St. Mikulás Dayby Angie
6 Dec 2007
10:12 pm1
St. Mikulás visited our house and – since we have been very good children – left our shoes full of presents! We got DVDs and popcorn and hot chocolate and candy, and Jaquie got new toys that she adores. Her favorite is a set of three catnip mice – Jim detached one little mouse from the cardboard and she went crazy playing with it, and a few minutes later was trying to get the other two mice out of his shoe, where he had set them aside! We got a picture of her attacking the mouse, but when we tried to get a video of it, she stopped and walked away in a huff.
We had our Mikulás Feast last night because tonight we had choir rehearsal. I made cider and soft ginger cookies to share with everyone, in honor of it being St. Mikulás Day, and we got to tell everyone about the Hoffmans’ traditions and background. Everybody was pleased with the treats and very grateful, and I enjoyed doing it but…note to self: don’t try cooking big meals and treats for 60 people two days in a row. I am exhausted, and my poor kitchen looks like a whirlwind waltzed through it.
Mikulás Feast (and Try-Me-Night!)by Angie
5 Dec 2007
9:12 pm3
Today was wonderful! I spent – literally – most of the day preparing for this evening’s Mikulás Feast. We invited our friends, the Bradleys, to join us and I planned to make five dishes – three of which, I’d never made before! Jim’s favorite part of the traditional feast is the Ham Stack, so I had to go to a specialty meat market this morning to buy ground ham (because a regular supermarket butcher is not allowed to grind both raw and cooked meats). The gentlemen at Kelly’s Meat Market were so helpful and pleasant! Anyway, besides that, I already had all my shopping done, so I could go home and get right to work. Here was our menu:
A 16-layer Ham Stack – Alternating layers of palacsintas (kind of like crepes) with a mixture of ham in bechamel sauce. I’ve helped with this one in past years, so it was familiar. I made the ingredients and Jim stacked it up.
Voros Kaposzta – Red cabbage, braised in butter & vinegar. Kristyn took over for me on this one and it turned out great! Well, those who like red cabbage thought it was great.
Kathy’s Goulash – Beef in a sour cream red sauce over hot buttered pasta. This is a regular favorite at our house, especially because it cooks in the crock pot all day and is super easy.
Krumpli Nudli – Potato noodles rolled in breadcrumbs. These are a lot of work! I know, I was forewarned . . . but Jim loves them, so I thought I’d give them a try. By the time I was done rolling the noodles, I thought my arms were going to fall off! They tasted wonderful, though, so I’m afraid I’ll be making them again in the future. 🙂
Hungarian Stuffed Peppers – Bell peppers filled with meat, rice, and aromatics. This was not one of the traditional dishes Jim grew up with, but I wanted to try it. This link goes to the original recipe, but (of course) I played around with it a bit. Instead of ground meat, I used kielbasa (polish sausage) and it was delicious! The recipe also calls for “paprika gravy,” which looked pretty strange to me, not to mention huge…so I changed that a lot. I left out the anaheims, only used 2 cups of beef stock (instead of 6), and a few tablespoons of corn starch (instead of 3/4 cup flour). I ended up with a tangy, creamy paprika gravy that we used on our peppers, with plenty left over. It was also great on the krumpli nudlis, actually.
After dinner, Jim read us the Mikulás chaper from Kate Seredy’s “The Good Master.” Kathy will be gratified to know that the very same parts that always make her cry got Jim a tad choked up, too. When he finished, we discovered that Mikulás had left treats in the Bradleys’ shoes, which we had set out on the windowsill! Their two-year-old daughter, Emily, loves toy cars, so that was her present. She played with them while Jim & Justin played Guitar Hero and Kristyn & I played with little Maddie (and chased Emily around). When it was time to go, Emily was pleasantly surprised to learn that she really got to keep the cars and take them home! All in all, it was a wonderful evening. I’m glad our first Mikulás Feast was such a great success!
Christmas Decorationsby Angie
4 Dec 2007
10:12 pm1
Jim and I weren’t going to buy a Christmas tree this year, since we will be spending the holidays in Utah… but as I was planning for our St. Mikulás Day Hungarian Feast, I just felt like we needed some decorations to accompany our festivities. I was going to Target anyway, so I bought the tree on sale, and just cheap little lights and ornaments… it was only about $20 in all, but it looks quite pretty all put together (if I do say so myself)!
So, here are some pictures of our lovely little tree. Look, there are already some presents under it! Those are actually Mikulás gifts: some are going into our friends’ shoes during our Mikulás dinner, and the package on the right is from the Hoffman Mikulás in Utah, for Jim and me.
In the picture on the right, you can see where the tree is set up. I know it doesn’t look like a fantastic spot, but we don’t really have a fantastic spot for a tree this size – it either hides or gets in the way (hm…sounds like I’m talking about a pet ferret or something).
I also included this picture of Jim (playing Guitar Hero), so you can see how tiny a three-foot tree looks beside a six-foot person. Small, but sure cute! Hey, like me!
Wishlist Gets an Updateby Jim
1 Dec 2007
10:12 am3
Well, all you anxious people can now rest a little more easily. My wishlist website now has a new feature. I added a “Mark List Ready” button to your personal wishlist that makes it so people can start reserving items for you. This means that once you’ve marked your list as ready, you may no longer delete items, so don’t do it until you’re ready. Check it out for yourself at http://wishlist.ath.cx/
How ’bout them Jazz?by Angie
30 Nov 2007
11:11 pm3
WOW! Jim and I just finished watching tonight’s Jazz game: Jazz vs. Lakers at Salt Lake City. It was absolutely fantastic! With two of our starters in street clothes because of injuries, and one of our players making his NBA debut (called up from the D-league), we scored 70 points in the first half! We were afraid the Lakers were biding their time for a big come-back, but the Jazz continued to outscore them with fantastic offense. Final score was 120 to 96! We totally schooled them!
I’d love to do a whole play-by-play, because it was such an amazing game, but I’m sure I couldn’t do it justice. Hey, we have it recorded, if anyone missed it!
Try-Me-Night Review: Tuna Casseroleby Angie
30 Nov 2007
9:11 pm0
This recipe is familiar to the Hoffman family, but it was the first time I made it myself, so it was a try-me-night for me. I always cut down on salt, so I only added about a teaspoon and a couple of grinds of black pepper…but that was obviously not enough of either of them. I probably should have used twice that much salt and lots more pepper. I also think I overcooked the pasta a bit: I should have remembered to pull it a bit before al dente, since it would cook even longer in the oven.
Besides those things, it was great! I didn’t think I would like the cheese on the top (the first time I had it at the Hoffmans), but I really love it! Medium cheddar adds a good amount of tang without being too sharp.
Kitty Treatby Angie
29 Nov 2007
8:11 am2
Last night, Jim & I were curled up on the couch watching the Jazz game (which we won!). Jaquie was curled up in Jim’s lap, half asleep. I suddenly noticed one of those annoying, tiny black bugs flying around above the couch, so I said, “Jaquie, look! A bug!”
She didn’t seem to care, and didn’t move at all. Unfortunately, the little fly chose that moment to zoom down near her, and buzz around near her whiskers, where she couldn’t help but notice him. She opened her eyes wide and stared at it for just a second, then… SNAP. She ate him.
It was so sudden and bizarre – Jim and I laughed until I had to wipe away tears. For those of you who have seen “Enchanted,” it reminded me of the end of “Happy Working Song.” Jaquie jumped down from the couch, apparently offended that we were laughing at her slick catch. I have to remind myself that she was born feral: she spent the first year of her life living on the street, where she probably ate bugs all the time. Who knows…maybe they’re delicious.