottom.
Next we made the pastry- this was a little bit more complex but not too terribly difficult. I just really hate getting my hands dirty. Bleh. You start by adding all the ingredients together in a medium to large size bowl- we used a vintage Pyrex one which I am sure was not bought vintage like mine were. Then I cut it in the Crisco using a pastry cutter. Once this was all cut in well, my uncle showed me the next technique, of making the dough all crumbly. I am not sure of the technical terms, but we called it making it crumbly.
This technique involved running it between his hands, using the friction to combine it and make it all crumbled into little balls. Once the mixture was all crumbly, we could easily roll it all together into a ball.
Ta-da!
Once we had this nice round ball of dough, we split it into two balls. Next, we placed one of the halves onto a floured piece of wax paper to roll out. We also put another piece of wax paper over the top of the dough, so it was sandwiched between two floured sheets of wax paper. Then I commenced rolling. You want it nice and thin, but not too thin. Maybe 1/4 inch thick.
We had some little helping hands too. My cousin’s three year old daughter assisted me. Once it is rolled out, you can cut circles to place into the muffin tray. I would say the one my uncle used was about 4″ across. He said this was not perfect but it worked for him. So maybe the size of a wide mouth water glass.
Once you roll out all the dough and have cut the circles, you can start slowly placing them into the muffin tin. This part is the slowest, most laborious part in my opinion.
Mine were a bit messy but looked like this when I was done. A bit of a trick – instead of using your fingers to press the dough down into the tins and onto the sides, once you have it set in loosely, you can use a small lump of dough as a little press instead of your fingers. Once you have everything ready to go, you are ready to fill! Give that filling a good whisking again to stir up any sugar that may have settled while you did all this stuff with the dough. When finished, add about 2 TB filling to each tart. This is entirely up to you, how much is added. I just wouldn’t suggest all the way to the top, because then they will overflow during cooking. Pop them into the oven for about 15 minutes (12-17, but we did 15) until the dough is a nice golden brown, and the filling has a nice golden color as well. My uncle then covers his with a dish towel for a few minutes to trap the heat a little longer without baking.
Once they cool, enjoy! Perfect with a milky, sugary cup of tea. Yum!
And that is all there is to it! I hope I did an ok job explaining this – I didn’t realize how difficult it was to write down a recipe that is mostly conveyed by look and feel in our family. If you try to make them, let me know how it goes!
Billy and I have been immersed in a world of Hallmark Christmas movies lately, and the time has come to break out of that cozy world and start watching old favorites. And who better to watch a classic movie with than Lisa of Boondock Ramblings!
We knew we were only going to buddy watch one movie this month – and this was the winning pick. I had seen it years before and loved it, so I was excited to revisit it. It was new to Lisa though, and I feel like I deserve a gold medal for picking an old movie that she had not seen or heard of!
This is a very unusual Christmas movie, but I absolutely loved it. It is wholesome but…not, as well. Sort of a tainted wholesome, if you will.
The internet (I literally just saw this in the sidebar of Google but I liked it) summarizes this movie by saying:
After breaking out of prison on Devil’s Island, Joseph (Humphrey Bogart) and his two cohorts flee to a nearby town and hide in a shop run by kindhearted Felix (Leo G. Carroll) ; his wife, Amelie (Joan Bennett) ; and their daughter. The three men plan to rob the store and board a ship the next day, but they soon change their minds after sharing Christmas dinner with the family. When they learn of the family’s financial troubles, the convicts decide instead to carry out a few good deeds.
Humphrey Bogart, Aldo Ray, and Peter Ustinov were fabulous in their portrayal of these criminals who find they have a soft spot after all. Bogart plays Joseph, who is the leader of the group it seems, Ustinov plays Jules, who really had some of the best lines and delivery the whole movie, and Ray plays Albert, who was the most sinister of the three – just something about his character gave you the chills, despite the fact that he also wanted to help the family they had originally intended to rob.
Lisa and I were watching this practically at the same time and she was chatting me at first, saying “Erin! What kind of movie do you have me watching?” which cracked me up. I mean, a Christmas movie about escaped convicts does seem a bit weird. And the humor in this is dark, which really works set against the sunny backdrop of this French colonial village.
The Ducotel family is a sweet family, just not very financially savvy – they are much too kindhearted, I believe, unlike Felix’s (the head of the Ducotel family) cousin, Andre, who is absolutely loaded and owns the shop that Felix runs. He is also a huge jerk and could give Ebeneezer a run for his money. Unfortunately for Felix, who is running the shop in the red, Andre shows up at Christmas to check on the finances. At first, the family thinks they have a bit of time before he shows up, as he is onboard a boat and can’t leave, but he somehow manages to get off the boat early – before Joseph can cook the books for Felix, which Felix didn’t want anyway. Because Felix, unlike Joseph, is not a criminal.
However, before Andre gets there, the family and the convicts are able to celebrate Christmas together, and it is so cute and charming, despite the fact that we know what the three men are capable of. Joseph wears a pink frilly apron in the kitchen (and a giant knife), Albert helps to decorate the summer house with flowers and it all seems so very innocent. They even perform a song for the family, which was very nicely done.
Before I forget, Albert has a pet. A pet snake, named Adolf, who is a very deadly snake. We never see said snake, but we do see his cute little cage.
Adolf plays a very important part in this story….
I don’t want to give too much away honestly, because this movie is fantastic, and I highly recommend watching it. It is witty, fast paced, quirky, surprising, and does celebrate Christmas. Joseph, Jules, and Albert may not be Jimmy Stewart in It’s a Wonderful Life, but they do change the lives of this family for the better, in their own way. They are comfortable with who they are, they are fine with being criminals, but got so wrapped up in this family, cared about them so quickly, that they were willing to change their plans for them, on multiple occasions. They took the Ducotel’s into account with all of their decisions once they decided they liked them.
And I will leave it at that. I highly recommend that you watch this wholesome not wholesome Christmas movie!
And… I wanted to share that in January we will be starting a whole new event – Jane Austen January! Get ready for movies based on the works of Jane Austen. We will post more about that after the holiday though.
It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? is hosted by Kathryn at Book Date
Hello everyone!!
Last week was a weird week, full of appointments and then a scary 24 hour ER visit Thursday with Wyatt. We are home now but I am still emotionally recovering from it as a mom. Wyatt seems to be doing well though. If you all could just keep him in your prayers and send him good vibes that would be much appreciated.
Read Last Week:
This was pretty cute!! And I am still in love with that truck.
Reading This Week:
I am really enjoying this cozy series set in Michigan by Amanda Flower. I can’t wait to snuggle up
We finished up Season Two of Wheel of Time and while I am not as interested in it as Billy, the season finale was pretty awesome. We also started watching Lark Rise to Candleford and we are both really enjoying it so far.
We have also been watching children’s Christmas movies with Wyatt. Last night we watched Mickey’s Christmas Carol and A Charlie Brown Christmas. As for us, we watched Coyote Creek Christmas which was cute. Tonight we are watching We’re No Angels starring Humphrey Bogart, and this is a buddy watch with Lisa at Boondock Ramblings. We will be posting about it on Wednesday! (I think.)
Other than that, I have just been listening to Christmas podcasts, watching various YouTubers (Gold Shaw Farm is our top watch so far this month), and listening to Christmas music.
Lately, I have been doing a lot of listening ~ to music, to books, and to podcasts, and I knew I wanted to start listening to some uplifting or interesting seasonal podcasts. So I searched around and found some pretty perfect ones!
The Calm Christmas Podcast:Oh, I have been loving this one! I always hop around within podcast episodes, looking for the ones that pique my interest first before fully immersing myself in just listening to them all. The very first episode of Calm Christmas made me a fan. I know that this podcast is one I will listen to all season! Beth Kempton shares from her home in the English countryside all about how to be mindful during this season, how to nourish our souls and our families, words from some of her favorite authors, and about traditions of the season, how and why they came about and a little history about them. It is utterly delightful. Favorite episode so far: Settling in for a Cozy Winter: A 2022 Winter Episode and I am looking forward to going back and digging in to the rest!
A Cozy Christmas Podcast: This podcast is chockfull of goodness! Stories about stories! Books, and writers and artists, pop culture, holiday traditions – it covers it all. It was almost hard to pick a first episode to listen to, there were just so many that intrigued me and that I wanted to listen to! And I will, as this holiday season unfolds. Favorite episode so far: The Hallmark Christmas Movie Episode but I also really enjoyed Jolabokaflod: The Christmas Book Flood.
The Lost Christmas:
This podcast is super neat. I love how it includes explores Christmas all around the world, and also goes into the lore behind some of our traditions. The website description says:
A dive into the characters, stories, traditions, food, and everything else surrounding the Christmas season all over the world. Each episode ends with a passage from The Lost Years of Santa Claus book, recounting stories that fill gaps in the Santa Claus mythos and answer questions about the man himself and his real story.
Similar to the Lost Christmas Podcast, Christmas Past also delves into stories about our traditions. As described on the website:
Since 2016, Brian Earl has been telling the fascinating stories behind our favorite holiday’s traditions through the podcast, Christmas Past. Inspired by public radio style storytelling, Christmas Past provides a lens through which readers can view Christmas as festive, cheerful, strange, and above all, endlessly fascinating. Think: NPR meets Clement Clarke Moore.
Favorite Episode So Far: A Charlie Brown Christmas (and for those short on time, it is only around 13 minutes long!)
I am enjoying exploring all of these podcasts and all the different stories, traditions, and calming content they provide this time of year!
It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? is hosted by Kathryn at Book Date
Happy December everyone! It’s a weird and misty day outside this morning here! Thank goodness for my coffee and my comfy quilt.
Read Last Week:
So I finished up Lending a Paw and it was adorable! Minus the murder of course. And I still want to run a bookmobile, preferably one with a cat companion!
I also listened to The Gingerbread House in Mistletoe Gardens on Hoopla, and it was delightful! It was not my intended book to read after the Laurie Cass but I wandered over to Hoopla for an audiobook and found this one.
Reading This Week:
I am actually going to start this one this week. I will probably combo read and listen because well, it’s December!
This week we have been watching Wheel of Time Season 2, Father Brown (although, I am not a fan of this newest season), and Christmas movies. We watched A Garfield Christmas (1987 version!) last night with Wyatt and he loved it. I did too, but I always shed a few tears watching this one, believe it or not.
Lisa from Boondock Ramblings and I are hosting a Comfy Cozy Christmas Linkup this year! We each have a dedicated page on our blogs with the linky, and we would love to have you link up as well! It is open to all seasonal holiday traditions, not just Christmas, but we just really like alliteration. Anyway, you can find that in my list of pages or under the header, depending on where you view the blog from!
And that is it from my world this week! I hope you all are well!
It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? is hosted by Kathryn at Book Date
Hello everyone!! I hope you all had a wonderful holiday weekend, if you had a holiday weekend. If not, I hope you just had a wonderful weekend! We were busy busy, bustling about, getting ready to host Thanksgiving and then being lazy bums Friday before decorating for Christmas on Saturday. It was a pretty good weekend!
Reading Now:
I actually read guys!! I am halfway through my book and it is so good. It definitely makes me want a bookmobile even more than I did before – although, I would want to skip certain aspects that pop up in this cozy mystery, if you know what I mean!
Up Next:
This book was all about the cover. I love this truck! And wait – why am I all of a sudden so focused on modes of transport? Wyatt must be rubbing off on me!!
Let’s see…I feel like we have watched quite a bit! We usually binge watch but this past week we have been skipping around. We watched the British Ghosts, Father Brown’s newest season (BritBox), and Wheel of Time (Amazon Prime). We also watched another Hallmark Christmas movie last night – A Merry Scottish Christmas. It was pretty cute, but the best part was the castle, of course. I have a review coming up on this soon!
I also want to talk about the newest season of Father Brown and all the changes. Anyone else watch it or watching it? I have opinions…
And that is it for today! I hope you all are having a good one!
Good day after Thanksgiving morning everyone! I am sitting here in my pajamas, working on my second cup of coffee, doing a little online Black Friday shopping. I hope all who celebrate had a good day yesterday; I know that we did!
But now that Thanksgiving has passed, it is time to move on to Christmas!! In keeping with my last post, I am going to continue to tone down my expectations and plans – I can be a little Clark Griswold, if you know what I mean. However, I do have some ideas and fun things planned for our family!
Lisa from Boondock Ramblings and I have a linky up on our pages, that will be for all of our holiday themed posts, and we would love it if you join in! If you post about anything holiday related, drop your link in our linky, and if you want grab our image too! You will be able to find this linky anytime, I have a dedicated page for it. Just look for the Comfy Cozy Christmas tab under my header!
I am looking forward to reading about what all of you are up to this holiday season, whether you link up or not.
Have a comfy cozy day all! Watch some movies, read a book, take a walk – do what restores you today, if you are able.
Good morning everyone! I have my coffee here next to me, steaming away, and I am busy thinking about what I need to get done today in prep for tomorrow, as I am sure many of you are – maybe whether it is a holiday for you or not!
First though, I want to say thank you to all of you. My online community. I live a pretty isolated life at times, with homeschooling and having a special needs child. My life looks different at times from the “norm” and this space and community mean a lot to me. When you comment, whether it is telling me to have a great week or a book you have read or happy birthday, these comments all make my day. My world is small and you all make it much much bigger so thank you so much for coming here and visiting with me. I love reading all of your stories and adventures as well! I find you all so inspirational and love seeing what you are reading or watching or planting or just plain doing.
I have been thinking a lot lately about gratitude and kindness. Having gratitude for the everyday moments, the spaces we love and inhabit, the people in our lives, those we come across even fleetingly in a day. I am trying to be more mindful, to give more grace, to be more aware of moments that I can give and be a help to someone, even if it is just a simple little thing. To think of how and where I can go into the world and do good. This week in particular, this month, I am sure it is on a lot of people’s minds. November and Thanksgiving here in the States sort of provokes this kind of thinking. We think of what we are grateful for, the kindnesses we receive, the people in our lives. Some days are tougher than others, and while I am not a fan of toxic positivity, it is good to sit a minute and think of one thing that we are thankful for, big or small.
We are going into the season of giving, the holiday season, and I think in the madness of the holidays we can lose sight of what is most important. We think we need to buy stacks of gifts, that we need to do everything, all the decorating, all the baking, do all of the cool experiences that we can with our children and families, and maybe we need reminding that we don’t need to do it all. We don’t need to make ourselves stressed and push past our limits in the name of the holidays. We don’t need to check every box on those bucket lists. We can take a beat and just enjoy, whittle down our expectations for ourselves and what we need to do. Keep things simple, slow down. Enjoy.
And that is what I want to say to you today. Make sure that in the craziness, that you take a minute to enjoy where you are and who you are with.
Still Life, With Cracker Crumbs.. 