Memories of Santas & Shotguns
A Wicked Fun Time at Hotspur O'Toole's 3rd Rez Day party!! Many thanks to DJ Freq! for the fantastical playlist and to the Boys in the Backroom (Murakami and Huszar) for the Reindeer skeet shooting game. And thanks to everyone who join us for the silliness - you made the party what it was. :-D
***Countess Rosebud and I thoroughly enjoyed making these together last night. ***
Kahlua Brownies with Buttercream Frosting and Chocolate Glaze
Yields 36 brownies
INGREDIENTS FOR CRUST:
1/3 cup light brown sugar, firmly packed
5-1/3 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
2/3 cup all-purpose flour, sifted
1/2 cup finely chopped pecans
INGREDIENTS FOR FILLING:
2 ounces unsweetened chocolate
1/4 cup solid vegetable shortening
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 large eggs
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup light brown sugar, firmly packed
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup Kahlua
1/2 cup all-purpose flour, sifted
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup chopped pecans
INGREDIENTS FOR BUTTERCREAM FROSTING:
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 cups sifted powdered sugar
1 tablespoon Kahlua
1 tablespoon heavy whipping cream
INGREDIENTS FOR GLAZE:
2 ounces semi-sweet chocolate
1 ounce unsweetened chocolate
2 teaspoons solid vegetable shortening
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 9-inch square baking pan. Cream sugar and butter until light and fluffy. Slowly add flour and continue to mix until blended. Add pecans. When completely combined, press crust into bottom of prepared pan. Set aside.
Combine chocolate, shortening, and butter in a small saucepan over low heat. Stir until chocolate is melted and mixture is smooth. Cool. Combine eggs, sugars, and vanilla in a large bowl. Mix until blended. Stir into cooled chocolate mixture. Add Kahlua. Slowly add flour and salt, mixing until batter is smooth. Stir in pecans. Pour filling into prepared crust. Bake 25 minutes, or until tester inserted in center comes out clean. Be careful not to over bake. Let cool.
Buttercream Frosting: Cream butter, sugar, Kahlua, and cream in a small bowl until smooth and creamy. Spread over cooled filling mixture and refrigerate 30 minutes. More Kahlua may be added to make spreading easier (yes, that's the reason.....easier spreading...yes) . For a less sweet brownie, use half of Buttercream Frosting.
Glaze: Melt chocolates and shortening over low heat, stirring constantly. Cool and drizzle over Buttercream Frosting.
Miss Ariesse Heart
Miss Heart, Mr. Ghost, and Lady Eva
Miss Heart and Mr. Ghost
An Enthusiastic Crowd
Miss Reghan and Miss Tehanu
Miss Hypatia
A little "postcard" featuring some of the Holiday events I attended in Caledon and Winterfell this weekend.
Well sometimes she makes this:
Almost ready......One of my most treasured possessions is the small leather-bound journal my mother kept. Her tiny, meticulous handwriting fills the entire book. This particular journal was kept during the period of my childhood, which is likely why I enjoy it so well.
Opening it, the scent of leather, old paper, and a faint scent of vanilla fill the air around me. The red ribbon bookmark is in entry dated Christmas Morning the year I turned 11.
Laying there in the warmth of the fire, I listened to his slow, steady breathing. I smiled to myself as the breathing turned a bit gravel-like. Soon the hearty snoring would start. Over the years the sleep-filled noises of that oft-broken nose have become dear to me. How many years has it been anyway? Three? Twelve? Twenty? In my drowsy, dreamlike state, it was difficult to remember exactly.
I looked over at him laying beside me on the blanket he had laid in front of the fire in the parlor of Caisteal Teanacadh. This has been our tradition for many years . Yes....it has been many. Each Christmas Eve that we have the good fortune to be in our own home that is. Once Eva has been snugly tucked into her bed with many quilts and one of Jamie's plaids draped over her (She has to have his plaid each night, she says because "it smells like Da - full of sunshine, earth, and hard work." From the mouth of babes...) we settle ourselves in the parlor. Jamie builds the fire up with wood and peat as I pour the whisky and serve him a Christmas cookie or two.
Each year, we dream together on this special night. We will have gone to Christmas Eve Mass with the family earlier in the evening, which inevitably fills us both with such joy and hope that we can't but help thinking about what the future may bring even as we list the things that we are most thankful for from the waning year. What will we be doing? Where might we travel together? Will Eva continue to grow as strong in both body and mind as she seems to be doing? When will we start her training in whisky making? or sword play?
"Sword play!?!" I teased Jamie earlier.
"Aye, Sassenach, sword play. She is mine. Nay doubt canna be when one looks at her - red hair flying in the wind, a few freckles speckling her dear face, the blue and gold of her eyes. Even the way she carries herself when she walks or rides. But the shape of her eyes and her lovely mouth, those are yours, mo chride."
At this he caressed my lips and began whispering in Gælic to me. Words of love and endearment. Words that I rarely, if ever, heard from other men regardless of language - and spoken in such a manner that my skin warmed and flushed without any physical effort on his part or mine.
The discussion of her education in the finer points of swordplay would wait.
And now I sit here at my little writing table in the first light of dawn watching him again as he sleeps the deep sleep of someone safe and loved. Honestly, I think the man could sleep anywhere/anytime. But he never sleeps very deeply save when he is in his own home by his own fire feeling the love of his family.
He is my gift. A gift given to me completely unexpectedly years ago on a winter's night . A gift I shall treasure all my days - and beyond.
And now the bells of the kirk are ringing - announcing Christmas morning. Merry Christmas, indeed!
I'm am so pleased invite you to the ballroom of my home, Caisteal Teanacadh, on December 20th to listen to a concert* of sacred choral Christmas music by Miss Ariesse Heart - or rather, her human.
Miss Heart's guiding spirit began piano and theory lessons at the age of five, and wrote her first song at the age of twelve. Her first octavo was published twenty years later. In 1992, she became a full-time composer and arranger and now has over 1,500 published works. Over twelve million copies of her songs have been purchased in their various venues, and she has been a recipient of the ASCAP Special Award for the last 19 years.
In addition to her choral music for church and school choirs, her songs appear on thirty albums (four of which have been Dove Award Finalists) and numerous children's videos, including sixteen songs on four gold videos, and four songs on one multi-platinum video.
Her songs have also appeared on such diverse television shows as "The 700 Club" and HBO's acclaimed series "The Sopranos."
I feel so fortunate that Miss Heart has agreed to spend time with us here in the Isle of Skye, Winterfell Anodyne, Second Life, sharing her music. We will all have a chance to chat with Miss Heart during the concert as well as after the music has ended. Unlike RL composer/conductor educational moments, which must take place either before or after the music, the platform of a virtual world gives us all the opportunity to use text to ask and answer questions while the music plays all around us.
Please join me for this special holiday time together. I look forward to the opportunity to introduce you to Miss Heart, and for you to learn more about the brilliant and lovely woman behind the avatar.
*pre-recorded
