Treehouse Recipe Index for 2006

[Reposted and updated]

Here's a roundup of the recipes we posted this year on Dewey's Treehouse. I didn't include the ones that were only given as a link. And I should note that most of these aren't original: they came from Food that Really Schmecks, Whole Foods for the Whole Family, The Harrowsmith Cookbook, Vegetarian Times, Canadian Living, and friends who like to cook.

[Update note: one might THINK, especially after viewing the November and December recipes, that we eat nothing in the Treehouse but chocolate. Mama Squirrel thinks that would be nice, but it isn't true. As our New Year's Resolution, we promise to provide a few slightly more healthful recipes in 2007.]

January
Kitchener Special
Kasha-Vegetable Pilaf
Sugar-free Banana Prune Bread

February
Subversive Tuna Recipe (Tuna Wrap-Up)
Raisin Sesame Cookies

March
Cocoa-Ricotta Cream
Beef and Green Bean Stir Fry
Dulcie's Macaroni Meal in a Skillet

April
Good Friday Kiffle (or Kolacky or Kolache)--one of our most-Googled recipes

May
Coffeemamma's Sour Cream Rhubarb Muffins

July
No-Bake Brownies

August
Hungarian Stew
Swiss-Cashew Salad, Our Version
Serendipity and the DHM's Chicken Recipe

September
Tofu Chocolate Pie

October
Cranberry-Apricot Loaf
Pumpkin Gingerbread Snacking Cake
Edna Staebler's Glorious Golden Pumpkin Pie

November
Small Chocolate Cake
Rather Retro Recipe (Lemon Dessert)
Jam Bars
Chocolate Fingers

December
Christmas Day Lunch (Jiggle Bells and Star of the East Salad Plate)
Chocolate-Apricot Confections
Chocolate-Hazelnut Slices or Crescents


Our 2005 Recipe Index

Of Smarties and Lune Moons, and things that are no good for you

If you're outside of Canada, here's a site offering favourite Canadian groceries shipped wherever you happen to be! Although I didn't think that Cheerios and Kraft Dinner were uniquely Canadian.

If you're looking for the Smarties, you'll have to look under Chocolate Bars, for some reason, not candy.

I liked this page of Vachon Snack Cakes--Canada's answer to Little Debbies. They were pretty common lunchbox currency when I was growing up: Flakies, Jos. Louis, and Lune Moons. Actually they're called 1/2 Moons, but because of bilingual packaging (you can see it in the photo there), we always thought they were called Lune Moons.

And of course Viva Puffs and Wagon Wheels--more childhood stuff that we (very occasionally) buy, supposedly for the kids. (Dare Ultimate Fudge Cookies are one of Mr. Fixit's deepest, darkest secret cravings. But don't tell him I told you.)

The ultimate run-on sentence

One of Mama Squirrel's ongoing projects involves writing study notes for some of Plutarch's Lives. It's challenging but enjoyable; I probably learn more by writing the notes than people do by using them. Anyway, everybody complains about Plutarch's very long sentences, and Mr. Dryden's English translation does nothing to alleviate those. (I don't think Plutarch's Greek has punctuation at the ends of sentences anyway, but somebody can correct me if I'm wrong.)

Anyway, I came across a doozy of a Plutarch sentence this morning, and I wondered what the English composition teachers would make of this one.

"These measures he carried in the assembly, against the opposition, as Stesimbrotus relates, of Miltiades; and whether or no he hereby injured the purity and true balance of government may be a question for philosophers, but that the deliverance of Greece came at that time from the sea, and that these galleys restored Athens again after it was destroyed, were others wanting, Xerxes himself would be sufficient evidence, who, though his land-forces were still entire, after his defeat at sea, fled away, and thought himself no longer able to encounter the Greeks; and, as it seems to me, left Mardonius behind him, not out of any hopes he could have to bring them into subjection, but to hinder them from pursuing him. "

Maybe Plutarch worked for the ministry of education in his spare time.

Around the holiday Blogosphere

Or post-holiday, for some people. At the Treehouse, it's still the Twelve Days of Christmas, and some of the Squirrelings are getting over Christmas Day coughs and sniffles. So we haven't been doing too much.

But everybody else seems busy!

Krakovianka is crocheting.

Ann and her children are sewing corn-filled warming bags.

Meredith is yardsaling and blowdrying her hair. (Too many good posts there to link to all of them.) (I like those vintage thank-you cards! I bought a bag of old cards like that at a rummage sale, but they're mostly 1960's get-well and sympathy cards! Not so useful.)

The Deputy-Headmistress continues her series on Victorian homekeeping with Aunt Sophronia.

Tim's Mom tells about their Christmas and shares a not-too-spicy cookie recipe. And Tim thinks the message of Christmas is just bananas.

Clothespin Doll Kits

(Continued from this post)

Or, if you give a mom a Ziploc... Inspired first by JennyAnyDot's dolls, second by a simple request from Crayons ("Mommy, don't we have any clothespins so I could make a clothespin doll?"), and third by the fact that stocking stuffers were hard to find this year, I decided to drop some craft-store clothespins and doll stands (the wooden rings to make them stand up) in the two youngest Squirrelings' stockings. Breaking up a package of each meant they each got about a dozen pegs and eight or nine stands.However, I was betrayed by my large-sized ziploc bags, which called out for...I don't know...oh yes, how about if I put some of those old fabric swatches in there with them, maybe in a snack-sized ziploc? (A long time ago, I used to get fabric samples by mail, and I saved all the mini-swatches--some of them have lovely colours and textures.) And in the box with the swatches there were some old bits of embroidery floss too...I put half in each kit. And, oh yes--we went to a wonderful yard sale in the summer where I picked up a lot of OLD mini-packs of sequins, tiny plastic rings, spangles...so I emptied a few of those yellowed cellophane bags into two more snack-sized bags. Getting a bit bigger by now...what else should go in? I printed out some doll-making instructions from the Our Canadian Girl website and tucked those in--and noticed that they suggested felt. OK, we did have some felt sheets (left over from making the Glorious Coming ornaments). Uh oh...between the felt sheets and the printouts, these kits were no longer what you'd call little stocking stuffers. And I had managed to pick up a few more things for the stockings in the meantime. So let them stay big! I printed out a label for each kit, leaving a long tail at the bottom, and folded them around the bottom of the felt sheets in the bag so that they'd stay upright.

(At this point Mama Squirrel was having so much fun and was so impressed with the way these turned out that she was about ready to go into the doll-kit-making business full time. But it was Christmas Eve afternoon and there were a lot of other things to do...besides, that took most of the felt. :-))

The only question that remained was what to do with these now-kind-of-bulging Ziploc bags. There were already presents wrapped from Mommy and Daddy, and we are not too much into wrapping things up just from Santa. Stockings, yes, but he doesn't go overboard around here.

Then Mr. Fixit had the best idea: label each one from each girl's favourite doll or stuffy. So that's what we did. And they were very happy with them.

It's snowing!

And I'm actually happy to see it.

You can't see this on my avatar, but there's snow falling in the background. (When the avatars show up here, they lose all the effects like flickering lights.)

The Light

Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the LORD is risen upon thee. -- Isaiah 60:1

A Christmas Meditation

What does the Christmas story teach us about safety and security?

Esther Epp Tiessen ponders that question in this Christmas meditation on the Mennonite Central Committee website. (2008 update: the link is broken, sorry.)

Have a happy and peaceful Christmas.

Christmas Day Lunch

[Updated July 2007]

Some people don't really eat lunch on Christmas Day, but we eat breakfast early enough that we're hungry again by lunchtime. These recipes were part of the article "Cooking up Christmas with Your Kids" by Noreen Thomas, published in The Lutheran, December 1998 issue. At one time the whole article was available online (that's where I found it), but now it's available only with a subscription to the website (see the link for details).

Anyway, these dishes have become part of our family traditions by now. These are my own renderings of the original recipes.

Jiggle Bells (the author called them Jiggly Bells, but the name has morphed a bit around here)

In a large sauce pan, sprinkle four envelopes unflavored gelatin over 4 cups cranberry juice (cranberry cocktail works fine); let stand one minute. Stir over low heat until gelatin dissolves, pour in a 9-by-13-inch pan and chill until firm. (This part you can do the day before. Actually you could do the whole thing a day or so ahead if you're pressed for time.)

Cut into squares a bit larger than a bell shaped-cookie cutter and let the children make bells (or, more likely, do it yourself while they're playing with their toys). Depending on the size of your cutter, you can probably squeeze about eight bells from the pan.

I usually cut out the gelatin bells and arrange them on a platter of shredded lettuce along with other salad things, like green pepper strips or small broccoli trees.

Star of the East

Mix 2 tablespoonfuls of instant lemon pudding mix with 1 "small container" cottage cheese, which I guessed to be about a cupful. You could double it to use up a 2-cup container of cottage cheese. Turn the mixture out onto a small plate, and mold it (with your fingers or the back of the spoon) into a star shape. I usually garnish this a bit--Clementine sections or canned mandarin oranges are pretty arranged on top, along with any other small sliced fruit pieces you have; and you can arrange other fruit or nuts on the plate between the points of the star. If you don't get around to making this for Christmas, you can save it for Epiphany.

If you're without packages, boxes or bags,

you can make some and outwit the Grinch. Ann's post at Holy Experience sent me over to this site with templates for paper boxes--several kinds. I like the bon-bon boxes that Ann's children made, but there are several other patterns to choose from.

Here's a printable pattern for a mini gift bag.

Here's a project for kids: using a real gift bag as a pattern for a homemade version.

Oh--and tags? Here are some Jan Brett printables.

Five Things--tag, you're it

Maria at the Homeschool Math Blog tagged me to tell five things about myself that Treehouse visitors probably don't know. Without trying to encourage identity swipers.

So I'm doing it in a quiz format.

1. Which part-time/summer job did Mama Squirrel NEVER have?

a) counter help in a fast-food restaurant
b) camp kitchen prep cook/scullery maid
c) singalong lady at the library
d) office temp
e) bookstore clerk

2. How many wisdom teeth has Mama Squirrel had pulled?

a) one
b) two
c) all of them
d) none of them because they never came in

3. Which of these once-trendy haircuts did Mama Squirrel NEVER have?

a) shag
b) surf
c) Mohawk
d) short bob
e) Ed Grimley

4. Which of these albums did Mama Squirrel NEVER own?

a) Keith Green, Songs for the Shepherd
b) Amy Grant, Age to Age
c) Meatloaf, Bat Out of Hell
d) DisinHAIRited
e) John Travolta's solo album

5. Which of these things has Mama Squirrel never eaten?

a) squid
b) tofu ice cream
c) oysters
d) plum pudding
e) Kraft Pizza Mix

The answers are here. Oh, and if you want to play--tag, you're it.

Answers to A New Christmas Book Quiz

The original post is here. Most of these books aren't Christmas books--I just picked out the holiday parts.

1. 'They have been a long time getting here,' said Anne, looking at the postmark on the brown paper. 'Poor little things, spending Christmas in a parcel.' 'They don't mind about Christmas,' said Nona quickly.....[like them], Nona had come from far away, and could feel for them.

Miss Happiness and Miss Flower, by Rumer Godden, about a lonely girl who makes a house for two Japanese dolls. The sequel is Little Plum.

2. On Christmas morning, the Plantaganets woke to hear real carol singers in the street outside. 'Peace and good will among men,' sang the carol singers. 'And among dolls,' said Mr. Plantaganet. 'I hope among dolls.'

The Doll's House, also by Rumer Godden. A slightly darker story about dolls-house dolls threatened by a sinister new arrival. I will warn you also (spoiler coming) that certain children have been somewhat traumatized by the "death" of one of the dolls; and some of the Amazon reviews are quite vehement about that. Just don't say I didn't warn you. --Also, I do know that "Plantaganet" is usually spelled "Plantagenet." But that's the way it's written in the book.

3. The rest of the fieldmice, perched in a row on the settle, their small legs swinging, gave themselves up to enjoyment of the fire, and toasted their chilblains till they tingled; while Mole, failing to draw them into easy conversation, plunged into family history and made each of them recite the names of his numerous brothers, who were too young, it appeared, to be allowed to go out a-carolling this year, but looked forward very shortly to winning the parental consent.

The Wind in the Willows, by Kenneth Grahame.

4. "We'll be lucky if we each get one present," said Susan. "Maybe we won't get any present at all," said Neddie. "Maybe Santa Claus won't be able to come, because it's snowing so hard...." "That doesn't make any difference to Santa Claus," said Betsy. "He always comes. Come on, let's help Santa Claus. Let's make presents."

Snowbound with Betsy, by Carolyn Haywood. One of the "B is for Betsy" series.

5. "My first fruitcake of the Christmas season, and already there are hungry Littles waiting to eat it all up. Why, I used one whole cherry and one walnut in this cake....And no one is going to get a bite until Christmas day."...."Heaven knows we'd have a skimpy Christmas around here without Aunt Lily," Mrs. Little said. [Note: even if you can't get the exact title of the book, can you get the right series?]

The Littles and the Trash Tinies, by John Peterson

6. Oliver looked at his stocking.
"This stocking is not big enough
for a fire truck and a football
and a storybook and six new games,"
he said. "I think I need a new one."
He saw the warm socks
that Father wore for shoveling snow.
"That is better," he said.
He hung up one of Father's socks.

Oliver and Amanda's Christmas, by Jean Van Leeuwen. One of the Oliver and Amanda Pig easy-to-read books, and a Christmas favourite here since the Apprentice was just about Amanda's size. (Grandma Squirrel and I made her a red dress to look like Amanda's.)

7. "Tomorrow will come Christmas," she told Charlotte, 'and we will put candles on the tree, ja, and in the windows, too, to make a light for the Christ Child." "Really and truly?" cried Charlotte. She had never heard anything so wonderful. Her family had a lovely party every New Year's Eve, which Mama and Papa called "Hogmanay" in the Scottish tradition. But they did not celebrate Christmas....All the next day, as she helped Mama scour the parlor floor with sand, Charlotte was thinking of that star and the tree and the wonderful cookies.

On Tide Mill Lane, by Melissa Wiley. One of "The Charlotte Years" Little House books. I just put that one in for fun because I thought some of Melissa's fans might catch it! You might have trouble finding one of the original editions, but please don't settle for the ones with the photographic covers--they're not the same.

8. One evening, just before Christmas, snow began falling. It covered house and barn and fields and woods. Wilbur had never seen snow before. When morning came he went out and plowed the drifts in his yard, for the fun of it. Fern and Avery arrived, dragging a sled. They coasted down the lane and out onto the frozen pond in the pasture.

Charlotte's Web, by E.B. White.

9. At last, the presents! So many, such wonderful presents! Emily opened a puppet John had made for her, a new dress from her parents, Harriet the Spy from Mr. Bloomfield and The Long Secret from Kate's mother, a hand mirror from Sophie, a five-cent package of Kleenex tissues and some Lifesavers from James. He had given everyone the same presents. "Two each," he boasted happily, basking in their laughter.

Look Through My Window, by Jean Little. A wonderful book about friendship and families. And books.

10. Mr. Titus's house was dark in front, but when they got out of the sleigh and tiptoed around the corner they saw the kitchen windows, warm and yellow, and in one of them, above the sash curtain, the old man's head, snowy as that of Santa Claus. He was working at something, wearing his spectacles....they began to sing: "God rest ye merry, Gentlemen / Let nothing you dismay..." Up came Mr. Titus's head, startled. He left his chair and now the kitchen door flew open. He stood there in the lighted rectangle, with Battledore rubbing herself against his ankles and Hambone wagging his old tail in the background. In his hand Mr. Titus held a sock: he had been mending. "Thank you. God bless you. Merry Christmas," he said when they had finished. "And now come in, and we will have a party!"

Spiderweb for Two, by Elizabeth Enright. The last of the Melendy family books.

Happy Reading!

When it's time to change...

you can rearrange the shape of your cookies. (I'm struggling with the Internet today, so if this finally gets posted, I'll be very happy.)

Last year I posted a recipe for Double Ginger Drop Cookies, which could also be made slice-and-bake. I don't know if the weather this year is different, or what, but the dough we ended up with this time wasn't droppable--it was more of a roll-in-balls texture. So that's what we did--rolled the dough in balls, squished them down with a fork (same as peanut butter cookies), and then drizzled the cookies with glaze after they were baked and sitting on the cooling rack. (I moistened icing sugar with just enough milk to make it drizzle; the recipe calls for additional ginger in the glaze, but it's optional. Orange juice might be nice, though.) I really like the way they turned out and I'll probably do it the same way next year! (Unless they suddenly turn into drop cookies again?)

Today we're pretty much finished with cookie baking, and we have a couple of packages of favourite boughten kinds (note to Ruth Beechick: sometimes we still say boughten around here) to fill in with. But I did want to make one batch of Lillian Kayte's Chocolate Apricot Confections, a recipe from Vegetarian Times. The part I like about them is that they're mostly just running things through the food processor; the part I've never liked is rolling them into balls! The mixture tends to be pretty messy.

So when we got to the "gloop" part, I suddenly realized how much the mixture looked like those oatmeal stove-top cookies my grandma made. The ones with all kinds of names: Macaroons. Funeral Cookies. I knew someone who called them Cow Pies. So instead of rolling them into balls (and then into crumbs or ground oatmeal, because my kids really hate things that are rolled in plain cocoa), I just plopped them onto waxed paper and chilled them. I think they're going to work fine. Not as much fun, but three fewer pairs of messy hands.

Here's the recipe. I also found it online here, with (strangely enough) some more adaptations and substitutions. (Note that they're very low fat if that's important to you.)


Chocolate-Apricot Confections (Vegetarian Times, January 1994)

6 oz. semi-sweet chocolate (chips work fine)
1/2 cup apple juice
3 tbsp. light corn syrup
1 cup chopped dried apricots (you don't have to pre-chop them, they can go in the food processor with the bran flakes)
2 1/2 cups bran flakes cereal, with or w/out raisins
1/2 cup powdered sugar (icing sugar, confectioner's sugar)
Unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted (optional: for rolling)

Melt chocolate in double boiler or microwave. Stir in apple juice and corn syrup. Set aside.

In a food processor, combine apricots, bran flakes and powdered sugar, and process until very finely chopped. Combine with chocolate mixture and mix well. Set aside for 30 minutes. (This is the point where I plopped them on waxed paper, before setting aside.)

With a small spoon, form mixture into 1/2 - 1 inch balls. Roll balls in cocoa powder or other coating (icing sugar, cookie crumbs). Store in covered container in refrigerator for several days before serving to develop flavors. Makes 48 1-inch balls.

Music in the air

Tim's Mom posted about a piece of music she'd heard, scribbled down the name of, and then tried to track down. That happens to me a lot, especially listening to the CBC. Sometimes you're lucky enough to hear a whole program around one composer or group, and then it's easier to get the details of what you're listening to. (When it's the CBC, you can always check their website or email the show's host if you're desperate.)

Last Christmas the best recording I heard was London Pro Musica's "Snow Has Fallen" (last year's post.) I still haven't managed to get a copy of that. Yesterday the after-lunch Studio Sparks program hosted Canadian folk trio Finest Kind, and they sang some carols from the pub carolling tradition. If you scroll down on their home page, there are several CDs listed, including their 2004 Christmas recording "Feasts & Spirits"; but you'll have to go here to hear some samples. This one is going on my wish list along with "Snow Has Fallen."

Especially for Donna-Jean

I also heard a track from Winter: Swedish Christmas Songs today (scroll down to see the CD), by The Lingonberries, a quartet from Ottawa. The song they played on the CBC was "Bereden Vag For Herran" (Prepare Ye the Way of the Lord). I don't know any Swedish but it sounded lovely.

Mexican ornaments

Yesterday was "Mexico" day on our Advent calendar. We read Marie Hall Ets' book Nine Days to Christmas and made our own version of these painted tin ornaments. We covered cardboard shapes with heavy-duty foil and decorated them with permanent markers. Not bad for a what's-in-your-hand craft! The foil adds some shine to our Christmas tree.

Homeschoolers at Heart

Found through the Carnival of Homeschooling: Milehimama explains how you know you might be a homeschooler at heart even if your kids go to school. My favorite from her list:

"Your 8 year old and 5 year old decides to play outside. They play snakes, and one is a reticulated python, the other an anaconda, and they have a heated debate as to whether the python's size as the largest snake makes it a match for the anaconda's recurved teeth and superior camoflauge. They use those exact words without consulting a book. And you let them."

Playing dressup

I found a blog through the Festival of Frugality that was new to me: The Space Between My Peers, hosted by Rebecca from "The Great Northwest." I don't think I've ever seen a homeschool mom blog where the topic was just frugal fashion! Food yes, crafts yes, decorating yes, but this one is kind of cool. Fashion is not exactly my passion (my avatar dresses way better than I do), so it's nice to get some hints from someone who's obviously very good at making the most of what she finds!

Oh we like sheep

The Common Room and Blue Castle families are very crafty people. (In the best sense.) Even the Abarbablog crew used up 30 cups of popcorn and four bags of marshmallows to build this behemoth castle. But we haven't made many Christmas crafts at the Treehouse, until this week. We're a little low on supplies, for one thing; the yarn and felt are down to almost nothing, and I didn't have any great ideas. But today's Advent theme is sheep, and I had penciled in "sheep craft" for school time.

I saw this pattern for Woolly Sheep Ornaments...

"Please, give me just a little magic."--Santa Claus is Coming to Town

And there they were in the down-to-the-dregs bag, three part balls of white yarn. Fluffy Phentex, some acrylic worsted, and even a bit of chunky thick stuff. No black felt, but a generous piece of brown. Also some red ribbon. We were short on pipe cleaners (Crayons had gone on her own crafting spree awhile back), but we found a few here and there, and I discovered that the brown felt also makes good legs. And Ponytails donated some googly eyes and jingle bells from her own secret stash.

We had fun. We have sheep.

(Photograph is coming when the Apprentice comes home from school and can take a picture!)

Carnival Day

Principled Discovery hosts The One Week Short of a Year edition of the Carnival of Homeschooling. If you haven't played our Christmas book trivia game yet, it's included as well.

And MotherLoad: The Mom Advice blog hosts a holiday-themed Festival of Frugality.