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Freya, age 6, the daughter of Andrea who writes “The Kitchen Lioness, notes from a very small German kitchen” drew this picture of Mary, Joseph and Baby Jesus for me. Her Mother included it in the Christmas card she sent as part of the FFWD exchange. It now hangs center-stage on my refrigerator. Neither Mother or Daughter realized how especially meaningful it would be to receive the drawing this week. Thank you, Freya.

 

My daughter, Melissa, and her best friend, both busy women, make time to walk together early in the morning, once a week. This Fall, during one of their sojourns, the friend said to her, “You know, Melissa, your Mother loves you SO much.”  (They obviously were discussing me!!!)

To that remark, Melissa replied, “ I know. That’s the problem.”

When Missy related that story to me, she knew I wouldn’t be offended, that I would understand. And, of course, I did.

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Cheez-it-ish Crackers, the FFWD recipe choice of the week, can be entirely made in the food processor and results in moist curds, shown here, that are turned out and kneaded together into two disks.

 

Therein lies the rub. We Women – Mothers, Grandmothers, Aunts – to name a few, love our children soooooo much. Mine. Ours. Yours. Theirs.  That’s why the pain of Sandy Hook is so unbearable. While there’s nothing more I can say – those more knowledgeable and eloquent already have – I will only add this.

I realized how naive I was about classroom security when I didn’t even know school doors were now locked. It made me wonder what else I don’t know about a world I’ve grown out of now that my children are adults.

But what I am not naive about is politics. And, once these 26 are mourned and buried, Life returning to normal for most of us, there is little chance that Congress will pass effective, meaningful gun-control legislation. Trust me on that.

Unless……those of us who believe our kids deserve a childhood as safe and secure as we can possibly provide, are “all in” for the “long haul.” ***

 

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Form the moist curds into two disks, wrap in plastic and refrigerate for at least an hour.

 

Honestly the very last thing I wanted to do this week was walk into my kitchen and make Cheez-it-ish Crackers, this week’s FFWD recipe choice. Like many of you, my thoughts are in Newtown.  However, normalcy was my goal and Dorie’s crackers needed to be made.

These little wafers, oozing with cheese, were fabulous. Dorie suggests them as a nibble with before-dinner drinks (white wine or champagne, perhaps). These are not crackers with a specific purpose. I suggest them warm out-of-the-oven or as a mid-morning lift or as a late afternoon pick-me-up. An anytime snack. These are two bites of goodness to whet your appetite.

 

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I used a champagne flute to cut the rolled-out dough into wafer-like crackers. Dorie suggested making them smaller but I liked the two-or-three bite size better.

 

Five ingredients – butter, cheese (I used  Gruyère but Conté or Emmenthal would work), salt, pepper, flour. In a hurry? Treat them as a slice-and-bake, as Dorie suggests in her Bonne Idée. I rolled my dough out, after chilling it for 3 hours, and used a champagne flute for my cookie cutter. After 14 minutes in a 350 degree oven, they were lightly golden and firm.

I taste-tested these with good friends who joined me for dinner Tuesday evening. They would be leaving to enjoy a family Christmas in California so we needed to do our celebrating early. The verdict? Enjoyed by all.

 

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I served these very tasty Cheez-it-ish Cracker to my friends, Ardyth and Harold, who joined me for dinner to celebrate an early Christmas together.

 

As you read this, I am also in California because tonight is my grandchildren’s school Christmas program, something we’ve been coming to since Emma started preforming in preschool.  Clara (9) is playing the piano (“I’m even using the pedal, Grandma.”) while her sister, Emma (11), sings “Away in a Manger.” Clara has been practicing the piece since September. As both girls explained to me last night, this is not easy!

It’s not difficult to understand why I’m “all in” for the “long haul”, is it?

If you wish to try this recipe, go here. If you want to see what my colleagues made this week, go here. If you want more information about involvement in the gun control legislation process, go to my friend Diane’s Blog, Simply Living and Eating: Newtown, No Simple Answers.