The best job in the world

The best job in the world is not even a job. It’s pure love. Love that is unexpected. Joy that cannot be put into mere words. I am the Gramma to this sweet girl. She is now 13 months old. She came over to hang out with us today. We went for several walks and strolls. Looking for puppies. Listening to the birds chirp. Feeling the rays of sun on our heads and our toes. Babbling in our own language. Who cares that neither of us understands what the other is really saying. It just does not matter. It is pure unadulterated adoration. At least on my part. The Cutest Granddaughter in the World toddles around, climbs stairs at an astonishing rate of speed, eats saltines, sips water, looks at books, plays with Kermit the Frog, giggles uncontrollably, looks for the cat that hides from her, changing her voice as she tries to find her, moves a couple of my goofy paintings around from one spot to another, tries to open all the cabinet doors, plays hide-and-seek with her Granddad (yea, Granddad!), plays with the refrigerator magnets, and just generally brings a light to our lives that we never imagined possible.

We love you, Pumpkin. May you always know that in your heart of hearts. You are amazing.

We will make cookies one day soon! Which ones should we start with? Gramma can’t wait. Should we tell Mommy??

I am going to go with sugar cookies. Not only sugar cookies, but Quaker sugar cookies. You are part Quaker, thanks to the Bell side of the family. You need to know this.

Rolled Sugar Cookies

From Springfield Friends Cookery, Springfield Friends Meeting, High Point, NC

Marilyn Hipps (Mrs. Richard)

Makes 2-1/2 dozen cookies (depending on the size of the cookie cutters)

1/2 cup butter; leave out to soften 30 minutes before making the cookies

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup sugar

2 beaten eggs; leave eggs out to come to room temperature

1 tablespoon milk

2-1/2 cups sifted flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

Additional sugar for sprinkling

Cream the butter until soft; add vanilla. Gradually add the sugar and cream until light and fluffy. Sift dry ingredients together. Combine eggs and milk and stir into creamed mixture. Add half the dry ingredients and mix thoroughly. Add the remaining and mix well. Chill dough for at least an hour. Preheat oven to 400˚F. Roll a little more than 1/8 inch thick on well-floured surface. Cut with floured 3/4- inch round cookie cutter. Sprinkle with additional sugar. Place on baking sheet (lined with parchment paper) and bake in hot oven (400˚F) until only lightly browned, 6-8 minutes. Remove from pan while warm. Cool on rack.

Bon appétit to all grand- and great-grand- parents out there. Isn’t it the best?

Hearts

I have a thing for hearts.  I probably have since the first time I exchanged valentines with my classmates in elementary school.  Back in the day when we decorated white paper bags and left them out for our classmates to slip a little card in at some point leading up to the Big Day.  I wish I still had every one of those cards so that I could pull them out and try to recapture that innocent little heart-loving girl.  Some would be from classmates who are no longer alive.  Some would be from classmates who moved away and I never saw again. And some would be from little kids whom I do not even remember.   Many of them would be from the classmates I saw this past summer at our 40th high school reunion.

The little girl in me wants to find the best valentines and mail them to my dearest friends. I think I will find some drawn by Sandra Boynton.

image from:  http://bookimagecollective.blogspot.com/2012/04/sandra-boynton.html

How can your heart not feel happy just looking at this little guy?   I’ve been a fan of hers since we decorated Son #1’s nursery with a border of her characters.

Or maybe I will make my own from the photo above.  That’s my kitchen window, holding some of my memories.

Recent heart photos taken in Paris–

Christmas tree hearts in downtown Durham–

I don’t set out looking for hearts to photograph.  They just somehow find me.

I remember listening to Neil Young on FM radio at night in I don’t know what year singing Heart of Gold.  (Google tells me that it was recorded in 1971 with James Taylor and Linda Ronstadt singing back up and hit the top of the charts in 1972.)  9th grade.  That was a few broken hearts ago. I found this version performed at Farm Aid in Raleigh in 2014. I should have been in that audience.  Enjoy.  Sing along with Neil if you want.

Now, I think that I will make some heart-shaped sugar cookies using a recipe I’ve been using for years.  It is from a cookbook I was given as a wedding present, SpringfieldCookery. My Papa Bell was a Quaker and Springfield Friends Meeting in High Point, NC is the family church.  The first Meeting for worship was held there in 1773.

Rolled Sugar Cookies

Marilyn Hipps (Mrs. Richard)

1/2 cup butter (softened)

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup sugar

2 beaten eggs

1 tablespoon milk

2-1/2 cups sifted flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

Cream the butter until soft; add vanilla.  Gradually add the sugar and cream until light and fluffy.  Sift dry ingredients together.  Combine eggs and milk and stir into creamed mixture.  Add half the dry ingredients and mix thoroughly.  Add the remaining and mix well.  Chill dough at least one hour.  Roll a little more than 1/8-inch thick on well floured surface.  Cut with floured 3/4-inch round cookie cutter.  (I will use a heart-shaped one, of course.) Sprinkle with additional sugar. Place on baking sheet (lined with parchment paper) and bake in hot oven (400˚F) until only lightly browned. (6-8 minutes) Remove from pan while warm.  Cool on rack.  2-1/2 dozen.

LuLaRoe leggings from Elizabeth Sayles Bland’s Facebook on-line boutique

Bon appétit to all who are near and dear to my heart. Je vous aime.