A Christmas Cookie Tradition

This blog post is going to be very short, but I want to document it for my book. As I wrote in 2018 https://www.thecabincountess.com/2018/12/traditions.html my daughter loves traditions. She is a very busy person with a demanding job, but she always makes time for certain traditions. Making Christmas cookies with me is one of them. This year it was three days before Christmas but we managed. It is actually a good thing because if we make them too early, the favorites get eaten and the others get stale. 

The exciting part is that Dylan, who is a man now, actually asked if we were going to do it this year. In 2018 it was only my daughter, Ewan and myself. Gradually over the next few years, a few would show up but not with the enthusiasm they had this year. They all came in Christmas sweaters and put on Christmas music. Dylan brought his girlfriend, there was Melissa. Jack and Ewan plus Heather of course. The only grandchild missing was Sam. He arrived home from college late last night and was exhausted. My other daughter was busy or they would have also come. 

The first thing we did was eat lunch. I made a big pot of vegetable beef and barley soup and Heather brought subs.

After lunch it was time to buckle down. I had made all the cookie dough in advance but it still took a long time. I made gingerbread people just because it's "tradition" and they like decorating them. They get pretty silly and I love to hear them laugh even if the final product looks like an elementary school project. They filled piping bags and went to town. No one likes or eats these cookies, but they are fun and very messy.

Next it was time to unwrap the Rolo and Peanut Butter cups to use in a couple recipes. It is a pain so I love having all the extra hands.

Then the baking began. It's amazing how helpful older children can be. Dylan's girlfriend did the dishes as we dirtied them, The others helped with certain tasks. 

The kids love to play games so a gathering isn't complete without a game of some sort. Sometimes I wonder how they can be related to me. I don't like games, I never have. At every family gathering they play something. Today it was a game called Ticket to Ride.

 Melissa on the other hand, decided to take a nap. 

It was a perfect day. Everyone was happy and excited. A double blessing, I will see them again on Christmas Day. The snowplows had blocked my driveway and mailbox. I was tired from shoveling and kind of overwhelmed with random stuff plus the thoughts of a long winter. I appreciate everyone who got me back on track. 

Merry Christmas To All

Tallow is Not For The Birds Anymore

I am such a "with it" old gal that I like to follow all the latest trends on social media. That's a lie. I am not "with it".  I know this every time I listen to my grandchildrens conversations. I don't understand much of what they talk about. I have to make my own fun by inventing, creating and generally make messes I have to clean up. My latest is a work in progress. 

I watched videos and posts recently about making lotions, face cream, soap and candles from tallow. Tallow is made by rendering the impurities out of beef suet. I have done it many times. It is how I make my outdoor birds food for the winter. I usually melt the suet and stir in a variety of seeds. Then I pour it into a form and wait for it to harden. This is what beef suet looks like before rendering.

That was my intent this time until I stumbled upon other uses for tallow. Making suet into other products is new to me, but I wanted to try. I bought an extra large package of beef suet. There was enough for the birds and for my experiments. I cut it into small pieces because it melts much faster that way. The first time I tried it years ago, I put the whole chunk into the slow cooker. Two days later it was still melting and the house was quite smelly. Imagine having a rendering factory in your kitchen. However, learning the hard way is a good way to learn. I didn't make that mistake again.

A few days ago I did cook some of the suet in a slow cooker for twelve hours. I stirred it now and then but it was an easy process. At the end of that time the suet was melted and the "cracklings" were floating on top. Cracklings are the browned bits left over in the rendering process. All suet has a little meat and debris inside. Rendering cooks out all of that leaving pure fat. For bird food I don't remove them. The birds love pecking at the bits. For lotion or soap the tallow has to be purified. It requires a few extra steps. 

For that I melted the rest of the suet. Apparently grass fed organic suet is the best, but sometimes it's hard to find. I think if it's a choice of not having the exact ingredient or having nothing, I will take the substitute. The slow cooker works great for this but I have found an even easier method. I cooked it in the instant pot. Instead of 12 hours, it only takes 3-4 hours. When finished the cracklings and little bits are strained out. The oil is then cooled in the refrigerator. When it has hardened, it can be broken up and melted again. Then it is strained again either through a coffee filter or a fine mesh sieve. Again it is cooled, melted and strained. This has to be done 4 or 5 times until there is no moisture left in the pan or on the piece of tallow. The piece is white and hardened. It sounds like a lot of work but each process is mostly waiting for the next step.

Finally the piece is ready to be melted for the final time and put into a large bowl mixed with jojoba oil, olive oil or another oil plus essential oils. This product is supposed to smell neutral but I think it still smells a little "beefy".  The essential oil helps but I still have to figure that out. The smell is less with every melting so I just have to determine how many times to do it. After the fat has cooled for about an hour, it is time to whip with a mixer until it looks like frosting. The added oil makes it soft enough to apply at room temperature. If you put it in a clean jar, the shelf life is a year or more.

Now for the experiment. I am not a person to use many cosmetics or make up but old age does dry out the skin. I am going to try this. If you see me and I look many years younger, it's working. If not, oh well.  Apparently tallow skin care products have a lot of good properties. It is a healthy fat. Think about it, we are animals and most of us have fat so this just provides moisturizing with a product natural to us. It isn't like putting foreign chemicals on our skin. It's simple biology. It has a lot of nutrients like vitamin A, B12, D, E and K. It has omega 3 and 6 fatty acids, it is anti-inflammatory and anti-microbial. How can I go wrong? I will only use it at night in case I smell a little like a burger. I don't have a husband to offend and I don't have a dog, so I don't worry about having my face chewed off.  It's all good.