Mom's Nissu Recipe

Every year around Christmastime (and other times of year when perhaps it's rainy and a cup of tea and warm soft bread would go a long way) I pull out my mom's Nissu recipe and enjoy the slightly sweet cardamom bread with tea or coffee.  I enjoy baking it so much that most years I try to bake it for Greg's work and for our next door neighbors, too, making a little extra each time so we can enjoy it with coffee in the morning and tea in the afternoon.

Nissu is a Finnish bread that is usually a soft, braided loaf spiced with cardamom and sometimes including dried fruit.  Cardamom is expensive, but worth it, especially if you make extra bread for friends and neighbors and you can use the spice in savory meat dishes as well.

Mom's recipe that our family has enjoyed for decades is a simple version with a soft texture, light cardamom flavor, and it's basted with coffee and then topped with icing and maraschino cherries (optional) after baking.

This year I made four smaller loaves using the same recipe that usually makes two long ones, and found it the perfect amount to give to our neighbors who are families of two.

Here's the recipe:

1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt

1 T yeast, dissolved in 1/2 cup of lukewarm water

2 beaten eggs
1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom (or the crushed seeds from four pods)
up to 3 1/4 cups flour to make a soft dough

Coffee baste: 1/4 cup coffee combined with 2T sugar
Icing: 1 1/2 tablespoons heavy cream mixed with 1 cup confectionery sugar

Warm the 1/2 cup of milk in a saucepan until just steaming.  Remove from heat and stir in the butter, sugar, and salt until the butter is melted and the sugar has dissolved.  Cool to lukewarm (so you don't harm your yeast).  Combine milk mixture with 1 T yeast that has been dissolved in 1/2 cup of warm water.  Add the beaten eggs, cardamom, and the flour a little at a time until you have a soft dough that isn't so sticky you can't knead it, but is still very soft.  Too much flour will reduce the softness of the bread.

Knead bread and allow it to rise.  (If you've never made a yeast bread before, you may like reading my first blog post on making bread that covers the steps in more detail.)  Braid into two loaves.  I separate the dough into six equal parts, roll them into strips on the counter, and braid them loosely.  Allow to rise slightly in loaf form, at least while the oven preheats or until visibly increased in size just slightly.  Bake at 350 degrees for twenty minutes or until golden brown. Don't over-bake.

Braided loaves ready to go in the oven.

Transfer to cooling racks and baste two or three times with sweet coffee.  Frost with icing while still warm.  The icing tends to drip and make a mess on the counter, I like to put kitchen towels under the cooling racks that can then be soaked in the sink for a little while and thrown in the washing machine, rather than having to scrape and scrub the counter after the bread is glazed.  Growing up we put maraschino cherry halves along the bread, but I've started omitting them when I gift the bread because it travels better.

I know we're past the Christmas season - but Nissu is a wonderful treat with coffee or tea any time!

Finished Nissu cooling on the racks!

It's Time to Start! (RUNNING!)

Before running a New Year's 5k this morning :)

UPDATE: This blog post in particular became so popular that it inspired me to start my motivational running blog geared towards new runners.  I hope you'll visit it at www.iamrunningthis.com!

Happy New Year!  I love the New Year, because it's a chance to reflect on the last year, and think about where we'll be a year from now.  I even like New Year's Resolutions, because how cool is it really that there's a time of year when it's a cultural tradition to look at our lives, reflect on how we can make them and ourselves better, and chitchat with others about our goals in casual conversation.  It's awesome.  I think it'd be neat to have a New Year's Checkpoint in June where it's tradition to ask everyone around us how they're doing with their New Year's Resolutions.

Anyway, 2012 was the year I started running, and if I have a New Year's Resolution for 2013, it's to keep going.  I began the Couch to 5k program in July, which means I've now been running for 6 months!  I still remember being out in the heat of July with Will in the running stroller, trying my best to keep going and catch my breath as I ran for 90 seconds, walked for 60, and ran for 90 seconds again.  Now I'm running two or three miles about three times a week.  I'm still a very slow runner, and I've got some goals for this year to run faster and longer.  Most importantly, I'm having fun, I'm reaping the health and emotional benefits, and I'm back in my pre-pregnancy jeans.  Life is good.

Me running my second 5k on my 29th Birthday :)

Since I'm very new to running, and this is the time of year when so many people start running, I thought it might be fun to write down some of my thoughts on being a new runner.

Mile 1 (Starting)

• Find a walk/run program, cheat when you need to.  I loved the Couch to 5K program, but the most important thing when starting is to work hard enough to feel it but not so hard that it's demoralizing and you're miserable and you injure yourself or just are too unhappy to keep going.  It's o.k. to catch your breath for a little bit and then run some more.  Even on race day.
• Sign up for a race.  Nothing like a goal to work towards to keep you going!
• If you have young children, a jogging stroller is awesome, borrow one or find one second hand!

Mile 2 (Keep yourself going)

• Run outside if you can, not just on a treadmill.  Find new places to explore and run, enjoy being outside in the fresh air and sunshine.  It might seem harder in the winter, but it's even more worthwhile, too, because when else are you outside in 25 degree weather feeling warm without five hundred layers?  The best feeling is when you're running on a sunny January day and you stop, and just feel how it feels to be outside and not be cold.  It's amazing.
• Have realistic goals, and keep track of your running on a calendar so you feel accomplished when you hit a certain number of miles in a week.
• Listen to music, or podcasts, or books on tape, or, if you have small children, nothing, while you run.  Mix it up.

Mile 3 (Race day!)

• Pick super awesome music to run to, or just enjoy the rush of being part of something
• Watch people of all ages, shapes and sizes running ahead of you and think about how awesome it is that you, too, can become a better runner.  You're not too old, you don't have too many kids, and you're not too short or too round to run and enjoy running and run faster than people who look younger and better than you in a few years or maybe even a few races.    (They will still look younger and better than you, but you will be faster.)
• Push hard, but not so hard that you can't wave at anyone and you're not having any fun.  That puts you at risk of throwing up before the finish line (not me) or having a photo taken of yourself looking like a nauseous, chinless zombie (totally happened to me).  I ran today's race hard enough to be within forty seconds of my best time, but not too hard, and it was way more fun.

My nauseous, chinless zombie photo. PR and my first 5k under 30 minutes though!
Can you tell I had to work for it?!

Look at that gorgeous blonde running.  She's younger and better looking, but I'm faster! ;)
Disclaimer: I will never push that hard in a race again, it was my third 5k and her first, and she's my younger and very awesome sister, with my super fun brother keeping her company, which I refused to do so that I could have my picture taken looking like a nauseous chinless zombie.

Mile 3.1 (Things to think about when you're running your first 5k)

•  Think up funny (to you) slogans that you wish were on the back of your race day shirt at any given moment.  Some of mine from today's race: "I run because it feels so good when I stop", "My fast pace is your slow pace", "I just got passed by a woman in a tutu", "Why are all these people chasing me?!", "Is that an eight year old?", "I just got passed by an eight year old", "I had bacon and waffles for breakfast".
• When you're running, and you feel like stopping, don't ask yourself if you can make it to the end.  Ask yourself, "can I do this for another ten seconds?"  Focus on the ten seconds ahead of you, and if you can keep going, (I usually can) go.  Don't let the distance demoralize you, focus on the now.  If you're breathing all right now, and you can keep going just a few more seconds, keep going.  
• Put the best songs on your playlist in the middle of your run to keep you going, because I honestly can't focus on the music enough to be motivated by the last half mile, and the finish line is enough incentive!  A little Maroon 5 halfway through goes a long way.

My Running Goals for 2013:

• Run a 5k in under 30 minutes with Will and Andrew in the double jogging stroller
• Run a 10k
• Not look like a nauseous chinless zombie in future running photos

Good luck to any new runners like me!  Run fun :)

New Year's 5k, mile three!

*UPDATE, MAY 2013* Still running!  Here are a couple links to some of my other posts about running:

Running With a Double Jogging Stroller: http://kellysnormal.blogspot.com/2013/01/running-with-double-jogging-stroller.html

The only way to run faster is to run faster: http://kellysnormal.blogspot.com/2013/04/the-only-way-to-run-faster-is-to-run.html

Happy New Year's Eve!

It's become a family tradition to put together a slideshow of our past year to watch together on New Year's Eve.  Getting together ours this year made me realize what a big year 2012 was!  Here are just a few of the special moments.

Andrew, just a few days old, February

Holding his head up! June

Grocery shopping, December

Will, just under a month before Andrew was born, January

Will in Cape Cod, August

Will, October

Uninvited wedding guest, Turks & Caicos.  May

My brother is a DAD! September

Elizabeth graduates! May

E with just barely home Andrew, February

Two days before Andrew! February

Brothers.  April

Brothers. November

Christy's baby shower.  June

Tea, January.

Holding my niece, Christmas Day.  

Polar Express, December

Drawing with Dad, August.

Wishing you and your family and everyone a wonderful, happy and healthy 2013!

Christmas Card Bloopers, 2012!

I know I promised this post on Christmas, but when the day arrived, I was up in Maine away from my computer!  Hey, at least I'm sharing them this year :)  Thanks to my family and friends who contributed!  Starbucks gift card going to B,E&O courtesy of Will!  Merry Christmas :)

Uh oh.  Whose idea was this, anyway?

Photo from ACE

"Where's Grampa?!"  

"Give me everything I want for Christmas or else!" Photo from B,E,O

"No, Andrew, No Andrew, NO!"

"No, Andrew, No Andrew, NO!"

Floppy reindeer antlers, from ACE

More fun with the three grandchildren at Mimi and Grampa's! Photo from ACE

Don't eat the bubbles!!!

It'd help if they held still!  Photo from B,E,O

Best for last!  That's right... she's puking.  And smiling.  I'm not sure how this is a blooper, it looks pretty magical to me!
Photo from ACE.

Easy Toddler Craft: Star Ornaments

Will's finished star from our playgroup craft!

Will goes to a playschool for a few hours two mornings a week, and he comes home with the cutest craft projects, singing new songs, and generally making me feel so grateful that he has the opportunity to attend and wistful that I don't do more singing and crafting with him at home! 

Of course I'm saving all of these forever.  How else are we going to decorate for his wedding or make sure his college dorm room doesn't have empty walls?  

Recently, he came home with a decorated star to hang on our tree - and was so proud to show it to Greg and I and hang it on the tree himself. 

The inspirational star ornament from playschool.
Thank you Miss Hillary!!!

I liked it so much that I wanted to make more with his playgroup friends when we hosted the week before Christmas.  Here's how we did it!

I went to a craft store and bought adhesive backed glitter foam, two sheets each of four different colors.  I unpeeled the adhesive lining and stuck the sheets of the same color together to make a big sheet that was glittery on both sides.  I then traced a star outline using marker, and cut out the stars with a craft knife.  If you're patient and don't have an exacto or craft knife, scissors would work instead - I used them to clean up the edges if I missed some of the marker, and it cut through fine.

I then hole punched one of the star points (actually Greg did this while I drank coffee.  Thanks Greg) and cut yarn scraps for the toddlers to thread through.  For decorations, I bought some self-adhering white dots, little red pom poms, and sequin stars.  All the craft supplies came to about $10 and I had enough to make at least 12 stars.  The same project could be done for less with plain felt or construction paper.

Using a coffee table tray was helpful - once the craft project was over, one of my friends just picked the whole thing up and dropped it on the counter before our toddlers sprinkled pompoms and glitter stars all over the floor for Andrew to eat.

"Will do it?"

We helped the kids thread the yarn through the hole punch on the star, and then they could peel and stick the little white dots themselves.  For the pom poms and sequin stars, it was easiest when we put dots of glue on their big star and they then pushed a decoration on top of the glue.  The whole craft project took less than ten minutes for them to do, which is about perfect for a two year old's attention span :)

Waiting for the glue to dry :)

Happy crafting!

PS -  I don't plan to keep ALL of Will's school projects forever... I'm keeping them in a box in our office until the end of the year, then we'll pull them all out, take a photograph, and ask him to pick some favorites to save forever.  In the meantime, they're a great resource for ideas for things I can start doing with him now that he's getting older and more interested in arts and crafts!

My mother knit him the adorable Santa vest!
http://www.ravelry.com/projects/PDamon/christmas-vests

Responses to Newtown: Where do we go from here?

The recent school Elementary School shooting in Newtown, CT cost 26 lives.  It is everywhere I look on social media sights and in the news.  People are holding candlelight vigils, holding their own children tight, and finding ways to grieve.

It was my initial expectation that this tragedy would lead to legislative action to help prevent future shootings and keep our children, our educators, our citizens safer.  But I have read some things online that leave me deeply disturbed, and worried about our nation’s ability to work with one another to respond appropriately to this horrible tragedy – not just with candlelight vigils, but with action.

Candlelight vigils are important; we need to take time to grieve as individuals, communities and as a nation after what has happened.  But I am no longer content to do a few commemorative things to make myself feel better and then get on with my busy holiday schedule.  I am a mother of two, and my throat gets tight, my eyes burn, and my hands shake when I think of the possibility of living life after losing one of my children to violence.  I cannot imagine the feelings of those who have lost theirs.  We owe it to them, and to all of our children who we are still lucky enough to have with us, to do better.

Where do we go from here?

This is not a one solution problem.  When I posted asking people to join me in sending extra holiday cards to legislators, I focused on gun reform.  But as the heart-wrenching post titled “I am Adam Lanza’s Mother” illustrates, we cannot forget the importance of making quality mental health care available in this country either. 

Ask yourself; “What could help prevent a future shooting tragedy?” If you believe in advocating for better mental health care, I agree with you, let’s do it.  If you believe that semi-automatic weapons have no place in a civilized society, I agree with you, let’s push for gun reform.  If you believe that funding violence prevention programs and addressing school bullying is important, I agree with you.  Let’s do it.  What I don’t agree with is doing nothing.

Here are some things I believe:

I believe that everyone in this country who is of sound mind is horrified by the tragedy that occurred on Friday.

I believe that this nation is capable of change, great change, and that our legislative system is one of the most powerful instruments of change.

I believe that we can reform gun legislation without violating people’s second amendment rights, and without jeopardizing our citizens’ ability to hunt or to protect. 

I believe that adding regulation to the process of purchasing and possessing firearms to increase people’s safety is not only possible but necessary.

Here are some things I do not believe:

I do not believe that arming our teachers is a realistic solution to this problem.  I have actually read posts where people state that if a teacher in Newtown had had a gun, lives would have been saved.  Even if it were realistic to expect our teachers to be trained in gun safety, and agree to carry firearms, can we possibly believe that having more guns in our classrooms is worth the risk to our children?  One tired teacher forgetting to lock a cabinet is one too many.  I believe it is a much more practical, economic, and sensible solution to make it more difficult for potential perpetrators to obtain firearms than it is to arm our teachers.  I can’t believe I feel compelled by a number of online posts to write this.

I do not believe that second amendment rights necessitate hobbyists being allowed to purchase semi-automatic guns and 100 round magazines in order to have fun in their backyards. 

I do not believe that illegalizing semi-automatic firearms and placing greater restrictions on gun sales is useless because “anyone determined to hurt people will find a way.”  I don’t believe in making it easier for anyone to hurt my children, and if the number of people in this country who lock the doors to their cars and houses is any indicator, I’m not the only one who feels this way.  Any extra step someone needs to take to obtain firearms is an extra chance for a family member, counselor, or law enforcement to notice that someone could be planning to hurt themselves or others and step in. 

I hope that you will think hard about what you believe, and join me in supporting our legislators, our educators, and any organization that is doing work that helps prevent violence.  Please help keep my children safe.

A Response to the CT School Shooting: I'm Sending My Extra Christmas Cards to Legislators

A photo card of our children, with a handwritten message asking a politician to help keep my children safe.  

How many children will it take before our country's gun policies change?  One of my friends posted a link to a well-written article in the New York Times about gun control in this country, titled Safe From Fire, but Not Guns.  The part that made me feel even sadder after reading the article was that it was written in July in response to the movie theater shooting, not today in response to what has happened at the elementary school in Connecticut.  It didn't provoke change in time to save those children's lives.

I believe that this country is capable of passing legislation that will keep people safer from guns.  I went to undergrad in Georgia, and I met some people who like guns a lot.  I don't agree with them, but I don't believe any of them aren't deeply saddened by what has happened today.  I'm not sure they would oppose legislation intended to restrict firearm sales and ensure that guns are sold to people who know how to use them safely, have pledged to store them safely, and have been checked out to make sure they don't have a criminal background or history of mental health issues.  That type of legislation would be an improvement on what we have now (I would advocate for even more extreme legislation), without removing guns from the people I knew who would never use them to harm a person.  I like Canada's requirement that two people vouch for someone buying a gun, as mentioned in the New York Times article linked above.  I had to have witnesses for my wedding, and it was a lot less dangerous.

Legislators in this country need to know that public opinion would support efforts to keep our children safer, and I would like them to know that they have my support now.  I don't need to see news of another child lost to gun violence to give my vocal support and my vote to gun-restrictions.

This afternoon, I took some of my extra Christmas cards and mailed them to my representatives asking them to do whatever they can to help pass laws that would keep my children safer from guns.

It's personal.  I am sending them my plea, with photos of my children, who I am lucky to still have, whom I hope will always be as safe from gun violence as they are today.  I hope it will help them realize that these horrible events may have influenced public opinion enough for them to bring about change that may prevent the loss of more of our children.

Perhaps you agree with me.  Perhaps you have extra holiday cards of your own, that you could scrawl a quick note on, letting someone know that you'd vote to restrict access to guns and keep our children safer.  Perhaps we can get the word to our legislators that this should be a priority.

Here's my letter, which I mailed with my address and full signature to four of my legislators:

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Dear Barney Frank, 

Today’s school shooting in Connecticut upset me very deeply as a parent.  I wonder if we had some of the gun safety laws adopted by other countries, if those children would still be alive.  I am worried about the lack of gun control in our country and about the safety of our children in our communities until there are better restrictions on firearms.

I know that legislation in our communities and country is influenced by public opinion, and I want you to know that I would support any and all legislation restricting the sales and possession of firearms in this country, nationally or locally.  I would support any legislation that would increase my children’s safety, whether it’s designed to regulate the purchasing of firearms or safety precautions once they’re in someone’s possession.

I am a mother, not a politician, and I realize that bringing about change can be difficult.  I am grateful for your public service, and am hoping that if there is any legislation you can think of that will help keep my children safer, that you will work towards it.  You certainly have my support.

Wishing you the best this holiday season and thanking you for your public service.

Sincerely,

Kelly

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UPDATE: It's been 5 days since I posted this blog and asked people to help me spread the word.  Thanks to my sister-in-law, who emailed the idea to her favorite bloggers, and bloggers such as http://www.natthefatrat.com/, www.babyrabies.com, www.motleymama.com, julia-transition.blogspot.com, jugglinglife.typepad.com, www.spillerena.com, I've had over two thousand hits to this post.  If even a fourth of those hits result in cards to legislators, every member of the house of representatives could receive cards asking them to work for laws that will keep our children safer.  I am deeply grateful to everyone who has participated by sending cards and spreading the word.

This afternoon, I received an e-mail from my mother that made me feel really hopeful and thankful.  Here it is.

I just had very nice call from Andrew McLean, my ME state legislator, thanking me for the letter and card.
These issues have been on his mind for years and he feels that this time, finally, positive action will be taken.
He plans to work for gun reform and with mental health issues. He expects to see both parties work toward solutions here in Maine.

Love,

Mum

Thank you.