January 04-2010, Did You Write?
Happy New year!!!!!
This is a time where one looks back over the past year and see how useless and mangy a mutt one was, and then look forward and figure out how to make changes, improvements in one's life. Within a month, all the determination will be gone and one will be back to old habits.
I don't make new year's resolutions, but decided this year required a change. My resolution for this year is to become the GOD-BEING OF THE UNIVERSE. I will then solve my problems, if I find any..... Actually Why mess with perfection........
I suggest one writerly resolution for this year. It should be an easy one to keep up.
Remember that this note will be coming up every week. Try to report some bit of writing each week. If you can keep this resolution, you will have gained a lot on last year.
As to what is writing, it really depends on what YOU call writing. Any new writing is writing, so is editing Even if it is editing or critiquing someone else's work. Poetry, article writing, Blogging, world or character creation, are all writing. So might be E-mails, as long as they are wordy and pertain to writing or story. It really depends on what you consider writing.
There is never a comment on how much one writes either. the more, the merrier, but a paragraph will pass as writing.
I had started a separate note on how I did this past year, but I thought I would include it here.
I have 12 files of stories. many of them are scenes that would be applied to a larger story, but there are a few completed pieces. In them together, I wrote 165 pages made up of 99,991 total words
I hope to do better this year. I want to finish more stories. it should be easier since I have found a way to be more regular on my writing.
This past week I added a page and 494 words to my Waxy story. I sort of held off after the first of the year so I could get some statistics for the year. It is not flowing as easily as my story ideas, but it is coming along.
On the story idea front for December, I did 31 story ideas at 59 pages. for a total of 35,877 words. Not bad, but I could be doing better. I liked the story ideas when the whole month was closer to 60,000 words. When rushed for time, I don't always apply myself to showing the concepts properly.
For the year, I still did not do to bad.
I did 368 story ideas. I cannot remember if this was a leap year or not, and am to lazy to look it up. I either ended up with three, or two, story ideas ahead for the year. This is the worst I have ever done. My previous low was five extra story ideas. Even so, and idea a day is not something to complain about.
These story ideas amounted to 538 pages of single spaced writing for 187,429 words. That is about one and a half pages per idea. Not bad. I won't complain too much. Too bad that was not applied to novels. That would be four unpublishable novels......
I spent the weekend trying to get Mom's brand new computer set up for her use. It has Windows 7, and this is my first meeting with the program. I am a person who started with DOS, then went to windows 3.1, 95, 98, 2000, XP, and Vista. with a thankfully quick meeting with Millennium. Of all of them, XP is the best, followed by 2000 and 98.
I use Vista at work and have my complaints about it. Windows 7 has all the irritations of Vista, without the ease of use.
My problem with windows 7 is that I know what I am doing, and it won't let me do it. That is one thing that irritates me to no end. I have a good reason for doing something.
I also found out that the printer I thought had committed suicide, was actually faking it. I gave it a good examination and CAREFULLY plugged it in and found it working. I went for several years without a printer, and now that I had one, I find I do have a need for it. I have another printer that I cannot get the driver for. My nephew has the driver disk but I don't think he can find it.
To put the above into a story idea. You have a society where everything is computerized. Each computerized item has a personality. One usually talks to them.
He has been on board a space ship for a couple decades. The computers on board the ship was very primitive, even when they were built, designed rugged to handle the harsh environments. They had no intelligence.
He arrives and goes through training to return to society. It is nothing like it was when he left and he is way behind.
On board ship, he was the computer expert, but now he is a computer idiot. He gets into his home and now has to get to work. he has to search to find a keyboard, then has to search to find a place to plug it in. He starts typing and the words are changing in syntax and structure as quickly as he is typing it. The computer is changing what he is doing. He tries to make some changes in the way th computer looks and works and his attempts to get to the working part of the computer is diverted by all sorts of things. He will click on a command and they had swapped positions so he gets the wrong thing.
Printers decide they don't like him because he won't coddle them, convince them that they are doing him a favor. His refrigerator decides he needs to go on a diet. His shower decides that cold showers are better than hot showers. The whole house is acting like it is going crazy.
The house and appliances misjudged on one thing. He does know computers and slowly, he gains control over everything. when it is about time for him to leave for more training, His house is under his absolute control and the personalities only show in how they talk to him, not on how they do their jobs.
For the Question of the day,
I can say for the week,
YES, I DID WRITE.
For the year, I can also say
YES, I DID WRITE.
DID YOU WRITE?
Monday, January 4, 2010
Sunday, January 3, 2010
Week 521 Wood Working
year 9, Week 51, Day One (week 521)
(January 17, 2000 was my first carving day.)
01-03-10 Sunday,
46 degree lows, 62 degree highs, all three days. Friday was strong winds, Saturday was mostly clear and sunny, Sunday started sunny and warmed to 50 by nine, 63 by noon, then clouds came over and temperatures plummeted to 60 again. by three.
Being below the 56 degree frost temperature here in South Florida, The days have not been warm enough to melt the ice that has formed on the canals. Today it was thick enough that I took some short cuts to Mom's house, driving on some of the thick ice on the canals to bypass some lights and traffic.
The highest natural point of land is a prehistoric sand dune in the middle of the inhabited county. It is 29 feet above sea level. the flat surrounding land is 17 feet above sea level. I think it is about ten feet above sea level where I am, several miles away.
Each winter, when it gets cold enough, glaciers wake up and start extending from the top of the natural high point, and work their way across the land in order to drop ice bergs into the sea. It is always a bother since the glaciers block the roads going north and south. One has to drive over to the beach to get around them.
It is going to be down to 39 in a day or so, and the lows won't be above the mid fifties all week long. Those glaciers might actually reach the ocean this time. By then, though, the ocean will have frozen so solidly that one can drive on the ice to get around the glaciers.
This weather report is brought to you by the City Of Pompano Beach Department of Tourism.
I spent all day Friday and Saturday, working on my mom's new computer. Her old one was making some worrying sounds, so she decided to get a replacement. there were times I fought that computer tooth and nail, but I wore it down. Mom needs one adapter and she will be ready to swap computers. I now have some understanding of Windows 7. It has all the problems of Vista, without the ease of use of XP. in essence, they change a couple things that should have never been changed.
Today, I did some computer work, but was able to go out and make sawdust. I had gotten the idea of doing the saddle style bowls for ducklings. These would be small bowls, narrow and high. I thought it was a brilliant idea. I have found that I either don't have the right raw materials, or I am fairly incompetent. Last week, I tried two attempts using cedar, just to explore the concept. Today, I used Dade county Slash Pine for two of the attempts, and sea Grape for the second two attempts.
My first attempt started all right. I was hollowing the bowl out when the tool knocked off the wings. I had not gone too deep, so I cut the edge flat and then made it into a tiny bowl.
My second attempt got deeper before I lost the wings. that one got tossed.
I then switched to Sea grape. I had cut a piece in half and started turning. I suddenly realized that I cut the pieces too short. I changed plans immediately and made it into a goblet. I was cutting in the stem of the goblet. It was going to be really short. There was a worm hole that just happened to go right near the base of the bowl. I had just cut past the worm hole when the stem broke. I have two choices with this piece. One is to carve it into a flower. Two is to make a stem and base of a different kind of wood I will see what I decide later.
My fourth attempt was also in sea grape. It was getting late. I got the bowl almost made, and saw some problems. I decided to stop and decide next week how to handle the piece. It is sometimes best to hold on finishing a project if there is a problem, and return to it later when the mind is fresh.
Duck bowl in Rosewood. Head added to a saddle bowl. Foot turned as saucer, then carved to shape.
To make the saddle bowls I am making for the bird bowls, you turn the wood from the side, rather than the ends. The ends of the wood is spinning around in the air like a propeller.
You gently and carefully apply the cutting tools to the flying ends, rounding them as they fly by.
There are many kinds of bowls that can be made this way. A banana bowl is where it is really long and fairly flat The bird bowls are fairly short and high. The bowls are not round, as the natural edge of the sides of the wood is not as long as the ends.
The bottom bowled so the bark stops near the bottom but not all the way to the bottom. For my bird bowls, I turn what amounts to a platter on the bottom, which I will later carve to be come the foot. The outer edge is angled up so the toes will end up raised.
Once the outside is nicely shaped, possibly finished, One then turns to the inside. Some wood workers will sand and apply final finish to the outside before they start hollowing. I got out of that very quickly when tool slippage and the wood slipping in the chuck (developing a wobble), got me out of that.
Duck bowls, showing different bowl designs of bowls
Bowls are in Sea grape.
When you look at your arm, you will see that it curves in diameter along the length. The wood you are about to work on is the same way. when you start turning. you will see a shadow of the wood, as there is a lot of air between the pieces of spinning wood. As you have found when working on the outside, there is a lot of tool bouncing. addressing the wood slowly, holding the tool firmly to the tool rest will keep the bouncing down.
AS you cut away the top of the curve, especially as you get towards the end of the wood, the bark is cut away. You follow the curve of the outside. Because of the air between passes of the wood, you will be able to see the distance between the outside of the bowl and the cutting tool. I use a Bowl Gouge most of the time. The center of the piece becomes all solid wood to be cut. I try to leave the tail stock up against the wood as long as possible, forming a post since the wood is less likely to do something wrong when held tight in place. Of course, one finally has to pull the tail stock away to finish the piece and that is usually when I run into trouble.
Bowl done in Rosewood
Rooster bowl, see foot and saddle bowl.
Head and tail carved and added afterwords
The wood is cut away on the sides, leaving a thin natural edge. The shape ends up being like a saddle, the center of the wood is high, and the sides are low.
Next week, I have loads of projects. I am not sure what I will work on. I have a lot of projects and some need a lot of attention. I need to make some wooden fruit. I need to carve on my flower vase. I want to be successful on the bowls for the ducklings. I have some ornaments to make. I have no idea what I will actually want to work on..
I will see what I do next week.
(January 17, 2000 was my first carving day.)
01-03-10 Sunday,
46 degree lows, 62 degree highs, all three days. Friday was strong winds, Saturday was mostly clear and sunny, Sunday started sunny and warmed to 50 by nine, 63 by noon, then clouds came over and temperatures plummeted to 60 again. by three.
Being below the 56 degree frost temperature here in South Florida, The days have not been warm enough to melt the ice that has formed on the canals. Today it was thick enough that I took some short cuts to Mom's house, driving on some of the thick ice on the canals to bypass some lights and traffic.
The highest natural point of land is a prehistoric sand dune in the middle of the inhabited county. It is 29 feet above sea level. the flat surrounding land is 17 feet above sea level. I think it is about ten feet above sea level where I am, several miles away.
Each winter, when it gets cold enough, glaciers wake up and start extending from the top of the natural high point, and work their way across the land in order to drop ice bergs into the sea. It is always a bother since the glaciers block the roads going north and south. One has to drive over to the beach to get around them.
It is going to be down to 39 in a day or so, and the lows won't be above the mid fifties all week long. Those glaciers might actually reach the ocean this time. By then, though, the ocean will have frozen so solidly that one can drive on the ice to get around the glaciers.
This weather report is brought to you by the City Of Pompano Beach Department of Tourism.
I spent all day Friday and Saturday, working on my mom's new computer. Her old one was making some worrying sounds, so she decided to get a replacement. there were times I fought that computer tooth and nail, but I wore it down. Mom needs one adapter and she will be ready to swap computers. I now have some understanding of Windows 7. It has all the problems of Vista, without the ease of use of XP. in essence, they change a couple things that should have never been changed.
Today, I did some computer work, but was able to go out and make sawdust. I had gotten the idea of doing the saddle style bowls for ducklings. These would be small bowls, narrow and high. I thought it was a brilliant idea. I have found that I either don't have the right raw materials, or I am fairly incompetent. Last week, I tried two attempts using cedar, just to explore the concept. Today, I used Dade county Slash Pine for two of the attempts, and sea Grape for the second two attempts.
My first attempt started all right. I was hollowing the bowl out when the tool knocked off the wings. I had not gone too deep, so I cut the edge flat and then made it into a tiny bowl.
My second attempt got deeper before I lost the wings. that one got tossed.
I then switched to Sea grape. I had cut a piece in half and started turning. I suddenly realized that I cut the pieces too short. I changed plans immediately and made it into a goblet. I was cutting in the stem of the goblet. It was going to be really short. There was a worm hole that just happened to go right near the base of the bowl. I had just cut past the worm hole when the stem broke. I have two choices with this piece. One is to carve it into a flower. Two is to make a stem and base of a different kind of wood I will see what I decide later.
My fourth attempt was also in sea grape. It was getting late. I got the bowl almost made, and saw some problems. I decided to stop and decide next week how to handle the piece. It is sometimes best to hold on finishing a project if there is a problem, and return to it later when the mind is fresh.
Duck bowl in Rosewood. Head added to a saddle bowl. Foot turned as saucer, then carved to shape.
To make the saddle bowls I am making for the bird bowls, you turn the wood from the side, rather than the ends. The ends of the wood is spinning around in the air like a propeller.
You gently and carefully apply the cutting tools to the flying ends, rounding them as they fly by.
There are many kinds of bowls that can be made this way. A banana bowl is where it is really long and fairly flat The bird bowls are fairly short and high. The bowls are not round, as the natural edge of the sides of the wood is not as long as the ends.
The bottom bowled so the bark stops near the bottom but not all the way to the bottom. For my bird bowls, I turn what amounts to a platter on the bottom, which I will later carve to be come the foot. The outer edge is angled up so the toes will end up raised.
Once the outside is nicely shaped, possibly finished, One then turns to the inside. Some wood workers will sand and apply final finish to the outside before they start hollowing. I got out of that very quickly when tool slippage and the wood slipping in the chuck (developing a wobble), got me out of that.
Duck bowls, showing different bowl designs of bowls
Bowls are in Sea grape.
When you look at your arm, you will see that it curves in diameter along the length. The wood you are about to work on is the same way. when you start turning. you will see a shadow of the wood, as there is a lot of air between the pieces of spinning wood. As you have found when working on the outside, there is a lot of tool bouncing. addressing the wood slowly, holding the tool firmly to the tool rest will keep the bouncing down.
AS you cut away the top of the curve, especially as you get towards the end of the wood, the bark is cut away. You follow the curve of the outside. Because of the air between passes of the wood, you will be able to see the distance between the outside of the bowl and the cutting tool. I use a Bowl Gouge most of the time. The center of the piece becomes all solid wood to be cut. I try to leave the tail stock up against the wood as long as possible, forming a post since the wood is less likely to do something wrong when held tight in place. Of course, one finally has to pull the tail stock away to finish the piece and that is usually when I run into trouble.
Bowl done in Rosewood
Rooster bowl, see foot and saddle bowl.
Head and tail carved and added afterwords
The wood is cut away on the sides, leaving a thin natural edge. The shape ends up being like a saddle, the center of the wood is high, and the sides are low.
Next week, I have loads of projects. I am not sure what I will work on. I have a lot of projects and some need a lot of attention. I need to make some wooden fruit. I need to carve on my flower vase. I want to be successful on the bowls for the ducklings. I have some ornaments to make. I have no idea what I will actually want to work on..
I will see what I do next week.
Saturday, January 2, 2010
Cookie Capers and Fudge Follies
Almost every year at Christmas time I make cookies galore to give away. Friends, neighbors, and family are all the benefactors of my largesse. It started out with one or two dozen of two kinds of cookies shared with a neighbor, and blossomed into the current 4-5 dozen each of 7 varieties shared with as many people as I can. I've never had anyone say to me, "No thanks, we don't need cookies." In fact, every year after Thanksgiving, I get innocent little inquiries about how the baking is going, or reminisces about a particular kind of cookie that was particularly tasty. I have my fans. LOL
This is the conglomerate result of this year's baking. Two afternoons of making dough, three afternoons of baking, and a few hours of icing gingerbread cookies lead to his pile of containers. I figure there are somewhere around 400 cookies in those containers. Whew, that sure is a lot of work!
Some closeups. It doesn't look impressive or like there is that much inside, but some of the cookies are small and are stacked many deep. I try not to do too many fragile ones.
More cookies. The smaller containers either had the tinier cookies or leftovers from the big containers. Missing is one small tub of coconut snowballs that my mother ate and over half a dozen mocha truffle cookies that Brian and Jason snitched.
Those cookies that don't stack well are put in fairly shallow tubs.
Oh no, puppy porn - how did that get in here? Autumn is my constant companion. Yeah, the kitchen floor is still raw plywood, but I am trying to be patient...
To give you an idea of just how well packed these boxes are, the picture below is a box of Anna's Rolled Cookies, from my old McCall's Cookie Collection cookbook, which is years out of print now. It was part of a set of pamphlet sized cookbooks but I got my first copy solo at a local fleamarket back when I was in my early 20s (I'm 52 now). These are a really tasty vanilla sugar cookie, and were he first kind of cutout and the first Christmas cookies I ever made. Still one of my favorites too, and I usually make the dough and bake them first because decorating them takes forever. But that's because I am so darn fussy about it. This is the main box of them, I had a couple smaller boxes, one of which was the first two sheets, which overbrowned and got eaten by family. Doesn't it look like a treasure chest? I have built up quite a selection of jimmies, sprinkles and colored sugars over the years. The silver jimmies are new this year, found them at the craft store around Halloween and immediately thought of Christmas cookies decorated with them. I love the way they shine and these are safe to eat, not coated with mercury like the old silver dragees (which I have a small jar of that I don't use but won't part with). I have a ton of cookie cutters too, and usually add one or two new ones each year. Saw a palm tree and a moose I just have to get... I'm not obsessed or anything. LOL
BTW, that plastic box has a thrifting history. I got three of those from the little grocery store that used to be in town for 50¢ each. I lost one when it got left behind on a special school trip, but still have the other two. I guess the store used to get some sort of fish delivery in them, because that is what they smelled like when I got them, even though they had been cleaned. I got a bunch of plastic or glass gallon jars for 10¢ each too, and still use those for storage. This is a green town ahead of its time, in that we are talking the mid-80s for this repurposing, and we've also had curbside recycling since 1989. Plenty of state forest out here, so the folks that settle in this area tend to be environmentally aware as well as thrifty. *s*
I've used those boxes a lot over the years. They are deep enough to hold cupcakes if the frosting isn't piled too high.
Well this is the first cookie pan I packed for some lucky family this year. Clockwise from the top left around center are: Anna's Rolled Cookies, peanut butter thummies with grape jelly centers, coconut snowballs, mocha truffle cookies; vanilla thummies with strawberry, mint or apple jelly (like Christmas lights), and of course gingerbread with icing. In the center are almond crescents, the most low sugar and flour cookie I make - mostly ground almonds and butter.
,
Another pan for another household. I gave away 3 large pans like this and 4 smaller ones. We kept the eqiuvalent of a large pan for ourselves, and the kids were chucking some down as I packed them.
Aw come on, you know how happy you'd be to get a big pan of cookies like that! Imagine the smiles...
This is grandson Ben having a bite to eat nearby, and yeah he finished all that bowl too. He's happy because he helped me bake some of those cookies and now he's going to get to eat some. Those are pans of fudge sitting next to him, and that is my next project - cutting up fudge. I make 4 kinds every year, and it goes to selected people. My fudge is a one-bowl recipe that gets a short time in the microwave and then has to firm up in the fridge overnight. I cut it all up and then pack it in small foil loaf pans. One local outlet store has the disposable foil pans very reasonable, and that is usually where I get them. It makes it easier when people don't have to return a container to me, though I have used the round cookie and fruitcake tins and even plastic margarine tubs in the past. Clean foil is recyclable in most of my state.
This is how the fudge looks when it comes out of the pan. This one is white chocolate fudge with chopped red and green candied cherries and candied pineapple and is much prettier when cut up. When the fudge is mixed I pour it into square or rectangular cake pans that have been lined with greased foil (makes it easier to lift the fudge out) and then they cool on racks in the pan until they can go into the fridge, covered with foil. Once chilled and set, the fudge can be cut up. Because it contains milk, it has to be refrigerated when not being served, and does not ship well. But it can sit out an hour or so at room temperature.
The same block of fudge all cut up and temporarily back into its pan. Yeah the pan was thrifted too, a flea market special.
In fact all of these pans are thrifted. I will buy used in good shape when I can get them. Clockwise from bottom left is the white chocolate fudge with candied fruit, chocolate and peanut butter layered fudge, dark chocolate fudge with walnuts, and mint chocolate layered fudge. Don't they look yummy?
This is the conglomerate result of this year's baking. Two afternoons of making dough, three afternoons of baking, and a few hours of icing gingerbread cookies lead to his pile of containers. I figure there are somewhere around 400 cookies in those containers. Whew, that sure is a lot of work!
Some closeups. It doesn't look impressive or like there is that much inside, but some of the cookies are small and are stacked many deep. I try not to do too many fragile ones.
More cookies. The smaller containers either had the tinier cookies or leftovers from the big containers. Missing is one small tub of coconut snowballs that my mother ate and over half a dozen mocha truffle cookies that Brian and Jason snitched.
Those cookies that don't stack well are put in fairly shallow tubs.
Oh no, puppy porn - how did that get in here? Autumn is my constant companion. Yeah, the kitchen floor is still raw plywood, but I am trying to be patient...
To give you an idea of just how well packed these boxes are, the picture below is a box of Anna's Rolled Cookies, from my old McCall's Cookie Collection cookbook, which is years out of print now. It was part of a set of pamphlet sized cookbooks but I got my first copy solo at a local fleamarket back when I was in my early 20s (I'm 52 now). These are a really tasty vanilla sugar cookie, and were he first kind of cutout and the first Christmas cookies I ever made. Still one of my favorites too, and I usually make the dough and bake them first because decorating them takes forever. But that's because I am so darn fussy about it. This is the main box of them, I had a couple smaller boxes, one of which was the first two sheets, which overbrowned and got eaten by family. Doesn't it look like a treasure chest? I have built up quite a selection of jimmies, sprinkles and colored sugars over the years. The silver jimmies are new this year, found them at the craft store around Halloween and immediately thought of Christmas cookies decorated with them. I love the way they shine and these are safe to eat, not coated with mercury like the old silver dragees (which I have a small jar of that I don't use but won't part with). I have a ton of cookie cutters too, and usually add one or two new ones each year. Saw a palm tree and a moose I just have to get... I'm not obsessed or anything. LOL
BTW, that plastic box has a thrifting history. I got three of those from the little grocery store that used to be in town for 50¢ each. I lost one when it got left behind on a special school trip, but still have the other two. I guess the store used to get some sort of fish delivery in them, because that is what they smelled like when I got them, even though they had been cleaned. I got a bunch of plastic or glass gallon jars for 10¢ each too, and still use those for storage. This is a green town ahead of its time, in that we are talking the mid-80s for this repurposing, and we've also had curbside recycling since 1989. Plenty of state forest out here, so the folks that settle in this area tend to be environmentally aware as well as thrifty. *s*
I've used those boxes a lot over the years. They are deep enough to hold cupcakes if the frosting isn't piled too high.
Well this is the first cookie pan I packed for some lucky family this year. Clockwise from the top left around center are: Anna's Rolled Cookies, peanut butter thummies with grape jelly centers, coconut snowballs, mocha truffle cookies; vanilla thummies with strawberry, mint or apple jelly (like Christmas lights), and of course gingerbread with icing. In the center are almond crescents, the most low sugar and flour cookie I make - mostly ground almonds and butter.
,Another pan for another household. I gave away 3 large pans like this and 4 smaller ones. We kept the eqiuvalent of a large pan for ourselves, and the kids were chucking some down as I packed them.
Aw come on, you know how happy you'd be to get a big pan of cookies like that! Imagine the smiles...
This is grandson Ben having a bite to eat nearby, and yeah he finished all that bowl too. He's happy because he helped me bake some of those cookies and now he's going to get to eat some. Those are pans of fudge sitting next to him, and that is my next project - cutting up fudge. I make 4 kinds every year, and it goes to selected people. My fudge is a one-bowl recipe that gets a short time in the microwave and then has to firm up in the fridge overnight. I cut it all up and then pack it in small foil loaf pans. One local outlet store has the disposable foil pans very reasonable, and that is usually where I get them. It makes it easier when people don't have to return a container to me, though I have used the round cookie and fruitcake tins and even plastic margarine tubs in the past. Clean foil is recyclable in most of my state.
This is how the fudge looks when it comes out of the pan. This one is white chocolate fudge with chopped red and green candied cherries and candied pineapple and is much prettier when cut up. When the fudge is mixed I pour it into square or rectangular cake pans that have been lined with greased foil (makes it easier to lift the fudge out) and then they cool on racks in the pan until they can go into the fridge, covered with foil. Once chilled and set, the fudge can be cut up. Because it contains milk, it has to be refrigerated when not being served, and does not ship well. But it can sit out an hour or so at room temperature.
The same block of fudge all cut up and temporarily back into its pan. Yeah the pan was thrifted too, a flea market special.
In fact all of these pans are thrifted. I will buy used in good shape when I can get them. Clockwise from bottom left is the white chocolate fudge with candied fruit, chocolate and peanut butter layered fudge, dark chocolate fudge with walnuts, and mint chocolate layered fudge. Don't they look yummy?
As I've said, these are things I've done every year for many years. Sometimes I do some peanut brittle if I have the time. The year of our major constrution I did all biscotti and some cake gingerbread because most of my kitchen stuff was still packed and it was easier to find the sheets and pans I needed for those. What I haven't mentioned is that December 23 is #1 son Jason's birthday and I usually bake for that too - this year he had a chocolate chip cheesecake and I made Lee a sugar free chocolate silk pie because he can't have the sweet stuff. So there is always some tasty treat being formulated in my kitchen during the holidays, as well as plenty of memories too.
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