Friday Fare: 12/18/20

One of the most enjoyable interactions I had this week on social media had to do with a text my mom sent me:

As I state in my post above, my kiddos are kinda strange about what they eat. My oldest hates ice cream and frosted cakes, but if I haul out one of my great-grandma Florence’s recipes that includes things like molasses and walnuts, he’s all in. Of course, my youngest is the polar opposite and will eat EVERYTHING unless it has raisins or nuts. But when I let them take a bite of pecan pie this week, they were both fans.

So I texted my mom for her favorite tassie recipe and she came through with a picture and a text with an old Lutheran church cookbook recipe. In case you can’t see it on the post, here’s the recipe from Mrs. Clarence Sivesind:

Prize Tassies

1 c. butter (room temperature                                           2 c. sifted flour
2 (3 oz.) pkg of cream cheese

Cream these ingredients together. Roll into balls and press into mini muffin tins. Fill tin/dough balls 3/4 full with the following filling:

3 eggs (slightly beaten)                                                       Dash of salt
1 1/2 c. brown sugar                                                            1 tsp. vanilla
2 T. butter (melted)                                                              1 c. pecans, chopped

Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. Cool before lifting out with a fork.

Happy eating friends.

One of my friends left a comment on Instagram asking what tassies are. I basically think of them as miniature pecan pies, but according to the Interwebs, tassies are Scottish in origin and are miniature pies or tarts. I’ve always associated tassies with my Norwegian relatives (and the cookbook cited above comes from a VERY Scandinavian congregation), but apparently, I’ve been wrong about that for 40+ years.

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Reading: I finished Laura Lippman‘s “My Life as a Villainess” (fantastic) and am still reading Kate Baer‘s “What Kind of Woman.”

Writing: A lot of people have talked about how challenging it is to be creative during a pandemic. I don’t think it’s necessary to add my voice to the fray, except to chime in that it’s been HARD. 🙂  But what I’ve been doing is taking advantage of opportunities to listen in on various writing-related webinars. But in writing … I have a project that I need to finish before the end of the year with a couple of my dear friends. I am going to be querying Dragonfly in earnest starting Q1 of 2021.

I think there’s a light at the end of the tunnel called 2020 and I’m hoping it’s not an oncoming train. But … be kind, be gracious, wear a mask, and don’t snap at grocery store workers, USPS/FedEx/UPS personnel, or any of those folx who are just doing the best job that they can under weird-ass circumstances.

AND … since the next couple of Fridays coincide with Christmas and New Years, I’m going to wish you my very best and will pick up Friday Fare on January 6, 2021!

– Shelley

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What is Friday Fare? As a recap, on Fridays I post link love to the various bits of arcane shiz I discover on the Interwebs.  I liken it to a glimpse into my mind, but without the 80s song lyrics or mental cobwebs.