Dancing (and baking) Sugar Plums

 JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: I hope the rest of you are feeling as pleased as I am - presents purchased, decorating sorted (Virginia's doing it) meal planned and festive outing in the works. If you've been very good this year, you undoubtedly deserve some sugar plums this holiday - plus, making them is a delightful activity for you and your friend or nibling or grandchild.

 

Good morning everyone and I wish you all the Compliments of this Happy Season! Julia has again invited me to talk about food and my living experiences here in Sudbury. In fact I have moved, with the help of friends enough furniture down from Maine that I fear I won’t recognize my home when I next visit. But let’s get on what has been happening not to mention making some delicious Sugar Plums.

 

“While Visions of Sugarplums danced in their heads”

 

 

My Social Media has been full of Nutcracker related photos and stories beginning with the adorable photos of Debs with her granddaughter at their local performance of the Nutcracker and how much they had enjoyed the performance looking at their smiles. Another friend who is of grandfather status wrote about attending his 1632nd performance of his granddaughter who has two leading roles this year. One as the Mother Ginger first child and the second as the porcelain doll in a beautiful costume which made it into our local paper. I think she isn’t even thirteen yet. But she is totally committed to her life as a dancer. I wonder  she will pursue this dream into adulthood? But I think I would give her grandfather the longevity prize for faithful attendance. There is something rather awe-inspiring watching a group of children completely devoted to their art.

 

I had that pleasure this past week as a group of middle schoolers from a local prep school came to bring the musical holidays to my assisted living space. I can’t get out to go to the many holiday concerts as Victor and I did in the past, so this was a special treat. I have to admit I did wonder if we would be treated to a performance of the dreaded Christmas pops but that was not the case. I sat and listened to trios, quartets, an eight handed piano piece. I loved watching these teen kids finish their performance with a rousing rendition of the Trepak dance from the Nutcracker which they played with considerable brio. What a joy to see their dedication to serious music. I was asked if I played an instrument.My short answer is No! But I have another response which is my truth -My role is to be an audience to whichever muse calls to me.  As I told the young musicians, “Every performer needs an audience”, to which they agreed.  So whatever activity appeals to the child in your life I believe it is most worthwhile to help them achieve it. 

 

But it is time to address our main topic - Christmas Food. Last year I introduced you to the sugar plums that we can eat while dancing should one wish. As I wrote last year I found a recipe hiding among my many food notes with the heading “Sugarplums”, Courtesy of Eleanor Watson.

 

“Goodness, Eleanor Watson one of the best loved and remembered people in Limerick, Maine. We were invited to her Christmas gathering the first year we moved here. She lived in a beautiful old house, pre Victorian I think. Would that make it Empire, Revolutionary or Federal? I’m not much good on the history of architecture. However there were open fire places with burning logs to warm us, a colonial kitchen and rooms filled with antique furniture which she showed off to me seeing my interest. She is another person I miss and wish I had asked her for stories. But on the kitchen table, along with her delicious food, was this gift of a recipe card for the taking”. 

 

Julia and I agreed that one can never have too many sugar plums in ones life. So I offer you sugar plums to make and share with friends, to enjoy through the Holidays or as I love to entertain on Twelvth Night these make an excellent addition for dessert

 

Now I had never made Sugarplums before last year, but with a food processor anything is possible. Eleanor said her recipe made a hundred pieces of deliciousness, but as Julia and I found Eleanor’s quantities made many more than one hundred.so I recommend you half the recipe unless you are making gifts for a crowd. I also did a little research online and adding or omitting ingredients seems to be par for the course. I plan to measure the total liquid which will give me an idea of how much liquid is needed for the amount of dry ingredients. I plan to add some dried cranberries and cherries too. This recipe doesn’t have any spices in it so I will add a little of my favorite spices as well. 

 

SUGARPLUMS - Courtesy of Eleanor Watson

 

1 lb. chopped figs

1 lb. chopped dates

1 lb. chopped raisins - I am using golden raisins or sultanas (their English name)

1 lb. currents - I am omitting as couldn’t find them but will add cranberries and cherries here

 

Chop all finely in the Food Processor - set aside

 

1 lb. chopped blanched almonds

1 lb. chopped unsalted, shelled pistachio nuts (I will not use pistachios but make the weight up with other nuts.)

1/2 lb. chopped walnuts

1/2 lb. chopped pecans

 

Chop nuts in Food Processor - set aside

 

1/2 lb. shredded coconut

1/2 lb. crystallized ginger

Juice & grated rind of 1 orange

Juice & grated rind of 1 lemon

2 Tbsp - good sherry***

1 oz.    - orange or peach brandy

 

Granulated sugar for rolling - let the deliciousness commence.

 

MY UPDATED RECIPE

 

I am weighing my dried fruit based on the total amount in Eleanor’s recipe which is 4 pounds of fruit. My measurements are not exactly halved as I changed them while I was prepping.

 

My ingredients*** are:

2 3/4 lb. mixed dried fruit -approximate weight

1/4 lb. figs

1/4 lb. dates without pits

1 1/2 lb. Mixed raisins and golden raisins (sultanas)

1/2 lb. cranberries

1 oz + dried orange slices (optional)

1/4 lb. cherries

 

1 1/2 lb. Mixed nuts, walnuts, almonds, pecans - I used what I had. Just check none of the nuts are rancid not freshly purchased . (Nuts are best stored in a freezer).

8 oz shredded coconut 

4 oz.    crystallized ginger

1 tsp. cardamom 

1/2 tsp. each nutmeg and mace

 

Juice and grated rind of one orange and one lemon = about 1/3 cup, just enough to moisten

1/4 Cup Cointreau or other liquor

 

I shall make some with extra fruit juice as not everyone likes alcohol but I shall do some with Grand Marnier or Cointreau added in place of the sherry and fruit brandies. 

 

METHOD:

 

Measure all the ingredients but keep the fruit and nuts separate, see below. If you don’t have a scale I suggest you buy the fruits and use the measurements on the bag to approximate the amounts. I don’t think an extra oz or so will hurt the recipe

 

Put the nuts, coconut and crystallized ginger together with any spices you like in the Food Processor and pulse several times to chop finely

 

Scrape into a bowl

 

Add and pulse the dried fruits and grated orange and lemon rind in the FP. 

Add the chopped nuts and pulse to mix

 

Even though I have a 12 cup bowel on my FP and my Ninja cup is a little smaller, I had to half the quantities again before being able to mix the fruit, nuts mix and liquid together. This is where a digital scale comes in handy as you can place an empty bowl on the scale, adjust the weight back to zero then add ingredients. To finish I had two bowls weighing about one and a half pounds each to role into the sugarplums.

 

Depending on your quantity, now is the time to divide in half before mixing together and adding in the liquid through the funnel. I added a little at a time until the mix gathered on the blade. I don’t think it should be too wet.

 

Now for the fun part. Set up a plate with sugar on it and a plate with waxed paper to place the candies. Wet your hands and take a melon sized amount or slightly larger and roll into a ball, then roll in the sugar for that sparkle and set on a plate. If giving as gifts pack into a wax paper lined box with wax paper between the layers of sugarplums. I bought mini cup cake holders, which was a good way to present the sugar plums. 

 

The final note: allow to sit in the fridge or a cold place for several days for the flavors to blend and add to the joy of eating a sugarplum. Plus, it’s Gluten Free!

 

I have simplified Eleanor’s process by adding the spices, coconut and ginger to the nuts, and grating the rind onto the pile of dried fruit

 

Did you make sugar plums last year or since you got the recipe? Do please let me know how they turned out.

I'll Be Home For Christmas

JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: This weekend I get my two best Christmas presents: Virginia flies in

from Amsterdam today and Spencer arrives from Norfolk tomorrow. Hopefully, their flights will

go smoothly and traffic to and from Boston won’t be too bad. 

Thanksgiving is apparently THE biggest travel period in the US, but Christmas is a close second,

and extends throughout the Americas, Europe, and significant parts of Asia and Africa. That’s a

LOT of people on the move! 

The one time I’ve flown to get someplace FOR Christmas was the year Ross passed away, when

we decided to escape to Hawai’i. Everything went smoothly, and thanks to the fact Spencer was

an active-duty service member, we got to crash in the Bob Hope lounge at LAX, along with

roughly 50% of the rest of the armed forces of the US. 

The rest of my holiday travel has always been by car, and there have been some adventures. When

I was a teen, we lived in Syracuse and went across eastern NY state every Christmas day to gather

at my grandmother’s. Even as a self-absorbed kid, I recall the year it was snowing and blowing

every inch of the way, with my dad white-knuckled on the steering wheel and my mom searching

the map for anyplace we might stay if we had to abandon the Thruway. And these trips took place

BEFORE 24-hour gas stations and always-open mom-and-pop stores.

Then there was the time Ross and I, new parents, were meeting his dad at the Trapp Family Lodge

in Vermont. What could be more perfectly Christmas? Again, the weather in the Northeast wasn’t

cooperative, and this time it was my husband clenching the wheel while I kept my eyes on the

map. It took us at least twice as long as we had planned, and starving, we pulled through a Burger

King drive-in. What a great opportunity to give fifteen-month-old Victoria her very first french

fries! (We were not ordinarily fast food people.) 

Whether it was the grease, or the processed potato, or just the swaying of the Bronco as we were

buffeted by the wind, but as we crawled up the road to the resort, the baby threw up

EVERYTHING. On her cute outfit. On her car seat. On the car’s BACK seat. Merry Christmas,

Granddad!

How about you, Reds? Any memorable holiday season travels?

 

RHYS BOWEN: When I was a small child we drove to my grandmother’s house every Christmas

Eve, buying the tree along the way and strapping it to the roof of the car. I don’t know how we

managed to bring four of us, presents and a tree in a small British car, but we did. Then we’d

decorate the tree that evening and we kids would go to bed, full of excitement. Christmas Day

was always simple but lovely: opening gits, big breakfast, church in morning then mid afternoon

turkey dinner, Queen’s speech and lazy evening.

My one dramatic Christmas was when I was chatting with a friend who is German and who

lamented the commercialism of Christmas in America. We decided to rent a house up at Lake

Tahoe in the snow (at great expense).  We arrived. It was perfect, Christmas card scene in the

mountains. Then… she came down with the worst cold ever, she had forgotten to bring the

cookies she had baked. She went to bed, leaving all the cooking etc to me.  The first morning

we went skiing… Lovely, until it started to snow, then blizzard. Jane and Andrew, up on the

black diamond slopes, had to be brought down. Then the snow turned to rain and it rained

solidly for the rest of the time we were up there.  No TV. Pouring rain. Everyone tired of board

games.  Not the best memory!

 

HALLIE EPHRON: Christmas for me, growing up, was low key and at home. Our tradition, if

we had any, was to buy a tree on the night BEFORE the night before Christmas. Me and my 3

sisters piled into the car for the cruise up and down Santa Monica and Wilshire Boulevards,

stopping at the Christmas tree lots on the edges of parking lots (before every spare corner of

Los Angeles was built upon). 

We’d stake out our favorite tree, my father would negotiate, and then strap it to the roof of our car.

It was always enormous, despite my mother’s desperate pleas for “something small  this year.”

Invariably my father had to cut the top off before he could wrestle it through the front door and

into our 2-story front hall where it would stand until the day after New Year when my mother

would dismantle it.

We’d decorate it Christmas eve. And come down to it lit up on Christmas morning with gifts

piled high around it. Our Christmas was all about the food and the gifts and Santa Claus and

Christmas carols. 

I’d never lit a Hanukah candle until I married Jerry, and that’s when I stopped having a tree.

It was just about the only thing on which we did not see eye to eye, but it just never mattered

that much to me, and though he wasn’t religious, it mattered to him. You learn to pick your

battles.

 

LUCY BURDETTE: I have only two semi-disastrous memories. One, I was driving home to New

Jersey from my grad program at UT Knoxville. I had my two cats in a big old Ford Falcon station

wagon, along with a woman passenger who wanted a ride. The weather was horrendous, icy and

snowy and scary. We fishtailed our way north with the cats scraping frantically at the back window

. I’m lucky to have survived that one!

Another was also a trip from Tennessee to NJ, this time on a Greyhound bus. I believe it was an

overnight trip sitting up, with a very drunk man in front of us who wanted the whole bus to sing

Christmas carols. “Come on people, let’s sing!” he shouted through most of the trip. Not to be

repeated!

 

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: Holiday travel? Well, hmm, what I can remember was the time in

college when instead of driving back to school in January after Christmas vacation, my boyfriend

and I decided to drive to New York. Just for fun. (My college was in Ohio, and his in Indiana.) As

we got into Sam’s car, my mom said “Safe travels back to school!” 

And I said, “Oh Mom, we are actually going to New York!”

And she said, “sure you are, have fun.”

 

She thought we were kidding.

 

We weren’t.

 

We drove ALL the way to New York, a trip about which I have zero memories (except learning

that Ohio and Pennsylvania are huge,) walked around in the snow in the city and looked at

decorations, stayed at some hotel, NO idea, and then drove back. I missed two days of classes,

and told the dean it was for personal reasons, and looked sad.

She did not pursue it, and all was fine.

Is that a holiday story, or what?

 

DEBORAH CROMBIE: I am again the boring one here, but maybe that is not a bad thing!

Growing up, Christmas was always at our house, no traveling involved. Then when I was in my

late teens and early twenties, we had a few Christmases in the house my parents owned at the

time outside of Guadalajara. December in that part of Mexico is lovely, as are the Mexican

Christmas traditions. My only disappointment was not having a Christmas tree, but there was an

atrium in the center of the house and my mom and I strung colored lights on the plants and up the

stair rail, so all was fine. 

It occurs to me that the Christmas I lived in England is a complete blank in my memory, other

than that I was terribly homesick.

JENN McKINLAY: My favorite holidays are the traveling ones. We're a beachie peoples and usually meet our east coast fam in Florida or California for a beach Christmas every few years just to break up the same old same old. The only disaster to date was when six month old Hooligan 2 got a righteous case of croup in Daytona and began barking in the middle of the night. A steamy bathroom didn't calm his cough, so in full panic mode we ended up with six burly fireman (there's a rule that they have to be hot, isn't there?) taking care of our wee man and then having baby and me go in an ambulance to the hospital just in case. It was my first and only ride in an ambulance and I'd like to keep it that way. That was our first night on the trip and from there on out it was smooth sailing...phew.

JULIA: How about you, dear readers? What are your holiday travel memories?