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Because we love air smooches at our house!

December 16, 2009 by Edie Wadsworth 14 Comments

and real smooches too.

Now that I think about it, we’re a smooch-y bunch.

Hope you get lots of smooches today.

It’ll ease the stress of all those things you need to do before Christmas!

Mu-waaaaaah!

And I’m sending a smooch out to my ‘in real life’ friend Patty, whom I love dearly, who’s hosting a 12 Days of Christmas party. Just leave a comment on any of her Christmas posts to join the party.

Patty is probably my friend with whom I share the most in common. When we get together, we talk a mile a minute about photography and lens and lighting and blogging and reading and children and ‘Edward’ and stay-at-home-momming, and cooking and organizing….and, and , and.

You’ll love her. She’ll make you laugh. And cry.

And you’ll thank me for introducing you.

Go ahead and send your air smooches of thanks now.

A Sparkly Christmas Tour

December 13, 2009 by Edie Wadsworth 56 Comments

Welcome to my warm and cozy and very sparkly Christmas tour. This year I have simplified my festive decor and hope you’ll enjoy the lights, fresh greens and the smell of wassail on the stove! Come on in y’all.

Saturday Ramblings

December 12, 2009 by Edie Wadsworth 19 Comments

I started a bookclub two years ago in an attempt to continue my own education as I simultaneously teach my little ones. We loosely follow the reading list laid out by Susan Wise Bauer in her book The Well-Educated Mind. The reading list is divided into genres and is composed of a sampling of the Great Books of Western Civilization. This is not a bookclub for the faint of heart. The reading lists are demanding and this semester alone, our group has whittled itself down to a faithful few. I have a love/hate relationship with bookclub. I’m so thankful for the very smart group of friends that shares my passion for reading classic literature. If you have a friend who’ll read Plato’s Republic with you and not call you names or throw things at you, then you have a friend indeed. But because the books are tougher reads than say, Twilight, which I also enjoyed, I find myself feeling so relieved when bookclub is over. Similar to the way I felt when I finished a Microbiology exam in medical school.

“Whew, glad that’s over. I think I’m gonna bake all weekend!” (my classmates loved me)

With that sense of relief is also a very palpable sense of accomplishment. And since we moms live in a world of neverending/never completed tasks like laundry, dishes, and meals, actually ticking something off a list that is finished—is well……… just a dandy thing to do. I keep my list on my blog and though I won’t make my goal of 52 books this year, I’m so grateful for the books I’ve read. And grateful for the friends who’ve read them along with me.

We just finished All the Presidents’ Men on Friday—and yes I finished. I downloaded the 12 hours of audio on Monday and listened to the ‘the end’ 2 minutes before I needed to leave the house. It was a fascinating story but never EVER a book I would have read without the pressure of bookclub. And some things that are important—like to me, reading classics works I never read in school, or ‘read’ but don’t remember—-are not urgent. So they easily get laid aside for things that are more pressing, like laundry and dinner and mindlessly surfing the internet. I guess I’ve always functioned better with structure and guidelines. Our genre for the spring is ‘plays’—-so January’s read is Medea by Euripides. If I know myself, I’ll read 2 or 3 books before I start Medea and then get the ‘eye of the tiger’ in the last two weeks and read and study for Medea like I’m gonna have to take a test on it. And then I’ll search the net and you tube and see if I can find some brilliant Yale professor giving a lecture on greek plays. I like the way the bookclub forces at least some sense of urgency and structure to my reading life. Though my decorating schedule and my nightly menu may have suffered slightly.

In non-literary news, I love this cheese and I love those cute little bowls (from Walmart). I can’t help it if this really yummy cheese that’s been marinated in wine is called the Drunken Goat. I blame my neighbor Sue.

And I’m slowly adding lights…

….and other festive sparkles to my still slightly Thanksgiving-ish house. I’ll show the rest on Monday at The Nester’s Christmas Tour. I think.

In non-sparkling news, my laundry became the ace-in-the-whole hiding place for the afternoon hide and seek.

The pony tail gave it away. The laundry was at least clean.

And I must quickly consult my fairy godmother to work some magic for me because I’m going on a date tonight. With an honest to goodness babysitter and reservations. And lipstick and high heeled boots. And other adults. If there’s an awkward lull in the conversation, I can always bring up the Drunken Goat.

Christmas Front Door Wreath

December 9, 2009 by Edie Wadsworth 67 Comments

I feel like I’m moving in slow motion. I can’t seem to get anything done. I piddle around with this and that, decorate a little, teach a little, wrap a few gifts, read a little, bake a little and look around and wonder how it’s all possibly gonna get done by Christmas. And what on earth we’re gonna eat for dinner. I’m supposed to be finished reading All the Presidents’ Men by Friday—so I can somewhat intelligently lead a bookclub discussion on the subject—- and I’m currently on chapter 5. Alas.

In a small feat of Christmas decorating victory, I did remove the Halloween pumpkins from front stoop. I also decided that maybe the audiobook version of All the Presidents’ Men was my only hope for possibly finishing—and it’s still seems hopelessly doubtful (it’s 12 hours of audio!).

So as I removed pumpkins and leaves and added holly, magnolia and pine clippings to my front planters, I listened to a convoluted mess of political jibberish about Watergate, trying to keep track of the very long list of characters, and wondering if my brain is just too old and full to work like this anymore.

At least it looks like Christmas from the outside of my house. The inside is still a work in progress. Dinner will likely be from Taco John’s. And maybe with a latte or two, I’ll figure out what G. Gordon Liddy had to do with the Watergate scandal.

Oh and we’re three days behind on our Advent readings. Already.

Ever have those slow-motion days….or weeks?

Please advise.

P.S. I’ve already had a bubble bath.

P.S.S. And a glass of wine.

P.S.S.S. And painted my front door blue.

Post Edit: The color of the door: sunwashed blue by Ralph Lauren.

Lindsay from Living with Lindsay is having a similiar week. Here’s hoping we all recover our creative selves. Until then, click here for some inspiration.

The Lightest Fluffiest Angel Wing Biscuits Ever to FLy Over Southern Skies

December 7, 2009 by Edie Wadsworth 44 Comments

I have made it my personal mission in life to per-fect the biscuit. You can’t even graduate from high school in the South until you demonstrate proficiency at biscuit making—-so I’ve been making biscuits a long time. But I just took the recipe that was passed onto me and never questioned it. You’re not supposed to question a long line of Southern biscuit makers.

But…….

What if I want the lightest fluffiest angel wing biscuits ever to fly over southern skies? What then? Well, I scoured the internet—an a few cookbooks—and made a few dozen biscuits—-using various biscuits methods—and I think we have a winner folks. So, put on an apron, roll up the sleeves on your flannel shirt, put on some bluegrass music and let’s make biscuits.

First, you must start with 2 cups of self-rising white lily flour. There shall be no substitutes. It has a lower protein content and says on the front ‘a southern tradition since 1883’. Don’t mess with Texas. Then add 1/4 c. sugar, 1/2 t. salt, 1 1/2 t. baking powder (I know, you’re not supposed to need it with sr flour but these are the lightest fluffiest angel wing biscuits ever to fly over southern skies, so just add it).

Now with a pastry blender, cut in 1/4 c. shortening. Or use a whisk if you tend to be hard on pastry blenders.

Now, add 2/3 cups of heavy cream and 1 cup of buttermilk and stir. The mixture will be very wet.

Add 1 cup of flour into a casserole dish or onto your working surface and then with a medium sized ice cream scoop–or whatever sized biscuits you like—scoop a few scoops onto the flour. Flour your hands and then lightly shape the biscuits—adding flour where there really wet—but shaking off any excess flour. They will be coated with flour on the outside, but the inside of each one will still be quite wet.

Spray a round cake pan with cooking spray and then place the biscuits very snugly into the pan. This step is key. These are southern bisuits so they’re invading each other’s personal space and hugging and back-slapping like crazy. If you’re from the Midwest, where personal space is recognized and respected, this step might be hard for you. But trust me, I made my first batch with biscuit-boundaries—and they were flat and boring. Scooch ’em close together and they’ll sing the hallelujah chorus when they’re done.

Then bake at 425 degrees for 18-23 minutes or until they’re golden brown on top. When you take them out of the oven, they look like this—-like they’re happily snuggled under an afghan watching an SEC football game. Then invert them onto a plate–and then turn them right side up onto another plate. Brush them with butter. And that’s when they start singing the hallelujah chorus. Take a knife and cut them apart and notice how some of them are kinda shaped like angel wings.

Butter them generously and enjoy. And then of course, sneak a bite to the dog that has no doubt when lying at your feet while you make them.

I used Darby’s cinnamon butter, which is most wonderfully delicious and easy. I mistakenly added one more stick of butter than she did but it turned out yummy just the same. I used 3 sticks of softened butter, 1 cup honey, 1 cup powdered sugar and 2 t. cinnamon and beat it well in my electric mixer. You can give it away as gifts—-and she has hers decorated up so cute—or if your 7 year old tastes it and begs to keep it all at home, you can do that too!

Y’all enjoy! Get the pdf file for the recipe here.

Notes from my cookbook:

1. These are so light and fluffy that they may require a fork. These would not be the biscuits that would hold up to a sausage-biscuit sandwich. Unless you use a fork.

2. I will still use my other biscuit recipe when I need more substantial biscuits. These are like biting into a cloud.

3. I will most definitely make my traditional biscuits (that I roll out with a rolling pin) with white lily flour. Also, with any biscuit recipe, if you start out with a very wet dough and don’t over mix/beat/knead, they will be lighter and fluffier. They just won’t have angel wings like this one.

4. I used a recipe from the website Project Foodie and added baking powder to it—after my first batch didn’t rise quite as much as I would have liked. Thank you to their experts for these wonderful tips.

What I love about homeschooling: edition 1

December 4, 2009 by Edie Wadsworth 57 Comments

1. Going on field trips with 2 of the most well-behaved and fun-loving girls I know. (The Kingsport Ballet performs the Nutcracker—great performance)

2. The spontaneous holding of hands that still occurs, even at ages 7 and 9.

3. Teaching the girls how to absolutely enjoy an afternoon in an antique store. (it helps when they serve Oreos)

4. Hearing them say, “Mom, you’re gonna love these aprons!”

5. Listening as the oldest tells the youngest, “Daddy would love these birds.”

6. Deciding together that you most certainly must have the vintage ’12 Days of Christmas’ cookie cutters……

……..and the vintage bread box and canister set—and then commence to have a heated discussion about whether the canister set will house varieties of chalk and markers or varieties of flour and cereals.

7. Making the decision that photographs will do just fine when we find things we love but can’t buy.

8. Going to the local Christmas parade

and counting our blessings

that we have been given a special gift—-

of spending long days together with the ones we love—-

and wishing it could stay this way……forever.

Thanks to Grandma Evadne for the beautiful knitted caps that still fit perfectly!