Are They All Crazy?

Sarah was here with the boys today.

Teddy likes fruit, so I cut an apple into small pieces for him and put it in a little silver bowl he likes.  He started munching on the tidbits, walked over and gave me some, went over to his mother and gave her some and went over to the walker where his brother, Huck, was sitting and put some in the little tray of the walker.

We smiled and said, "Thank you, Teddy" when he gave us our apples but as soon as he shared with his brother, he was told "No."  Sarah grabbed the morsels out of Huck's reach, so what did Teddy do?  He just got some more pieces out of his bowl and put more in the little tray of the walker. It was such a sweet thing to do, but I wondered how many times he must think we're all crazy.

He's such a good little worker, loves to help put the soap in the dishwasher and close the door, helps move clothes from the washer to the dryer and learned that we push those buttons.  That's where he runs into the "No" word.  I can see him wondering why it's ok sometimes and not others and why would we try to curtail him when he's only doing what we do.

Kids are so neat!

What Was That Stuff?

Grandma Rice always made some raisin-like cake for Christmas and she topped it with some truly disgusting white sugary syrup.  Maybe the raisins were actually figs.  Maybe what she made was actually Figgie Pudding.  It wasn't the kind made with flaming brandy as one Wiki article says.  At least I never saw any flames or brandy.  All I knew is that I wouldn't even be in the same room with the stuff.

Also, you wouldn't believe the effort that goes into making real figgie pudding:

• 1/2 cup butter
• 1/2 cup vegetable shortening
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 3 large egg yolks
• 1 cup milk
• 2 tablespoons rum extract (or flavored extract of your choice)
• 2 apples, peeled and cored and finely chopped
• 2 pounds dried figs, ground or finely chopped
• Grated peel of 1 lemon and 1 orange
• 1 cup chopped nuts
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1 1/2 cups dried bread crumbs
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 3 large egg whites, stiffly beaten
• 1 strip of bacon, finely crushed (optional - New England variant)
• 1 teaspoon of hot sauce, for drizzling

Procedure[edit]

1. Preheat oven to 325 °F. Generously grease an oven-proof 2-quart bowl or mold; set aside.
2. Cream together butter and shortening.
3. Gradually add sugar, egg yolks, milk, extract, apple, figs, lemon and orange peel.
4. Add next 6 ingredients, mixing well. Fold stiffly beaten egg whites into mixture.
5. Pour into prepared bowl or mold and place into large shallow pan and place on middle rack in oven.
6. Fill the shallow pan half-full with boiling water and slowly steam pudding in oven at 325 °F for 4 hours, replacing water as needed.

Feel free to try it if you like to cook and have all the time in the world. Please don't worry about me.  I'll be fine without any.