WHO CAN WEAR THIS DRESS?

 

Little red maple drops its leaves quickly

In the magical Land of Autumn, where workers begin to think of Christmas, the royal dressmaker set herself to make a lovely holiday dress for Princess Molly, but alas! she did not have the right fabric.

“I need to go to town today to buy a nice knit at the fabric shoppe,” she said to the footman.

“Surely not today, mistress,” he replied. “The coach goeth not that way today. Leave it till another when the coach runneth many errands. Besides, the big game commenceth soon.”

A lovely autumn day

So, the dressmaker searched her stash again and found nothing but an old tank top. “One can’t make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear,” she muttered to herself, but she worked on and completed the dress, which was tried first by Princess Molly.

Molly

“I can't breathe," wailed Princess Molly. "This dress is much too tight, and if I can’t wear it, neither can Shirley Anne (American Farm Girl), Maryellen, Hazel, or Elizabeth.”

“Oh, dear, dear, dear” cried the royal dressmaker in distress. “I beg your forgiveness, Princess Molly – and all you other American Girls – er, Princesses. The fault is my own. I just didn’t have the right fabric.”

Princess Alexandra (Lexy)

“Let me try the dress,” called Princess Lexy of the Madame Alexander line from her perch above the “cabinet of good things.” So, the royal dressmaker tugged the problematic dress off Molly and coaxed it onto Lexy, but while looser through the body, it was still too tight in the arms. 

Esmay, the Good Witch

“Me next,” called Princess Esmay, the Good Witch, who came to us from Tonnerland. Clearly, she will wear the dress, but there will be others for all.

And today the coach went to town, and the dressmaker bought a lovely shimmering piece of white cloth at the fabric shoppe, the better to make stretchy dresses. KW

CHRISTMAS IS COMING

One of my sons introduced me to his friend, a Filippina, and she and I occasionally visit through Messenger. Here’s a photo of her holding her newborn niece. I was initially confused because clearly, she’s standing in front of a Christmas tree. I thought it must be some other baby, one born at Christmastime in some other year. “No, this is the baby,” she said.

She went on to explain that yes, their Christmas tree is up, everyone's Christmas trees are up, and the streets have been decorated since September. I asked her if they wouldn’t get tired of it before Christmas. She said no – that even the adults are very excited.

This conversation just lifted my spirits. What if we celebrated Christmas so that the decorations, the lights, and the church services gave us joy and set the tone for another year?

 

Our friend is a busy single mother with three children of her own. She operates a fruit stand near the home that she shares with others of her extended family. We have enjoyed becoming acquainted and hearing about daily life in the Philippines. KW

GINGERBREAD

I had planned to spend much of the year researching gingerbread recipes in preparation for this year’s Christmas advent project. To that end I have saved many gingerbread recipes to my Pinterest board. However, after the first few tries, I lost heart. No matter the recipe, the end product was dry. And I picked up on silent vibes from Mike that he wasn’t a fan of these experiments.

The topic still sparks my imagination, though, so I hadn’t quite given up. While shopping at Walmart recently, I picked up yet another jar of molasses, now available only in smaller quantities, it seems. That’s the way they keep you from realizing just how very expensive it is, I suspect.

Anyway, I decided not to check myself out, so I got in line at one of the manned registers. The cashier was friendly and chatty, and I never complain of a chatty cashier. I know that when it’s my turn, she’ll chat with me, too.

“What are you going to do with the molasses,” she asked. (I’m no judge of age, but I think it’s safe to say she fit my generation.)

“Gingerbread,” I responded.

“Mine is hard,” she said, matter-of-factly, and my ears pricked up.

“Hard? Do you mean dry,” I asked.

“Yes, dry and hard,” she said.

“I know what you mean,” I continued, “but I don’t think it’s supposed to be.”

“Oh! My mother makes wonderful gingerbread,” she said. Oh! Now she’s going to tell me what her mother says. I love to hear what the older generation has to say, but you know how it is -- those folks are becoming scarce, and the implication is that I am now the older generation.

“So, what’s wrong with ours,” I asked. “Are we baking it too long?”

“That’s what my mother says,” she responded. “She says to cut the heat and take it out sooner.”

And remember – this happened at Walmart. You just never know . . .

So, yesterday afternoon I made gingerbread again using Betty Crocker’s recipe for “Old-fashionedGingerbread.” As per the directions, I set the oven at 325 rather than the usual 350. And at 50 minutes, I removed it, even though my inclination was to bake that extra five minutes. This one was nice and moist, and Mike has said several times that it’s delicious.

The recipe called for a teaspoon of ginger and a teaspoon of cinnamon. We like it spicy, so I added a little more ginger and ¼ teaspoon of cloves. I’m a big fan of cloves. KW