Share Your Christmas With Me!

I was just at Kerro's Korner and she mentioned short-bread and yo-yos that her mother made for the holidays. Because I might be alone this Christmas, I want to do something special because December is the most difficult month for me. I want to make it different. This year, I'll be in a new house and I want to BE different.

So, I've asked Kerro to please share her recipe for short-bread and yo-yos (I'm excited to learn what yo-yos are), and I would love it if you would all share with me a special recipe, dish, or meal for the holidays. I would absolutely love it if you would share a story with it such as what country this dish or meal is enjoyed in and a story to go along with it. I will share the first one:

On Christmas Eve, my mother has always made ButterBalls and Noodles. (Recipe at the bottom). Everyone I shared my Christmas with loved butterballs and noodles - family, friends of family and church family - even the man I married knew what they are. I was young, I didn't realize the whole world didn't eat butter balls and noodles on Christmas Eve. Anyway, after I got married, we moved to another state and our soon to be best friends had never even heard of butterballs and noodles! So, I made a huge pot of them and invited our friends over to feast. They loved them and began a little tradition of their own!

Admittedly, the dish sounds odd, but the butterballs are made from dried bread crumbs, cream and butter. The noodles are homemade from eggs and flour. The butterballs are cooked in a deep pot of rich chicken broth, added after the noodles are done (only a few minutes!). The soup is served with the boiled chicken parts used to make the broth, as well as varied favorite salads, vegetables, dessert, etc.

Butterballs and noodles are of German decent, but came from the German Colonies in Russia. I don't know if any part of it was influenced by the Russian people, but it has been a specialty to my family for over 100 years.

Butterballs and Noodles

Noodles:
12 egg yolks and 1 whole egg (beaten until yellowy)
Add to 3 C flour (add a bit of salt)
Mix until stiff and smooth (you will eventually have to put in a large bowl and mix by hand)
If it's too dry add a few drops of water at a time as it is easy to over water and have mushy noodle dough. You will know it's too dry if after kneading it for several minutes you can still see small spots of flour.

Cut dough into 2 or 3 pieces and roll into sausage shapes about 1 1/2 inches diameter. Then slice into about 3/8 thick disks. Lay each disk on a cloth in single layers.

Using the smooth, flat setting on a noodle machine, roll each disk thru the thickest setting and lay on cloth (this setting will flatten a bit to about 2-3 inches long). Let air dry for a few minutes and turn over and let dry. The drying time between each rolling will increase as each piece gets thinner.

When you can roll using a thinner setting, without the dough sticking to the machine, roll each one again and lay on cloth to dry (each piece should be about 6-8 inches long after this roll). Turn after several minutes to dry and then again roll using a thinner setting. Do this until each piece is about 24 - 30 inches long and as thin as tissue paper; I roll about 4 times.

Let the pieces dry a bit and then roll them thru the noodle rollers (we do the narrow ones), letting them fall and spiral on a large plate. I usually cover the top of my bed with a clean flat sheet and sprinkle them on it. Every 30 minutes I "fluff" the noodles carefully, so they will dry uniformly and separately.

This takes all day and the noodles can be made several days or weeks ahead of time, just put them into large plastic bags and freeze them if you make them more than a few days before you plan to eat them.

Butterballs:
5 cups of finely ground bread crumbs
1 1/2 cubes butter (3/4 C)
1/2 teaspoon allspice
3 beaten eggs
1 cup cream
salt to taste

Mix well and roll into balls about 1 inch in diameter. Boil test one before you roll them all to assure it holds its shape by dropping into a deep pot of lightly boiling water. If it holds shape, and floats when cooked thru, they are okay, if not then add another beaten egg to the mixture and try again.  Refrigerate until you wish to use them.

After boiling a whole chicken, chicken parts, or use chicken stock in a large kettle, add a few hands full of noodles and after 1 - 2 minutes, add several butterballs (a usual serving is about 3-5 per person because they are rich). Stir gently after a minute, and when the butterballs begin to float to the surface, they are finished and ready to eat. The soup should be made after the whole table is set because it is done quickly and is best eaten as soon as it's done.

Note: we always put Allspice on the table and use like pepper or salt, to taste, and my mother often adds a bit of onion to the stock pot chopped into small pieces as the chicken boils.

I Want to Go Home

Well, I've opened every box and only put away 2 of them. On Monday, I waited for the cable guy all morning. When he finally got here, he was taking his shoes off inside the door and before he finished, I knew his whole life story. God, give me a break.

After the initial exodus, I went back for my hanging clothes and all the odds and ends. It took 3 car loads, and somewhere in between that, I cleaned the apartment and shampooed the carpets (part of the agreement).

I'm not planning on staying here but for a few years, but I didn't realize moving would be so hard on my body. I'm planning on moving only one more time, but I'm not sure my body can do it. Ten years ago, everything would have been put away by now and I would be doing my Christmas shopping. Instead, my whole body aches and the ends of my fingers have blisters on them so big that I cannot do much of anything that involves my fingers. That doesn't leave much, even typing hurts. (I had a reprieve by going to my daughter's house for Thanksgiving. She didn't ask that I cook anything and I didn't have to do the dishes.)

Something else I didn't realize is now that I have to do everything by myself, it takes much longer to get it all done - not that it just takes twice the time, but some of it I'm not "equipped" to do, like having the strength/height to move the washer or put in a garbage disposal. When there are 2 people moving, there are 2 people to share all the little time consuming things, like sit around and wait for the cable guy, or go have the utilities changed, or send out change of address cards. I've not had to organize the garage, drill the holes for the kitchen cabinet doors, or set up the surround sound before this. There is tons of laundry to do and curtains to hang still.

All of it takes so much time and I am so tired and sore - and discouraged. I broke 2 drill bits last night on the cabinet doors (oak), (cheap drill and bits), I haven't had time to order a new outside door, and there is a big a$$ wasp in the kitchen somewhere (he got away while I looked for the swatter). I don't know where to turn next, which "thing" to pick up next. I don't know what I was thinking, buying a house with all it's work.

I know I'm in trouble when I begin to revert to the things that are familiar to me. Things like being in my car going somewhere and sitting in my bed with my computer on my lap. I want to get the kitchen put together today, but it's too big a job. I'll have to pick just one thing in the kitchen and begin with that.

If I were a child, I'd be crying to go home. If only I had some ruby slippers... If only I knew where home is.

.

Overwhelmed and UnderCouraged

I am finally all moved (except for the refrigerator stuff, sweeping the garage and shampooing the carpets. I have a long day ahead, tomorrow. I can't seem to get motivated to begin putting things away, there are soooo many boxes. I can't find anything and I feel as if I've lost everything!

I cratered so badly Saturday night after everyone had left and it was time to go to bed. I couldn't find my bedding, I couldn't find the blankets, I was too hungry to eat and my world had tilted.

My daughter and son-in-law had gone down stairs to sleep and I was finally alone in my bed (after my daughter found my sheets) when the tears began. I was so overwhelmed. And then I heard a small whispered voice say, "Mama, are you okay?" My daughter was peaking thru the doorway. She came and climbed into bed with me and I cried my heart out. We talked until I was calm enough to be hungry and then she ate a bowl of cereal with me so I would be able to sleep.

Sunday morning, I awoke about 7:30 and shortly after that, Kaylie's husband came upstairs and kneeled on the floor by her side of the bed. He also craves hugs and cuddles and told her that he'd missed her when he woke up. I told her to scoot closer to me and when she did, her husband got up and laid on the bed with us. We were a family and the intimacy of shared morning yawns was wonderful.

I am always amazed that while I can feel so blessed, I also feel so overwhelmed and have so little courage to face my future. I am trying to exercise a bit of faith and believe my daughter and my T that things will smooth out as soon as all of me accepts the new house and we all feel safe again.