Lebkuchen - Gingerbread

Finally! Hubby and I baked some Christmas cookies yesterday. We had so much fun working together in the kitchen, enjoying the peace before the storm - before the kids get out of school this week...

I have never tried to make Lebkuchen from scratch. Why? I didn't have the white wafers to bake them on. In Germany you can buy "Oblaten" (white wafers) in any grocery store this time of year. Not so here... So my tricksy husband ordered some "edible" ricepaper from Amazon. An early Christmas present, you know. How sweet is that? Now I have about two hundred 11X8 inch sheets. Should last me a life time.

We even decorated them with blanched almonds and glazed them with dark chocolate. I took the first batch down to the Post Office. I know they have been waiting for me all week. I always take the postal workers a tin this time of year. After so many days of dealing with grumpy folks my sweet German cookies make for a welcome treat and distraction. Hope my experimental batch was good. The folks in line all looked longingly at me. Can I have one? Hmm, maybe next year I'll have to start handing them out to the folks in line. Might make for more cheerful customers...

I'll share the recipe we used tomorrow.

What is (in) a Photograph?

Sorry for being missing in action over the last couple of weeks. Here I was mailing out package after package for my little business, and before I knew it, it was time for The Nutcracker again. My daughter has been in the local production of this show every year since she was 6 years old. I have been helping and volunteering for the same amount of years. I have enjoyed doing the make-up for the parrots, clowns, and mice.

 

 Unfortunately I hardly got any pictures this year. I only took a couple of hassled shots on my cell phone. This makes me very sad. A new picture rule kept me from taking photos. I didn't get a single photo of the clowns in costume.

 

 ALL the pictures you see in this post are recycled shots from previous years...

 

 

 

What is a photo? Wikipedia defines the word in the following manner:

A photograph or photo is an image created by light falling on a light-sensitive surface, usually photographic film or an electronic image such as a CCD or a CMOS chip. Most photographs are created using a camera, which uses a lens to focus the scene's visible wavelengths of light into a reproduction of what the human eye would see. The process and practice of creating photographs is called photography. The word "photograph" was coined in 1839 by Sir John Herschel and is based on the Greek φῶς (phos), meaning "light", and γραφή (graphê), meaning "drawing, writing", together meaning "drawing with light".^[1]

 

 

Parent volunteer putting Clown Make-up on for 2010 Nutcracker production

 

Excitement of  being a First Time Clown from 2009

Ready to Clown around on stage 2010

 

I like that definition - A drawing with light. Yet, I think a photograph is so much more. Photos help us remember all the small details. Details you may have forgotten.You can go back to it any time. Photos help us document the passage of time and show us how much our children have grown and changed.

 

I love the clowns. They are my favorite part of The Nutcracker. They make the audience laugh so hard and forget about the stress and hassles this busy time of year. Year after year they steal the audience's heart. I see little kids point their fingers at my daughter when she leaves with her make-up on. "Look, Mom! There is a clown..."

 

Clowns 2010

Releasing the Clowns 2011

The picture below is the only photo I took of my little clown this year. There are no other photos of the clowns since the professional photographers who were allowed to take photos this year didn't take any pictures of the clowns. Maybe they didn't have time. Or maybe the clowns didn't seem important.

All I know is that I am glad to have my little gallery of precious drawings with light from previous years.

  A photo is a memory that nobody can take away from you...

 

Happy 2.Advent

I gave a rest to sewing this morning and made the family some delicious German sweet bread for breakfast. I'd say it was a success. After a few minutes the big loaf I baked was nearly gone.

 

 

 

Hefezopf - Yeast Braids are a very common German breakfast food. My mom would always buy two loaves at the bakery for a special weekend breakfast. Or if she had time, she would  bake some herself. Of course, homemade is always better!

These loaves are really simple to make and require few ingredients:

500 g flour
2 cups warm milk
3/4 stick butter (melted in the milk)
1 egg
2 teaspoons yeast
1/3 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons honey

I put in a few handfuls of candied lemon and orange rind to celebrate the season. You can also put raisins, nuts, or other dried fruits.

Just throw all the ingredients together. Let he dough rest until doubled in size. Knead and separate into three even chunks of dough. Pull them into ropes and braid them together.

Before baking rub the loaves with an egg wash or some milk will.

Bake in preheated oven at 375 for about 40 minutes. Cover with aluminum foil once it gets brown.

Happy Second Advent to you! I hope you get a chance to make this delicious German sweet bread.

Baby it's cold outside...

It's been quiet on my blog. I know. Too many orders to fill, and then there was a lot of decorating to do. I decided to fore go all shopping on Black Friday weekend. Not that I am much of a super shopper anyways. But I usually do go to Joann's for Black Friday. This year I didn't participate in that fun either. Why? Well, my favorite salesgirls have moved on to other branches of the store or just quit the job. I am kind of funny that way. I get used to sales clerks. I like to talk to folks at the store and get to know them. I suppose I am grieving over the loss of the friendly faces that have been cutting fabric for me for many years. It will take me a while to get used to the young' ones that have been hired in their place. Wahhhhhhhhhhhh.

I truly enjoyed going against the grain this year by NOT shopping for anything. I don't know how people can go to 13 different stores in one day and stay sane. I am proud to say I ignored all the sales fliers this year. It's not like I am out of fabric.. It will probably take me a few years or so to sew up the stash I have. I have 7 bins total. Well, and then there are few drawers with specialty fabrics from Japan and faraway places. My husband likes to tell folks that I have filled every single square inch of the built-in linen closets in this old house with cloth. I say, it's not true. Or not quite...

Well, darn it. It is soooooooo cold outside and inside the house. We are dealing with an "arctic blast" right now. I have been ironing doll clothes all morning just to keep my hands warm in this drafty house. Some day we will be able to afford new windows. Good thing we got all our Christmas decorations done in the yard.

Giving Thanks 2013

I have so much to be thankful for this year. I don't know where to start with my list.

1.Thanks to all my wonderful customers for keeping me so busy this November making it the best ever sales month for my little shop..

2.Thanks to the kids for being so good and helping me with my packaging and getting boxes ready for shipping this year. My label printer happens to be in our basement. So it's good to have someone else make the trip down the stairs...and make sure the labels go on the right box.

3.Thanks to the members of the Natural Kids Team on Etsy! After all these years of being on the team I am still thankful to have their support and friendship.

4.Thanks to my family for putting up with my sewing at all hours and the trail of sewing thread that follows me around the house. No matter how much vacuuming I do, it appears that little pieces of thread show up everywhere...

It's a turkey walking past a pie...Duh!

5.Thanks to the family who is taking us in for Thanksgiving Festivities this year. Since we have no family in town it is wonderful to be adopted by another family to be part of this great American tradition.

6. Thanks to my dear husband. The champion pie maker who struck again this morning and baked two pies to take along to the feast: One apple sauce and one pumpkin pie. I can't decide which I love more. Let's just skip the turkey and go straight to dessert...

7.Thanks to my daughter for going to the gym with me this morning and giving me such a hard work-out program. Now I don't have to feel too guilty eating more than one slice of pie.

I know there are many more things that I should list, just don't have the time right now. Must go and get cleaned up for the party.

I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving if you live in the US! If you live in another country I am sure you can still come up with a nice list of things to be thankful for. Giving thanks is always therapeutic...

My Favorite Color?

What's your favorite color? My daughter asked me the other day. I had a hard time deciding. In truth, I love all colors. But maybe right now my more favorite color is this lovely light blue. I call it Winter Blue. I got so obsessed with it I made a whole mess of doll pyjamas with fabric of that color the other day. Don't they look sweet?

 

Made me kind of sleepy and want to crawl into bed afterwards.

It's been chilly in our old drafty house. Some days I have to go outside to warm up...

 

But who has the time for naps and walks. I have been working working working. This has been the busiest November ever for my little shop. I wonder what December has in store for me? Hopefully I'll sell out my shop and then take a vacation in Hawaii.

 

You know the North pole has it's perks, but it would be nice to catch a little sun...

winterblues

winterblues, originally uploaded by germandolls.

Working on some winter blue doll clothes. Feeling a bit chilled in my studio. It's the perfect color for such a day...