ACCM - Christmas Eve

This Christmas Eve I'll be enjoying time with my in-laws. We'll be eating Beef Tenderloin, Burgundy Mushrooms, Green Bean Casserole, Beer Dip with Pretzels, and so much more. We'll be enjoying drinks as well and opening presents. Yes...we open the family presents on Christmas Eve so everyone can be around to watch the little ones' excitement as they open their gifts. My mother-in-law's house will be packed to capacity and the noise, while incredibly loud, will be a joy to experience. All the conversations going on at once.  All the catching up. It's one day that all of us get together. The only thing that could put a damper on attendance is if it snows or gets icy and two of my brothers-in-law will have to man the trucks and take care of the city streets. So we'll cross our fingers that this isn't the case.

As the night passes family will slowly head home to prepare for Christmas morning. The hubby will read Twas the Night Before Christmas to our boys and send them off to bed after cookies and milk are put out for Santa and a carrot for Rudolph. Once my youngest is asleep, my oldest will sneak out and help me pack the stockings and bring up the presents. This is probably the last year that my youngest will believe in Santa. He's been asking questions. Next year he'll probably be helping with the presents too. It'll be a little sad, but we'll still make it fun.

So if you celebrate the Holiday, I wish you a very merry Christmas. If you don't then I'll simply say "may the best of the closing year be yours!"

Military Monday - Fort Carson GWOT Fallen Soldiers' Memorial, 2004-2005

These photos were taken shortly after Memorial Weekend on Fort Carson. All of the flags, flowers, bottles and various token were left behind by friends and loved ones as a tribute to those they lost. We need to remember ever single one of them!

Roll Call

SSG Arthur C. Williams IV 8 Dec 2004
SPC Robert W. Hoyt 11 Dec 2004
CPL Jimmy D. Buie 4 Jan 2005
SGT Joshua S. Marcum 4 Jan 2005
SGT Bennie J. Washington 4 Jan 2005
SPC Jeremy W. McHalffey 5 Jan 2005
SPC Daniel F. Guastaferro 7 Jan 2005
SPC Michael J. Smith 11 Jan 2005
PFC Jesus Fonseca 17 Jan 2005
SPC George R. Geer 17 Jan 2005
SSG Thomas E. Vitagliano 17 Jan 2005
SPC Lyle Rymer 28 Jan 2005
SPC James H. Miller IV 30 Jan 2005
SPC Michael A. Arciola 15 Feb 2005
SSG Jason R. Hendrix 16 Feb 2005
SSG Alexander B. Crackel 24 Feb 2005
SPC Chassan S. Henry 25 Feb 2005
SGT Julio Enrique Negron 28 Feb 2005



SGT Lizbeth Robles 28 Feb 2005
SFC Donald W. Eacho 4 Mar 2005

CPT Sean P. Grimes 4 Mar 2005

CPL Stephen M. McGowan 4 Mar 2005
SPC Wade M. Twyman 4 Mar 2005
SSG Andrew L. Bossert 7 Mar 2005
SPC Michael W. Franklin 7 Mar 2005
SPC Nicholas E. Wilson 11 Mar 2005
SPC Francisco G. Martinez 20 Mar 2005
SPC Samuel S. Lee 28 Mar 2005
SGT Angelo Luis Lozada Jr 16 Apr 2005
SPC Randy L. Stevens 16 Apr 2005
SGT Tromaine K. Toy Sr. 16 Apr 2005
PFC Joseph Labian Knott 17 Apr 2005
PFC Robert Westley Murray Jr. 28 Apr 2005
SPC Ricky William Rockholt Jr. 28 Apr 2005
SSG Juan D. Garcia Arana 30 Apr 2005
SGT Stephen P. Saxton 3 May 2005
SSG Thor H. Ingraham 8 May 2005

SPC Nicolas E. Messmer 8 May 2005
SGT Jacob Mark Si(m)pson 16 May 2005
SGT Antwan L. Walker 18 May 2005*
SGT Charles T. Wilkerson 22 May 2005
SPC Joshua T. Brazee 23 May 2005
CPL Phillip c. Edmundson 1 Jun 2005
SPC Louis E. Niedermeier 1 Jun 2005
SPC Eric James Poelman 5 Jun 2005
SPC Brian Scott Ulbrich 5 Jun 2005
SSG Justin Lee Vazquez 5 Jun 2005
SFC Neil A. Prince 11 Jun 2005
SPC Anthony D. Kinslow 13 Jun2005
SGT Larry R. Kuhns Jr. 13 Jun2005

May all of our Service Members come home for good soon!

Fort Carson 2003-2004 memorial post
Fort Carson 2004 memorial post

*An unobstructed photo of the memorial stone taken several months after the top-most photo so names could be clearly seen.

ACCM - Christmas Baking

Ignore my caved-in pumpkin bread. I'm baking at 7100 feet and have an aversion to adjusting my recipes...

Pumpkin Bread....so yummy! I used to grab the boxes of pumpkin bread mix in the stores as soon as it started showing up around Thanksgiving. Sadly it would disappear from the shelves shortly after the new year. I decided I would have to find a homemade recipe that was as good or better than the boxed stuff I was buying...and I found one!

Unfortunately, I've been using this recipe for years and copied it down without the source. I found it online and I really wish I could share the source, but I'm certainly still going to share the recipe. There are a few changes that I've made. The spices are "heaping" measurements. I know they weren't in the original. I like my spice! I've also substituted some wheat flour into the recipe. You can go with all white flour if you'd prefer. The recipe makes one loaf, but if you're a fan of pumpkin bread like I am just double it. Use the whole 15 oz can of pumpkin puree. It won't be exactly 2 cups, but it works. Trust me on this one. And by doubling it you won't have leftover pumpkin!

Pumpkin Nut Bread

1/3 c. butter (or margarine), softened
1-1/3 c. sugar
2 eggs, beaten
1/4 c. water
1 c. pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling!)
1 c. flour
2/3 c. wheat flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. cinnamon, heaping
1/4 tsp. cloves, heaping
1/4 tsp. pumpkin pie spice, heaping
1/2 c. nuts, chopped (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees (F).

In a mixing bowl cream together the butter and sugar until light; set aside.

In another bowl combine the eggs, water and pumpkin; mix well. Add creamed butter mixture; blend thoroughly. Sift dry ingredients together in another bowl and add to creamed mixture 1/3 at a time, stirring well after each addition. Mix in the nuts, if desired.

Pour into a greased and floured 9x5x3-inch loaf pan for 50 to 55 minutes or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.

ACCM - Christmas Tree Decorations

Some of the ornaments from when I was little still hang on my tree.

Who didn't have a glass pinecone?

What kind of decorations do you put on your Christmas tree? Is your tree all pretty glass ornaments and ribbon? I can really appreciate the beauty of those trees. I can appreciate it, but it isn't me. I'm not even sure if I'm capable of putting together one of those flawless, beautiful, artistic trees. I think it would turn out more like a Pinterest-fail if I made the attempt. That's alright though because the decorations on my tree express more than beauty. Each one has its own story. Whether it was purchased because it was merely pretty or because it represented an experience or place visited, it says something about who we are as a family.

My tree has pretty much always been like that. As I mentioned in an earlier post, my adopted-nana, Hazel Blum, made some ornaments for my sisters and I. One in particular that I recall was little magazine clippings that were decoupaged on a plastic egg-shaped ornament. She clipped things that reminded her of us. Perhaps a scottie dog for my little sister or a doll for me. It was homemade and it was cherished. Sadly, I don't have these ornaments anymore. Any ornaments that were "mine" are MIA. I asked my father, keeper-of-the-Christmas-stuff, for them years ago and he said that he didn't have them. He said that he had given them to us. I don't know what really happened to them, but I don't have them. I do have a lot of decorations from my childhood, but never these. These most cherished of items.

Not all ornaments are traditional.

Yes there were glass ornaments on my tree growing up. Probably ornaments that are very similar to ones you may have had on your tree. Perhaps you still do. I know my husband's family had similar ornaments as well. They were in vogue at the time. In addition to those ornaments I added some that I painted.

The first Christmas that I was in the Army and didn't go home to be with family I bought my own live tree and needed to decorate it. I didn't have any ornaments so I got some plaster craft ornaments and painted them. I tied ribbon to them and hung them on my tree with white lights and baby's breath to simulate snow. It was beautiful to me and I didn't need much. I still have those ornaments.

As time went on I got other ornaments from friends and family and they've been added to our tree decorating. We even have a glass pickle ornament that we hide on the tree and the child that finds it gets a special present. Each year I get my sons a new ornament and put their initial on it somewhere. This way when they grow up they'll be able to take these ornaments with them to put on their first Christmas tree. It's a tradition I started, but one I hope they will continue with their children.

A poi ornament from our time living in Hawaii

Ornaments aren't something parents should covet so they could remember when their children were at home with them once they've gone off on their own. They are gifts of memories that we give to our children so they can remember the good times at home during the Holidays with family that wasn't perfect, but the loved and cherished them.

Happy Holidays everyone!

A plastercraft ornament for my youngest

A plastercraft ornament I painted for my oldest

Some help us remember places we've been...

...and some show our family fanaticism.

ACCM - Christmas Cookies

I purchased this copy of The New World Encyclopedia
of Cooking on Ebay for about $20.00. I love everything,
but...the smell (yuck mildew)!

I've blogged Christmas recipes in previous years. My favorite cocoa refrigerator cookies, "Aunt" Hazel's peanut butter fudge, and my mom's, aunt's and uncle's favorite...sand tarts.

This year I'd like to share my mom's sugar cookie recipe. My mom made the BEST sugar cookies. They had orange zest in them and were just so yummy. I haven't made them in quite a few years. Since we started going to Wisconsin for Christmas around 2009 there was no need. You see my sisters and mother-in-law would get pre-cut sugar cookies as a tradition and the aunts would gather around and color some icing purchased from Festival Foods. We'd ice the cookies and pass them to the kids to put sugar crystals and sprinkles on top. The result was a lot of fun for the kids and a little nudge closer to diabetes for the adults. "Sugar rush" is an understatement!

There were usually lots of cookies to take home after the holidays so I stopped making my mom's sugar cookies because of this. Now most of my nephews and nieces are grown up. Fewer and fewer want to decorate cookies. It won't be long before I start making these again to keep sugar cookies around for my kids. Sugar cut-out cookies are just a must for the holidays!

I've had some trouble with this recipe in the past. I won't bend the truth here. My cookies just weren't coming out as yummy as mom's. It bothered me. I'm a pretty good baker. The cookies were tough. I'm not talking tough to make, I mean tough as in how they tasted after I made them. Frankly, they were kicking my butt. I couldn't figure it out. The first couple batches were fine. Then it came to me. I was re-rolling the dough too many times.  Yeah...don't do that. Take the scraps and re-roll once. Try to maximize your cut-outs so you don't have a lot of scraps left. Heck...give the scraps to the kids (or eat them yourself...cookie dough...YUM!). Just don't do more than two rolls from the same dough. No bueno!

Now I must go on to clarify that while I say these are my "mom's" sugar cookies she actually got them from The New World Encyclopedia of Cooking. They're on page 673. There are several variations to this recipe listed below the base sugar cookie recipe and one of them is "Lemon Sugar Cookies." My mom didn't add lemon zest to the batter, she used orange zest.

Growing up I remember putting those candy silver balls, red hots, colored sprinkles an sugar crystals on them. We were never allowed to put too much on and you really wouldn't want to cover up the flavor of these!

My Mom's (ahem...TNWEOC's) Sugar Cookies

2/3 c butter
1 c sugar
2 c flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1-1/2 tsp vanilla
2 eggs
1 orange, zested

Cream together the butter and sugar. Add the eggs and vanilla; mix. In a separate bowl combine the flour, baking powder, salt, nutmeg, and orange zest. Slowly mix the dry ingredients into the creamed butter mixture.

Divide dough and place on a sheet of waxed paper. Place another sheet over the dough a press to about 1/2 to 1-inch thickness. Do this with the other half of the dough and refrigerate overnight or until firm.

Break off a piece of the dough and roll out on a lightly floured surface until about 1/4-inch thick. Cut into shapes. Make sure to maximize your cutouts to reduce scraps and re-rolling! Bake in a 375 degree (F) oven for 10 minutes on a parchment-lined baking sheet until the bottoms are golden.

Transfer to cooling racks and cool completely.

Remember that after you break a piece of dough off to roll that you must put the rest of it back in the refrigerator until you're ready to use more dough. You want it to stay cold!

Also if you're decorating without icing and just sprinkles you want to decorate before you bake them.

Sympathy Saturday - Hopes Dashed

I've posted several times about my 2nd great aunt, Bessie Dugan. She died shortly after giving birth to her daughter, Elizabeth "Betty," by c-section in 1918. I was obsessed about finding out what happened to her daughter. Why? Bessie's parents, William and Mary Quirk nee Lee, had 9 children...only 2 of them married and had children of their own. My great grandfather, Edward Quirk, was one of them. Bessie Dugan nee Quirk was the other. I was in disbelief that so few had gotten married.

At first I had assumed that Betty had died near the time that Bessie did, but then I found her in a 1920 census with her dad. I won't go into too much detail. I've already done so in other posts which I will link to at the bottom if you'd like to read more. The point is I've been searching (and hoping) not just that I'd figure out what happened to her, but that I'd hear that she lived and that she had children and that there are other branches to my Quirk family to get in touch with.

Hopes dashed.

Pennsylvania Death Certificate - Elizabeth Dugan child of Dennis and Elizabeth nee Quirk

Mystery solved. Betty didn't reach her fourth year of life. She died from diphtheria in 1922. How absolutely heart-broken her father must have been to lose them both. How heart-breaking it was to find that death certificate and have it confirmed that my Quirk line is the only one that lives on.

In her death certificate her place of burial was listed as "Hazleton Catholic Cemetery." Yeah...thanks. No cemetery by that name. Bessie is buried in my family cemetery, St. Gabriel's, in Hazleton. So is Betty. I contact the church (now Holy Annunciation) and they have little Betty in their death register for 1922. Sadly they don't have a plot number for her. Their assumption is the same as mine...that she is buried in the same plot as her mother. I'll be looking for that obituary when I go back to Pennsylvania next summer. Hopefully, it's not on one of the Standard Speaker's many missing rolls of microfilm. If it is I'll have to go and seek out an obituary in Bethlehem.  The bottom line is that I want them remembered though. Always.

Ambiguous cemetery listed for burial

I'm grateful for the advances of modern medicine. Diphtheria isn't a concern anymore. We have a vaccination to protect against it. I'm amazed that Bessie died of c-section complications and not the influenza pandemic that was peaking at the time of little Betty's birth. Perhaps that was a contributing factor, but it's not in her certificate that way. I'm equally amazed that little Betty was able to avoid the flu and then die just before her fourth birthday from diphtheria. Diphtheria was certainly a killer of children, but to live through a terrible pandemic to die a few years later is desperately sad. The odds were not in her favor.

Dugan posts:
Wisdom Wednesday - I Live For These Moments
Amanuensis Monday - Two Steps Forward and One Step Back
Amanuensis Monday - The Long Lost Dennis Dugan
Tombstone Tuesday - Another Brick in the Wall
Amanuensis Monday - Always Searching for Bessie

ACCM - Christmas at Church

The Shrine at Our Lady of Good Help in New Franken, WI decorated
for Christmas

My family is Catholic. Like way back Catholic. My paternal grandparents were Catholic, but switched because of a disagreement over divorce/annulment with the Church and became Methodist (I think), but everyone else...Catholic. My hubby's family is Catholic as well. My mother-in-law is German so there are some Lutherans there, but it was pretty well split between the two faiths.

When I was young we'd go to midnight mass on Christmas Eve. I'm not sure why my parents would do that to themselves. I say that because they'd come home and send us kids off to bed and then would have to get the presents out and put together any big ones that needed assembly. They must not have gotten much sleep that night. Kids tend to wake up early on Christmas morning! There were a couple times when we'd get up super early and go to their room to see if we could go out to see if Santa had arrived. We'd be told that it was too early and to go back to bed.

As an adult I liked going to Christmas Eve mass as well, but not the midnight service. When my husband and I first got married and had children that's the one we went to. It wasn't necessarily "getting mass out of the way," but it is more convenient than waking kids up in the morning and parading them past presents on their way to church. To me going to mass on Christmas Eve just got me even more in the Christmas spirit. You go to mass and then come home for a nice meal. Enjoy some Christmas Eve television specials with a cup of tea or hot cocoa and then send the kids off to bed and get to bringing out the presents. The next morning was just enjoying the day with family.

After we started spending Christmas in Wisconsin with my in-laws doing Christmas Eve mass wasn't possible. I tried it once, but it threw off the schedule of events. You see my in-laws all gather together on Christmas Eve at my mother-in-law's house. We have beef tenderloin and lots of other tasty treats and gifts are exchanged. There's actually a lot more that goes on, but that's a short, sweet summary of events. The night starts early so heading to church means delaying everyone else's night and that's not right. I like the way they do things...Christmas Eve together and then Christmas day with their in-laws. It works out nicely and the kids and I head out to mass with my mother-in-law Christmas morning. We usually get everyone up early enough so the boys can check out their stockings before heading out. It seems to tide them over until we get back home.

I love seeing how beautifully decorated the Churches are for Advent and Christmas. I really need to get a picture of my husband's church in Green Bay. Saints Peter and Paul's is always stunningly decorated! It really is breath-taking! Seeing all the decorations helps to put me in the holiday spirit. I love the songs during church at Christmas too. They range from "Go Tell it on the Mountain" to "Silent Night." You don't want to hear me sing, but I've got no fear singing these songs!

Another favorite part of church at Christmas is the manger scene. We rarely have attended a production of the Nativity, but we always take the kids to the front of the church to see the manger after mass. Baby Jesus is absent from the manger scene throughout Advent and then is placed in the manger at midnight mass. Perhaps that's why my mom liked going to midnight mass. The absence of Jesus from the manger is something we do at home with our little Nativity. We leave Jesus out and place him in Christmas Eve or Christmas morning. At least when we celebrated Christmas at home. We put out baby Jesus sooner when we go to Wisconsin for the holidays. It wouldn't serve a purpose to put him in there in January and then clean it all up!

Advent and Christmas in the Catholic Church always gives me a feeling that we're ramping up to something big...and we are. It gets you into the spirit. It helps everyone to remember the real reason behind the season!