Christmas is God’s perfect gift to the world
Published 9:41 pm Saturday, January 3, 2009
By Staff
We have finally reached the anniversary of the world's greatest event … Christmas Day! It is the day that we celebrate God's perfect gift to the earth from above.
It's trees hung with tinsel and red candy canes, Mother's home baking, tall lighted candles, gay laughter of children with faces beaming, the fragrance of the pines and spruce, the music of the carolers still in the still night air and the sound of slight bells ringing out over the drifting snow.
Christmas can be best defined as the shining festival of the unselfish, the homecoming of the spirit and the glorification of all that is good. Christmas is a child's face shining, soft and dear; believing with such rapture in a cherished time of year. Our hearts go home at Christmas to a gaily lighted tree with those we love around us. It's time of the year when waves of nostalgia are sharp and sweet!
There exists a special glowing warmth in hearts on Christmas Eve, despite the deep white blanket of snow over our frozen fields. There can even be contentment in the humming chord of a winter wind, if the day is bright and clear. Christmas is fragrance … the pine and spruce odor of Christmas trees, the sugary smell of home baked cookies, the spicy raisin odor of fruitcake and the cold crisp smell of the out-of-doors.
My holiday wish for you is that you all might be blessed with an abundance of the precious things of life: health, happiness and enduring friendships!
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
Basic /clair recipe
1/2 cup butter or oleo
1 cup boiling water
1 cup all purpose flour
4 eggs
dash salt
Melt your butter in boiling water in a saucepan. Add the flour and salt all at once, then stir very vigorously. Cook and stir this mixture until it forms a ball that does not separate. Immediately, remove it from the heat and cool it just slightly. Add the eggs, one at a time, and beat smooth after each addition. Shape on greased baking sheet, then bake at 400 degrees until golden and puffy. This should take approximately 30-35 minutes. Take from oven, split, then place on a rack to cool Proceed to insert the filling of your choice.
Christmas is the shining festival of the unselfish. It is the homecoming of the spirit … the glorification of all that is good!
Cherry Burgundy Pie
1 – 16 ounce can pitted dark sweet cherries
1 – 3 ounce package cherry gelatin
1 pint vanilla ice cream
3 tablespoons red burgundy
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 – 8 inch pie shell
Drain your pitted cherries, reserving the cherry syrup. Now, add enough water to the syrup to make one cup of liquid. In a saucepan, heat the liquid to the boiling point. Use this to dissolve the cherry flavored gelatin. Spoon the vanilla ice cream in to this gelatin then stir until melted. Blend in the wine and lemon juice. Chill until the mixture mounds. Quarter the cherries, fold them into the gelatin mixture, then chill again if necessary before piling into the baked pastry shell. Chill until firm. Trim with whipped cream if desired.
An adult is a person who has stopped growing at both ends and is now growing in the middle.
Seek joy in what you give and not in what you get.
A beauty parlor is where women curl up and dye.
Date Nut Ice Cream Pie
1 – quart vanilla ice cream
1 baked 9 inch pie shell
1 1/2 cups snipped pitted dates
3/4 cup water
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/4 cup chopped walnuts
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups frozen whipped dessert topping, thawed
Stir the ice cream to soften; spread this softened ice cream into the bottom of your baked pastry shell. Place into the refrigerator immediately and freeze until firm. Meanwhile, in a saucepan … combine the snipped dates, water and sugar. Cover pan and cook for about 5 minutes, until the dates become softened. Then, stir in the lemon juice and the extract and let cool. Spread just half of the date mixture over the ice cream and in the pastry shell, then fold in the remaining date mixture and walnuts into whipped topping. Spoon this topping over the date layer and freeze until firm.
*Seek your joy in what you give, and not in what you get.
Timely Trivia: A cannibal is someone who is fed up with people.
Tutti-Fruitti Parfait Pie
1 – 16 ounce can fruit cocktail
water
1 3 ounce package orange flavored gelatin
1 pint vanilla ice cream
1 baked 8 inch pastry shell
Drain the fruit cocktail, but be sure to reserve the syrup. Add enough water to this syrup to make 1 1/4 cups of liquid. Heat. Dissolve the gelatin in the hot liquid. Spoon the ice cream into the gelatin mixture, then stir until melted. Chill the mixture until it thickens and mounds when spooned, 40 to 45 minutes. Set aside 1/2 cup of the fruit cocktail to use as garnish. Fold the remainder into the gelatin ice cream mixture, then turn it into the pastry shell. Chill until firm, then garnish with the reserved fruit cocktail.
This is Christmas Day, the anniversary of the worlds' greatest event. To one day all the early world looked forward; to the same day later the world looks back. That day holds time together.
Timely Trivia: Chickens are an animal you eat before they are born and after they are dead.
Yogurt Pastry
2/3 cups all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons Crisco
3 tablespoons plain yogurt
Stir the flour and 1/4 of the salt together; cut in the Crisco until the pieces are the size of small peas. Add the yogurt. Gently stir with a fork until moistened, then form into a ball. Flatten on a lightly floured surface, then roll out 1/8 inch thick. Fit this pastry into an eight inch pie plate and flute the edges. Prick well with a fork, then bake at 450 degrees for 10 minutes, or until golden.
Not what we give, but what we share, for the gift without the giver is bare; who gives himself and his alms feeds three, himself, his hungering neighbor and me.
Timely trivia: A committee is a body that keeps minutes and wastes hours.
Vanilla Wafer Crust
1 1/2 cups finely crushed vanilla wafers (36 wafers)
6 tablespoons butter, melted
Combine the two ingredients, then press into a 9 inch pie plate, then place into the refrigerator to chill.
There are two changeless sources of solid happiness; First, the belief in God, and second, the habit of hard work toward useful ends.
Timely trivia: Dust is mud with the juice squeezed out.
Zwieback Crust
1 cup crushed zwieback
1/4 cup confectioners sugar
2 tablespoons butter, melted
Combine the crushed zwieback, confectioners sugar, and the melted butter or oleo together, then press firmly into a buttered 8 inch pie plate. Chill.
No one could tell me where my soul might be: I searched for God, and he eluded me; I sought my brother out, and found all three.
Timely Trivia: An egotist is someone who is usually "me-deep" in conversation.
Upside Down Date Pudding
1 cup pitted dates, snipped
1 cup boiling water
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar
1 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1 1/2 cups boiling water
1 tablespoon butter
vanilla ice cream
Combine the dates and one cup of the boiling water; school. Mix the half cup of granulated sugar, brown sugar, egg and melted butter. Stir together the flour, soda, baking powder and just one half teaspoon of salt. Add this all to the sugar mixture. Now, stir in the walnuts and the date mixture. Pour this into a 11 x 7 x 1 1/2 inch baking pan. Combine the 1 1/2 cups of brown sugar, 1 1/2 cups of boiling water and the tablespoon of butter; pour over the date mixture. Bake for 40 minutes in a 375 degree oven. Serve warm with ice cream.
Timely Trivia: Seek not happiness; bestow it and it will come to you.
Cottage Pudding
1/2 cup shortening
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon lemon extract
1 egg
1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup milk
lemon sauce
Cream the shortening and sugar ; add the egg and extract. Beat well. Stir together thoroughly the flour, baking powder and salt. Add this to the creamed mixture alternately with the milk; beating well after each addition. Spoon into a lightly greased and floured 9x9x2 inch baking pan. Bake at 350 degrees until done, or 40-45 minutes. Serve this warm with the lemon sauce.
Lemon Sauce
In a saucepan combine 1/2 cup of sugar, 4 teaspoons of cornstarch, a dash of nutmeg and a dash of salt. Gradually stir in 1 cup of water. Cook, stirring constantly over a low heat, until thickened and bubble. Stir a little hot mixture into two beaten egg yolks; return to remaining hot mixture. Cook and stir for 1 minute. Remove from heat. Stir in two tablespoons of butter or oleo, 1/2 teaspoon of grated lemon peel and two tablespoons lemon juice.
Seek not happiness; bestow it and it will come to you.
One of the troubles in the world today, is the fact that we have allowed the golden rule to become tarnished.
Timely trivia: Inflation is cutting money in half without damaging the paper.
American Plum Pudding
2 cups soft bread crumbs
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
2 beaten eggs
1/2 cup chopped suet
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup finely chopped peeled apple
1 cup raisins
1/4 cup candied fruits and peels
1/2 cup finely chopped walnuts
foamy sauce
Soak the bread in the milk, beat smooth. Stir in the eggs, brown sugar and suet. Stir together the flour, soda, spices and salt. Add the fruits and nuts; mix well. Stir in the bread mixture. Oil and lightly flour a 1 quart covered mold. Press the pudding into the mold and cover with foil; tie with string. Place this on a rack in a deep kettle; add the boiling water to a depth of one inch. Cover and steam this until done, which should take about 2 hours. Be sure to keep the water boiling. Serve with the foamy sauce.
Foamy Sauce
Beat 2 egg whites to stiff peaks; then gradually add 1 cup of sifted confectioners sugar. Beat two egg yolks and 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract until thick; fold into egg whites. In a small bowl … whip the 1/2 cup of whipping cream to soft peaks, then fold into mixture.
Make each new morning the opening door to a better day than the one before.
Timely Trivia: A mosquito is an insect that makes you like flies better.
Apple Bread Pudding
4 pieces of toast
1 1/2 cups reconstituted nonfat dry milk
2 eggs
1/3 cup sugar
1 apple, peeled, cored and diced
1/4 cup raisins
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
dash salt
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 tablespoon packed brown sugar
Cut bread into 1/2 inch cubes. Turn into 9x9x2 inch baking dish. Heat the milk, pour it over the bread and let it stand for 20 minutes. Beat the eggs until light, then add the sugar, raisins, apple, cinnamon, salt and nutmeg. Stir this into the bread mixture, then sprinkle brown sugar over all. Place casserole into a larger shallow pan and place this onto the oven rack. Pour hot water around the casserole (in the pan) to a depth of 1 inch. Bake for 65 minutes at 350 degrees.
Advice is like snow: the softer it falls, the longer it dwells upon and the deeper it sinks into the mind.
Timely Trivia: A raisin is like a grape with a sunburn.
Baked Coffee Custard
2 eggs
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons instant coffee powder
dash salt
1 1/2 cups scalded milk
whipped cream
slivered almonds, toasted
Beat eggs slightly. Add sugar, coffee powder and salt and mix well. Gradually stir in the milk. Fill four five ounce custard cups; set them in a shallow pan on an oven rack. Pour the hot water around the cups in the pan to a 1 inch depth. Bake the custards at 325 degrees until a knife inserted just off center comes out clean (about 45-50 minutes). Remove the custards from the pan of hot water; serve warm or chill until serving time. At serving time, top them with one healthy dollop of whipped cram and toasted almonds.
Baked Fruit Fudge
2 tablespoons butter
1 cup granulated sugar
2 squares melted chocolate
2 eggs
1 teaspoon lemon extract
1 teaspoon orange extract
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup figs, dates, raisins, candied pineapple or cherries, chopped
Cream the butter together with the sugar, then add the beaten egg yolk, extracts and the melted chocolate and beat this mixture well. Thoroughly blend in the flour, then fold in the stiffly beaten egg whites. Pour this mixture right over the fruit which has been prearranged in a buttered baking dish. Bake in a 300 degree oven for 30 minutes … no longer. Then, when cooled, cut into squares. NOTE: This candy (just like regular fruitcake) improves with age.
If you are of an advanced age and find you have some difficulty on icy driveways, consider carrying your cell phone with you at all times so that if you happen to fall, you can call for help.
Have you ever thought of filling a loose leaf binder with recipes and then presenting it to one of your grown children? These could be recipes of their favorite casseroles, soups, sweets, etc. from childhood.
**Wishing you peace and happiness in the forthcoming new year!-Lou**