Hello 2024!

The holiday season is at a close. The holiday lights are depleted to non-existent and we are left with really dark mornings…this is so depressing sounding for Planet Nice. So, what do we need – SNOW. That’s right we need it and be careful what you wish for because for us in the Chicago area at least..we are getting it RIGHT NOW.

How was your holiday season? Mine felt like a whirlwind. Soon after Halloween 2023, I took a vacation to Washington DC. What a great trip, I hadn’t been a tourist there in a very long time. The weather was warm and it wasn’t crowded. I was completely unprepared for all the walking, I had some very sore legs starting on Day 3 sightseeing. There are a few trip pictures AND my final drawing project posted on Planet Nice Odyssey (I know, relentless branding). Here are additional trip photos:

Tadeusz Kościuszko statue near the White House

The Lincoln Memorial - how could one not be moved by this hallowed place?

First thing in the morning at the National Museum of African American History and Culture. An intense and important visit.

A very neat painting at the rotunda of the National Archives; a sleeper hit for me – I had no expectations, but was also incredibly moved by viewing this country’s founding documents.

Decorative Object at the National Gallery

A somewhat random object at the National Gallery, Day 4, when I was utterly exhausted. I chose to take this picture because I really liked the mixed materials: the Chinese porcelain with the European goldwork. I am fascinated by many different things including taking two objects that are aesthetically appealing but different – and combining them to make something that is also different and when done well has “a sum that is greater than its parts”. 

Also, I need to go back to the Kościuszko statue because I am having some trouble with Blogger. I feel Kościuszko and I are near kindred spirits because I know who he is, can say his last name passably well (not the first name), and I have seen statues of him in multiple places (Chicago, his homeland of Poland, and now Washington). He is a pretty neat guy and I look forward to seeing more of his statues in the future.

Moving on to the next topic…Baking was successful this holiday season. The Thanksgiving tally was five fruitcakes and five pumpkin pies. The Christmas week tally was three cookie types. Two out of the three cookies were repeats that I am now content with and I can move on. To draft this section, I did refer to the January 2023 post.

First up, the chocolate-dipped matcha shortbread cookies – I followed my notes from last year and chilled the dough a bit before forming the log and then chilling again. It helped with uniformity – don’t you think?

Pre-bake

Dipped and Styled!

Second up, rosemary alfajores with already made dulce de leche, thanks to Jewel Osco. The notes from last year said to add water to the dough before rolling – I modified with a piecrust trick by adding vodka. So there was increased moisture for the rolling/forming process but did not affect the final cookie moisture content because the vodka evaporated. 

Cookie Two Styled

The new recipe was French Tuiles with the leftover egg whites from the alfajores. Last year’s meringues were sloppy so I found a new recipe in Pillsbury’s Best 1000 Recipes Best of the Bake-off Collection, circa 1959. A much better choice. Tuiles is French for roof tile and these cookies can be formed to resemble those tiles. I chose to keep them flat as they were being packed.

Cookie Three Styled

That is the baking report. Since there is some repurposed content in this post, I wanted to share a novel to this blog cooking adventure – the making of chicken stock. I have done this several times now and I was reminded this time around that you are quite literally making liquid gold, it is so good.

Here is step one:

The Hen

This is a stewing hen that was purchased at Tempel Farms Organic in Old Mill Creek, IL. She lived most of her life there as a well-cared for laying hen. The trick I learned this go around is that you take the bird out of the water and vegetables after 2 hours, remove the meat and then return the carcass to the soup pot for another 6 hours. The meat is worthless if you wait the 8 hours to debone the hen. In addition to water, I added odds and ends from the refrigerator: a giant broccoli stalk, random onions and shallots. The fresh ingredients went into the actual soup – of which there were two batches. From this chicken, I had 9 cups of stock.

Here is the finished product:

Liquid Gold

I encourage all to try their hand at making homemade stock. And if poultry is not your thing, there is also seafood stock which I made once some time ago.

The only other update I wanted to share with you is e-commerce as the last post in October 2023 had content on that subject. It has gone better than estimated with some surprises which is always good. I started with 13 listings and I currently have 11. Now, I know this would seem pathetic to 99.9% of the population but I am elated. I was expecting a slower pace compared to eBay because Etsy is smaller and I do not intend to do price drops to push a Buy. There is also another practicality – the very slow generation on inventory. What I posted on Etsy is the culmination of 5 years’ inventory-building projects as you well know because I have used those projects as blog content. Looking at 2024 goals, I only have two planned additions. Call it slow commerce – does that make any sense? No, that is why it only exists on Planet Nice.

Interestingly, according to the stats, the fabrics are getting more interest than the finished pieces if looking at Views. But the final purchases were finished pieces – one by your favorite alien, yours truly (fingerless mitts) and the other, the jigsaw puzzle Lady with an Ermine. I am not a business person by any means but I like following this small number of data points, it must be the scientist in me.

Best of Luck to the start of 2024 to you! I do have a creative project in the early stages so that will be the focal point next time.