Who We Are

Tuesday, December 05, 2006

K from Mexico and It's St. Nicholas Eve!

Hi everypuppy! It's Amber! We got the most wonderful email yesterday from one of my FAVORITE Siber-boys! :) Actually, being the very respectful pup that he is, he sent it to my mom and asked her very politely if she thought it was OK and maybe we'd like his picture and would want to use it in our blog and oh... I just have to tell you he's SO CUTE!

Anyroo, it's our dear friend K, in Mexico City! He has been reading the Ao4 Digest and said he really liked the cute poses we've shown. K has a GREAT one of his own and shared it with us. Check it out:Oooooohhhhhhhh! Who could EVER deny that handsome guy anything? Look at that face... those gorgeous eyes... that gumdrop nose.... *sigh*

Thank roo, K, for sharing that picture with us! It's extremely wonderful!

In other news of the day.... does everypuppy know that tomorrow is Saint Nicholas Day?!? Our parents learned all about how Belgians celebrate St. Nicholas Day when they lived in ... well, in Belgium. :) One of the traditions is that on St. Nicholas' Eve (tonight!) you leave your wooden shoes on the hearth - usually with treats for St. Nic's horse. If you've been good, he will leave you treats - especially a delightful spice cookie called "Speculoos"! YUM!

For some really wonderful information about Saint Nicholas and his special day, please visit this link. It explains traditions from all over the world!

Mom makes wonderful Speculoos and we help her! Here is Dave, at left, with the sabots (wooden shoes) and a Speculoos board. (Speculoos are a molded cookie, pressed into a carved board!) Hmm... there don't seem to be any treats for St. Nicholas' horse in those sabots, Dave! Oh well. I'm not sure if you can see it, but that board is from Belgium, and it has a hand-carved St. Nicholas on it! I hope maybe he'll leave us special things in the sabots tonight!

At right are some Speculoos mom made last year in a mold that looked like a hound! For anypuppy who likes to help in the kitchen, here is mom's favorite recipe for Speculoos - all the way from Belgium!

Speculoos - or Speculaas - are claimed by both the Belgians and the Dutch. Since I (mom-o-the-Ao4) bought my boards in Belgium from a man from the Netherlands..... I won't take sides. :) Either way you bake them, they're a wonderfully spicy treat! A great cookie to have with a cup of strong coffee! Or, yes, Zim... some cappuccino.
• 3 cups flour• 1 1/2 cups butter• 1 1/2 cups brown sugar• 1/4 tsp. salt• 1/4 tsp. baking powder (or hartshorn)• 1 tsp. cloves• 3 tsp. cinnamon• 1 tsp. nutmeg• milk, as needed (6 T)• slivered almonds
Oil your wooden speculoos board if using it for the first time. Sprinkle with flour; shake off excess. Knead all ingredients except almonds together, until they make a ball. Press part of the dough in the mold. Cut extra dough away with a sharp knife or string. Holding your right hand at the top of the board, slam it down. The figure will fall out... hopefully... Place cookie on a buttered baking sheet. Decorate with almonds, if desired. Bake in a "moderate" oven (350) 15-25 minutes until brown.
You can also finely chop the almonds and add them to your dough. Also... you
can try cutting the butter to 1 cup and adding an egg.

Thank roo, Mom, for sharing the recipe! Dave is SURE St. Nicholas will bring him something wonderful if he helps bake Speculoos! :) As they say in southern Belgium ... BON APPETIT ... or is that SMAKELIJK ETEN for those in the north?!??! :)

I hope Saint Nicholas brings everypuppy something wonderful!

Love,

Amber

20 comments:

  1. Those speculoos sound great AO4. Maybe we can get our Mom to make them. Probably not though, she doesn't cook much any more. Congrats on being the feature blog on the Husky bloggers by the way. Too cool for you.

    The D'Azul Siberians (and Cap'N Maverick the Pirate too).

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  2. Hey Amber,

    My people know tomorrow is St. Nick's day, but I don't think they are baking us anything (our stove is broken)--but could you ask them to get us some gummy bears? That's what one of them gives her German students in the classroom and we're always kind of jealous.

    Pippin

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  3. Hi D'Azuls! Please tell your mom these are totally worth the effort! And thank roo for the congrats!
    Hi Pippin! MMMmmm... gummi bears sound like a wonderful treat! Maybe if you leave some wooden shoes out, St. Nick will fill them with gummi bears? Put some carrots in the shoes for his horse! Good luck! and Guten Appetit! (Stormy knows some German, too, and is teaching us!)
    Love,
    Amber

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  4. Hi there Zim, play Bows as you always say! (makes me laugh always that one!).... good post there guys, my Mama about to email yrs.

    You are such cool bloggers now and can you tell us the secret behind your music.....how do you get it all hidden etc...... oh just picking your brains here.

    ooooh and check out my blog now, I have sorted the picture problem, blogger gone mad more likely! Let me know if it is ok now.

    chin up chaps, love and licks
    Marvin xxxx

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  5. oh and thank roooooo for the recipe, we are putting on weight just lookin in on your blog! yum!

    when I said about the hidden music, what I meant was, you have music we can hear but you don't have the picture and the link like we do?????

    But it is very good.....liking your blog so much. xxxx

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  6. Marvin: Keep scrolling down... way, way down... under our weather control devices! It's there! I thought it would change songs... guess not? I'm surfing over to your blog now...
    Play bows!
    Zimmie

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  7. How nice to meet K!

    Such a sweet pup.......

    Maddie

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  8. Maddie,
    Isn't he HANDSOME!??! :)
    Love,
    Amber

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  9. That K is a dreamy dreamboat!

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  10. Please don't let Mama see this recipe.

    Or any recipe for that matter.

    For the love of treats.

    xoxoox
    Chelsea

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  11. Could you put the midi file of "wind beneath your wings" up on the site next, or perhaps that annoying "signs" song. the human woman is reading your blog behind your backs and that's sure to keep her off of there.

    Meeshka

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  12. Speculoos? What a great name for a treat.

    How were your speculoos dear?

    Just spectaculicious, thanks.

    Chow for now,

    Tin Tin xo

    PS K is handsome, but each of you outhandsome him.

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  13. Hi Amber, K sure is cute. And your mum is so nice to share her recipe.

    ~ fufu

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  14. mmmmmmmmmmmmmm, those speculoos sure are making me hungry!

    And Dave looks so cute in that picture!! (blush)

    I think I need to have my human try that recipe. She made a really good pumpkin cake for the turkey eating day that was a HUGE hit!! Maybe I should have my human e-mail your human for more recipes, and maybe she can make US more goodies!

    Holly

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  15. oh I see your music now! You have a playlist!!!! We have not done this yet, we just cut and paste new song every day....

    Always did take the long way round with things.

    You have lovely music - it put Jeannie in the Christmas mood this morning. She was a bit down yesterday, but what an improvement today. Think the "grape juice" was a bit strong for her maybe????!

    love to you all
    Marvin ;0)

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  16. Hey guys, you've gotta see Joey the JRT from Singapore's blog! He and Jack are wearing babushkas!

    Bussie Kissies
    Buster

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  17. Roo Roo: Isn't he? *sigh*

    Chelsea: Be nice to your mom - Santa is watching!

    Meeshka: We were hoping to find a Christmassy version of FunkyTown...
    hee hee hee!

    Tin Tin: You never fail to make me smile!

    Fu Fu: Oh, he IS, isn't he? And he's very nice!

    Holly: Mom says these are more "labor intensive" than the Pumpkin Cake, but "worth it". Maybe your mom will make some! Davy says "thank woo" for saying he's cute. He's blushing, too! :)

    Marvin: Glad you're enjoying the music! We're going to take it down at the end of today - some puppies may not like how long it takes to down load and stuff. We'll put it up again for Christmas!

    Buster: Oh, NO! Not babushkas! I left them a warning about what can happen!

    Maddie: I KNOW! YIKES!!!!!! At least OUR moms won't try that again. Right? I mean ... I don't think they will...

    Love,
    Amber (this is a babushka-free zone!)

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  18. Mmmmm, cookies! Did your humans share? I wonder if all Huskis in Mexico use forks? How civilized!

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  19. Indy: I'll have to send K's sister Kali an email and see if she's fork-fed, too!
    The bipeds don't share cookies on purpose, but fortunately they drop things a lot. :)
    Love,
    Amber

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