Every New Year's Eve we make New Year's cookies, also called "Porzelchen" (High German) or "Niejoash koake" (Low German). These raisin fritters have been made by German Mennonites for many generations. The High German name means "Tumbling Over" because they turn over by themselves when they are dropped into deep fat. The photo shows Monica dropping the dough into the fat.
Here's the recipe:
2 cups milk
1/4 cup melted butter
3 eggs
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups raisins
1 tablespoon yeast
4-5 cups flour
Scald the milk (heat it until it starts to bubble), then let it cool to lukewarm. Add the remaining ingredients and mix well. I knead the dough a bit and add the raisins last. Then cover and let rise until double.
Heat oil on medium heat to 350 degrees. Use a candy thermometer to keep the temperature consistent. Drop the dough into the hot oil and fry until brown. The Niejoash koake will turn over when they are done.
Drain on paper towels, then roll in granulated sugar.
We brought our Niejoash koake to a New Year's Eve gathering, where they were a big hit, especially with the youngest members of the group.
The recipe is adapted from
Off the Mountain Lake Range, a cookbook produced by the Gopher Historians of 1958. The following Low German nursery rhyme is also taken from the book:
Eck sach den Shornsteen Roacke.
Eck visst voll vaut ye moacke.
Ye backte Niejoash Koake.
Yave ye me eane
Dann bliev eck stoane
Yave ye me twea
Dann fang eck aun to goane
Yave ye me drea, fea, feef toaglick
Donn vensch eck you daut gaunse Himmelrick.
English Translation:
I saw your chimney smoking.
I knew what you were making.
You were baking New Year's Cookies.
Give me one -- I stand still.
Give me two -- I start walking.
Give me three, four, five at once,
Then I wish you the Kingdom of Heaven.
After more than a week of bitter cold, we had a welcome January thaw. Perfect weather for a homeschool gathering for Mahoney State Park that was planned for today. The girls enjoyed ice skating with their friends. Because the rink was shaded, most of the ice was still good.
After skating the girls played in the indoor playland with some of their friends. That's my two on the right.
We made roast vegetables this week. It's fairly easy. Start by cutting up several kinds of veggies. Here we used tomatoes, onions, peppers and broccoli. We have also used potatoes, cauliflower, mushrooms and zucchini.
Put the veggies in a bowl that has a lid. (I use Tupperware.) In a separate bowl, combine olive oil with an all-purpose spice mixture. We often use Misty's Seasoning, which is available locally. This week we used Weber Grill Creations Chicago Steak seasoning. Pour the mixture over the veggies, put the lid on the bowl and shake well.
This week we made "the loaf of glory." It's a Caribbean banana bread that is very moist, more like plum pudding (especially since we make it with an extra banana). We let the bananas get VERY ripe before making this. Here's the recipe:
to order it.
Last weekend we went out to a Japanese restaurant with some friends. The chef had a lot of fun making a "volcano" out of a stack of sliced onions.
Monica, Ashley, Carmen. Carmen is being silly in front of the camera. She's happy -- really. She should be; she's the one who "earned" the dinner for us. She and Ross played "best two out of three" Connect Four several months ago. Since Carmen won, Ross took us out for dinner. If Ross had won, she would have had to bake Ross cookies every month for a year.
I'm on the left, with Terri, showing off our expertise with chopsticks.
We had an overabundance of apples, so we decided to make applesauce this week. Also, my mother-in-law needed to downsize when she moved to a smaller apartment, so she gave us a handy masher, which made it considerably easier. Here is the recipe we used:
You can spot some strange trees on East Campus. This one is especially odd. It's a weeping Eastern White Pine. Kind of a sorry, little thing that doesnt bear much resemblance to the stately Eastern White Pine. Yet it's kind of fun in its own way.
This week we turned our dining room into an art studio. This photo shows Carmen at work.
Every New Year's Eve we make New Year's cookies, also called "Porzelchen" (High German) or "Niejoash koake" (Low German). These raisin fritters have been made by German Mennonites for many generations. The High German name means "Tumbling Over" because they turn over by themselves when they are dropped into deep fat. The photo shows Monica dropping the dough into the fat.
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