Malasadas.......

 Yesterday was Valentine's Day. After being lazy the day before to re-coup from the wedding, I felt energized and made a to-do list that kept me hopping all day. Chores around the house during the day and a wonderful evening dinner out with my hubby at night brought a smile to my face and heart.

In between those things, I decided to pull out a recipe I had been intimidated with for years. It is Nana's recipe for Malasadas. What are Malasadas? They are a Portuguese fried doughnut dipped in a sugar boiled glaze. These are not like anything you have ever tasted or found in a traditional bakery.

Nana used to make them all the time. I remember smelling that sweet yeast scent as I walked down the driveway from school. I also remember the game of trying to imagine what the different shapes were since spoon dropped dough makes no two ever alike.

Nana would triple the batch and freeze  most of it so that we would have doughnuts to eat for weeks on end.  And if that wasn't a temptation all by itself; she would cut them up into thin slices and fry them in butter until toasted and serve them with eggs at breakfast time. Oh so bad and oh so good!

I don't know why the recipe intimidated me all these years. Maybe it was my childhood perception of seeing how hard she worked over a triple batch of dough when a single batch makes about 4 dozen. I found yesterday that it is a pretty easy recipe. I was hoping to take some over to her today to have her stamp of approval. But after sharing some with a friend and then hubby and girls taking for their friends today.....there are only 3 left in the bowl. I guess that is a stamp of approval all by itself.

If you are interested, here is the recipe.

Portuguese Malasadas

2 1/4 tsp dry yeast (1 package of yeast) dissolved in a 1/3 cup warm water
8 cups flour
1/3 cup sugar
1 tsp salt
1 1/3 cup cream
1 1/3 cup warm water
1/3 cup melted butter
8 slightly beaten eggs

Mix eggs, butter, warm water and cream together in a large bowl. Add yeast after it has dissolved and activated (It will foam and rise.) Add flour, sugar and salt. Mix together well to become a sticky dough. Cover dough bowl with a towel and set it in a warm dry place to rise and double in size. This takes about 2 hours.

Drop spoons of dough into hot oil to fry until deep dark golden brown. Then remove and let drain on rack or absorbent paper towels.

Malasada Glaze

Malasadas may be served plain, sugared or glazed. For glazing do the following:
Rapid boil 2 cups of water along with 2 cups of sugar until it becomes slightly thickened (about 5 minutes).
Remove from heat and add 1 tsp vanilla.

Dip each doughnut in and out of the glaze quickly, rolling as necessary to completely cover. Let set on a rack to drain and set.

Enjoy!

(After posting this I thought about two things that you may find good to know about this recipe to ensure your doughnuts are cooked all the way through.

#1 Use a SMALL spoon when dropping the dough into the oil for frying. The dough expands as it cooks and if you are not careful you will end up with monster sized doughnuts.

2# Be sure to follow the rule of DARK golden brown.) 

Celebrations Galore.....

 The last month has gone by with such speed. As the days ticked away, there were several times when I would think, "goodness if I had a piece of paper next to me I would write this down for remembering on my blog." Can I remember those things now? Of course not. Oh well. I can however share the things that are sticking out in my mind at this moment.

Aren't these colors amazing together? Normally I go for the snuggly cozy type of colors. But this bright yellow and bold purple fit perfectly for what I was doing.

This is a baby towel that I made for a dear friend that is about to be blessed. She is due the first week of March and we are all so excited. I really like blessing new babies with this style of towel because it grows with them. As a small infant, it will keep baby Aria much warmer than those thin hooded things they sell in the stores. Then as she gets older and is cruising around in toddler style, it is big enough to double as the best cape in any sort of pretend game after washing all those germs down the drain.

The baby shower was a blast. Parents and baby were both very blessed and loved on with all the necessities needed to begin their new adventure of a lifetime.

I saw something at the baby shower I had never seen before.....a diaper cake. It was the cutest thing ever! This picture is not from the party. I just googled it. I have no idea why it is now sideways. I downloaded it straight and checked it 3 times. But, if you have never seen a diaper cake, it will give you an idea of the cool blessing.




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Nana's 86th Birthday

What a joy! We just got to celebrate Nana's 86th birthday!  I love my Nana so much. Even though time occasionally plays tricks with her memory, she is still as spry as ever. I made a real effort to make sure this was a fun birthday for her. I put streamers and balloons everywhere and tried my hand at all kinds of fun foods. It was all worth it to hear her giggle at the celebration of honoring her.
Mom made her that beautiful lei in her favorite color of red. It was so deep in color that it looked like velvet.

Normally Nana will shy away from the camera. After all, it is a girl's prerogative to fuss over wanting her hair and make-up to be 'just so'. But on this day she was full of smiles and I am so grateful.

The picture above is some of our group in a nice shot. From left to right is my brother, Mom, me and Dad. Then Nana, Auntie and Angel-girl.

This shot to the right is Nana with my brother and his little Angel-girl. This makes for a 3 generation picture. What a treasure!

 Here is Nana just after blowing out the candles on her cake. I love her rosy cheeks! Doesn't she look wonderful?!

I made her cake and had so much fun doing it. It is a 3 layer angel-food cake with a strawberry filling in between each layer. The outside is a blend of whip cream and instant cheesecake pudding. while the top is slices of kiwi and strawberries.






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The Wedding

If you could only feel the happy sigh of finality and relief over here. The wedding was yesterday and now they are off on their honeymoon. Parties are done, no more alterations at the dress shop to fix fiascoes. It was a beautiful wedding and I think it all came out just the way Icca wanted it which is as it should be. It was a wonderful and memorable day. The professional pictures will take a couple of weeks to get back. Among other shots I want to share, I am hoping in that lot there will be a close up of her dress so I can share the sparkle of it all finished. But for now, here is a great wedding party picture from someone's cell phone. (Hubby and I are just to the groom's left.)

 

I am so grateful to have been blessed with being a part of it all. It was an odd feeling for me. I don't know if I can adequately explain it but...... When Heather got married, we sent some money to help and that was really all that we did besides being there for her big day. Not that anything is wrong with that. We live hours apart. It just is what it is. And at the time, I was in Texas taking care of Daddy. I had flown to Spokane the day before the wedding and was overwhelmed with the season of emotion I was in. 

I don't regret any of it. Like I said, it just is what it is. I felt so blessed to be in so much of the details of this wedding. Icca's family was there. But because of the dynamics of their past and Icca needing to live with us all this time, I could see that it was a hard and awkward day for them. Maybe because of my own lack of feeling involved with our daughter's wedding, I could appreciate more of how Icca's family must have been feeling.  They had tears and were obviously happy for her. But they hung back in the shadows and looked quietly sad most of the day. I tried to make small talk with them and offer the ease of knowing there is no judgement around here. But it didn't seem to bring any real ease into the day. I do understand. I can only pray and God will handle it.

Mr and Mrs Reis 2~12~2012

My Puddin girl took this shot during the reception. 

Don't they look like a blissfully happy couple?

 Goodness it is late in the night. I better get to bed.
God bless your week in all you do with His joyous abundance of favor and assurance of love.

Peek-n-Seek With Snow....

The winter weather has everyone tense here. There is a weather front teasing us with the idea of snow in the air. If it were to come, it is not like it would be a bad storm. The threat is only an inch or two. Most people, not from the great northwest, tend to think that because we are 'up north' we must gets tons of snow all the time. On the contrary, because we have the Cascade mountain range and the coastline boxing us in, winter fronts usually bounce away from us. When Portlanders hear talk of snow (even an inch worth) everyone tends to run to the store for supplies and 'batten down the hatches' as if we will be stranded in our homes and blocked from modern civilization for months on end. 

The true danger is in the driving conditions. Because snow and ice is not a normal occurrence around here, people tend to hit the road without much street savvy as they drive their cars. The un-cautious either want to joy ride and play with their seldom used 4WD vehicles or barrel through the streets at normal speeds to prove that a little cold weather will not deter them from their mission.    

All of that makes me want to stay indoors where it is safe and stare at the beauty from my window.
I have had a cold this week and my usual laryngitis is visiting me so I haven't felt up to gallivanting much anyway. The weekend was slow....well slower would be a better word phrase to use. Friday night there were girls here doing trial run throughs with Icca Chou's makeup and hair styles for the wedding. Pizza, facial products and giggles were all over my house. Saturday was the bridal shower (at someone else's home). Once I got everything ready for Hubby's party at our home for his Hood-2-Coast meeting; I spent the evening with giggling women blessing our sweet bride to be.  It was a great turn out and she was blessed abundantly.

I finished her dress this week. It didn't take an enormous amount of time. It was only my procrastinating that held me back. I am excited at how it looks but will have to wait until after the wedding to share pictures with you.

Today I did the cake server set. It was fun as well. I love how bead work enhances and makes everything so unique. I plan on doing the same beading concept to the stemware of their toasting goblets.



It is now less than one month to the wedding. I figure our lives are going to be swamped from here on out with all things wedding. The tuxes have all been fitted, florist arranged, photographer contracted and food planned. Our dresses are on order and should be here by the end of next week. That has been an interesting hiccup in the otherwise smoothness of all the planning. Everything that happens in life has opportunity to learn from. So from the dresses......my learning curve is that I doubt I will ever order clothing using an online sizing chart again.

For the moment, Nyquil, my pillow and fuzzy blanket are calling my name.

Thank You Papa God for the  conveniences of today. Thank You for Nyquil, my pillow and fuzzy blanket. Thank You for the joys of crafts and individual creations. Thank You for your own artistry in the seasons that change. Amongst the many reasons that I cannot even begin to fathom, You create change in the seasons to care for the earth and to make us smile. The joys of snowflakes falling and the unique individuality of each one.....and You know them all just like You know us.

God bless you abundantly in all you do this week. Be filled with His joy and know that you are most definitely loved and never alone.

Picture Sharing Time

Between Christmas and New Year, the girls and I packed up and headed to the beach to visit with our wonderful friends. Hubby had to work this year but graciously said we could go "play" while he manned the home front.

The beach was stormy and snuggly; just the way I like it. Most of the time the rain and wind was a constant flow so we never took our regular walk on the beach. Instead I snapped the morning seascape out the Commons window.

Oh how I love the beach.



Below is a typical thing that happens when I don't keep my camera right next to me. The girls, all full of giggles, take over my camera and leave me surprises on the memory card. Here are a couple of the more cute ones.

 

 This is Pippin and Rixxi. They manned the camera every chance they had. 

They make me laugh all the time. 

I love the sparkles in their eyes.......you know, the mischievous sparkle.

This is Puddin' and Novia.  Girls and snacks in the middle of the night. 

They had just finished a rousing game of Apples to Apples.  

The below picture is of the girls making music together. 

They sing side by side in choir so their sound was instantly a beautiful harmony.

All too soon it was time to head back to the city with our hearts full of great memories.

While at Nana's for New Year's day dinner, I took a few close up pictures of her bells.

As I said before, her tall Christmas tree is covered in them.

More bells can be found throughout the house decorating the banister railing and hanging from lights. 

They shine, sparkle and glow as the lights reflect off of her creations.

No two are alike. The sizes of beads, colors and imaginative adaptation to 

the original pattern make each one stand out on it's own beauty.

See the green one in the upper photo? It is made from a tea ball.

I remember having a pink one in my room when I was a little girl and it was filled with pot pourri powder.

Nana's favorite beads to work with are called berry beads.

I like how she combined this one with berry beads and golden hearts.

I like how Nana adapted this one. The shape and color always makes me think of an angel.

Now that it is January 6th and all of the normal schedules are back in full swing, I know it is a bit late to share these photos. But here is a secret that I must tell......I am still mailing out our Christmas cards! No really. I figure late is better than never. Last year, after just coming home from taking care of Daddy, I didn't do anything. I think our "around the world friends and family" that don't hear from us often deserve to know why it appears we have fallen off the face of the earth.

 In all you do this week, do it with the knowledge that you are so very loved by God.

Christmas Musings

The Surprise Gift


Christmas was so wonderful this year. It was a memory making time with family. We had 22 people stuffed into Nana's home enjoying the Eve of celebrating. Stories were swapped in every corner of the house as adults shared over good food and children played downstairs.

This year we were able to do something very special in surprising my parents and Nana with a joint gift. They had an old plasma console tv that served them well for a good 12+ years. It was a great technological piece of advancement when it was new but over the past few months the screen was giving out and giving everyone a headache. The color was almost all black and the picture would flip and shrink in a random pattern that made the viewer feel something was about to implode.

Without their knowing it, we as a whole family pulled our resources together and bought them a new 46" flat screen with a stand.

Blessings and gifts are always wonderful but much of the fun also comes with being able to surprise them and the challenge was on. I took the wrapped tv and stand to my parents house a few weeks ago with a big card on it labeled for my husband and asked them to store it for me so he wouldn't find it at my home before Christmas. My parents, always ready to pull a good one over on my hubby (in loving fun), were excited to be able to be a part of the 'deception'.

Boy were they shocked and speechless when we presented them with the truth written in the enclosed card. Wow! They were overwhelmed.

Thank you God that we could surprise and bless them that way.

Nana's Tree

I didn't think of taking a close up picture of Nana's tree when I was there on Christmas. But I do want to share with you how special this tree is. Nana is so talented and dedicated to her craft. That tree is covered in bells she made from stringing beads together. She has made them for years and we all have her creations located through out our homes. There are so many bells of different colors and sizes. If I had to guess, I would say there are at least 250 beaded bells on her tree. My dad has to anchor the tree to the wall with a wire to insure it does not topple over from the weight.

 






The Sweetness of Friendships

Last night we had a special treat by being blessed with a visit from some friends. We had met years ago when our children were all in the same martial arts training class at the local community center. At that time we had struck up a quick friendship both in heart and also because I knew that God was doing something special between us. They, being Chinese and native to Taiwan, found my own cultural diversity to be a comfort to them while I completely enjoyed the ease and joy of being with them. There was a pretty big language barrier but we all pushed through and encouraged each other. 

After several months of being together, the time came for them to return to Taiwan and we didn't imagine ever seeing them again. I had prayed for them so very often. I wanted so much to talk with them in detail about God and His goodness......but that language barrier never let us get very far.  We tried to communicate via email for a while but lost contact after a while. At least that is what I thought. It turns out that our girls got back in touch via social networking.

Puddin' came to me a couple of weeks ago saying that the family is now living in California. They would be in our area for Christmas break and could we have them over for dinner. Boy what a question. I was thrilled at the idea.

An amazing blessing of a story unfolded at my dinner table last night as we sat around eating teriyaki chicken and rice. With bubbling excitement (and still pretty broken English) they told us a story of all that we didn't know was happening in our friendship.  They said that all those years ago, they had cravings to know more of God and raise their children in a Christian environment but didn't know how to meet God. They said that God used our friendship to show them a direction. He guided them and answered so many of their prayers by our friendship. There were many of our conversations they brought up last night that I had no idea what was happening on their end. That language barrier may have been keeping me from opening my mouth every time I wanted to say something but God was using it to prove Himself to them by answering their every request as they uttered it in their hearts. 

It was so humbling to listen to them and point at me exclaiming I was an angel to them sent by God.  It was encouraging to see how God works His plan. It is amazing to think of how things mesh together with ripples that affect such change.

Are you wondering about this amazing edible art? Our friends brought these to us for our enjoyment. Oh my goodness! They are from Pix Patisserie.  I know that downtown Portland is becoming widely known for its culinary flair but good golly lolly........I had no idea such treats were available.  They are so pretty. I am scared to cut into them. But they can't go to waste right?

For now, it is after midnight here and my pillow is calling me.
I pray that you have an amazingly blessed week. Know that you are loved so greatly by the God of all creation. He moves mountains for you, dances for you and is overjoyed at the thought of spending time with you because you matter to Him.