Update 12-30-03


Hi,

Couple of notes and a Christmas cookie recipe, a real one this time. And pretty good, too. First, the notes:

From Terri Donohue Calamari: Happy holidays from Naples, Florida. I am happy to report that I am in Cold Mountain. The scene takes place as Jude Law leaves the hospital. When he stops to buy peanuts from a prophetic vendor, I am standing behind Jude, holding a parasol and talking to a man in a stovepipe top hat.
The film is the strongest antiwar film I've seen since The Deer Hunter. It is timely and beautifully made. See you at the movies.

From Janice Williams Teeuwe: I just want to wish a very blessed 2004 for all of you. And let us not forget to remember all of our soldiers in the war and their families.
I was happy to see that I passed my final in my next anthropology quest. I am enjoying going back to school, though I must say it is quite a costly adventure at my age. Oh, well,
it will all be worth it in the end.
I am also still home-schooling my 16-year-old daughter. My oldest just built a beautiful half-million dollar home. It has 6300 square feet in it, while mine is only 3300 square. Still, that is enough for me to keep up with, considering all of my extra curricular activities: I am working to support my school habit, plus I also watch my 4-year-old grandson while my second daughter is getting her Master's degree in special speech education. Then, add 8 indoor pets, and many other miscellaneous activities, and there you have it -- I have minus time. I only got to ride my Harley twice this past summer, so next year I really have to make time for that.
Anyway, God bless you all. I often wish we could go back for just one day of school to see each other again. I will make sure I make it to the next reunion.
Happy Holidays again!

The recipe, from the L.A. Times: Chocolate Sparkle Cookies
Is it possible to fall in love with a cookie? Staff writer Jennifer Lowe did when she visited the Senses Bakery in Vancouver, Canada. The bakery shared the recipe with us in our December 4th section. The trick to these soft, truffle-like cookies is in the beating -- beat the eggs and sugar until ribbons form, meaning that when the beaters are lifted, the batter falls back onto itself in ribbons. This could take up to 10 minutes of beating. You can grind raw almonds in a food processor or blender. These are best with chocolate that is 70% cocoa.

Total time: 1 hour, plus 8 hours chilling.
Servings: About 36 cookies
Ingredients:
1/2 pound bittersweet or semisweet chocolate3 tablespoons butter, room temperature
2 eggs
1/3 cup sugar, plus more for rolling
3/4 cup ground almonds
Powdered sugar, for garnish

1. Melt the chocolate in the top of a double boiler set over, but not touching, simmering water. Remove from the heat. Cut the butter into a few pieces and mix into the chocolate until melted.
2. Beat the eggs with an electric mixer, gradually adding the sugar until ribbons form, 5 to 10 minutes. Fold in the chocolate-butter mixture. Gently add the ground almonds. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
3. Heat the oven to 325 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
4. Use a cookie scoop to form the dough into 1-inch balls. Roll the balls in granulated sugar, place on the baking sheet about 2 inches apart and immediately place in the oven.
5. Bake until the center of the cookies is no longer wet, 9 to 12 minutes. When slightly cool, lightly dust the cookies with powdered sugar.
Each serving: 64 calories; 15 mg. sodium; 14 mg. cholesterol; 4 grams fat; 2 grams saturated fat; 6 grams carbohydrates; 1 gram protein; 0.62 gram fiber

Finally, a bonus, classic e-mail forward, from about 8 years back:  World News: Clinton Deploys Vowels to Bosnia -- Cities of Sjlbvdnzv and Grzny to be First Recipients
     Before an emergency joint session of Congress yesterday, President Clinton announced US plans to deploy over 75,000 vowels to the war-torn region of Bosnia. The deployment, the largest of its kind in American history, will provide the region with the critically needed letters A, E, I, O and U, and is hoped to render countless Bosnian names more pronounceable. "For six years, we have stood by while names like Ygrjvslhv and Tzlynhr and Glrm have been horribly butchered by millions around the world," Clinton said. "Today, the United States must finally stand up and say ‘Enough.' It is time the people of Bosnia finally had some vowels in their incomprehensible words. The US is proud to lead the crusade in this noble endeavor."
     The deployment, dubbed Operation Vowel Storm by the State Department, is set for early next week, with the Adriatic port cities of Sjlbvdnzv and Grzny slated to be the first recipients. Two C-130 transport planes, each carrying over 500 24-count boxes of E's, will fly from Andrews Air Force Base across the Atlantic and airdrop the letters over the cities.
Citizens of Grzny and Sjlbvdnzv eagerly await the arrival of the vowels. "My God, I do not think we can last another day," Trszg Grzdnjkln, 44, said. "I have six children and none of them has a name that is understandable to me or to anyone else. Mr. Clinton, please send my poor, wretched family just one E. Please." Said Sjlbvdnzv resident Grg Hmphrs, 67: "With just a few key letters, I could be George Humphries. This is my dream."
     If the initial airlift is successful, Clinton said the United States will go ahead with full-scale vowel deployment, with C-130's airdropping thousands more letters over every area of Bosnia. Other nations are expected to pitch in as well, including 10,000 British A's and 6,500 Canadian U's. Japan, rich in A's and O's was asked to participate, but declined.
     "With these valuable letters, the people of war-ravaged Bosnia will be able to make some terrific new words," Clinton said. "It should be very exciting for them, and much easier for us to read their maps."Linguists praise the US's decision to send the vowels. For decades they have struggled with the hard consonants and difficult pronunciation of most Slavic words. "Vowels are crucial to construction of all language," Baylor University linguist Noam Frankel said. "Without them, it would be difficult to utter a single word, much less organize a coherent sentence. Please, just don't get me started on the moon-man languages they use in those Eastern European countries." According to Frankel, once the Bosnians have vowels, they will be able to construct such valuable sentences as:
   "The potatoes are ready;" "I believe it will rain;" and "All my children are dead from the war." (And "Oh my God, there's an axe in my head."?)
     The airdrop represents the largest deployment of any letter to a foreign country since 1984. During the summer of that year, the US shipped 92,000 consonants to Ethiopia, providing cities like Ouaouoaua, Eaoiiuae, and Aao with vital, life-giving supplies of L's, S's and T's. The consonant-relief effort failed, however, when vast quantities of the letters were intercepted and horded by violent, gun-toting warlords.

Oh, yeah, Happy New Year!

The home page: http://hometown.aol.com/falcon

Rich