Caroling at Cloudgate

For the last couple of years, on one of the days before Christmas, we have dragged the family out to Chicago's most famous sculpture Cloudgate -- known by locals as "The Bean" -- to see the Chicago Children's Choir caroling in front of the sculpture. We went again a couple of days ago and it was cold (though this year was comparatively balmy at 30 degrees) and absolutely fabulous. We all stand holding candles, in awe of the mixture of the kids' beautiful voices, the city's skyline, lights and sirens, mirrored in the sculpture and enveloped in the snowy weather. Chicago is a difficult city to live in, but this (together with Opera night in Grant Park)
is the city at its best.

Here is a (very badly made) homemade movie, which does not do justice to the event, but pick out Rahel in the choir if you can...

Honey, it's coooold outside

Forecast in Chicago this morning

Today... Windy. Cloudy with intermittent light snow and flurries. Areas of blowing snow. Bitterly cold. Highs 1 to 5 above. Wind chills as low as 20 below to 30 below zero. West winds 20 to 30 mph with gusts up to 40 mph at times. Chance of measurable precipitation 40 percent.

Boiled custard

My grandmother Mama always boiled a giant jar of boiled custard each Christmas, and she passed the recipe to my mom who continued the tradition, and for the last several years we've made several batches each Christmas. It's a custard, so the trick is to cook it not to too hot until the custard just thickens and coats the spoon, and then quickly take it off the heat. In the first picture, you see Miriam is hamming a bit for the camera, posing with a whistle as if she doesn't have a care in the world. By the time I took the last photo, she was deadly serious, annoyed with my picture taking, asking "is it coating, is it coating?" Here's the recipe, which is a minor variant of the one handed down (fewer marshmallows, less sugar)

• Heat 1 Qt whole milk in a heavy pan until scalding. Don't let it skin over
• Add 6 whole marshmallows once the milk is hot
• Whisk together then add: 3/4 cup sugar, 1/2 tsp flour, and 4 whole eggs

• Stir until the marshmallows melt and the custard covers the spoon. Strain into a glass jar to which 1tsp vanilla has been added and chill

Kids love it, grown ups have been known to mix with brandy or rum. Fun for the whole family!

Families that surf together...?

Clara singing "The Most Beautiful Girl in the Room" from Flight of the Conchords. We have the original version and then Clara's rendition

Monika arrived from Germany yesterday, so we spent some time cleaning up the house to get ready for her arrival. She's sharing a room with Rahel, so we spent a lot of time cleaning up that room, and I came across a few boxes of shows in the closet. Miriam is always saying she needs new shoes, so when I saw these I decided to do a quick photo inventory of just how many shoes we currently have.  Take a look!

feeling magical

Pinchie got a silver necklace for Nikolaus Tag yesterday. She is endlessly irritating with it because she takes it off, twists it around in her hands, and ties it into impossible knots that we have to detangle several times a day. But she loves it, and said last night, "I'm so glad that Nikolaus gave me this necklace because it makes me feel magical"