The Bub's Christmas wish: Something red

I noticed a wish list of Christmas gifts on the door of my son's preschool room today, and as I was walking out, I stopped to see what he requested.

There were 12 or so entries on the list, one for each kid in his room. Lots of them were brand-name things that you see in ads or plastered all over kids' clothing.

The Bubs' listing was: Wants something red. Too funny. I'll have to tell his teachers what this means.

At my mother's house at Thanksgiving, we read "Christmas Trolls" by Jan Brett. If you don't have any of her books, go now and buy some. In this story, the trolls steal Christmas decorations and presents from the main character's house. She starts carrying her favorite red horse in her pocket so it won't disappear. One day, she sees the hedgehog (who lives with the trolls) running off with the Christmas pudding and she races after it with her sled and reindeer (no kidding).

To show the trolls that Christmas is really about generosity and not the "I wants!", she realizes she'll have to give them her horse. It's a pretty red dala horse from Sweden.

The Bubs announced he wanted a red horse like that for Christmas. He has remembered that horse and amid all the catalogs and holiday onslaught, he keeps saying he wants a red horse for Christmas.

I did a search for a dala horse pattern the other day and -- reinforcing my love of the Internet and the generosity of crafters -- I found a pattern. It's for a quilt block, but I'm going to use it to make a stuffed dala horse.

The Ben Franklin's near my house has real wool felt and I bought some yesterday. I can't wait to get started.

I don't usually give myself much credit as a parent because I focus on all the things I'm not doing. But, it does make me feel good that he remembers the story and wants something unique and not mass-produced.

"It's Cooks'"

Any time my husband or I makes a dish that is really good and the other comments on that fact, the usual reply is, "It's Cooks'." Cooks Illustrated is a fantastic cooking magazine. It has no ads, it comes out every month, and the recipes are great.
Christoper Kimball, the founder, hosts a TV show on public television and writes the editor's letter each month. Almost every letter is about how strange and wonderful it is to live in New England. I can only imagine that the magazine is profitable because of his New England thrift. That would be a great article, a profile of him and his magazine.
In addition to publishing recipes that the authors test and tweak dozens of times, the magazine tests cooking equipment and ingredients too. Before I buy anything for the kitchen, I look up their recommendations on their web site. You have to subscribe to that in addition to the magazine, but it's worth it. Just yesterday I bought a electric knife for my dad based on their recommendation.
Their December issue had a new pie crust recipe in it and it called for vodka. I had never bought vodka before and although they recommended Grey Goose, I didn't really want to spend that much. The cheapest bottle had this huge black cap that I assume was an anti-theft device. That made me laugh and I figured I would feel silly buying that one. Although the thought of someone stealing it also made me feel sad.
ANYWAY, I jumped up one price level in the vodka selection and use dit to make the double crust recipe. Using another Cooks' recipe, I made a sweet potato pie that was devoured at my in-law's house. It has bourbon in the pie and a layer of brown sugar on between the crust and the pie. Mmmmmmm.
I needed only half the dough for my sweet potato pie and the other disk of dough has been in my fridge since the Wednesday before Thanksgiving.
I made this spiked apple tart last night with the other half of the dough and the crust was spectacular. I couldn't believe it was flaky and gorgeous after sitting in the fridge all that time.
It even rolled out better than the first one did. The tart has Calvados in it and it was delicious too. I had never made a free-form tart before and it was fun and easy. Another Cooks' victory.