Recipe: Old-Fashioned Gingerbread Cookies

If you follow me on Instagram, you know that I baked a batch of these gingerbread cookies a few weeks ago (well, part of a batch - the recipe below makes six dozen!).  I felt like baking something Christmasy and old-fashioned and these were just perfect (just ask SD).  So good, in fact, that we decided to make another part of a batch to give as gifts to friends and colleagues this week.

Plus, our heat hasn't been working that well for the last week, or so and we were happy to huddle around the oven for a few hours on Saturday!

One of our cookie gift baskets, ready to go!

There's something so special about giving to others at this time of the year.  Whether it's the gift of time or patience, or something more tangible, I am convinced that showing our love and appreciation for others at any time of the year makes the world a better place.  Enjoy the gingerbread cookies!

P.S. Don’t forget: I'm hosting a holiday giveaway!

Read the details and enter here.  Hurry!  The giveaway closes the day after Christmas.

Old-Fashioned Gingerbread Cookies from Southern Living

Ingredients: 1 cup butter 1 cup sugar 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 cup molasses 2 tablespoons white vinegar 1 large egg 5 cups all-purpose flour 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda 1 tablespoon ground ginger 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1 teaspoon ground cloves

Directions: Beat butter at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy; gradually add sugar and salt, beating well.  Add molasses, vinegar, and egg, beating at low speed just until blended.  Combine flour and next four ingredients; add to butter mixture, beating at low speed until blended.  Cover and chill 8 hours.  Divide dough into fourths.  Roll each portion to a 1/8-inch thickness on a floured surface.  Cut with a 3-inch cookie cutter.  Place on lightly greased or parchment paper-lined baking sheets.  Bake at 375° for 8 minutes.  Cool on pans 1 minute (this allows cookies to lift easily off of pan); then place on wire racks to cool.  Decorate as desired.  Yield: 6 dozen.

For a twist on this traditional favorite, see this recipe for Gingerbread Sandwich Cookies!

The Season of Giving + A Giveaway!

A few weeks ago, I found out that my Grampy needed semi-emergency foot surgery.  All went well but he has a long road of recovery in rehab ahead of him (prayers appreciated!).  SD and I had already planned to visit my grandparents in NJ over the Thanksgiving holiday (and surprise them with a short holiday-themed saxophone/piano concert) but given the recent events, we ended up with the opportunity to spend part of the day visiting with them in the rehab facility... and we brought our music with us.

Love is something we do, something we show with our actions, not just our words.  Love does things.

The facility was thrilled to feature us as "special guests" and at 2:00 p.m., they wheeled residents from multiple floors into the Dining Room to hear us play.  We had a 30-minute program prepared - a mix of art song transcriptions, holiday classics, and more modern reflections on the season.  I thought some of the residents might know some of the things on our list so we encouraged them to sing along!  And they did.  Melt my heart.

For those of you who are interested, here is a list of what we played:

Danyew 2013 Holiday Program

Simple Gifts (arr. Copland) Dank sei Dir Herr (Ochs) Ave Maria (Schubert)

Silver Bells (Livingston/Evans) White Christmas (Berlin) The Little Drummer Boy (Davis)

Listen to Christmas (Hayes) The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting) (Tormé/Wells)

This is what it's all about, y'all.  Sharing what we have with others.  Giving of ourselves, our time, our talents, our resources to others.  Loving on others.  This is what matters.

Christmas is two weeks away (TWO WEEKS!) and in the spirit of love and giving, I want to challenge you to go and do something this season that shows someone you really love them.  Bake cookies for your neighbor.  Write a note to a loved one who lives far away.  Be a good listener to someone who needs a friend.  Dust off the hymnal in the piano bench and gather friends and family together for an evening of singing around the piano.  Hug your loved ones a little tighter.  Writing this post made me realize that it would be fun if we shared some of the meaningful ways that we are sharing our love and gifts with each other.  To help encourage this sharing, I'm hosting a... drumroll...

Holiday Giveaway! Win a set of eight hand-lettered note cards with matching white envelopes for thank yous, love notes, or thinking of yous (two of each design: "love," "joy," "thanks," and "hello" with blank inside).

Enter any (or all!) of the following ways:

1. Leave a comment below with one of your favorite holiday memories or traditions or a way that someone has blessed you this holiday season. 2. Follow me on Instagram, post a photo of your sharing/giving/loving in action, and tag me. 3. Follow me on Twitter, share your story, and tag me.

Giveaway runs from today, December 11, 2013 through December 25, 2013.  Winner will be chosen at random and announced here on the blog.  Yay!

Improvisation Activities for Handbells

*Disclosure: I get commissions for purchases made through links in this post.

We've had three rehearsals with our little bell choir now and they're doing so well! As you may recall from my last post, SD and I tried to plan a variety of music for the first few weeks — pieces that called for a flexible number of bells and covered a range of playing and reading levels.

The first night, we had several new ringers and a few that were new to reading music entirely. 

(Side note: I was thrilled by this — it's so exciting to me to have new people come out to learn and make music together!). 

With this scenario in the back of our minds, we also planned a few improvisation activities that wouldn't rely on music notation. This way, we could start making music right from the beginning with whoever came that first night. 

Getting Started with Handbells

We distributed pencils and pairs of white gloves to everyone as they arrived and made temporary bell assignments based on the pentatonic scale. We used a C-based pentatonic scale (C-D-E-G-A) but you can easily transpose it to another key of your choice. Each person had 2 bells.

Random Ring

We introduced and demonstrated the basic techniques of ringing and damping and then let everyone try it for a minute or so, freely and in their own tempo. (This was the perfect setup for our improvisation activity because, essentially, they were already creating a "random ring" effect without even realizing it!). 

Once everyone had a good feel for ringing, we started the activity formally, this time with the lowest C (C3 or C4) chiming three times to start us off. Everyone was free to ring as frequently or infrequently as they desired and since we were only using the notes of the pentatonic scale, we told them not to worry about damping for the time being.

The goal was to create a sort of "wind chime" effect that would become the backdrop for the familiar chant melody, "Of the Father's Love Begotten." The first two weeks we did this, I played the melody on the piano with plenty of space in between phrases. The third week, SD played the melody on the saxophone (the way we hope to play it in worship later this month).

Pros

The great thing about this activity is that there are no wrong notes. The pentatonic arrangement ensures that even if everyone played their bells at the same time, the resulting sonority would be a pleasant one.

There is no real sense of rhythm involved, as it is determined at the individual level, so those with lower levels of musical intuition won't feel self-conscious about not ringing in time with everyone else. Also, there is no reading involved! Those who are new readers don't have to worry about following the "third line and fourth space" while keeping track of the beat — they can just play, uninhibited.

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Help those you teach learn the language of music.

This printable collection of six rhythm pattern card sets features a total of 192 different patterns made up of quarter notes, half notes, eighth notes, sixteenth notes, and quarter rests in duple and triple meters (32 cards/set).

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Rhythmic Canon

Another activity we introduced the first week was a rhythmic canon. The inspiration for this came from Michael Keller's Developing Coordination Skills. Instead of reading through the examples in the book (which involves an explanation about ignoring the lines and spaces that are notated and just ringing what you have in hand), we created three shorter examples and notated just the rhythm patterns on a large whiteboard at the front of the room.

Each pattern was two measures long (4/4 time) with a repeat sign marked at the end. The patterns were numbered, "1, 2, and 3." We were still in the pentatonic arrangement but we let everyone choose whether they wanted to read the rhythm with one or two bells. Some opted to alternate R and L, others changed bells every measure, and others played everything with only one bell. The goal here was to introduce a little bit of notation and get everyone used to reading together (in rhythm) as a group.

First, we read each pattern together (with repeats). Then, we asked each person to choose one of the three patterns to play and surprise us (the goal was to hear all three patterns at the same time). Finally, we asked them to again choose a pattern from the list but this time, cycle through all three patterns (with repeats) like a canon (the goal was to have each player read all three rhythm patterns independently).

There are obviously a number of ways to do a rhythmic canon-type activity in rehearsal — I'll leave the creative variations up to you!  Happy improvising!

Previously:
Starting a Bell Choir

Image credit: This work, "Improvisation Activities for Handbells," is a derivative of "handbells" by Joe Lewis, used under CC BY-SA 2.0. "Improvisation Activities for Handbells" is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0 by Ashley Danyew.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I know I've said it before, but Thanksgiving really is my favorite holiday.  We're spending the weekend in Connecticut with SD's parents and we have big plans for cooking together (SD and I are responsible for the stuffing, corn pudding, and cranberry conserve), making music, and decorating the Christmas tree.  So, so grateful for this life.  God is good.

Wishing you and yours a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Happy birthday, darling

Dear SD,

Happy birthday, darling!  I love this picture of you from our Christmas card shoot - it reminds me of the silly moments we've shared and all the things you do to make me laugh.  Best feeling in the world.  I love sharing this life with you and feel so fortunate to have you by my side.  I'm so grateful for the opportunity to celebrate you this week!  Wishing you a wonderful birthday and a great year to come!

xo, Ashley

Clavier Companion Feature

I am honored to be among the 2013 Clavier Companion Writing Contest winners and to have my writing featured on the Clavier Companion website.  You can read my article, "Exploring Ideas for Effective Teaching" here.  Thanks so much to everyone at Clavier Companion for this opportunity!

Sweet November

Sweet November, that wonderful season of preparation, thanksgiving, and rest before the holiday hustle and bustle.

The nights get cooler, the days get shorter, and we wait for glimpses of those first few snowflakes of winter (well, some of us do). But with the rush of the end of the semester, a full teaching schedule, and a few other projects to manage, the rosy glow of my ideal November fades a little. 

I admit this is usually the time of year when I put my head down, do what I need to do each week, and look forward to a fresh, new year when I can take a breath and hit "restart" on goals, plans, and living in general. I get burnt out on my goals. I get tired of my routine. I lose focus.

But this weekend, I took some time to sit still, to be still, and I realized—life is too short to live with your head down. There are so many things to enjoy in the moment (like the brilliant yellow trees, glowing in the sunlight outside my window right now). 

Sometimes I find myself so wrapped up in my to-do list that it doesn't seem like there is time to do anything but what is absolutely essential. Does that ever happen to you? This weekend, I was reminded (partly from reading this post) that we're given enough time for everything that matters. It comes down to how we manage our time and the priorities we set.

What really matters? Here are a few things that came to mind:

1. Making time for that passing conversation with someone in the hall

2. Offering a word of encouragement to someone who is feeling overwhelmed

3. Baking cookies to give away to others

4. Making the people in my life a priority and being fully present

5. Going the extra mile with kindness and grace

This is how I want to live my days this holiday season. This is how I want to spend my time: focusing on what matters. The rest will fall into place, as it always does. What will you make happen this month?

Grounded in Gratitude

Oh, y'all.  The past few weeks have been hard.  The unrest and turmoil in the government.  A great loss in the Eastman community.  The stress of work and school and teaching and trying to find a proper balance.  The pressure to succeed and make a mark.  It's easy to succumb - to complain and get frustrated, to give in or give up.  It's also easy to become immobilized by these challenges and feel incapable of moving forward.  I write these words from lived, personal experience. But I believe there is more to life than the pressures of our daily lives.  From the midst of these challenges, we can be grounded in true, sincere gratitude.

Image Credit: Lara Casey

Do you believe these words?  Does the seemingly simple act of giving thanks really have the power to change things - big, daunting things?  I believe it does.  So, I'm starting over.  I'm starting with gratitude.

First, this is my favorite time of year.

There are so many wonderful things I love about the fall season - the crispness in the air, the crunch of leaves beneath my feet as we take an evening stroll, the need for scarves and boots, hot apple cider on a chilly evening, and the beautiful colors that greet you at every turn.  It's glorious.

With fall, comes my very favorite holiday - Thanksgiving.  I love the traditions, the hustle and bustle of gathering together, cooking, preparing a meal together, serving each other, and visiting with friends and family.  And I love that though we've progressed as a society since that first Thanksgiving, it's name hasn't changed.  Thanksgiving - a time to give thanks.

Here's what I'm doing to stay grounded in gratitude this season - making a gratitude list (you can download the [download id="1" format="6"] here).  Hang it above your desk, print it out and add it to your planner, or if you're like us, post it in your kitchen so that you see it every day.  Make a list of everything you are grateful for in life and add to it each day.  Look for the little things, the things we tend to overlook in the hustle and bustle and business.  Live a life of gratitude.

Happy anniversary, darling

Dear SD, Two years ago today we celebrated the start of our marriage together on the most beautiful, sunny fall day in the rolling hills of southern Vermont.  We reminisce often about that day and the sweet memories we hold and I'm so grateful we had the opportunity to build another year's worth of memories together this year.

Remember that time we visited Niagara Falls in the winter?

We went skiing in Utah, saw Pink Martini at the Jazz Festival, and watched a few of the chase scenes for The Amazing Spider Man 2 being filmed downtown.  We shared a pulled pork sandwich from Bogart's in North Carolina (the best!) and sampled the wares of several local food trucks - Marty's Meats (with that amazing fried chicken sandwich), Le Petite Poutine, Macarollin', and Cheesed and Confused (with the pulled pork + macaroni and cheese grilled cheese sandwich).  We bought an air conditioner and wondered how we ever got along without one.  We had a white Christmas, saw the pink magnolias in full bloom in the spring, ate lobster in the summer, and went apple-picking in the fall (we even made an apple pie - and crust - from scratch!).

I love the things you do to make me laugh.  I love your sweet, selfless nature and all the ways you serve me.  I love when you tug on my hand during our after-dinner walks to encourage me to walk a little slower and enjoy the moment.  Thank you for showing me kindness every single day.  I admire your integrity and your giving spirit.  I love your heart, SD.  I am so grateful for you!

Happy 2nd anniversary!