Cardamom Teddy Bears

The December/January issue of "The Woman Today" magazine featured an article that presented the idea of making teddy bear shaped breads for gift giving. Emma saw the pictures of the adorable, chubby bears and begged to bake some before Christmas. I loved the idea and knew that these bears would be well received. I added them to my mental holiday baking list that was growing longer by the day.

Fast forward a few weeks until Christmas Eve, when there was finally a chance to do some serious bread baking. I decided to use a combination of a few basic cardamom bread recipes that were already in my bulging recipe box and hoped for good results. Given my partially Scandinavian heritage, I had heard much about cardamom over the years, but this was my first time actually baking with it. Cardamom has a unique sweetly pungent smell with undertones of something similar to anise. 

I have to say, this bread was a hit with my family and I think I will be making this recipe throughout the year, not just on a special occaison. I ended up making a triple batch! Each recipe makes about four medium sized bears. You could make them whatever size you want, just keep in mind to adjust the baking time. I used my heavy duty Kitchen Aid mixer with the dough hook attachment to mix this.

Cardamom Teddy Bears

2 tablespoons active yeast (room temperature)

1 cup warm milk

1/2 cup warm water

1/3 cup vegetable oil

1/2 cup sugar or honey

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 eggs (room temperature and lightly beaten)

2 teaspoons ground cardamom

1 teaspoon salt

5-6 cups all purpose flour

Combine yeast with warm water and a spoonful of sugar in mixing bowl. Stir and set aside for 5 minutes. When yeast mixture is foamy, add milk, oil, sugar, vanilla, beaten eggs, cardamom, salt, and 1 cup of flour at a time. When combined, continue adding flour, 1 cup at a time until dough is no longer sticky. Place in greased bowl, turn once so top of dough is greased also. Cover loosely with plastic wrap. Let rise until doubled in size. Punch down dough. Divide in fourths. From each fourth you will need a large ball for the bear body, a medium size ball for the head and ears, and small balls for the arms and legs. Little bits of dough can be used for the nose. Attach to body by wetting dough slightly where pieces will be joined, then pinch edges together. Let rise until doubled in size. Preheat oven to 350. Bake 20-25 minutes until toothpick inserted in middle of body comes out almost clean. Place on wire racks to cool.

For icing, combine a few tablespoons of butter in a sauce. When melted and golden brown, remove from heat, and stir in enough powdered sugar to make a thick paste. Add milk or cream until desired consistency, then drizzle liberally over bears. Can add raisins for eyes.

Three strikes--and it's out

This is why I put away our tree less than 24 hours after Christmas:

Our busy little guy, Ethan, knocked it over for the third time...so it was time to pack it up. I just couldn't deal with the stress of keeping him away from it anymore. Those twinkling lights and shiny ornaments have drawn him like a magnet ever since we decorated shortly after Thankgiving.

Of course, it is hard to keep from laughing when his reaction to the tree crashing down is followed by a look of pure wonder on his face. He then said "wow!"...and eventually,"uh-oh!".

Yes, this blue eyed angel is capable of getting into much mischief and often leaves havoc in his wake. But, through all the "adventures", we still love him and are thankful to have him. Someday it will be hard to remember him as an active 19 month old. I want to treasure these moments, even the hectic ones, while they last.

Wishing you a...

Merry Christmas--from our family to yours!

It's not about the gifts, the food, the parties and gatherings, the decorations. Those things fade in light of what the true meaning of Christmas is: Christ's love for all of us. We celebrate today that He came to earth to offer the ultimate gift of salvation. Even though His exact birthday is not known, our family takes time out on this day to recognize His birth and to express our love for Him and those around us.

In the midst of all the celebrating, my mind also thinks of those I know of who will not really have the chance to experience a happy Christmas this year due to illness and other hardships going on in their lives. My heart aches for them and makes me realize just how blessed my family is. I could be spending Christmas in the hospital trying to comfort my sick child. I could be out on the street without a  place to go home to. I could be wondering where my next meal will come from.
I could be all alone in the world.
As I have written previously, it is far too easy to take for granted the small things, to be too involved with trivial junk that causes the big picture to be missed entirely. Life is so much more than a rat race!

So, however you celebrate today, I hope that you are able to pause and  focus on the positive and experience His peace and joy! Count those blessings!
You may just be surprised at how many you actually have.

Gingerbread

This is what is sitting on our kitchen counter right now:

What a fun recipe to make with the kids. It was very easy! Isaac and Emma's favorite part was rolling out the dough, and of course all three of them liked the tasting part when we were all done!

Gingerbread

3 cups all purpose flour

2 teaspoons ground ginger

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup butter, softened

3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1/2 cup mild flavor molasses

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Mix flour, spices, baking soda, and salt in large bowl. Beat butter and sugar in a seperate bowl with electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add molasses, egg, and vanilla; beat well. Gradually beat in flour mixture on low speed until well mixed. Press dough into a thick, flat disk. Wrap snugly in plastic wrap. Chill at least 4 hours (overnight is best).

Roll dough 1/4-inch thick on lightly floured work surface. Cut into gingerbread men shapes with 5-inch cookie cutter. Place 1 inch apart on ungreased baking sheets. Bake in preheated 350 degree oven for 8-10 minutes until edges of cookies are set and just beginning to brown. Cool on wire racks. Makes about 2 dozen cookies. Decorate as desired--have fun!

Heavy heart

This past Thursday, December 16th, everything suddenly came to a screeching halt when I received devastating news from a close friend of mine: her 5 year old child has just been diagnosed with what appears to be stage IV cancer.

It felt like I had been punched in the stomach. My knees buckled, and the room spun around me. I simply couldn't believe it. How did this happen? More importantly, WHY was this happening? And to a child?!?  It just seems so unfair. So senseless. So cruel. The doctors will attempt to remove the tumor next week, and then there will be chemo, radiation, and lots of healing to follow. The thought of this little guy having to endure all of what is soon to come is .....unbearable.

It is downright frightening that life can change so quickly. How did my friend and I go from talking about Christmas plans, our children's latest antics, even things as trivial as the weather---to cancer?

As a mother myself, it hits really close to home, especially because I also have a 5 year old, a mere three months difference in age from her child. This is truly a parent's worst nightmare. It is terrifying to think of one of my precious little ones suffering, so I cannot begin to imagine what my friend and her husband are going through right now as they watch their child battle this ugly illness, and at such a young age, too.

My heart is so heavy as I write this. I have no idea what to say to my friend. What words of comfort can I possibly offer? What can one say at a time like this?

All I can do is pray...and help to keep that flame of hope burning bright.

 As I said in my post yesterday, there has been alot on my mind. I have been counting the "little" blessings all around me that are easy to take for granted. The small things have suddenly become all the more meaningful.  I ask myself, "Do my children really know that I love them? Do they understand just how deeply I am grateful to have them, to be their mother? Have I held them enough? Have I left anything unsaid to those I love? Does my husband realize how much he means to me?".

Life is a fragile gift. We never know what will come around the next bend in the road. It is difficult not to allow the fear of the unknown to cloud the present.

 I was tucking my daughter into bed tonight and I think she could sense that I was sad about something.  She suddenly giggled and wrapped her arms around my neck then whispered, "I love you SO much! You're the best mommy in the whole world!".

Tears filled my eyes, and I hugged her a little tighter.

Sweet & sticky

There has been alot on my mind these past few days, and it has honestly been weighing me down. This morning when the kids woke, I decided to put all that behind me for the time being and just live in the moment...soaking up and appreciating the special, little everyday things. Ethan's sleep-creased face and dimpled grin, Emma's messy halo of hair falling in her eyes while she munched her cereal, Isaac's endless stream of chatter about super heroes and laser beams, just to name a few. We are safe and happy. We have full cuboards. We have heat. Everyone is healthy right now.The kids and I have a great Daddy/husband coming home to us this evening. Who could ask for more?

The kids wanted to dip pretzels as our activity today, so we did. They had so much fun! I love to see them laughing and getting along together. It was a big, sticky choatic mess, but worth every second of cleaning afterwards. :) We ended up with a heaping pile of pretzels, some decorated with a few sprinkles, some with none whatsoever, and some so thickly covered that you would be hard pressed to see a speck of white almond bark. Each one is a little different. They really got creative!

And in case anyone reading this will be a guest in our home around the holidays or the recipient of some of our goodies, rest assured that you will be given pretzels from a batch that did not involve my children's help (i.e. "kid germs"). The pretzels pictured in this post are reserved for our direct consumption only. :)

Ethan says, "Yum, yum!".

Ethan's room

I had always assumed that my two sons would immediately share a bedroom, but due to them being four years apart in age with different sleeping schedules, it didn't work out well the way I had thought it would. It got to the point where I had to put that idea aside and turn my thoughts to another alternative. Moving to a house with more bedrooms was definitely not an option, nor was building onto our existing house. Instead, I zeroed in on how we could shift our current living areas around to fit the needs of our family for the short term until Ethan is a bit older and can share a bunk bed upstairs with his big brother.

And so this fall the answer turned out to be moving our desk and filing cabinets out of the tiny place downstairs that we had been using for an office. Though not big (I've seen walk-in closets that are larger!)  this space had lots of charm and I could just see all of the hidden potential. I thought it would make a cute bedroom for a one year old if we could give this room an economical, mini makeover.

This is what it looked like before anything was done:

The first thing to be changed was the wall color. It went from pale blue to a cheerful, sunshiny yellow. That helped to make it feel so much warmer, and even a bit larger! I did not think to take any before pictures of Ethan's crib, but in the course of putting together this new room, I also stripped the old finish off of that,

sanded it down, then painted it black to match his dresser.

 Here is what Ethan's room looks like now:

Hooray--it's finally finished and he can start using it now. (And yes, it did taken me two months to wrap up this project. Lots going on at all times. :) )

It may be small, but it is inviting and fun and perfect for a little guy whose needs are pretty basic: cozy spot for sleeping, a place to keep his toys and clothes, and some warm, clean floor area to play on. I think that Ethan's favorite feature has to be the adorable Curious George mural above his crib.

Just goes to show how a fresh coat of paint, creativity (i.e.working with what you have!), and some elbow grease can completely transform a room!