gingerbread and Landlines

 It dawned on me I haven't said much about Christmas. Well, you know how overwhelmed we get with goodies from my brother's customers - that did not happen this year, although we certainly got plenty of cookies and candy. More than most people receive, but not - for us - a ridiculous amount. And the Polish lady made a gingerbread! Why didn't I think to mention that? I don't know, and I was sure I'd taken a photo of it, but it's nowhere, so I guess I didn't. She gave me the recipe last year (although I never made it) but now that she knows I like gingerbread, perhaps she'll always give us a one. That is fine with me.

And speaking of gingerbread, I made this recipe today for muffins. I used a gluten-free flour mix and left off the lemon glaze. They are nice, but a little plain and I'm thinking of how they could be fixed up a bit. Still, the most interesting thing about this recipe, I think, was her advice on baking temperatures; she says if you bake muffins at a high temperature at the beginning, they will rise up nice and high, and then you lower it. I will try to remember this for all subsequent muffin recipes to test it out. 

It worked on these!

I 've been reading Raynor Winn's Landlines. It's been out since September, but not in the U.S. and I was so afraid they wouldn't publish it here! But I've got it now, and I think it must be a UK edition, since the cover says "The Sunday Times bestseller".  

Anyway, I'm almost done with it. All I can say is, read The Salt Path, if you have any small interest in it - and then read the other two. She is a born writer, but would be unknown if it weren't for her husband's illness and their treks along these trails in Britain. I can't say enough for these, her writing, the moving way she describes their difficult situation, the way she goes by her instinct and how things turn out when she does. It's amazing, and so human. I wish them all the best, and more. Read these!