Day 56, Year 9: A Handley Family Tradition
Date: Sunday, December 15, 2013
Weather: Icy Rain Overnight, Cloudy with Temp in the 40’s Today
Location: Brewer Fiddler’s Cove Marina, North Falmouth, Massachusetts
We spent today at Heather and Jed’s making braided bread wreaths. This has been a tradition in our family since Heather and Justin were very young and Heather wanted to do this to start passing the tradition on to Sam, Jonah, and Ollie. The wreaths are made from whole wheat flour which means that the dough is very heavy. But that was no problem for the Goldpebbles when they joined into kneading process. When I am just about finished kneading the bread, I always throw the dough down on the surface a few times just so it knows I mean business. Well, all three boys really got into this. We sent flour flying all over the kitchen, but we had a great time. And later the boys helped with the braiding process. At one point Jonah noted that he was braiding the dough just like Oma braids her hair. But even though I braid my hair every morning and have made bread wreaths for over three decades, Heather is by far the better braider. Her bread wreaths are perfect. So this meant that after I braided a couple, I handed that job over to her. She made 14 bread wreaths and I made 14 half-pints of cranberry freezer jam to go with them. The jam recipe called for a couple of shots of Grand Marnier and that added just the perfect touch to the cranberries. The wreaths will go to friends and neighbors to spread a little holiday cheer. And hopefully Sam, Jonah, and Ollie will begin to see that it can be more heart-warming to give than to receive.
The weather today was strange. When we woke up it was 48 degrees F outside, but as the day progressed the temperature regressed. It is back to freezing tonight. A change in the previous forecast says we will get snow on Tuesday. We were hoping to get the boat covered on that day. But now Thursday looks to be the more likely possibility. I’m hoping to celebrate solstice undercover.
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| 131215 Day 51, USA–Holiday Bread Wreaths |
