Thread Drift

[DrBee]

I read just a few posts in the church thread. I hadn't had a chance to get through it. I was tempted after Snap's comments! Oh well!

As for Christmas cookies - I make sugar cookies (w/o icing), spritz cookies with a spritz of chocolate butter cream on top, puffy dragons (named by my grandmother when they all rolled into the back of the oven and she was trying not to curse in front of the kids), and lots of candy sorts of things. I usually make caramels, truffles, tigerbutter, and the like. I'm switching it up this year - who knows!

I have made a Buche de Noel before (I think the first one was when I took French in high school). They're not as hard as the look. I'm thinking about making one for our work Christmas party this year, actually. Do take pics!

[DrBee]

BMo3 - the church thread is still there to be read, it's just closed for new posts. I wonder why they closed it and didn't remove it? Snap???

[mimitabby]

She really does look like her. Amazing.

My grandmother, Maddalena, came to the USA all by herself at the age of 16, in 1914. She stood a little over 5 feet tall. She met my grandfather in a doll clothes factory where they both worked long hours for terrible wages. Her older brother (and her guardian) did not approve of my grandfather, he called him a good for nothing. Maddalena's first child was stillborn, her second child was hit by a car at the age of 6, and she lost another baby in there somewhere. (She had 3 kids that lived to be adults including my own father. She thought reading would spoil the mind, and when my mother had an ovary removed, my grandmother told her that she would only have babies of one sex.. (and it came to pass that my mother had 2 girls!)

Maddalena was a good cook and she and my grandfather were married for over 60 years before she died.
I can assure you, she NEVER rode a bike.

enough ancient history. I honor her by cooking with some of her recipes from time to time. I am telling you her story, because I, her namesake, thought some of you would enjoy it.

[five one]

What are your favourite holiday cookies?

After years of practically killing myself making dozens of a dozen different type of cookie, I gave up and now make only frosted gingerbread, but they are very labor intensive. We exchange cookie plates with a few friends, so I also include easier things that can be made in bulk fairly quickly - English toffee, peppermint bark, spiced walnuts, and chocolate dipped dried apricots. The latter are soooo good. There is a little orchard across the street from where I work where they grow and dry Blenheims - the best! They sell them already dipped in their little gift shop, but they're very pricey and it's easy enough to do hundreds in an hour or so.

[five one]

My grandmother, Maddalena, came to the USA all by herself at the age of 16, in 1914. She stood a little over 5 feet tall. She met my grandfather in a doll clothes factory where they both worked long hours for terrible wages. Her older brother (and her guardian) did not approve of my grandfather, he called him a good for nothing. Maddalena's first child was stillborn, her second child was hit by a car at the age of 6, and she lost another baby in there somewhere. (She had 3 kids that lived to be adults including my own father. She thought reading would spoil the mind, and when my mother had an ovary removed, my grandmother told her that she would only have babies of one sex.. (and it came to pass that my mother had 2 girls!)

Maddalena was a good cook and she and my grandfather were married for over 60 years before she died.
I can assure you, she NEVER rode a bike.

enough ancient history. I honor her by cooking with some of her recipes from time to time. I am telling you her story, because I, her namesake, thought some of you would enjoy it.

That's a wonderful (and tragic) story. Thanks for sharing it. I think women were often made of tougher stuff in past generations. I have transcriptions of journals written by my great, great grandmother and her mother (great X 3) who lived in Alabama before, during, and after the Civil War. Their lives were amazingly difficult by today's standards.

[mimitabby]

After years of practically killing myself making dozens of a dozen different type of cookie, I gave up and now make only frosted gingerbread, but they are very labor intensive. We exchange cookie plates with a few friends, so I also include easier things that can be made in bulk fairly quickly - English toffee, peppermint bark, spiced walnuts, and chocolate dipped dried apricots. The latter are soooo good. There is a little orchard across the street from where I work where they grow and dry Blenheims - the best! They sell them already dipped in their little gift shop, but they're very pricey and it's easy enough to do hundreds in an hour or so.

I LOVE gingerbread. with double ginger!

5 ' 1," my grandmother's story isn't that tragic, there are sad qualities to it, but she had a good life, I think. As a child I never could figure out why she was so grouchy. Who knew! she was sad. and she didn't like my mother who read books!

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Mimi, I love hearing about your grandmother and about Alphonsina!

[Bikingmomof3]

fishdr & 5'1- Thanks for the cookie suggestions. I am afraid to bring up baking candy to X. Although, my favourite treat as a wee one at Christmas was homemade Nut Goodie bars, maybe i can find a recipe online, do not tell X.

Mimi- Thank you for sharing your Grandmother's life with us. She sounds like she was one remarkable woman.

[five one]

I LOVE gingerbread. with double ginger!

My recipe calls for 2-3 tsp. ginger. I use 3 generous tsp. Any more than that and I get complaints that there is too much bite to them. As if !

[crazycanuck]

Umm...if you make cookies, you can't send them down this way...I don't think...Please eat a gingerbread cookie for me k.

Good to see the religion thread was closed!!!! I was about to complain even further....glad I can make a ruckus...(sp?)

I'm doing a mini tri this weekend and am going to wear reindeer ears on the run...or a santa hat...

c

[bcipam]

Crazy I don't know why what you just said bothers me, , but I am so sorry to see the "church" thread (not religion) bothered you so and you felt a need to make a say something about your wanting it to stop and had it not, you would make a ruckus. The thread was neither offensive or inappropiate.

Time and again there are threads on this forums (and other forums) I don't always agree with but I do believe everyone is entitled to their own opinion about things regardless if I agree with it or not (this is the true meaning of "tolerance"). If a thread is offensive or of no interest I just choose not to go there. Our discussion was quite pleasant, many viewpoints were expressed, not just Christian. Why did you feel a need to say something there to get it stopped and to also say something here about stopping it? The ladies posting, even those who were not Christians I think enjoyed expressing their own individual viewpoints and beliefs.

I'm not angry or upset just curious about why you would care at all. It would have been nice to let that thread, as do most, die its own death.

[mimitabby]

Bcipam, i felt the same way Crazy did. it felt okay as long as we were just talking about what we believed and how we communed with nature or Goddess or whatever. but as soon as folks started talking about religion and government, I personally felt like an endangered species. politics don't mix well with spiritual conversations, you know?

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

I felt the same way.
In the beginning, there was at least a tenuous connection between "going to church" and cycling, with the poll and all. But that connection eventually ran its course and it was becoming a long discussion on religion and politics and Jesus and atheisim and government, etc. One could detect the beginnings of trouble in the church thread.
I certainly hear what you are saying about us being able to discuss "anything" on this forum, what a great forum it is, and the Church thread was generally quite civil, ...but remember the forum guidelines do clearly ask us not to hold lengthy discussions on religion or politics. There are very good reasons for that. That's what made that thread different other non-cycling threads, even from other threads that have to do with other sometimes controversial subjects.
I wouldn't think any particular people were responsible for the thread getting locked, but I would assume it was due to various factors, not the least of which is the one I described above.
Just my own opinion, worth about 2 cents.
Long live TE, and all us great cycling women!

[kelownagirl]

Oooh, the weight-training thread is suddenly VERY active.

[Lise]

Please, let's keep Thread Drift the snarky, somewhat detached place it's always been. Don't drag the "church" debate over here. I went, I read a post or two, I left.