ASHLEY’S CORNER Game On! Family Game Night With the Sheldons
We are big gamers in our family, and this month brings a national day made for us: December 20 is Games Day, a time to celebrate the fun of playing games. My family loved playing cards when I was growing up. On holidays, the pattern was, “Get the food ready and then it’s time to play!” My cousins and I would stay up late, playing cards. Now, our own kids are loving games too. Even though they range in age from 2–10, we have games they can all play, including Uno, Clue, and Skip- Bo (a numbers game). Last Christmas, I gave them a trivia board game with animal and geography questions. While the geography challenges are hard, like ranking four mountains by elevation, they can still guess. It’s interesting to see how their little brains work. If a game is too complex for the younger kids, they’ll sit on my lap or ask, “Can I be on your team?” They want to learn. Even Nelle, who just turned 2, likes playing our animal-matching version of Dominos. We also have some memory-matching games. I’m starting to think I need to play more of these with the kids, because they’re asking, “How do you not remember? We already saw those cards!” Clearly, my memory is dwindling! I recently taught the kids Monopoly Deal, a fast-moving card game version of Monopoly. Mac loves it. He will sit down and play that game with me and tell me about his day. It’s great: We are playing, and talking, and
not watching screens. I also realized recently that he is kicking my butt! I am wondering, “How do I keep losing to him?”
The kids also love imaginative play, which is amazing. But while I loved Barbie as a child, I don’t have a desire to play Barbie anymore. I might suggest a card or board game instead. Or if it’s raining and they’re tempted to turn to screens, I can say, “Play a game with me.” I’ve noticed a trend among families toward giving games as a party gift. It’s something you can use, rather than a toy you already have. We’ve been given games we’ve never heard of, like Sirocco, a fun portable game. I have bought more copies and gifted them to friends and relatives. When I volunteered at my kids’ school recently in the second-grade classroom, I happened to arrive on game day, when the students were playing a math game. Everybody was totally engaged, while also learning addition and subtraction.
“Is this all you want me to do? Play games?” I asked the teacher.
I was thrilled when the answer was yes. “Sign me up!” I replied. “This is my jam!”
ROAST BEEF WITH CARAMELIZED ONION GRAVY
Take a Break
Ingredients
• • • • • •
1 tbsp black peppercorns 1 tbsp mustard powder
Gravy •
4 tbsp flour
1 tbsp dried thyme 1 tsp celery seeds
• • •
2 beef stock cubes
3 tbsp caramelized onion chutney
1 tbsp olive oil
2–3 tsp yeast extract
4 1/4 lbs topside joint of beef
Directions
1. With a pestle and mortar, crush peppercorns, mustard powder, thyme, and celery seeds together. 2. Stir in oil, then rub into beef. 3. Preheat oven to 375 F and set seasoned beef in a snug roasting pan. Roast for 1 hour. 4. Remove from the oven, lift onto a platter, and cover with foil to rest 30 minutes. 5. For gravy, pour juices from the pan into a large measuring cup. 6. Let the juices separate, then spoon 2 tbsp of fat back into the pan. Discard remaining fat. 7. Top juices in the cup with boiling water to make 3 cups total liquid. 8. Heat pan with fat over medium heat and stir in flour, stock cubes, onion chutney, and yeast extract. 9. Cook for 1 minute, stirring, and gradually add juices/water. Bubble to thicken and serve with the beef.
Solution on Page 4
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