I recently read the book Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking by Malcolm Gladwell. It was an easy read, an interesting read, something totally different from what I was expecting.

Gladwell discusses the first two seconds of looking, of knowing something in an instant and of how we make snap judgments. He relates story after engaging story of examples of people making snap decisions and the resulting effects. I was intrigued about the example of Katlin during the O. J. Simpson murder trial, the account of the most expensive war game ever conducted by the Pentagon, and how the failure of rapid cognition by police officers ended up in the tragic murder of Amadou Diallo in the Bronx.

The study about facial reading explained a phenomenon that I have personally experienced but until I read this book I didn’t understand. There’s a fellow I know who makes me slightly uncomfortable when he laughs. Now, one would think that when you are sharing a good natured laugh with someone that there would be a flow of positive feelings. But not with this fellow.

After several years, I finally concluded that every time he laughed, it never affected his eyes. His eyes always seemed cold and harsh. In Blink, Gladwell explains how it is totally impossible for people to consciously use the muscles around the eyes when they are spontaneously delighted. So, as much as this fellow put on the front of laughing good naturedly, he really wasn’t!

Gladwell is a great story teller and provides food for thought. This could be a nice birthday present or Christmas holiday stocking stuffer for those readers on your list.

Enjoy!
Digi-Gram

We’re having a breather in between snowstorms. About two weeks ago, a storm dumped between 1 to 2 feet of snow on some of the nearby cities. A college, two elementary schools, and a junior high school were closed. (I’m sure those students were elated!) We got a measly 2 inches.

Even though we didn’t get much snow, it was still cold. The kind of cold where you want to wrap up in a soft blanket, sip a cup of hot chocolate and read a good book.

I have a great recipe for a hot chocolate mix that I thought I would share for those of you who might be experiencing similar wintery days. It would be great fun to stir up the mix, make a cup, and then share that cozy blanket with a grandchild as you read her a story.

But, before pulling out your blanket, first have some bonding time by making this mix together with your grandchild. It is simple to make and can be an enjoyable experience in the kitchen for grandchild and grandma.

Hot Chocolate Mix

10 2/3 cups of instant nonfat dry milk
1 (6 oz.) jar powdered non-dairy creamer (like Cremora)
2 cups powdered sugar
1 (16 oz.) can instant chocolate drink mix (like Nestle’s Quick)

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl. Mix well. Store in an airtight container. Use within 6 months. To use, add 3 tablespoon of the hot chocolate mix with 1 cup hot water. Stir to dissolve.

Some people like to substitute unsweetened cocoa powder for the instant chocolate drink mix and substitue granular sugar for the powdered sugar.

Variations Ideas
Add 1 to 2 tablespoons caramel-flavored sundae syrup for a caramel flavored hot chocolate.
Use a candy cane to stir your hot chocolate. The candy will melt and give a mint flavor to the hot chocolate.
Add a scoop of vanilla ice cream to make it extra creamier (and a wee bit cooler).
Squirt some canned whipped cream on the hot chocolate and top with a sprinkle of nutmeg.
Put in a few mini semi-sweet chocolate chips for extra chocolaty flavor.
Put in 1 or 2 Hershey Kisses or Hugs in your hot chocolate.
And of course, pop in some min-marshmallows.

This mix can be a great Christmas gift, birthday gift, or Valentine’s Day gift to make with your grandchildren. Your grandchild could then give it to family members or friends. Fill a sandwich sized Ziplock bag with the mix. Add desired extras such as the mini chocolate chips or Hershey Kisses. Put the bag into a mug. Add a spoon or candy stick stirrers. Wrap the mug in cellophane. Include a sticker that gives directions on making the drink.

When you have this mix all made up, you’ll be ready for the next blizzard. I hope you’ll stay toasty warm!

Digi-Gram

When I was a freshman in college (back in the Mesozoic era), there were two things that I learned that I have used throughout my life. Did I remember anything from zoology? US History? I didn’t take much in my brain out the door of the classroom from those subjects. However, the two things that I learned — whistling with my fingers and cutting a six sided snowflake — have been used over and over and over!

Cutting snowflakes is a fun activity to do with your grandchildren. I’ve created a small movie to show you how to cut them so that they are pretty and lacy. The secret is in how you fold your paper.

Pay close attention to the video. Then practice folding and cutting the paper. When you feel that you can properly do the folding, invite your grandchildren for a snowflake cutting party. Cut stacks and stacks of snowflakes. Tape the snowflakes to your windows. Glue them to colorful pieces of construction paper. Send them home with your grandchildren to tape to their windows.

Here is an example of one of the snowflakes.

Here is the movie demonstrating how to fold and cut a snowflake.

After your paper is gone and your energy has dwindled, wrap up in a soft blanket with your grandchildren, sip hot chocolate, and read a story together.

Happy cutting!
Digi-Gram

Grandma Ideas

What do you do on Thanksgiving day after the last morsel of turkey is ingested and every crumb of pie is licked clean from the pie pan? Some families sit in a calorie induced haze in front of the TV watching football and shouting at a referee that can’t hear you. We don’t. We’re more into playing games as a family.

If you’re like this, too, or if you want to have a change of pace on Thanksgiving, or if you want to have a fun game for a birthday party, or if you want to just PARTY, you might want to consider gathering around the table to play the candy bar game. (I’ll give a variation on this game after I explain it in the event that eating more food after a huge Thanksgiving meal doesn’t sound very appealing.)

For this game, you’ll need at least one candy bar per person. Several extra candy bars make it even more fun. You’ll also need a pair of dice. If you have a very large group, you might want to consider having 2-3 sets of dice going at the same time. You’ll see why in a moment.

Sit in a circle around the table. Select one person to begin. She rolls the dice. If she rolls a 7 or an 11, she gets to select a candy bar from the pile that is in the center of the table. Then, she passes the dice to the person on her left.

Play continues in this manner. Everybody takes a turn rolling the dice. If they roll a 7 or an 11, they get to select a candy bar from the pile. If the group is big, the extra set of dice makes it so the players don’t have to wait so long between their turns of rolling the dice.

Once all of the candy bars are gone from the middle of the table, players rolling a 7 or an 11 can then take candy bars away from other players. Le’s say I rolled a 7 and someone in the group had an Almond Joy (which I like!). I would tell that person to give me the Almond Joy candy bar and he would have to relinquish it to me.

Play proceeds in this manner until you (grand pooh bah leader of the game) decide it’s time to move into phase two. In the second phase, players who have candy bars place them in their lap under the table out of sight from the other players.

Players take turns rolling the dice. Now comes the REAL fun! You have to pay attention to who has which candy bars! Say I rolled a 7 or an 11 and I thought that someone in the group had that coveted Almond Joy. I would ask him to give it to me. If he did not have it in his lap, I would not receive said candy bar. If he did have it, he would have to give it to me. I would then place it under the table on my lap so that others couldn’t see what I had.

So the trick is to remember who has what candy bar. Because if you ask them for it, they have to give it to you. But you might not remember who has which candy bar. This is especially tricky if you have 2-3 sets of dice going because the candy bars could be changing between players so quickly that you might not be able to keep up with who has which candy bar.

Here’s the variation that I mentioned. If just the thought of eating or playing with candy bar throws you into a tizzy fit after a huge calorie laden meal like Thanksgiving, go to a local dollar store. Instead of buying candy bars, buy little ‘prizes’ like a small toy, a bouncy ball, fun pencils, balloons, stickers, knick knacks, or what ever strikes your fancy. Then, place those in the middle of the table for people to select from when they roll a 7 or an 11.

The game ends when interest seems to wane — or whenever you (as grand pooh bah game leader) determine that it is time to change to a different game. Players may then keep what ever candy bars or toys/prize that they are holding in their lap.

One word of caution. If your grandchildren are younger than about 8 years old, they may have a hard time giving up the candy bar or the toy that they got when they rolled a 7 or an 11. You might have to explain to the child before the game starts that in they end, she WILL end up with a candy bar or a toy.

And, then at the end of the game, let her choose one toy/candy bar from any other player and allow her to keep it (especially if she didn’t end up with anything in her lap!). You might even have to determine a way to make it fair to the players if some don’t end up with something — such as having extra candy bars or prizes that could be given out at the end.

The purpose of the game is to have some fun and make it so that everybody ends up happy — and not for someone to end up being the candy bar hog!

You could play this game as you gather on a Sunday evening as a family. Or for a grandchild’s birthday party. Or just whenever the grand chickabiddies come for a visit and you need to find something to do to keep them from getting bored.

Enjoy!
Digi-Gram