Persimmons From Susie

I was excited and impressed to find a box bursting with persimmons  from Barefoot Susie's tree at my mailbox this morning. Impressed that she can grow something I've never tasted and impressed at how quickly the package arrived, especially for this time of year.

Two layers of delightful fresh fruit from Susie's tree

Did you know persimmons are from China and the trees can grow to be 25 feet? They're full of vitamin A and C and beta carotene. Susie Mac tells me they're also fiber licious.

Aren't they gorgeous? We were compelled to unwrap the top row and put them in a bowl

I'm not sure I've seen such a fine packing job. (I won't even talk about the Amazon returns guy at Kohl's who was chucking carefully repacked packages vaguely towards a table in the corner.)

Oliver wanted a boost up to check it out

There were two layers of these beauties, individually wrapped and screaming to be used in a delectable (but healthy) Christmas cookie recipe.

I found something I liked right away and thanks to Rebecca from Strength & Sunshine and her Vegan & Gluten-Free White Chocolate Peppermint Cookies I learned about sugar substitutes from Swerve.  

These must be for me

This will be my first solo baking effort since I found out I had diabetes last March. Here's the recipe I'm going to use.

PERSIMMON COOKIES from Two Peas & Their Pod with sugar substitutes

Cookie

2 cups flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp cloves

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1/2 cup unsalted butter

1 cup Swerve granular sugar replacement

1 cup persimmon pulp

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup chopped walnuts

1 cup raisins

Glaze

2 cups Swerve confectioners sugar replacement

1/4 cup orange juice

1 tsp orange zest

-Preheat to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.

-In medium bowl, whisk flour, baking soda, salt and spices.

-In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar, beat in persimmon pulp, egg and vanilla. Slowly add in the flour, fold in the walnuts and raisins.

-Drop by rounded spoonfuls onto cookie sheets.

-Bake for approximately 12-14 minutes or until cookies are brown around the edges.

-Let cool for five minutes then remove to wire rack.

-For orange glaze combine the confectioners sugar substitute, orange juice and zest in medium bowl. -Whisk until smooth.

-Dip the cookie tops into the glaze and twirl the cookie. 

-Set cookies back on wire rack for glaze to harden.

Say Cheese! Cugina Cucina

We made una abbondanza of Italian Sesame Cookies Saturday and boy are my arms tired. Ba da dum (streaming The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel and everything seems like a set up line).
Warning: All photos are phone or pocket camera pics.

Cousin Karen, Team Anchor & Good Sport

Cousin Phil3, Cook Extraordinaire & Kitchen Capo

Cousin Lita, Animal Lover & Ball of Energy

 Proudly Displaying A Black Eye From A Christmas Past

The Godfather, Taste Tester & Utility Player

Cousin Stevie, Who Right After This Drops A Cookie On The Floor Which No One But Me & Possibly Oliver Saw

Cousin Oliver, Floor Manager With A Sesame Seed Face

Thursday Hang

What's more fun than a Thursday hang with this guy?

We sang Christmas carols and greeted our fans at memory care.

Then on to the Fellini film that is my mother's apartment. #livingladolcevita

Dog v Tchotchke

Say Cheese! Evergleam Trees Part 2

I usually don't get into the Christmas spirit until the day after Thanksgiving. Then I lose it somewhere between the store and parking lot. Whichever way you want to interpret that is right.

But I watch It's A Wonderful Life and get all tearful and think, "If George Baily were alive today he'd end up on an episode of COPS."

Meanwhile, somewhere in the early sixties Nanci is putting presents under the tree Julian from Trailer Park Boys style.

And I want a General Electric steam iron and a Frigidaire Flair oven and the turquoise Lady Kenmore I've had my eye on in the Sears catalog. 

Put down the Brandy Old Fashioned Sweet and back away from the Evergleam because it's time to Say Cheese! Nanci.
"Hey, is that real fur?"

Black Friday

We needed a few more things at the Farm & Fleet today.

I didn't come here to get tongue kissed by a stuffed ornament, woman. 

Oliver reminded me of a joke.
"How do you get a bear out of your yard?" 

"Put up a goal post."

Because I don't look like enough of a redneck dressed in this coat while shopping at Farm & Fleet on Black Friday. 

I absolutely love, love, love the customer service at Farm & Fleet. #Eloisereference

Holy cr*p, it's cousin Lis, another Dempsey Olson. How many of them are there?

The Happy Holidays Evergleam Say Cheese! Linky

My family can be a real pain in the arse. But like Woody Allen said, nope, umm, Bill Cos—nope, as my father often said, "Family, you can't live with them and you won't live long enough to see one of them pick up a check."

A look often seen on my dad's face when sitting next to my mother

Let's take a detour back to the sixties and due east to Manitowoc, home of the Evergleam Christmas tree. 

We didn't get further than this exhibit on the first floor

Do you remember these trees? They're currently featured at the Wisconsin Historical Museum. My Aunt Dora had them in different colors complete with color wheel. She was the one who got me hooked on Shasta and candy sticks.

Our model today is Nanci, a cousin on my father's side, aka the Dempsey Olsons whose motto, "We can't cook but we can drink!" is eerily similar to members of a college sorority I kept running into at parties in the seventies.

Why yes, that is a brandy old fashioned

The modern gal can put up an aluminum tree with one hand and hold her husband's drink with the other

To Be Continued

Resting Up For The Holidays

Little Rat moved to his new house and it's all the way on the other side of town 😢. His new yard is full of turkeys and flowers and birds and all sorts of interesting stuff. It was a lot of hard work but now it's time to rest up for the official start of the holiday season.

Walkies Milk Bones Car Ride Stupid Turkeys Chicken New Toy My Pal Jeanna

Say Cheese! Lumberjacks

I know it's not very PC to be a lumberjack or sing the Lumberjack Song, so here it is with German subtitles.

Connie Booth always fascinated me

Guy in Packer's tee: What the %$!& is this now?

Little Rat: I was promised the toy aisle.

It's surprising how many dogs shop at Farm & Fleet. Oliver got this jacket and a toy. I got a snow brush.

We found this adorable Lamb Chop plush toy before we ended up here, a bad aisle for both of us.

A better shot of Christmas Lamb Chop

♪♫ He cuts down trees, he eats his lunch, he goes to the lavatory (lav a treee). On Wednesdays he goes shopping and has buttered scones for tea ♬♩.

We didn't have buttered scones but did go shopping.
Shopping means treats and toys and this stupid jacket.

Say Cheese! In Between Link Up

We're in between Halloween and Thanksgiving and are supposed to be in between fall and winter.

But it looks like a Hallmark Christmas movie outside (trying to guess how many there are is like counting jellybeans in a jar). Yesterday Santa was hanging out in a brewery, mangers were up and memory care was a great place to watch Hallmark Christmas movies.

"Santa's behind me? I'm only seven." #GoBadgers #wrongcolorsbutclassicHufflepuff

#Broseph

Oli and the Godmother

It's the A Day Early Because I'm Waiting For The Snow To Stop And The Roads To Clear Before I Go Out So I Might As Well SAY CHEESE! link up. So c'mon and link your photos, I mean, why not?  Really, why leave a comment but not drop a link, it's fun, it's easy and all the cool kids are doing it. And we here in Wisconsin are nothing if not cool.
Oh good, there's a -15˚ below zero wind chill tomorrow.

Snow Pizza

Sometimes you have to throw kitty litter in the way back, check the tires and get pizza.

Log Tavern Pizza, one of our favorite pizza places

The Day After (Halloween) Say Cheese! Link Up

We had a weird, wild, snowy Halloween and although two of those things are great, it was a sorry excuse of a fall holiday ("You can stuff your sorries in a sack, mister!").

Even the Halloween decorations seemed surprised

And the day after made for an odd pastiche of winter-fall (no, not Winterfell, don't get me started)

The Little Rat Boy seemed to enjoy the combination of snow and leaves

Although he also thought something was amiss

And the day after that, huzzah, it's fall again (love the flamingo, Badger and Packer helmets in the mix)

Whether your weather is fall, spring or whatever it is in Wisconsin, it's time to Say Cheese!

NOTE: I LOVE ALL YOUR COMMENTS BUT PLEASE DON'T LINK BACK TO YOUR BLOG OR IT WON'T BE PUBLISHED, THANK YOU.