Christmas Holidays: Enjoying the Moments

It seems to me, that only a few weeks ago, someone was bemoaning that it didn't seem like the holidays because it was still too warm outside.  Well, mother nature certainly remedied that, didn't she?

Christmas is now just a memory, but one that I'd like to hold onto for just a wee bit longer.  So, I've decided to post a synopsis of our holiday events, and you're welcome to catch up on the family excitement.

Christmas Eve found us with twin babies and a pig in house, along with their mommy and daddy, and Aunt Amy.  Honestly, I don't think I could have asked for more fun!

There was some pat-a-cake with new dollies from Santa

Pizzelles from my good friend, Morena (obviously a big hit!)

Reading books and toys to play with

Fancy dresses for Christmas Eve Mass

And some "Baby Einstein" to keep everyone calm.

Oh.....and let's not forget Wellie:

Unfortunately, I didn't take many Christmas Day photos, but the day was full of fun, and over way too soon.

Amy headed home and Marty and I began our drive down to Bristol for a visit. 

Joshua was super excited to see us, which was obvious from all of the smiling going on!

We got to meet Violet, the newest family addition, who is certainly entertaining. 

There was the building of a dresser

some colorful artwork

a new desk

and a birthday to celebrate!

Grandpa G was the recipient of some very entertaining fishy slippers, resulting in a lot of chuckles when he tried them on.  (But it's a bit too cold to consider sporting them now!)

And, of course, we couldn't forget our annual visit to Blackbird bakery!

Soon it was time to head back on the road where Mother Nature decided to keep us entertained on our drive through West Virginia.

No worries, we arrived safely, and we even managed to pop in and visit my mom and dad for a bit of holiday cheer!

The snow picked up, again, just as we hit the road for Amy's, making the town look like a winter wonderland.  

We had a great visit with Amy who made us a scrumptious dinner, and whom we obviously offered some interesting entertainment.

There's nothing quite like Eat N' Park for breakfast.....that's for sure.

We stopped into visit Marty's mom, who was in fine form, and I managed to convince Marty that the place did NOT need us to liven up the scheduled Steeler Party.

From there, we drove to Jim's place to celebrate New Year's Eve.  We had a fun visit from Aunt Annette 

who came with Uncle John and Olivia, but, unfortunately, I didn't take any photos!

The evening was spent with these two entertaining tikes:

Of course, the celebration included the traditional chocolate milkshakes, made by Pap Pap G, and they were scrumptious!

New Year's Morning, we departed early for home, relaxed a bit around the tree

and we even managed to view the Super Moon hanging over the house.

How awesome was that?

On the twelfth day of Christmas, we celebrated the Epiphany at the Cathedral in Harrisburg,

 and my  true love gave to me a trip to the Annual Farm Show. It didn't feature a partridge in a Pear tree, but was certainly not lacking in entertainment, that's for sure!

But that's a story for another day!

Hope you had a blessed Holiday season, and here's wishing you a very Happy New Year!

British Baking with Barbara

A couple of years ago, Marty and I were introduced to the PBS version of the Great British Baking Show, and it didn't take long for us to become eager fans.

We soon learned that it was extremely difficult to sit through an episode without having something sweet on hand, which probably did not help our waistlines, but we found ourselves enthralled with each episode, caught up in the suspense as to who would be eliminated on any given week.

So, it was a real treat to receive this book for my birthday last year. Only, the book never showed up until right before Christmas, and the season didn't air until lent here in the US, and then things became way too complicated in my life for me to have time to even consider attempting to make anything. 

But flipping through the pages the other day, my eyes caught the recipe for a Tiramisu cake, and I decided that it was time to tackle my first attempt from the book.

I had invited our friends, Dennis, Morena and Tina for dinner and this seemed to be the perfect opportunity, for a couple of reasons.

#1:  Making such a delectable concoction for just Marty and me could be quite dangerous, especially right before Christmas with so many other treats in the house.

#2:  Morena, pictured here with me, is the queen of Tiramisu.

In fact, Morena introduced me to this special dessert several years ago, and I've been a fan ever since.  So, it seemed appropriate to make it for her to get her feedback.

#3:  Her family has enjoyed this dessert for years, and so, you really couldn't ask for better judges in my mind. 

So, I decided that Saturday was the perfect opportunity to try out the recipe.  I had read through the directions, and was ready with all of the supplies.

One thing to note is that the sugar and flour are weighed, not measured by the cup. 

Luckily, I had a scale, purchased by one of my children as a gift last year. (Don't I have great kids?)

The recipe called for Castor sugar, and it just so happens that I had a bag of the stuff that I brought back from Scotland in my checked luggage.  Now, it's perfectly legal to bring back sugar from Scotland, but Amy, who was on the trip with us and who had also packed a bag in her luggage, didn't escape the scrutiny of the customs officials, and although she was permitted to keep her sugar, I dare say that her opinion regarding the search continues to be a sore subject for her.  So if you see her, don't mention it, OK?

Now, back to the recipe:

First, I beat the egg whites with some of the sugar:

Then, the yolks, with some sugar as well, until nice and thick

The whites were folded into the yolk mixture, and then the flour was sifted over the top to be folded in as well.

I'm not a big fan of folding as it takes a LONG time!  But, soon, the "sponge" was in the "tins" as called for in the book.

Now, here was my one oversight. I hadn't really thought about the cake pan size.  The recipe called for 20.5 cm in size, which actually is equal to an 8 inch cake pan, but I do believe mine were 9 inches in diameter, so the layers ended up a bit thinner than what was shown in the book photos.

But, I wasn't planning on showing anyone the book, so no worries there.  The layers baked for about 14 minutes, then I took them out to cool.

In the meantime, I had to make the filling, which involved beating the yolks, along with brandy and coffee, over a simmering pot of water, for at least 8 minutes.  

That had to cool while the rest of the filling was made and folded into that mixture.

The recipe called for grated 70% cocoa, which, in itself, took quite a bit of effort using some contraption that I had in my house for such a purpose.  

Finally, a sugar/brandy/coffee syrup was made, then, while warm, was brushed over the cake layers to add more flavor.

Then, it was time to assemble the cake.  After brushing on the syrup, a portion of the filling was spread on top of the layer.  

I became a bit nervous, as the filling wasn't as stiff as I would have expected, and I was concerned that it would slide off of the layer.  I popped on the second layer, brushed on more syrup, added the filling, then I realized that I was supposed to put 1/3 of the grated chocolate on the bottom layer and had forgotten.

Well, that wasn't happening!  So, I added a generous amount to the second layer.

Then, I popped on the top layer, brushed on the syrup, and covered the sides and the top with the remaining filling before pressing the grated chocolate along the sides and sprinting a bit on the top.

From start to finish, three and a half hours had lapsed, with me working the entire time on the cake.  And, I still needed to clean up the kitchen, which kind of looked like a bomb went off.  Numerous bowls were used, along with a stand mixer and a hand mixer, chocolate grater, double boiler, countless spatulas and measuring spoons!

A day later, the time involved was a distant memory, and we were certainly eager to dig into this creation.

Ok, so I'll admit, the cut version doesn't look that appealing.

But, I can assure you that it was amazing!  And, even though Marty took this picture prior to me cutting that cake, 

he will attest to the fact that they were even happier after having sampled the delight themselves.

So, how did I fare?

Well, the layers were obviously not exactly even, and the filling was not evenly distributed, and it was probably a bit "runny", but the sponges were perfect and not soaked with syrup. 

Three and a half hours to make a cake was a bit extreme, and would never have been acceptable, and I'm still trying to figure out just why it took that long.  Do you suppose it could have something to do with sampling the brandy while whisking?  or folding?  or grating?  

What did my judges think?  Well, they were all delighted with the taste, and not one complaint was sounded.  

Overall, I'll venture to say, that the Tiramisu cake was, to quote Mary Berry, quite "Scrummy"!  

But sharing it with friends was even better!  And now, I just might rank as the Tiramisu Princess.....well......maybe.   

The Reinterment of Walter G Critchley

Yesterday, I had the honor of attending the reinterment of CPL Walter George Critchley, a United States Marine who died in the Battle of Tarawa, on the island of Betio on Nov 20, 1943. 

Walter served with the 2nd Marine Division and was part of an amphibian landing that, due to low tide, resulted in these soldiers having to wade through waist deep water as they made their way to the  beach that was infiltrated with Japanese soldiers who were equally determined to protect the island from invasion.  Walter was one of the first to lead the way, and was shot and killed on his very first day of battle. 

The casualties were high, and burials were quickly done for those who perished that day.  Shortly after the Marines had control of the island, an airfield was expanded, and roads and offices added.  When the war was over and the Graves Administration came onto the island in 1946, no one could remember where they had buried these brave dead soldiers.

I know that it seems almost incomprehensible that such a vital piece of information could be lost, and if it were not for the efforts of Mark Noah, founder of History Flight,  Walter and his comrades would more than likely still be laying under a parking lot on the island.  Over 1100 men died in that battle, and only half of them were recovered.  Mark took the challenge of finding these men upon himself, researching, hiring anthropologists and historians, and physically digging for any clues that would help him to get answers.

All of his hard effort resulted in the discovery of Cemetery #27, which held the remains of 40 Tarawa casualties, and Walter was among them.  That was in 2015, and at that time, I was asked by Mark if I would be interested in helping the team to locate families of some of these men who were no longer Missing in Action. 

I was thrilled to be part of the team, although, I must admit, that my contribution was minimal in comparison with others who have worked to find family members.  And I would be remiss if I did not give credit to my Britain born friend, Jennifer, who made the actual contact with a family member living in Great Britain.  The GB contact had an extensive family tree and he was more than willing to work with Mark regarding presenting the necessary information for Walter's living relatives.  

For some reason, I felt compelled to attend the service.  I had just a brief glimpse into this young man's life:  he was the son of British Immigrants, loved the Boy Scouts, played varsity Football in high school, enlisted in the Marines, and perished in the line of duty on his very first mission. Seventy-four years later, he was no longer missing, and I felt the need to be part of the ceremony honoring him and giving him the proper burial that he was denied all those years ago.

We were blessed with the perfect fall day.  Walter was to be buried with full military honors at Arlington National Cemetery.  In attendance was a Marine Band

as well as a Marine Honor guard.  

The casket was removed from the hearse with reverance

and ever so gently placed upon the horse-drawn Caisson.

A marine guidon led the procession, followed by the band and the platoon of marines.

while those in attendance followed behind.

When we reached the burial site, the casket was gently transferred from the Caisson while all stood at attention.

Navy Chaplain Lt. Clay C Edinger conducted the funeral rites,  read from scripture and offered sentiments of heartfelt sympathy.

Seven marines shot off 3 rifle volleys according to custom, followed by the playing of taps.

The sound of the trumpet resonated through the air, and I could not help but be touched by the significance of this final send off.  

The flag was meticulously folded  

and presented to the family by Brigadier General N.L. Cooling. 

When the ceremonies were over, and the bands and guard had marched away, we gathered as a group for a photo of those who had made the trip to commemorate this fallen soldier. 

In addition to the five family members who had made the trip, one man, who shared the same last name, had decided to bring his sons to the memorial service.  He had noted Walter's name engraved on a war memorial at Valley Stream High School, and was intrigued by the fact that they shared the same surname.  He pursued his genealogy, only to learn that he and Walter were not related.  

But after reading Walter's history as a 2nd Marine, and the story behind his fate, he felt compelled to make the trip from New York to attend the service, along with his young sons.  As a history teacher himself, he feels that it is important that young people are made aware of the extreme sacrifices that were made so many years ago, to assure our freedom.  I could not agree with him more, and I admire this man for making the effort to attend with his sons. This event will certainly be something that they will remember for a lifetime.

And so, we take heart that yet one more Tarawa MIA is no longer missing.  

Safely rest Walter G Critchley. You are finally home.