Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairies

I personally have never had a sugar plum. I'm guessing they are dried plums dipped in sugar, but really I have no idea. I do like the sugar plum fairy, as in the ballet, The Nutcracker, but I don't know how similar the SPF is to the food.

Yesterday, I had a chance to see pint sized plums in action at my nephew's ballet class. He and the rest of the dancers (all girls) were rehearsing for their Winter performance. I should mention that they are three years old. Imagine an unruly line of tots in tutus and one strong boy in black tights and you can imagine how wonderfully fun it was. There was plenty of squirming and sillies while they tried to move into second position. Their upcoming recital is to the song What a Wonderful World (Louie Armstrong version) and it was absolutely precious to see them flapping their butterfly arms while they shouted out the words. They might not have been dancing to Tchaikovsky, but they were sweet nonetheless.

So these little dancers got me thinking about sugar plums. What are these elusive treats that inspired the ballet dance? I did a little recipe searching and wow, there are clearly no firm guidelines for what gets labeled a "sugar plum". I found pieces of candy mixed with chopped pineapple, cherries surround by oatmeal, breads and cakes. It's doubtful that most of these concoctions would have even been available in 19th century Russia. So what is the real deal? Well, I have found a recipe for drying and sugaring plums, updated from a 16th century version. For those interested in drying their own plums, check it out here. I also found an interesting discussion about a dried fruit and nut version, inspired by Turkish candies. Given that The Nutcracker has an exotic local, maybe this is what Tchaikovsky had in mind when he wrote the music.

So the dried sugared fruit or the nut/fruit concoction - I don't know which is the real "sugar plum" treat of Tchaikovsky and Twas the Night Before Christmas. I guess the only visions of sugar plums dancing in my head will be those little ballerinas/ballet dancer working on their pirouettes.

"You are a good housekeeper, Mommy..."

"You keep the flies out of the house." High praise from my eight year old. I guess I should be glad that he notices anything that I do around the house.

Last night, we decked the halls (or started the process, anyway) and put up our tree. I'm still working on how to get the outdoor lights strung, but here are a few snaps from the living room:
NR's Candy Canes
Our kitty under the tree - love the green and gold eyes
Close up of the mantle
My Scandinavian heart garland

The girl's got it

I've been a long time fan of Rosalind Russell. Ever since I first saw her in His Girl Friday with Cary Grant. She was the only Auntie Mame for me (forget the Lucille Ball version) and I absolutely loved her in Gypsy, even if her singing was augmented by another.

Yep, I think Roz was one class act - beautiful, hilarious, strong and sassy, and above all she had a spirit to carry through, in all her roles. Even in the comedic ones, maybe especially in the comedic ones, that spirit is there.

My sister reminds me of Rosalind Russell. Not only is she also beautiful, hilarious, strong and sassy, but most especially she has that same spirit. Nothing can stop her, nothing can hold her back or get her down. She is absolutely the embodiment of Auntie Mame's adage to "Live, live, live" and no matter what, that spirit will see her through.

Bee, I thought you could use a little lift to defy gravity. Love you.

Sailing, pillaging and baking - it's a viking thing

Ok, so the Vikings weren't bakers; no room for a puffy hat on top of those horn helmets. But they did sail and pillage and generally roam the world, bringing back treasure to the Norse homeland. One of those treasures was cardamom. You know, the spice. You gotta hand it to those hearty seafarers that they managed to make it so far in their big dragon headed boats; depending on who tells the story, they picked up cardamom in India, Constantinople or somewhere in the middle east. And you thought they only discovered America.

So cardamom makes its way from Viking ships to Scandinavian bakeries. Quite an interesting tale, I'm sure, but we'll save that for another day. The point (and yes, I do have one) is that cardamom is a very popular spice in Scandinavia, particularly in baked goods. Myself, I really like cardamom. I'm not sure I could accurately describe the flavor to someone who hasn't tried it but think "sweet", "aromatic" and "pungent" (wikipedia's best description). Weirdly, it works in sweets as well as Swedish meatballs and even Indian curries (the land of its birth).

So, yesterday I baked up a coffee cake for breakfast, featuring cardamom. Inspired by my Scandinavian Christmas projects, I thought a wedge of this cake and some good coffee (thanks, Mom for the great "Royal Vinter") would start me off right. Sure enough, the cake was great from the oven but even better in the evening when hubby had it for dessert. I upped the salt in the recipe and I used ground cardamom, rather than pulverizing fresh cardamom pods, but otherwise I made it as is. If you need a nice coffee cake to take to the neighbors or when you go out pillaging on the seas, you might give this one a try.

Ya sure you betcha, it's Christmas (almost)

I said this a few days ago but I'm excited to put up my Christmas tree. Some years, I really dread doing it and I put it off until the last moment. That's a stinky, Grinchy, Bah-Humbug kind of attitude, huh? Yeah, well, I have small streak of Grinch if I'm not careful.

But not this year. This year, I'm in the Spirit - spike the egg nog, Auntie Mame on roller skates, capital S kind of Spirit. I'm also inspired by those countries that know a thing or two about snow, the land of my forefathers/mothers - Norway. Yeah, the spirit hasn't completely made me crazy; I won't be sampling lutefisk or donning the St. Lucia crown of burning candles. But I will be adding some Scandinavian spirit to the festivities this year. What makes it Scandinavian, you ask? Plenty of red and white, heart motifs, snowy stuff and gnomes, of course. Well, that's my version anyway. I suppose someone in Stockholm might have a different perspective, but this is my interpretation.

I'll be conjuring up a few decorations and posting photos in December but I thought a little inspiration from Flickr was in order. There are some amazing (and mundane and weird) photos on Flickr, as well as some things that inspire me for Christmas. Here are some of my favorites:

The gnome knows...
Originally uploaded by DesignMinistry

The gnome knows....says DesignMinistry on Flickr.

heart
Originally uploaded by Ravenhill Designs

Handknit Norwegian sweater transformed into a felted heart. Look for Ravenhill Designs stuff on Etsy.