Some Old and Some New

Greetings my friends on a chilly Sunday afternoon.  It was a lovely, warm day today until a couple of hours ago and the cold weather from up North has made it to SoCal.  We're suppose to have freezing temps these next few nights!  I know, I shouldn't complain but it is unusual for most folks who live down here :)

There's so many things I want to share with you and write about.  But, sometimes I am at a loss for words.  My heart is heavy these past few days with yet another school shooting.  I admire those high school students who are now speaking up and I am with them all the way.  One day I will tell you the story about the school shooting that took place in our little town in Eastern Washington.  That will be for another time.

Besides babysitting my little grandchildren these past few days (morning, noon and night), I had a dinner party last week.  It's always enjoyable for me to plan the menu, set the table and all the other things that are needed.

This time I decided to use my Mom's Community Silverplate.  This flatware and chest have been around for as long as I can remember.  I think my Mom would have purchased it back in the early 1950's.  After my Mom passed away back in 1993, I kept this as a keepsake and didn't use it.  Until last weekend. . .

It so happened that I rediscovered this flatware through a dear blog friend I recently met via her blog.  Margaret has the same flatware and had written about it on her blog.  Of course I commented to say I have the same pattern!

  

It was so interesting to learn about the history of this flatware pattern.  The name of the pattern in the US is Coronation.  In the UK, it is known as Hampton Court.  Originally, it was designed and introduced back in 1936, in honor of Edward VIII becoming King of England.  Of course, as you know, he abdicated the throne to marry Wallis Simpson.  Hence, the name was changed for the UK market but stayed the same for the US.  When I set my table last weekend I found that I do have a complete service for 8 along with an extra  dinner fork along with 8 extra teaspoons.  So, I hurried over to Ebay where I found a matching knife and dessert fork so that my set can now serve 9.  Hopefully, one day I can pass this set onto my little granddaughter for the next generation. 

Now for the new, the bed is complete.  After the bed arrived, it was another two weeks for the mattress to arrive via Costco.  It worked out great as Costco's price and quality couldn't be matched at the places I checked out.

Lilly was quite pleased to check out the new blanket and gave her approval :)

Between watching the little ones, cooking and cleaning and the never ending paperwork, I started on my new sock pattern.  It's a fun easy pattern and I love the yarn.  However, I'm finding it's a bit hard to work in the evenings as the dark yarn against the dark needles can be trying.

Yesterday, my husband and I had a wonderful time with an impromptu dinner at the beach followed by grocery shopping at my favorite Persian market.  So, there's plenty of goodies to make some nice dishes for the upcoming week.  I'll sign off now since my homemade vegetable soup is ready to serve along with homemade corn muffins.  It's cold outside!

It's always a joy to hear from you.  Please feel free to say "hi" if you  wish.

Until next time,

Pat

Egyptian Christmas Cookies Along With Danish!

Are you getting ready for my favorite time of Year?  I've had a great couple of days spending time in my kitchen and baking my favorite Christmas cookies.

First on the list were my Egyptian petit fours.  I tweeked the recipe a bit and made them in single cookies without any filling.  And, I just had to add some green Christmas trees.  Every year my Danish grandma would make "spritz" cookies in the shape of green Christmas trees.  I have kept the same tradition for my family. If you want the recipe, you can find it here on my blog from a few years ago.  Remember, the key to this recipe is using clarified butter and powdered sugar which gives this cookie it's unique texture :)

Another popular Egyptian holiday cookie is Uraybee* or Ghorayebah* or as it's known in turkey, Kurabiyesi.  I bought this mix in Turkey and brought it home with me.  Luckily, it had only two ingredients I had to "translate" and again I used clarified butter and oil. (My oil looks green because it's grapeseed oil!)  The cookies came out perfect!  I'm sold on this cookie mix and plan to buy it again.  Kurabiyesi is a rich, buttery, shortbread type cookie with a very fine texture.  My favorite - yum!

Now, we're going to head back to Denmark and here's my pebernodder (peppernuts) that I made this year.  Again, this is one of my Grandma's recipes and I just had to make them since my brother will be joining us for the holidays and he loves these as much as I do!  You can find the recipe here from a previous blog post.  Remember, you need to prepare the dough the night before so that it can ripen  the wonderful, spicy flavor. I love to pop them in my mouth, savor the flavor a minute or two before I bite into this delicious crunchiness.

 

Today I made my Danish Kleiner.  It seems that every culture has their own favorite fried cookie and this is our family's tradition from Denmark.  Again, it's my Grandma's recipe that I treasure.  Hopefully, I can pass this onto my little granddaughter so that she can make them one day.  They will be put away in an air tight tin and wait the arrival of my son since this is his favorite cookie.

Four down and one more cookie to make.  Tomorrow I hope to make some plain, old, much loved, chocolate chip cookies but with a twist using Nestle's Holiday Baking Chips.  Don't you just love how colorful these are?  I'm using my dear friend Elizabeth's recipe which you can find here.

What are you baking?  If you would like to share, please feel free in the comments below.  That's  about all that is happening here at Lilly My Cat.  I hope to share another post soon.

Blessings to everyone,

Pat 

PS *the Arabic language can be hard sometimes to translate into the Latin alphabet since there is no standardized translation.  But, you can google this cookie and see what you come up with since it's a popular cookie for all the countries in the Middle East. 

Going Back Home

I've ignored my blog for awhile.  I thought I would share some photos of my "home".  This past week we traveled to my home state of Washington to attend a funeral of our long time friend.  It was bittersweet and yet, we saw many friends (who are really like our family) and that was a joy.

I lived here on the lake in Moses Lake for 22 years.  This view is from my friend's home which was just a house away from where I lived.  The sunset was stunning to say the least.  Moses Lake is in Eastern Washington, right off Interstate 90.  It's a huge agricultural area since the Grand Coulee Dam was built in the last century which brought much needed water to the area.

This was taken at Rye Grass which is on Interstate 90 just after we crossed over the Columbia River.  It's the highest spot in this area hence the glimpse of majestic Mount Rainier in the background.  After you cross the Columbia River at Vantage, there is a sign warning you to "turn off your air conditioner" as the climb up to this point along with hot weather can cause havoc to your car's temperature.  

Going West from Moses Lake, we stopped in my hometown of Ellensburg which is right in the center of the state and home to Central Washington University.  This is a photo of Hebler Hall and when I lived here it was known as Hebler Elementary. I attended this school in 6th Grade.  It had a lovely entrance with curved staircase, fountain and a real library with wood paneled walls!

Here's the home I lived in with my parents when we moved back to Ellensburg in 1965.  It's changed a bit of course.  Just at the end of the block, across the street was Hebler school, a short walk to school.


 This home belonged to Mrs. Taylor, the widow of Dr. Taylor who established a medical clinic in Ellensburg.  It was directly across the street from where we lived.  You can't see it in this photo but this home is three stories high.  I was in sixth grade when I was lucky enough to go inside and tour this stately home.  It reminded me of a Gone With the Wind home.  It's funny,but to this day my style was established due to seeing this home when I was 12 years old!

This is a photo of the home my grandparents lived in after they moved to town from the farm.  Sorry for the bad photo as it was taken through my car windshield.

These home are on a tree lined street.  I was so happy when I saw that this neighborhood still retained it's original look and style.  I love trees!

Down the street from my grandparents home lived my piano teacher, Mrs. Hertz.  This is how her home looks now.  It reminds of Cape Cod style with the siding.  I would love to buy this home as it has such memories of when I would go each week for my lesson.

Downtown Ellensburg has become quite historic looking with many of the buildings being restored to their original design.  I love this advertisement on the side of the building.  I believe it's a horse maybe advertising the well known Ellensburg Rodeo.

It was soon time to head back onto Interstate 90 going west to Seattle where we were going to catch our flight to return to SoCal.  This is a scene that is dear to my heart as it is Thorp where I lived with my parents during my high school years.

Snoqualmie Pass is the highest point of Interstate 90 as the road goes over the Cascade Mountain range.  It can be treacherous during the winter months.  They are in the process of widening the roadway but the scenery was still amazing.

We had planned on driving to Washington from SoCal but we didn't have time to make the drive (it takes two days each way) since we had guests arriving.  It was such a good feeling to go back to my roots and see my hometown where I grew up and the city where I moved after getting married.  And, although it was a sad time, I was blessed to visit with my dear friends.

I hope you have enjoyed these photos from my part of the world.  I'm back home in SoCal where the weather is delightful for the next couple of days.  I hope wherever you are, you have a joyous Fourth of July and stay safe.

With my best wishes,

Pat

Discovering New Orleans

I have discovered a new favorite place to visit and it's less than a 4 hour plane trip away - New Orleans!  From the moment I set foot outside (at the airport) this beautiful city, I immediately had an affinity to everything.

I traveled there earlier this month with my dear husband,  daughter, son-in-law and my little grandchildren since we were going to depart from the Port of New Orleans on a cruise.  At the airport taxi queue, the taxi rep got us a taxi which didn't charge us for our little grandchild.  A very nice gesture.  And, our taxi driver turned out to be a member of the Coptic Ethiopian Church!  When he found out my husband was a Copt from Egypt, he gave him a beautiful handmade Ethiopian cross.  Such kindness.

 

 We arrived late at night but woke up the next morning to a rain storm.  The wind was whipping up and the rain was falling.  We decided to take a ride on the St. Charles streetcar.  It was a fun way to see some of the city.

Look at these homes that line the streets of St. Charles Avenue . . .

Such beautiful architecture . . .

I loved this sign on the Temple Sinai synagogue . . .

New Orleans is known for a style of home called "shotgun".  This was the best photo I could capture.  See how long and narrow this home is?

Look at this beautiful wrought iron fencing . . .

And those Mardi Gras beads find their way everywhere, including the tree tops!

Our second day there, we ventured into the French Quarter which was a short walk from our hotel.  We walked down Royal Street which is parallel to the famous Bourbon Street.  There were so many beautiful antique shops lining Royal Street.  I could have spent a whole afternoon looking through these shops.

We finally found Beignet Cafe and had our first taste of famous New Orleans Beignets and cafe au lait.  Fresh, hot beignets were heavenly.

Our hotel was 1 1/2 blocks from Canal street and here's the Starbucks that is located on the corner of Canal Street and St. Charles Avenue.  I love the old feeling.

On our third day in the city, we ventured back to the French Quarter.  The buildings were amazing.

This is St. Louis Cathedral  in Jackson Square.  It is the oldest cathedral in the United States.  Jackson Square was lovely and super clean.  In fact, the whole area we ventured through was extremely well kept.

Another example of the unique buildings in the French Quarter . . .

And, of course we had to sample the world famous Cafe' Du Monde beignets and chicory coffee.  Here's my little granddaughter and son-in-law enjoying these treats in the beautiful sunshine.

I was amazed at how old some of the buildings are.  One of them dated to 1826 and at one time was a bank; pre Civil War time.

My little grandson was ecstatic when this parade started through the streets escorted by the New Orleans Policemen on their motorcycles.  He collected a large cache of Mardi Gras beads!

We boarded our cruise ship on Saturday morning on the banks of the Mississippi River.  When they say "muddy" Mississippi, I can see why.  Tons of sediment passes through the Mississippi into the Gulf of Mexico.

We left port at 4:00 PM and didn't reach the Gulf of Mexico until around midnight.  The ship slowly made it way through the Mississippi River Delta.  This is a sugar factory that has been in business since 1909!  Louisiana is a big producer of sugar cane (I will write more about that in the next blog post).

 

After our five days of cruising in the Gulf of Mexico, we returned to New Orleans early in the morning.  I luckily woke up very early to capture the sunrise over the winding Mississippi River.

I love New Orleans and everything about the city.  It was amazing to discover the history of this beautiful city.  Being from the west coast, we don't get to experience such history in this way.  And, what we do hear about was in regard to Hurricane Katrina.  This city is so clean and vibrant.  I know they have had huge problems to overcome.   I was a bit hesitant to see this city probably because of some of the things I had read.  We never felt uneasiness but of course, we didn't go out late at night and took precautions as you would in any large city.  I really feel it's my "favorite" city!

There will Part II to Louisiana.  Maybe I feel a connection to the south since my Mother's family came from Arkansas and Georgia!

I hope all of you are enjoying your week and spring weather!

With my best wishes,

Pat

Fall. . . A Time for Family and Friends and Knitting of Course!

Hello my dear friends.  I'm writing you from hot, windy, southern California.  Those Santa Ana winds are still at it and the temperature is reading 95 degree outside this afternoon and it's November!
Warning:  don't worry as there are no political statements included in my post today :)

My dear aunt made me these cute little pilgrims years and years ago.  I still put them out each year for my fall decor.  They are filled with dried beans and their little heads are made out of wooden balls.  I love them because I have such wonderful memories of my dear Aunt Allene.  She was such a talented lady and could make anything out of whatever she had.  Her crochet work is exquisite as she crocheted with thread - not yarn.  And, of course she knitted and was also excellent at embroidery.   I had three aunts and she was the most talented.  And, may I add, that she worked full time all those years and raised her family.  She was favorite aunt and so special . . .

I celebrated my birthday last week and my dear daughter took me to the Purl Soho warehouse. I don't know if you are familiar with Purl Soho, but basically to me it's like the Pottery Barn for knitting and sewing.  They're located in NYC and my daughter was just in NYC last month.  I tell my daughter, who has impeccable taste and design skills, that if she knit, she would be addicted to Purl Soho!  It was by chance that I found out that Purl Soho's warehouse was in California, about 20 miles from my house.  I received five skeins of the lucious pure alpaca yarn shown above for my birthday gift from my children.  I can hardly wait to cast on for this project.

The Purl Soho warehouse was a warehouse setting and yet, there amid the shelves, where all the items that I see via your emails/newsletters/website.  Awhile ago, I had seen these unique bulb shape pins and there they were at the warehouse beckoning to me to buy them.  Of course I had to bring them home with me!  What am I going to do with them?  Maybe just admire their shape and color!

Speaking of knitting, I really don't have a yarn stash - just a handful of miscellaneous yarn that lives in my craft closet.  But, I had one skein of King Cole Comfort Chunky that was left over from another project.  I found the perfect pattern for this yarn and I'm so pleased with this little, teeny, tiny baby sweater that I knitted.  The designer of this pattern is Danish so of course, being Danish/American, I had to knit this.  You can find the pattern link here via my Ravelry page. 

Ah, Christmas . . . that special time of year that will soon be arriving.  I think I have the majority of my shopping done.  Basically, I ordered online from Nordstrom since they have free shipping - yah!  And, if something doesn't fit, it's easy to return it.  But, I ordered the SALE items on Nordstrom.com.  I always love a bargain.  This year I ordered for the family a Fortnum and Mason Christmas hamper.  Since I had to pay 30 pounds shipping, I added on a few more items to my order.  But, after I signed into my account, they discounted almost every item!  I was so pleased because basically, it made me feel like the shipping costs were very reasonable.  I think the family will enjoy these goodies this holiday season. 

That about wraps it up as to what's been happening here at Lilly My Cat.  Monday morning I'm suppose to report for jury duty at 7:45 AM.  I've been called before for jury duty; once for superior court and once for federal court and both times I was excused.

Have a wonderful weekend everyone and as always, I appreciate your taking your precious time to visit Lilly My Cat.

With my best wishes,

Pat

Linking with:

Yarn Along . . . 

Frontier Dreams . . . 

Remembering Life in a Small Town

Thank you dear readers for all your kind comments you left me from my last  blog post.  It does feel good to have the ability to write something down and then get feedback so that I know I'm not the only one who feels this way.

I wanted to share some pics from my flower garden but I thought it would be boring; I needed to spice it up a bit.  It got me thinking of living in a large city environment and how different that is from living in a small town...

My little grandchildren were born here in south Orange County and are growing up here.  The schools are excellent here and there's so much for them to do with the beach at their backdoor, but it's much different from how I and their dear Mother grew up.  I was raised in Ellensburg, WA, a college/farming town in central Washington.  The population from the 2010 census showed 18,174 inhabitants but it was smaller during the 60's and 70's.  It was an old town with some wonderful old, historical buildings along with a proper main street.  The college campus was and is a beautiful campus with a mix of old and new buildings. (Oops, it's actually a "university" but in my mind it will always be a college)...Have you ever watched "It's a Wonderful Life" at Christmas time?  Ellensburg is very much like the town of Bedford Falls projected in that film. 

There was a good chance that you knew your neighbors and they knew you.  My Grandfather could walk into the bank and he was greeted.  My grandparents had immigrated to America in the early teens of the 20th century.  Coming from Denmark, they found lots of Danish immigrants in the Kittitas Valley as it was rich in farm land.  My grandfather ended up owning three farms; one for himself, one for my father and one for my uncle.

Reading a blog this week, the writer mentioned "going into town".  This was a common saying as the farms were located out on the old Vantage Highway and it was a couple of miles into town (compared to California driving, it would be a breeze).  Later when I was in high school, we moved to the other side of the valley to Thorp, WA.  It was about 8 miles "into town". There were a total of 12 students in my graduating class!

But, during the winter months, those few miles could be treacherous with ice, snow and blowing winds.  Ellensburg is known for being windy as it sits in a valley surrounded by mountains.  And, you don't have to go far to see the beautiful fields of corn, timothy hay (which they are known for), and other crops.  It's also a big area for dairy farms.  Seeing cows, horses and other livestock was a common sight.  My little grandson has to go to the "petting zoo" to see such things.

As for shopping and other facilities, we had all the necessary stores that were needed. There was a hospital, too.  But, other than JC Penneys (which later closed), there was a high end dress store and one other department store.  It was common to order from the Sears catalog and pick up your order at the Sears catalog store.  This practice continued into the 1980's.  Or, if we had the time, my dear Mom and I would drive over the hill to Yakima where there were proper shopping centers.  I have great memories of these trips with my Mom.

When I got married in 1975, I moved to Moses Lake WA which is 70 east of my hometown.  But, my oh my, those 70 miles made a huge difference.  Moses Lake was not an "old town" by any means.  It was incorporated in the late 1940's and didn't have anything of an historical nature.  But, as far the the workings of a town, it was the same as Ellensburg.  Today it has a population of over 20,000; it's grown immensely from the 22 years that I lived there.  My children were born and raised in Moses Lake until we moved in 1997 to the west side of the state near a "big city". 

My children tell me they are happy that they were able to experience life in a small town with a slower pace.  Although now, they do like the big city and all that it has to offer.  As I've gotten a bit older (notice I said "a bit older" haha), I appreciate the medical services that are just around the corner if I or my husband need them.  These specialized medical services are not available in a small town.  You have to travel to the bigger city and sometimes that can be quite agonizing (especially in the winter months).

I'm so grateful for all that life has given me.  And, I love being here in California next to my family.  At the same time, it's nice to reflect back on childhood memories and remember where I came from.  I always tell my children to never forgot who they are and where they came from.  It's never pleasant to meet someone who has become successful but forgotten their roots.  I'll always be a small town girl and proud of it, too!

Oh, I almost forgot, the photos from my flower garden as shown above are (1) delphinium, which I found on clearance for $3.00, (2)  foxglove, which I also found on clearance for $3.00, (3) digiplexis, which is a hybrid; a cross between  foxglove and isoplexis, (4) purple aeonium arboreum and, (5) a sweet purple violet.  My soil is so poor but at least they are growing.

Thanks for visiting and I'd leave to hear from you if you have the time.

Wish my best wishes,

Pat   

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Rocking Your World Friday . . .