Big Tree

Lunch at The Atrium in Bay City was made even more special when we visited their really big indoor real Christmas tree. The tree touches the rafter structure in this expansive dining room. 

The Atrium is located on Water Street, right across from St Laurents Nut House, home of our favorite peanut butter, along the Saginaw River. 

Sugar Cookies

Both my mother, Val Hayes, and my grandmother, Rose Luedtke, used the Mrs. Mehn's Cookbook, published in 1939,  in their kitchens. Here's Mrs. Mehn's sugar cookie recipe, all slicked up for the Van Camp House 4th annual cookie contest that was held tonight at the restaurant in Port Sanilac.

A Cranberry Coconut Bar cookie won the contest, but, really, I enjoyed the afternoon of messing up my kitchen with flour and sugar and butter and almond extract. This recipe makes over six dozen cookies. I took 18 to the contest and brought some home, so there will be lots of cut out cookies left for this holiday season.

Mrs. Mehn was the wife of an Wisconsin Evangelical Church pastor. She must have been quite the entrepreneur to have published and then sold this cookbook to many of the church families in Wisconsin. My sister Carla makes a great Cowboy cookie using a recipe from this cookbook. Or is it the corn flake cookie? Hmmm, I will have to find out.

A church history note: The Evangelical Church and the United Brethren Church merged in 1946 to form the EUB (Evangelical United Brethren Church). Neither of the two denominations nor the resultant EUB denomination were very large, so many of the pastors and their families knew each other quite well. So, Mrs. Mehn's Cookbook had quite an audience among church folk.

My father was ordained in the Evangelical Church before the merger, graduated from seminary after the merger, and served most of his ministry years in the United Methodist Church, a 1968 merger of the EUB's, the Methodists, and the Central Jurisdiction of the Methodist Church. The Central Jurisdiction was the segregated black church.

In 22 years, from 1946 to 1968, those denominational flavors came together to form one church, quite an accomplishment when you think about how factionalized much of American society is today.

Baby Owl

From my sketchbook comes this baby barn owl. My inspiration for this little owl is the illustrating done by Bert Kitchen, a British artist, for children's books.

This little guy is a part of the cover illustration for "The Barn Owl," a book that is available from resellers and used book stores. I picked up a copy at Bookman's on Ina in Tucson sometime last spring.

Mr. Kitchen's illustrations bring the essence of the birds and animals to the pages of his books. The animals are somewhat stylized (the eye of the artist is everything) but they are always engaging and a delight to see.

If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, then I hope Bert Kitchen will know how inspired I am by his wise and excellent children's art.

Another post with a barn owl

December Fog

FOG

by Carl Sandburg

The fog comes

on little cat feet

It sits looking

over harbor and city

on silent haunches

and then moves on.

The fog that poet Carl Sandburg describes came this week to Huron County. It sat and sat. Barns appeared and disappeared. Telephone poles, wind turbines, farm houses -- all floated in and out of a distant nothingness.

This barn on Helena Road, captured with a telephoto lens, sits looking at a corner where, just like the fog, I move on.

Fostoria Punch Bowl

Browsing at the Bay City Antiques Market, I came up short when I suddenly spotted this very large punch bowl. I immediately recognized it as the Americana pattern by Fostoria.

Our Mom had an extensive collection of Americana. We used the stemmed sherbet glasses for everyday jello and puddings. Birthday cakes were always served on Fostoria dessert plates. There were water glasses and a heavy pitcher and pickle dishes. Heavy and knobby, it was easy stuff to hang on to. I just assumed that other families used glassware like it for their meals. 

Part of my adult learning was about my mother's love of beautiful tableware. When registering for wedding gifts, I found out how expensive china and pottery and silver were. Mom's tableware was an extension of my Dad's ministry.

Dad, you see, would receive an honorarium for performing a marriage ceremony or a funeral. Those honoraria went to my mother and were used for lovely things like the Fostoria glassware and the Red Wing pottery that we used every day. 

So the large punch bowl at the Antiques Market brought me up short today. I touched the heavy glass and knew my mother would have loved having that big, big bowl for her Christmas holiday gatherings. And the punch would be red. It would be non-alcoholic and fruity and wonderful. 

Red Ribbons

Using fine gauge wire and a needle nose pliers I made ribbon bows for the split rail fence at the lake house today. I have always used wide velvet ribbon but changed the look to a red sparkle organdy this year. I could buy ready made bows, but somehow the twisting and gathering and wiring fits into my holiday checklist.

There are eight posts along the split rail fence. The fence fronts the row of cedars that flank the drive in front of the house, so the red bows become a welcoming committee for the winter. Red and shiny, they stand out against the deep green cedars and the pale gray timbers of the fence.

I have to use heavy wire to tie the bows to each post since the winds will whip the ribbons into a frenzy with the first snowstorm that comes along. Even so, now that the ribbons are out, it feels more like Christmas is coming.

This year, with losing my Dad and with Ed's mom being gone now, the holiday already seems sparse, so it felt good to put out red ribbons today.

Crazy For XM

The radio system in my Chevy Volt has a dynamite sound system that is almost always playing when I drive. Both Ed and I enjoy classical music and often play the game of "what is that music?" by saying aloud the name of a composer or musician or work, and then punching in the XM identifier. 

Today's goodie was brass with pipe organ.  We both knew it was Trumpet Voluntary, but I identified it as Canadian Brass when it was Empire Brass. 

Since we've heard Empire Brass in concert, I asked Ed to snap a photo if the XM screen so I can look up this performance. 

Yep, I'm just crazy for XM radio and grateful for the company of great music when I drive.