I Like Thursday 59
I’m back once again with my I Like Thursday 59, joining up with LeeAnna and the rest of the bloggers on the list over at Not Afraid of Color.
What a fun week of blogging it has been. I joined Bernie at Needle & Foot for her Guess Who party and her Holiday Tales & Traditions Blog Hop. Many of you read those posts, but if you missed them, you can see Guess Who here and here (the answers to the first post), and my post for Holiday Tales & Traditions here.
I’ve continued to look through old photos, and this one is a favorite. It’s my dad and my grandmother (his mother-in-law). They enjoyed joking around and kidding each other, and it’s evident in this photo. My grandmother endured some hard experiences throughout her life, but my dad could always make her laugh.
All this reminiscing this week brings to mind the song “Sometimes” by the Carpenters (remember them?). Here are the words:
Sometimes not often enough
We reflect upon the good things
And those thoughts always center around those we love
And I think about those people who mean so much to me
And for so many years have made me so very happy
And I count the times I have forgotten to say “thank you”
And just how much I love them
(songwriters: Henry Mancini/Felice)
If you want to hear the song, you can go right here.
I needed to share a recipe for BigJ’s virtual office holiday party, so I spiffed up a plate of cookies. I should’ve had a few more on the plate, but they were disappearing faster than I could plate them!
Since I was baking, I decided to try this Gluten Free baking flour from Bob’s Red Mill. I made the chocolate chip cookie on the back of the bag. The cookies mixed up very well, very much like the regular chocolate chip recipe. The jury is still out on the taste. I didn’t think they had much taste at all (other than the chocolate chips), Molly thought they had a bit of metallic taste. So we’ll try it in some other recipes and see.
The Weekly Wilbs
Of course, all that activity in the kitchen had you-know-who curious as all get out. He really wanted to be right in the middle of things.
He was not at all happy with me, and really wanted to check out that chocolate. Just a sniff, mind you – nope, bud, not happening.
Holiday Cranberry Punch Recipe
In my Holiday Tales & Traditions post, I mentioned the cranberry punch my grandmother always made, then didn’t even think to add the recipe. Here it is, if you are interested.
Holiday Cranberry Punch 3-1/2 quarts of water1 package of cranberries2 sticks of cinnamon10 or so whole cloves (put these in a tea infuser, if you have one – much easier when taking them out)Mix together and bring to a boil, then simmer for 15 minutes. Strain out the cranberry skins, cinnamon and cloves. Add to the warm, strained cranberry liquid: 3 C. sugar (you can get by with a little less, depending on how tart you like cranberries)Frozen lemonade concentrate – half of the can*Frozen orange juice concentrate – half of the can*Red food coloring (optional)Stir until sugar and juices are dissolved. Cool. *small cans of concentrate used to be available, but I can no longer get them, so I buy the regular size and scoop out half. You can serve as is, or add in gingerale, 7-Up, or some other neutral fizzy. You could even try making it boozy, adding some fizzy booze, but I haven’t ever tried that. This makes a pretty large batch – it would fill a punch bowl, if that gives you a good idea of how much. I have a vintage large Tupperware container that I use to store it. Since it’s too large for the fridge, we store ours in the garage if it’s cold enough.
And that’s a wrap for my I Like Thursday 59 post. Thanks for sticking with me – I so appreciate you all!
Wendy
Holiday Tales & Traditions Blog Hop
20 Comments
nanamickie
Merry Christmas Wendy to you and your family!
txquiltgal
That photo reminds me of one with my Daddy and his Mom, circa 1953-54. She had come for a visit, and they were sitting at our kitchen table and both were laughing. That Granny was a big tease and had the ability to mimic voices, and she always made Daddy laugh. Those shoes your Grandma was wearing reminded me of my other Granny, who had a pair just like them – lol! I don’t blame Wilbur for wanting to check out your cookies. Isn’t it amazing how “smack in the middle of things” they want to be? Thanks for the punch recipe!
Cindy Pieters
Your plated cookies look so good, I can see why Wilbs would like to sample just one.
Riceford Streams
Great photos again! Your dad looks so very young and I do like the looks between them. What a fun photo to have. And then Wilbur and the cookies. Oh my! It reminded me that a cousin just adopted an orange tabby, and his cat is always on the counter, trying to sneak a taste. I’m glad we have pets who make us laugh with their antics.
Diann@ Little Penguin Quilts
That’s a fun photo of your dad and grandma, Wendy! Especially so because she’s his MIL – you can tell that they had a good relationship. Anything by the Carpenters is a favorite around here – that’s a good one! Your cookies look yummy! I haven’t done any baking yet – hopefully next week.
Molli
So fun to look at old photos and reminisce! Great photo and to have had such a fun relationship is a treasure!
Wilb’s knows where to be for the action and treats!😆Your cookies are one of our favorites too. We liked to make them with caramel cups but then we couldn’t find caramel cups anywhere. My daughter decided to make her own caramel cups for the cookies this year! I need to start baking soon!
The song is certainly special and more so sung by Karen Carpenter! (Love the Carpenters‘ Christmas album!)
Merry Christmas to you and your family!!
laura bruno lilly
Wendy, this is a great Holiday share – thanks…I’m especially taken with the casually genuine photo of an in-law relationship (your dad with his mother-in-law) that was so obviously respectful and affectionate…Speaks volumes.
Helen
Punch used to be such a big deal, a staple for all parties and showers and events. Every good hostess had a big glass punch bowl and matching cups.
karenfae
I will look at old photos of my grandma at times and figure out about how old she was in them and then I will realize that she was younger than I and looked OLD – and sometimes I think it all comes down to the clothes and the shoes!!! those dresses, aprons and shoes – the hose the hair — OMG — I am so glad we do not have to wear all that now – what would they think of leggins and long shirts/sweaters – gray/white hair that is not put up in a bun? I’m always thinking how cold they must have been in dresses in the winter
lapaylor
punch… that brought back memories of parties growing up… so good. Wilbur, Milo is having the same problem. It smells so good, and Mama won’t let him have any chocolate.
sewswift
That is the sweetest photo with a lot of obvious love between them. The cookies look so yummy!
Carol Andrews
What a lovely post today Wendy. I love the photo of your Dad and Grandmother smiling and laughing together. It’s the perfect snapshot of a Christmas memory of being together. I chuckled at Wilbs expression. He really does look as if he is scheming on how to get “just one” of those yummy goodies. 😉
rl2b2017
Hi Wendy! LOVE that picture of your Dad and Grandmother together. That photo just speaks volumes – it screams about the love the two shared, together and for your Mom. Hmm, let me know if you decide you like the Bob’s GF flour. I would love to make something GF for my boss, like CC cookies. They sure look good! Thanks for sharing the Cranberry punch recipe. I would love to try it . . . maybe next year when we can have people over to try it. I love cranberries. Happy Thursday! ~smile~ Roseanne
Sally
That photo of your dad and grandmother is terrific. Always nice when family loves being together. Those cookies look delicious! I’d be staring at them intently, too. lol
Nancy Bekedam
Love that photo of your dad, Wendy! How old is he there? Looks like about 16! My dad had to eat gluten-free for his last couple of years, which meant we had to bake a lot of gluten-free things for holidays with him. My experience is that gluten-free anything is just not the same! We sang that song “Sometimes” in junior high choir and I remember it well!
Kathleen McCormick
What a great photo of your Dad! GF is hard to find good recipes…but Elana’s pantry and Spunky Coconut are pretty good – at least most of what I tried. I did it for awhile, but made little difference for me! Percy would never sit like Wilbur — they would be gone!
Cheree Hull
That old photo is fantastic! I don’t know them but it sure makes me want to! Cranberry ANYthing is a fav with me so I need to try to squeeze that one in. It amuses me that you sometimes store it in the garage–we do this! I LOVE when it’s so cold that all the outdoors is my fridge/freezer! Super handy with all the holiday goodies and baking! Now what are these things that Wilbs is checking out? Little tarts with mini-peanut butter cups in them?? Tarts are a holiday staple around here. I made them at Thanksgiving (for all three of us ) but I might need to make ’em again.
Needle and Foot
What a great picture of your dad and grandma. So sweet. Your father looks very young in it. They seem to share a great affection for each other. Great post Wendy!
thedarlingdogwood
That punch sounds delicious! With the concentrate, I’m not sure I could scale it down but I’m going to think on how I could make that work.
Colette
I made cookies similar to the ones with the peanut butter cups. The grandson’s heard cookies, and they were down here scooping them up. Love the star on your tree, and a great pic of your dad and grandmother. Your punch sounds awesome. Merry Christmas to you and especially Wilbur.