The Silenced Majority.

My parents arrived safely from Kelowna therefore blogging will be intermittent for the next week. We are busy slowly thawing them out over a open fire, they should be alert by Christmas Eve!  Family is more important than blogging, I will attempt to post, but don't expect much until they leave.

Talking to my Liberal Mom and Dad, they are as worried as I am about the lack of respect for Christians that is occurring in Canada today. They can't understand how minorities get listened to by the media while the majority is silenced. It is no longer the silent majority, it is the silenced majority.

Support Israel, you are a racist. Support traditional marriage, you are a homo-scardy-cat red-necked intolerant gun welding Christian.

Yikes, did I say Christian? Is that term still allowed on campuses? Are free debates about abortion allowed on campuses? Debates on Islam, the religion of peace, should be enlightening, if they were allowed! Free speech only if you agree with my point of view. Sad really.



Every Christmas, is a Merry Christmas. Don't let stupid political opinions divide your family at this time of year. Merry Christmas to all my readers, thank you for your support and comments (I love the comments, keep them coming, they are your chance to voice your opinion on issues). I will try to post between the perogies on Christmas Eve and the turkey on Christmas day. If not, may your family be together, in love this year.

Christmas And Traditional Food Recipes.

Due to popular demand.....okay, one person asked for my perogy recipe....it's time for a recipe exchange!

Christmas Eve is a "meatless" meal in our house. We start with dessert, a sweetened wheat, then on to the cabbage (sauerkraut) soup then the main course with salmon and perogies. Off to midnight Mass and when we get back it's usually ham sandwiches and opening one present.

Here is my recipe for perogies. The dough is the most important.

Perogy Dough

8 cups potato water
1 cup oil
3 beaten eggs
12 cups of flour

Mix it all up then add

10 cups of flour

This makes a huge amount of perogies so make sure you have helpers. You can freeze any left over dough for next time.

The most popular filling is mashed potatoes (keep the potato water for the dough) and cheddar cheese. Put the grated cheese into the potatoes when they are still hot so the cheese melts. I also do sauerkraut filling: fry bacon and onions, cool and then add to potatoes and sauerkraut.  Roll out the dough (the less you handle it the better) cut out circles, fill making sure you have closed all ends, and boil until they pop to the surface, usually 3 to 4 minutes. Serve with onions and sour cream.

Of course the best part about Christmas is all the treats! My reader and contributor to FNF's SOR sent me this wonderful recipe, which I'll make today.

Oreo Cookie Truffles

1 box oreo cookies

1 package cream cheese

chocolate melting wafers (I use half milk and half dark) found in the bulk section of grocery store

coconut


1-put whole box of cookies in the food processor and chop fine.  No need to separate the cookie from the filling.

2-mix in cream cheese until soft sticky consistency (you may need to use your hands)

3-chill until firm enough to roll into balls

4-line a cookie sheet with wax paper

5-melt wafers in a double boiler on low heat.  When melted dip each oreo ball in chocolate and place on cookie sheet.

6-sprinkle with coconut or melted white chocolate

7-refrigerate until chocolate is hard

8-makes about 30 truffles depending on how big you make your balls.

Depending on how big you make your balls? LOL! This seems easy and delicious.

One of my quick treats is marble squares, they taste like chewy chocolate chip cookies, but better:

Marble Squares

1 cup butter
3/4 cup white sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350F (175C). Grease and flour a 9x13 pan.

In a medium bowl, cream the butter (I cheat and soften it in the microwave) with white and brown sugar. Stir in eggs and vanilla. Sift together the flour and baking soda.

Spread mixture evenly into prepared pan. Sprinkle the chocolate chips over the top. Bake for 5 minutes, then using a butter knife, swirl the melted chips into the batter for the marbleized effect. Bake for 15 minutes longer.

I have made these 4 times in the last two weeks for a Jazz band bake sale, Dogs with Wings pot luck and for school parties. Very easy to make and very tasty.

If any of you have a favorite recipe, please send me an email (hunterinalberta1@hushmail.com) or leave it in the comments. I'm interested in a good shortbread recipe and one for "Oh Henry" type bars. So, share your recipes with all of us, it's a non-partisan type of Christmas activity!

Is There Anybody Out There??

We are stranded in our house. My hubby went out at about 8:00 this morning and thank goodness he has a big honking gas eating truck, because even Calgary Trail had not been plowed. He barely made it home. He strung rope to our garage so I can go out there and have a smoke, without getting lost in the blizzard. HA!

We went from no snow to this, all in a matter of hours:



Our Christmas decorations are totally buried in a snow bank, except for some reindeer ears sticking up.



Good day to make perogies for Christmas Eve. First you make mashed potatoes, save the potato water for the dough. Then you add the cheese, while the potatoes are still warm.


I am also making potato/sauerkraut/onion/bacon perogies for my Dad. The most important part is the dough:

7.5 cups potato water
1 cup oil
3 beaten eggs
12 cups flour
mix
add 10 more cups flour.

Any unused dough can be frozen.

Go back in time and think about what our pioneer women had to use in the dead of winter before refrigeration and easy travel. They had fresh milk/cream/butter, flour, potatoes, garlic, onions, and sauerkraut. They created a delicious meal for their families from nothing. We still enjoy it today. Too bad so many people just go to the nearest grocery store and buy them now (rubber). Do people really buy frozen macaroni and cheese dinners instead of making it from scratch?

While making perogies, I slap together dessert. My family is not big on sweets, my boys will grab a carrot before a piece of cake, but every time I make this it disappears in under two days. It's easy and delicious.

While making all those perogies, we are listening to our all time favorite PM sing:



Even my "doesn't care about politics" hubby wanted to hear that, ONE MORE TIME!