Pomegranates and Figs

Today we all went to UC Berkeley to see Pomegranates and Figs: A Jewish Feast of Music. The music was amazing and it was so much fun to watch James enjoy it too, when he wasn't nursing. Then on to IKEA for lunch (can you say four orders of Swedish Meatballs!) and some shopping. We then headed home, but first dropped Maria off at the Bramblet's, who took her to the mall where she performed with her choir. Ken picked her up later while I stayed home and baked. One more batch of Oreo Truffles were finished and I experimented with a new recipe, English Toffee Cookies. Well, they taste great, but they didn't come out of the pan nicely. About half of them crumbled and broke. So I have one container of cookie pieces and crumbs, and another container with decent looking but good tasting cookies. Better that than nice looking and awful tasting!

I am liking the ability to list the books I have read. I never have kept track before, and it is fun being able to look over them. I like reading a variety of genres and typically have a number of books going at the same time. Currently I am reading Ender in Exile by Orson Scott Card (one of my absolute favorite authors) and Lost on Planet China or How I Learned to Love Live Squid by J. Maarten Troost, which I am heartily enjoying. It is a hard book to read next to someone without wanting to read snippits outloud every other page. There are a lot of interesting observations, typically quite humerous. I have read most of his other books and definitely enjoy his writing style and observations he makes about other cultures.

We are taking the next two weeks off from school. We use Sonlight for history and literature and are doing Core Alt 7, which is World History, Apologia for Physical Science (although the book is currently hiding somewhere in our house....need to track that down), ALEKS for math, and life in general to learn.

English Toffee Cookies
from Sunset All-Time Favorite Recipes, copyright 1993

1 cup butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 egg, separated
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 cups flour
1 cup chopped pecans

In a large bowl, beat butter and sugar until creamy. Add egg yolk and beat until blended. Stir in cinnamon and flour. Press dough smoothly and evenly over bottom of greased 10x15 rimmed baking pan (I think my pan was a tad bit bigger, which made it too thin in places.) In a small bowl, lightly beat egg white, then brush over dough. Sprinkle with pecans, pressing them lightly into dough. Bake in a 275 degree over for about 1 hour. While cookie is still hot, cut it into about 1.5 inch squares. Let cool in pan (maybe until slightly warm...this might help too).