Poppy Seed Rolls, Number Two

Don't feed poppy seed rolls to babies.

Trust me on this one.

Gifting Myself

Although they didn't need to do it, both my mother- and brother-in-law presented me with the gift that keeps on giving this Christmas: Cash.

In situations like these, the first thing that comes to mind is to use the money to pay down my mortgage or to fund my retirement account or something, but I know that's not in the appropriate (commercial?) spirit. So, I went over to Amazon.com and did some browsing.

Items I considered included the following:

Video:

• Rush - R30
• Strange Brew
• Spaceballs

Audio:

• Rush in Rio [LIVE]
• Tausend Sterne or Willst Du Mit Mir Gehn by Nena (but Tausend Sterne wasn't available, and the import stuff is so expensive.)
• Great White North by Bob & Doug McKenzie
• Seeing the word "Cash" above makes me thing I should have considered some of Johnny Cash's recent works (such as Unchained), but I didn't think of that until now.

But in the end, I went with a couple of Giller Prize-winning books:

• The In-Between World of Vikram Lall by M.G. Vassanji
• Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood

I thought that "Vikram Lall" sounded interesting. I'm less sure about the other book, but I've been wanting to read something by Atwood for a while. Oryx and Crake seems like it might be a little odd for a first experience with an author, and my wife thought Grace might be interesting.

While I was at it, I ordered the following for my daughter's upcoming birthday. Shhh! Don't tell her!

• Crispin : The Cross of Lead by Avi
• Holes by Louis Sachar

Christmas Traditions #2: A New One

Inspired by the Bob Rivers tune, "I Am Santa Claus", the lyrics of which include,

Sees every move you make
Better be good for goodness sake
Leave him cookies and beer
He'll be back to your house first next year

Taking Advantage of Grandmothers

As my son has completely gone over to the dark side*, at least when it comes to the NFL, my mother-in-law bought him a Christmas gift. Football fans will notice the "slight imperfection" with the jersey; there's no need to state it in a comment. If you're not a football fan, don't worry about it.

I hear that she paid full price for it too. That's not fair. Someone should have noticed along the way and removed it from the sales stream. I know, Caveat emptor and all, but you can't expect granny to notice these little things.



* - Thanks to Doug who reminded me, "That's OK, you have another son."

Christmas Traditions #1: Poppy Seed Rolls

When I was little, for Christmas, Grandma (or Great-Grandma, depending on your generation) Marsik would make poppy seed (and nut-) rolls for Christmas. I always liked them, but my mother didn't typically make them. So, by the time I was in high school (or maybe college) I was making poppy seed rolls myself. Here's the recipe I use, somewhat updated for modern bread machines.

Poppy Seed (Nut) Roll

2 cups flour 1 stick (1/4 lb.) butter A little salt (recipe calls for 1/2 t.) 1 T sugar 1 egg yolk (save the white) ~2 t. dry yeast 1/2 cup water (or a bit more, if you like)

Put all these ingredients into your bread machine and make dough. When it's done, divide it into two pieces, cover, and let them sit a while. Roll out dough fairly thin. (Recipe says "as thin as possible", but it is possible to make it too thin.) Spread it with some egg whites. (I'm not sure why I do this. Tradition, maybe.) Spread it with poppy seed, nut, or the filling of your choice. Roll it up! Cover and let sit a while. (30 minutes or so.) Spread top with egg whites. (This, I know, helps it to "brown".) Bake at 425F for 30 minutes.

One interesting question is "How much filling should I use?". It's really up to you. If you use half a can for one roll, it might be just a little sparse. I've been told that it's better with one can per roll, but it's a little heavy on the filling that way. Maybe 3 cans for 4 rolls can work, but I used one can per roll this year.

Frosting - 1/2 cup powdered sugar with a little milk & vanilla and food colouring of your (or your kids') choice. Put on roll (after it cools).

Yum.

In past years, I think I used double the butter by mistake, not correctly knowing the conversions between sticks, pounds, and ounces. Or maybe I used half the butter. It still worked out. It's quite a flexible recipe. One year (many years ago) a friend helped me bake poppy seed rolls. As her mother would say, if you double the butter, it will just be a little richer.

Of course, you need helpers, too.

Traveling in Style

Although it wasn't my first choice, for our recent trip to and from Louisiana, we drove through the night both ways. On the other hand, Ron prefers night-driving on long trips. Since we were the only ones in the Taurus wagon, we were able to put down the back seats, lay out my Therm-A-Rest, top it with a sleeping bag and pillow, and basically have a full-length bed. Top it off with the necessary ear plugs and eye mask, and you have all you need for a nap.

On the way down,

• With us both awake, I drove to just south of Louisville, KY (Shepherdsville).
• Ron drove to Athens, AL.
• With Ron sleeping, I drove to Eutaw, AL (southwest of Tuscaloosa).
• With me sleeping, Ron drove to Poplarville, MS
• We were both up the rest of the way.

On the way back,

• With us both awake, Ron drove to Hattiesburg, MS.
• I drove to the Alabama state line.
• With me sleeping, Ron drove to Cullman, AL.
• With Ron sleeping, I drove to Elizabethtown, KY.
• With me sleeping, Ron drove to south of Cincinnati.
• With us both awake, Ron drove the rest of the way.

All-in-all, it was an interesting way to drive. It's was interesting to me to imagine how far and how quickly two people could drive taking turns like that.

I don't usually sleep in vehicles, and the quality of sleep really wasn't all that hot. It was strange in that I didn't really notice falling asleep or waking up. But, I'd think, "I must have been laying here about an hour now," check, and see that it was really 2 1/2 hours or so.

On Monday (after driving all night) I felt mostly fine. On Saturday, after the return, I did get quite tired, and a 3-hour nap helped.

Anyone up for a road trip?

Oh Christmas Tree

When I was really little, we got real Christmas trees. I remember going out a few times to buy the tree. I can't say that such trips were all that exciting -- it was more of having to stand out in the cold and out of everyone's way while the adults reached an agreement on the appropriate tree.

When I was a little older, like maybe 8 or 9 or so, we switched to artificial trees. That was OK and all, but I remember thinking that when I was an adult, I would buy real trees, since artificial ones were so, well, artificial. If I'm going to have a tree in a house, why not make it a tree, and not just a representation of one?

As you can guess, today was the day I made the Christmas tree purchase. There's so much to do for the holidays, and so little time to appreciate it all. I can see the advantages of having artificial trees. But then my daughter says that it wouldn't really seem like Christmas if she didn't get pricked by pine needles when she walks around the house in bare feet.

Another thing I remember about putting up the Christmas when I was young is that, for everyone's sanity and temper levels, that the kids should have little involvement, and if possible, be in a different room. As an adult, I certainly see the wisdom in that, but my wife doesn't really agree.

Dueling Ends

If your son requests you to put on In the End by Linkin Park, instead put on The End by The Beatles.

Hilarity every time. (Really, my son wants me to mention that he was confused.)