Mormor's Christmas Eve Huge Gingerbread Cookies

Oh Mom, this has been a fun Christmas tradition since the 70's and I think we started doing this in the San Bruno house on the top of the mountain.  I think that was when things like the mistake with me using baking soda instead of flour for a cake happened.  We used to take bed sheets and have two of us holding 2 corners each and have the strong gusts of wind pull us up the iceplant hill behind our house up to the school fence when we would jump at the same time.  This was also the beginning of "Vanilla Cinnamon Milk" on those cold days we would be bundled up and frozen from playing outside.

For those who don't know Swedish, Mumu should be spelled Mormor even though Mormor is Farmor to most of the 40 - 50 grandkids.  Thanks for this recipe a couple years ago.

If anyone has a really clear shot or two of yours on the full cookie pan, please send it so I can post it with this recipe.

Menus / Menu's

So.......  Here are some of the menus from the past.

OK... so I have gone thru different stages of meal planning from what's in the cupboard, to what's easiest tonight, to what can the kids fix on their own, to planning by the week, to planning every two weeks, to planning monthly, to planning in 3 or more month sections for daily menus.  OK.. why do Menus and Menu's both look incorrect right this moment.  Maybe it should be Meni.

Well... I have also posted menus/menu's on the fridge with pictures and in lists. I have posted them in boring calendar grid format when my older method of printing didn't work any more.  Now the boring way that was on a program that synced with my palm treo 650 and kept 3 months at my fingertips with shopping lists too has crashed too many times. 

Help... I'm now trying to figure out another way without going back to the oldest way of using Excel spreadsheets, then exporting them to Publisher and then doing separate shopping lists in Word.  So far there a few aps on my Ipod Touch, but they really don't do what I need so I don't want to put too much effort into them until I find something that works.

Why would I plan meals like this, you might ask?  Many reasons, but the initial reason was because I was basically homebound and had to have what I needed in stock and be able to provide a healthy variety.  It also solved the problem of the kids asking what was for dinner and then complaining about it.  I also didn't have to think about it, which was huge.

The key to planning ahead was being flexible to change if we are out and not back in time to cook, yet I would have time to prepare many things ahead.  I also was able to make enough of some things for 2 or 3 meals and rather than have the same thing for 3 nights in a row, freeze the meals for later and free up times when I couldn't cook. 

We also had the bailout menu listed that we would rotate so we didn't h

ave taco salad or macaroni and cheese everynight on a really busy or bad health week.

"Where do the forks go?"

1. Print
2. Cut out

3. Paste to the latest free Realtor Calendar Magnet left at your door
4. Place on fridge
5. Hey kids... Remember to check the fridge to know where it goes and if you need to, you can hold it next to the place you are setting


I don't remember where I found this place setting picture but there are so many different ones that this one seemed to do all that we needed for our family.

Orange Julius Similar Recipe (without the egg)

I don't know how Dad and Mom used to afford these as a treat for us when they would take us to the juice place but Dad liked them enough to have this override stopping at Baskin Robbins at times.  I used to like the strawberry ones.  I'm pretty sure we would put whole eggs in them too when we would make them at home, but NO THANKS for me on that extra ingredient.

Fried Chicken Recipe

This recipe changes as my bread available changes.  Costco stopped selling the good Ciabatta bread they used to.  I hope its only temporary.  I use their Rosemary bread now or have to track down Ciabatta somewhere else or just use what I have.  Sourdough bread was even fairly good once.  Whole grain bread does not work for this.

Basic Quiche Recipe

Quiche... The fancy dumpster dive in the fridge for vegetables and other small amounts of leftovers that wouldn't be enough for a meal on their own to add that is usually better than some wierd goulash.  You could always take the same dive and put it in a blender with tomato sauce to serve over pasta, but this is a nice change.

Funeral Potato's Recipe

Yes, this is the "Jello of all casseroles".  How do you make it without Cream of Genericness Soup so that it is soy free?  Well..... Substitute another pint of sour cream instead of Cream of Soy flavor of the month Soup and add some diced chicken or chicken broth.  Extra cheese never hurts either.  Another thing that doesn't hurt is to double or triple the amount of corn flake topping.

Cameron's Vegetable Chili

Oh, the memories of living in China back in 1989.  This is the family recipe originated by Cameron when he was very young and helping in the kitchen.  So.... yes when we typed it up, we had to include the portrait of Cameron in the enamel painted and peeling iron tub in the bathroom of our Beijing apartment.  Next to the tub was the "throne" toilet up a step higher and directly across from the tub was a table that was our kitchen.

Greek Chicken Meal Recipes when Moussaka isn't available

Moussaka is my favorite but when I don't have eggplant, this meal really is a close tie.  I love this Greek meal as it is made up of the things I love most at greek restaurants tweeked to the taste of our family.  The Menu includes:
Avgolemono Lemon Soup, Greek Salad, Greek Chicken, Honey Rice, Pita Bread, and Tzatziki Sauce.
Start with  Lemon Soup if you like it.  I've had some that are kind of curdled eggy and sort of slimy but this recipe is just about right.  Sometimes we have it and sometimes we don't.

Greek Salad for our family is flexible with the ingredients but very hard to have without cucumber and if its just cucumber, that's fine.  I love the Greek Olives although the rest of the family doesn't so I add them to my salad afterwards.  The dressing is too strong and salty for some, so have it on the side to toss individual portions if you're unsure.

This recipe for Greek Chicken and Rice is so easy and I like to make double to make sure to have leftovers.  Everyone in the family also loves the Honey Rice that goes with it.

Pita Bread ( I make it from scratch but storebought works fine) is impossible for our family to have without Tzatziki Sauce similar to it being difficult to not have a good Balsamic vinegar and olive oil for Italian bread to dip in. The sauce recipe is adapted to the taste of our family and the supplies that we easily have on hand.  It tastes better as it sits and we put it on all kinds of things for the next few days until it is gone.

Leftover Chicken and salad and tzaziki sauce are wonderful the next day with feta cheese for Greek Pizza.

Moussaka Recipe

I fell in love with Moussaka while staying in Athen, Greece many, many years ago.  For the few days to a week we stayed at the Hilton or Sheraton, I ate Moussaka for lunch and/or dinner in the hotel restaurant almost daily.  Of course, we ate at other places in town and one nice small place on the water along the coast but the Moussaka was my favorite food in Greece.

I searched for recipes over the years and many had potatoes or other ingredients that just didn't bring back the taste of what I had remembered being served from the casserole on the side table at the restaurant in Greece.

Finally after trial and error and adaptations, I developed this version that our family loves and that is much easier than other recipes I tried to make.  Doubling the bechamel sauce never hurts and be careful and keep checking when you do the broiler for 10 minutes because different ovens brown or burn in as little as 3-5 minutes.