December 11, 2007 by Barbara.

This recipe is one that came into the family about 20 years ago from my sister’s Scottish neighbour. In our family, it’s known as Molly’s Caramel Shortbread but since you won’t know Molly, we’ll just call it Caramel Shortbread. It’s nice and easy to make but tastes so rich! 

Ingredients:

Shortbread 
* 3/4 cup Parkay (really, Parkay works best)
* 1/4 cup white sugar
* 1  cups all-purpose flour
* pinch of salt

Topping
* 1/2 cup butter
* 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
* 2 tablespoons light corn syrup
* 1 can sweetened condensed milk

Icing
* 4oz Aero bar

Directions:

Shortbread
Sift flour, salt, sugar together. Rub in magarine. Knead until a smooth dough is formed. Spread onto a floured cookie sheet, about 1/4″ thick and prick all over with a fork. Bake at 300 degrees Fahrenheit for 25-35 minutes or until golden. Cool well.

 Topping
Put milk, sugar, margarine and corn syrup into a pan and bring slowly to a boil, stirring constantly. Boil gently for 6 minutes, still stirring constantly. Pour over shortbread. Allow to cool.

Icing
Melt chocolate bar in microwave save bowl for 20 second intervals and stir until melted. Pour over caramel layer.

Cut when set and keep refrigerated. In fact, these taste great when frozen and then served about 15 minutes after coming from the freezer.

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December 11, 2007 by Barbara.

Sari brought Dylan and Zachary over to visit first thing on Wednesday morning while Melissa was quilting. Poor Melissa was quilting like a madwoman to finish before she went on vacation but Reid and I were happy to take Dylan and Zachary even without her. I popped both Dylan and Reid into a stroller and took them to Auntie M’s while Sari put Zack to sleep. Dylan was feeling under the weather and so Reid offered him the seat but Dylan declined and climbed into the basket. Midway to Auntie M’s, he asked to switch and Reid did so happily. Since Dylan has about 6 centimetres on Reid, it was probably a good idea. At the yellow house, the kids ate the last 2 peanut butter-oatmeal-chocolate chip cookies that Auntie M had baked and Reid also talked Auntie M into giving her a tomato although not into letting her eat it like an apple. I took some pictures of Corey, the cat, under the Christmas tree. Some were really nice and I only did a bit of “staging”. Corey spends a lot of time under the tree, I’m told, and she looks to be in her element. I tried a couple with Max Doggy but the set up wasn’t right and I invited him to Grandma Joyce’s for a photo session instead. While I snuck downstairs to post a couple of blog entries, the kids watched part of the Poler Express. When we headed back to Grandma Joyce’s for lunch, we had the movie and a candy cane. Neither Dylan nor Reid wanted to leave. Auntie M was a good hostess. When Uncle Roger asked Reid later if she’d been at his yellow house, she said she hadn’t been.  He was at work and she was at Auntie M’s house. Uncle Roger tried to explain the concept of ownership in absentia but I’m not sure Reid bought it. I wonder who owns our house when Ken and I are both at work. They sure aren’t paying their share of the mortgage.

Uncle Chris came to Grandma Joyce’s for lunch and carrot pudding. Grandma Joyce has stopped making carrot pudding on holidays because people tend to fill up on pie and not eat much of the pudding. Instead, she makes a carrot pudding a bit later and shares it with Chris. This plan makes a lot of sense unless you’re a carrot pudding lover who lives far away and isn’t still around when the pudding is eventually made. Sometimes when I come, I ask for the carrot pudding. I had an interesting conversation with someone (my memory really is that bad) during this visit and the other person said that Grandma Joyce doesn’t make carrot pudding anymore. I had to explain about the delayed carrot puddings and Chris. Poor things, didn’t even know they were missing out.

When we got up from our nap, Brianna and, finally, George were there. When Reid spoke with Brianna at the Christmas party on Sunday, she asked about George. When we got to Aunt Pam’s on Tuesday night, Reid asked Brianna where George was. Perhaps Brianna was afraid that she wouldn’t be welcome at the family supper on Friday without George if he hadn’t made an appearance first. Reid enjoys spending time with George and was glad to see him, whatever the reason.

Once Sari was back from school, we got ourselves ready to decorate the sugar cookies that Grandma Joyce had made. Reid started with black icing and spread it on thick. I wasn’t as vigilant as might have been and suddenly noticed that the icing was thicker than the cookie in places. Reid did an admirable job of covering the whole cookie and just needed to remove some of the excess depth. Dylan was equally careful with his cookie but he was more fastidious. When his hands got icing on them, he washed them immediately. Reid continued with other cookies and other colours, as evidenced by the colours accenting her clothes and exposed body parts, but she returned often to the black. Someone joked about Reid being in a goth stage and we decided that it was good for her to get it over with early.

Sari had helped Grandma Joyce colour the icing and pointed out that a pot of orange icing was yellow. Reid and Dylan looked at Sari funny when she said it but seemed willing to go along with her. After a while, though, they were getting confused and so Sari decided that it would be acceptable to call it orange. All of the colours, even the yellow/orange, were beautifully vivid and Reid and I were certainly appreciative of Sari’s efforts.

Sari and Grandma Joyce took care with the cookies that they were decorating. They used toothpicks for the detail work. I hadn’t realized that it would be so hard-core. Melissa admitted that she had trouble watching Dylan do this sort of thing because she is a perfectionist. We all agreed that the restraint she showed in not directing his efforts made her a better person. Melissa’s cookies were beautifully decorated.

Reid volunteered to eat the first cookie to be sure that they would be good for the rest of us. Her mouth was soon as vividly blue as some of the smears on her arms. She gave Zachary a kiss and shared the blue. After one cookie, Reid asked for another but didn’t protest when her request was denied.

After supper, Dylan put on Reid’s Santa suit and posed for some pictures in front of the Christmas tree. With the natural light and tree lights, the pictures turned out to look as though they were taking in the 1970s. Dylan was super cute in any decade. Reid was interested in climbing on me while I took pictures of Dylan but she wasn’t tempted to take her turn in front of the camera.

I’d decided that Reid needed to get back to going to sleep and getting up at her usual times and so wasn’t sad that Grandma Joyce went shopping with Aunt Karin. Reid and I spent some time in the hot tub and then headed for bed. At 9:00, Reid was still awake and announced that she needed to go to the bathroom. I wasn’t sure if I was being scammed but it’s a pretty risky bet to take and so I let her get up. Just about the same time, Uncle Roger stopped in and I can imagine Reid pumping her arm and saying “Woo hoo!” very quietly. We got up and I had a tea with Uncle Roger while he played with Reid. Uncle Roger said that he’d read a story and then had to go home. “Why?” asked Reid as she rubbed her eyes (finally!) Uncle Roger explained it was late and began to read I Want a Dog for Christmas, Charlie Brown. Reid listened quietly for all but 1 page and 2 sentences and then came to snuggle with me while Uncle Roger read the last bit to himself. Reid and I were asleep before Uncle Roger finished the short trip to his house, I’m sure.

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December 11, 2007 by Barbara.

I wrote about decorating cookies and but the pics tell the story, too.

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December 11, 2007 by Barbara.

Aunt Karin snuck into bed with Reid and me on Monday morning. Reid giggled as Aunt Karin covered her face with kisses and knew exactly which crazy relative would do such a thing. Ken, meanwhile, was up and on his way back to Ottawa 15 minutes earlier than planned on Monday morning. Grandma Joyce was teasing me about how Ken never left early when I was going with him. I tried to share the blame with Reid but Grandma Joyce, who has a much better memory than me, pointed out that it was the same before Reid was born.

Aunt Lisa, Megan and Damien came to visit us shortly after Ken left. Melissa, Dylan and Zachary arrived shortly afterward but Zack slept for a bit in the van. Sari stopped in on her way to work. I’m a bit awed by how fast Grandma Joyce’s house can go from quiet to near-party status. Reid isn’t troubled by the all-boy cousin contingent. She has never even commented on it. Melissa seems to enjoy having a little girl around (though there is no doubt in my mind that she loves her boys totally) and Reid very much loves being with her biggest cousin. I am wondering if we will get 6 boys before a girl is born in this generation (since Dylan, Damien and Zachary are of the next generation from Reid), the way we had 6 girls before the boys started coming in the last generation. Does anyone know how to describe Reid’s relationship to the boys? First cousin once removed? Second cousin?

Uncle Chris came for lunch. I sometimes whether it’s a break from work to come to Grandma Joyce’s with so many people or if going back to work offers the break. Maybe both. Reid and I like visiting with him either way. We left Dylan and Zachary in the living room and went to take a nap in the basement. Reid asked about the boys and I said something somewhat misleading about it being naptime for them, too. Melissa said that when Dylan naps he often stays up too late but I wasn’t about to explain that to Reid or that she has to nap because the Day Nurseries Act requires she does so at daycare. I need my naps when we’re on holiday - or any day that I’m able - and so Reid is stuck with napping.

Auntie M, Danielle, Reid and I picked Aunt Karin up after work to go shopping just outside Detroit. Aunt Karin was emphatic that we had to get her precisely at 5:00 and I’d originally planned to leave 45 minutes early. In deference to those family members who made fun of me, we left only 30 minutes early and ended up with time to pickup drinks from Tim Hortons. I made Auntie M go in to get Aunt Karin the hope that I’d be allowed to drive to Windsor, thus extending my time on the heated seat. Aunt Karin was having none of it, though, and once I was ousted from the driver’s seat Reid insisted I sit in the back with her and Danielle. Auntie M might have slipped Reid a fiver when I wasn’t looking to encourage the request ;+)

When we got to Sulienne’s apartment in Windsor, Reid protested at having to stay without me but had stopped crying by the time she and Suli got from the parking lot into the building. Reid went out for supper with Suli and Ryan and Ryan’s mother and had spapghetti and french fries to eat. It seems an unusual sort of meal but was most pleasant, to hear Reid tell it. Reid saw Adam as well, though I’m not sure whether they spoke since he was asleep on the couch when I stopped to pick her up. Reid was watching Treehouse and didn’t want want to leave.

While we were away, we paid the handsome sum of 1 penny for Danielle to ride the pony in the lobby of the Meijer store. Reid rode on it when we last had her shopping there. Danielle declined the $1  tv shopping cart that had kept Reid so happy in the store. I guess the 11 year difference in their ages shows sometimes. I was proud of myself for sticking to the things on my list, with only a splurge for a $5 Christmas t-shirt and a long-sleeved version for $7 for myself. I mostly picked up stocking stuffers, including Barnum and Bailey animal crackers, lipstick (Skittles lip moisturizers by Bonne Bell) and Crayola bathtub crayons. Stocking stuffers can be my downfall and have, in the past, ended up costing far more in total than planned. We stopped at Bob Evans for supper, as we always do, and then headed back to Windsor and Reid. It’s nice to shop without worrying about how to entertain a 3 year old (not that she is rotten by any stretch) but I was still glad to pick her up from Suli’s.

Since I was still banished from the toasty warm driver’s seat, and my little peanut cried when I walked around the car to secure the car seat, I sat in the back for the ride to Leamington and Reid soon fell asleep. I was able to carry Reid in from the car, and take her coat, boots and pants off and get her into a diaper and pajamas without her stirring. I’d been worried if we’d have a repeat of Saturday’s 2:30 wakefulness.

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