Earlier in the month,
I wrote of a young possum
that frustrated my cookie-making efforts.
We did not part on good terms.
It is now December 23,
Christmas Eve Eve,
and you may be interested to know
that the possum and I are becoming friends.
I have named her Li'l Poss,
though truthfully I don't know if it is a girl.
She hasn't shown me her belly--
but then, I suppose
I haven't shown her mine, either.
Here is the original story
and the follow-up.
Early December:
Last night I was talking with our son Paul
and granddaughter Anna via FaceTime.
It was morning in Taiwan
and Anna was home with a stomach bug.
I told her that I was about to make Christmas Crack
for the Historical Society's Christmas Open House.
"Follow the recipe this time,"
Paul suggested with a wry smile.
My kitchen exploits are rarely consistent.
I smugly informed him of the chart that I had made
with different temperatures
and times
and ingredient variations.
This time, nothing would go wrong.
I measured accurately,
stirred the butter and brown sugar
for exactly three minutes,
distributed and smoothed the dark chocolate chips,
then put Christmas sprinkles on top.
The final step was to put it in the freezer for twenty minutes,
but the back porch also was freezing
and more energy efficient.
I sat down by the Christmas tree,
feeling quite pleased.
Fifteen minutes later
I heard a crash.
A possum had enjoyed the lovely chocolate coating,
then knocked the pan off the table.
We scowled and growled at each other,
then he waddled off.
Tonight I made another batch.
 |
| Possum |
 | |
| Recipe for Possum's Favorite Christmas Crackers may be found at the end of the blog |
Later in December,
I mixed a batch of chocolate chip cookies
to take to the church's nativity play
and put the dough on the back porch
in the antique icebox
where possums cannot reach--
lesson learned--
to chill for an hour.
Soon after, Den started outside to fix the fire
and said, "Possum's back."
Sure enough, there she sat,
huddled and blinking,
nose twitching.
Seeing her made me laugh about our previous experience
so I turned a bit soft-hearted
and gave her a tiny bowl of cookie dough.
She didn't seem afraid,
so I decided to give her a party.
I got her a friend, Moose,
an ornament for sparkle,
Baby Jesus to remember the incarnation,
and brought out Grandma Maud's Christmas placemat.
Li'l Poss even let me put a tiny Santa hat on her
to go with her fur coat.
 |
| L'il Poss's Christmas party |
After she ate the dough,
I gave her a lesson in manners
using an old slate that Anna had written on years ago.
 |
| Cooke dough consumed, smile on face. I think she's smiling... |
I thought we were done,
but a few nights later
I heard loud rummaging sounds
and saw that she had chewed the lid off the cider jug
and was frustrated that she couldn't get a drink.
 |
| Cider |
and we had another party,
complete with Christmas candle.
I reallyreallyreallyreally wanted to pick her up,
but I didn't.
 |
| Christmas party #2 |
Soon we may celebrate New Year's Eve.
May you have strange and wonderful adventures in the new year
and may you make many new friends,
some of whom are not of your species.
Carpe Anno!
Sue and Denny
Recipe for Possum's Favorite Christmas Crackers:
1 sleeve saltine crackers
1 cup butter
1 cup brown sugar
2 cups dark chocolate chips (or milk chocolate chips, your choice)
1. Preheat oven to 400°.
2. Line edged cookie sheet with aluminum foil.
3. Place saltine crackers in single layer on foil.
4. Heat butter and brown sugar in saucepan,
stirring constantly until bubbly.
Continue cooking and stirring for three minutes.
5. Pour over saltines.
Bake at 400° for six minutes.
6. Remove from oven and sprinkle chocolate chips evenly across the top.
7. Let sit for 5 minutes,
then spread the melty chips evenly
and sprinkle with your choice of toppings:
Christmas sprinkles,
chopped almonds,
ground coffee beans,
sea salt, etc.
Use your imagination.
8. Put in the freezer for 20 minutes.
The back porch is not recommended if there is wildlife around.
9. Remove from freezer and crack* into pieces.
*Thus its original name, Christmas Crack.
Or maybe because it is made of CRACKers.
Or perhaps because it can be addicting...
the possum did come back the next night.
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