Christmas Letter & Recipe 2009

Merry Christmas to all of you,

I’m trying something different this year. I decided that I am going to save a little bit of paper by posting my letter on my blog. This way, if you haven’t checked out my blog, you can look back over the past year and see what I have posted.

This has been busy year full of joy, fun and sadness. I guess that sort of sums up life. I lost my mother in February. She was 93 years old and lived a long and full life, but I still miss her. I especially appreciated her when I opened my box of 35 crocheted angel to decorate the garlands in my living room. That was her signature craft and I will alway treasure them. In July, we lost Steve Smylie’s mother. She lived in the same assisted living home as my mother. I’m attaching a picture of us from last Christmas. It’s fun to see the two grandma’s looking so good. That’s how we should remember them.

And here is a picture of me with my mother last Christmas Day. This is another treasure. Don't you think we look alike. But, I'm sure I don't have that white hair. I don't even want to think that.

This Christmas will be the first time we are not heading to Southern California for Christmas. That means I’ve been in Southern California on Christmas for 60 years. Now I really am beginning to feel old. But, we are looking forward to going to Portland to be with our two adorable grandchildren and their very nice parents. Chris and Jess bought their first house this year so we will be joining them at their house for Christmas. I'm excited to be with Maryn and Lucy on Christmas morning.

Chris continues to enjoy his work in insurance. He works less than 5 miles from their house so his commute is easy. Jess is an amazing and creative stay at home mom. Maryn and Lucy’s lives are full of baking, reading, crafts and dancing. I really enjoy skyping with them. I spent 1 ½ hours on Saturday watching them decorate their gingerbread houses. I also read them a few Curious George stories too. I love it when Lucy says “Where is grandpa?” Then she yells for him and screams in delight when he comes. Maryn started pre-school this year and is a wonderful big sister. Lucy is running, talking and full of personality. They both love to dance. They are a delight and so are their parents.

Laurel is a busy 26 year old. When she isn’t working, she is out jogging, swimming, hiking or going to some yoga or pilates class. She is working in Berkeley at a software company. The nice thing about her job is that it is flexible. That flexibility is important because as I write this letter she is on a 5 week trip to New Zealand and Australia. She traveled with a friend for 3 weeks and is now in Australia on her own. But, her adventures don’t end there. Laurel rowed the Grand Canyon with our rafting friends this summer. She did an 18 day trip on the river and she rowed most of it. I guess she is following in the footsteps of her father. It’s fun to see her so active and having so much fun. She managed to flip her raft only once and lived to tell about it.




Since our kids are young and active now, that means that Don and I can slow down a bit. Don is now working about half time. This gives him time to relax a bit more, He loves having his boat and is out in the Bay often. He brought home his first catch of crab this year. That was fun. He also does a couple of long range trips to Mexico. We both like walking at the Marina most days when the weather permits. Here is a picture of the guys after fishing for Halibut. The Ballanti Boys come here most years for what we call Butfest. It is really fun to see the guys bond and compete while they fish.

I am still doing weekly bible study, cooking at church (the picture on the right is our cooking group), playing bridge, and various volunteer and social activities. Keeping in touch with family (especially grandchildren) and friends is always on the top of my list and then there is quilting, and yard work too. The list goes on and on. I enjoy using facebook to keep in touch with people. I had a flash of creativity this year and created a beautiful mosaic that will go on the wall in our backyard. That is my creation on the left. I'm going to try to make another one next year with a San Francisco Bay Bridge theme.

VACATIONS: I always tell people that I love to be home, but it really does seem like we are gone a lot. Our main vacation this year was a trip to Alaska with Don’s brother, Bob, and his wife Gail. Bob planned the trip and he did a great job of it. We took the train to Denali and saw lots of wildlife in the park. We then spent 5 days at a house in Seward. The guys fished a bit and we went to the Kenai Fjords and saw a glaciers and more wildlife. This was my 3rd trip to Alaska and I just love that place. It was wonderful spending quality time with Bob and Gail.

We also went to Tahoe with our long time Tahoe friends. We have been doing some form of this vacation every year for about 28 years. My sisters Mary and Sue stopped in Tahoe to visit us while we were there. Here is a picture of our fun Tahoe Group. There were also trips to our cabin, Yosemite, LA, and Portland . Never a dull moment. I love going places and I love coming home.

God has blessed our family in so many ways. I am thankful to Him for all that we have. I am hoping that our Christmas is a witness to all that we are celebrating the birth of our Savior Jesus.

On Christmas morning we plan to make the Cherry Walnut Coffee Cake that Nancy always made on Christmas morning. Here is that recipe right out of her recipe box. It's really good. Maybe you want to join us by making it too. Because it is hard to read this copy, I have retyped the recipe for you below.

Merry Christmas from Carol and Don Ballanti

Rich Cherry Walnut Coffeecake
(Makes 2 Cakes)

5 to 5 ½ C flour
¼ C sugar
1 tsp salt
1 tsp grated lemon peel
2 pkg. Active Dry Yeast
1 C Milk
½ C water
1 C Butter
2 eggs (room temp)
2 C Chopped Walnuts
2/3 C chopped maraschino Cherries
3 TBS. sugar
Oil
Powdered Frosting (powdered sugar and milk )

In a large bowl thoroughly mix 2 cups flour, ¼ cup sugar, salt, lemon peel, and yeast.

Combine milk, water, and butter in a bowl and microwave just to slightly melt butter. Gradually add to dry ingredients and beat 2 minutes at medium speed with electric mixer, scraping bowl occasionally. Add eggs and ½ cup flour. Beat at high speed for 2 minutes, scraping bowl. Stir in enough additional flour to make a stiff dough. Cover bowl with plastic wrap, then a towel. Set aside 20 minutes.

Combine walnuts, cherries and 3 TBS of sugar.

Turn dough out onto heavily floured board. Divide dough in half. Roll each half into a 14 X 10 inch rectangle. Spread with cherry filling. Roll up from long side as for jelly roll to form a roll 14 inches long. Pinch seam to seal. Place on a greased baking sheet. Cut diagonal slits about 1 inch apart in rolls, starting from top surface of roll and cutting about 2/3 of the way through. Pull cut pieces out alternately right and left. (See picture). Cover loosely with wax paper brushed with Oil, then top with plastic wrap. Refrigerate 2 to 24 hours.

When ready to bake, remove from refrigerator. Uncover dough carefully. Let stand at room temperature 10 minutes.

Bake at 375 for 25 to 30 minutes or until done. Remove from baking sheets and cool on wire racks. Frost with powdered sugar frosting.