Seven Quick Takes: Manly tea parties, moon bases, and mayonnaise cookies

Joining the party at This Ain't the Lyceum!

I

Little Bear, looking at a cookbook: "One cup of butter. Half a cup of sugar. One spoon of flour. Mix mix mix, all done! Fruitcake." Somebody spent a lot of time helping me in the kitchen the past few weeks! I had to laugh when I looked over at his cookbook; his "fruitcake" recipe came from a page featuring sauerbraten, halupki, and roast duck.

II

Yesterday morning Little Bear and I were both sneezing and sick-feeling, and wound up staying home and taking a nap while Matt went to Mass. I was disappointed to miss Mass for the solemnity! And I probably could have made it through, although I've been growing faint by halfway through Sunday Masses recently so Little Bear and I would probably have spent at least half of the Mass sitting in the vestibule or even outside. But I was reminded just the other day that it's not only a question of "can I live through Mass?," but of "am I potentially contagious and therefore dangerous to those with weak immune systems?" Sneezing? Definitely contagious, so we stayed home. Matt said that the church was packed, though, which is great.

III

The other day Matt was going through our box of camping/hiking things, stocking his daypack with survival gear and cataloging what we had and needed. Little Bear discovered my red enamelware tea kettle (a huge waste of packing space, but so much fun to bring car-camping!). He promptly ran into the kitchen, found two of the matching "teacups," and pretended to pour water into them for himself and Daddy. Cheers! Almost immediately after this photo was taken...

Me: "We don't wrestle during tea parties."

Matt: "This is a manly tea party."

IV

Is your Christmas tree still up? We're leaving ours up until Epiphany, but haven't actually discussed whether that means Sunday or Tuesday this year... It makes me so crazy when they move feasts where there is an actual numerical reason for them to be where they are! Like how the Annunciation (March 25) is exactly nine months before Christmas for obvious reason. There isn't quite that pressing a reason to keep Epiphany on January 6, but moving it certainly messes up the centuries-old tradition of the Twelve Days of Christmas! 

V

As promised, a better photo of our padahae (Ukranian pierogi):

One recipe made 18 potato padahae and 30 sauerkraut padahae. I separated them into quart freezer bags for individual meals this evening; just seeing them all in the freezer makes me so happy!

VI

I haven't found a ton of information about this on English-language websites, but apparently there's a Russian company that believes they can have a functional moon base within ten years of receiving government approval. It sounds like the Russian government is saying that it's too soon to say whether their plans will be approved and/or will work, but it's sure neat that someone is taking actual steps toward an extraterrestrial colony! I very much doubt that I'll ever make it to space, but space travel, interplanetary exploration, all that good stuff has captivated my imagination ever since I was a kid.

VII

Earlier this week we had a priest who is a friend of my family over for supper. As he saw Matt pulling the chicken out of the oven he said (joking!), "I told you I'm vegan, right?" A discussion of foods liked and disliked ensued, and when he said that he would eat anything but mayonnaise, I remarked that I thought I'd seen a cookie recipe somewhere that called for mayonnaise. Father and Matt both quickly agreed that such a thing couldn't exist because it would be ontologically evil. So of course I was curious and Googled it that evening... and because Google can find anything, now there's a recipe for Mayonnaise Cookies open in a tab in my browser. Has anyone ever made or tasted such a thing? I'm intrigued; what effect would it have on the flavor? The texture? I kind of want to try out the recipe, but Kit still doesn't really like sweets, and I'm pretty sure Matt wouldn't touch them if I told him they had mayonnaise in them...