Nativity Carnival : Keeping Advent -- Dec 13th

Welcome to the Nativity Carnival: Keeping Advent

Each Sunday, Advent through Epiphany, a new "Mr Linky" will be posted for you to share your Nativity Season-related ideas and thoughts from your blog.  (Just copy the link to your post and paste it into the Mr Linky box below.)

Also, please add a link on your post back to this page, thanks!

 Feast of Saint Lucy Daybook

outside my window . . . robin's egg blue sky, with wisps of pink, but not from my window.  I'm actually sitting in a small local coffee shop.

listening to . . . Christmas music, a quiet conversation from a couple sitting nearby, rustling of paper from behind the counter.

wearing . . . dark tan sweater with bright red top under, brown "swishy" skirt, bright red knee socks and ankle boots.

so grateful for . . . my husband's much needed vacation!  He's not had one all year (he traveled with us to Arkansas, but worked each day while we played), and he's been working VERY LONG hours for quite a few months.

reading . . . Winter Pascha by Fr Thomas Hopko

thinking . . . about how behind I am on Christmas preparations this year.  My house is still half decorated (we can't find the rest of our lights!), I had to be out this morning (taking Athos to driver's ed), so no St. Lucia delivery by the girls, a good bit of shopping left to do, and still haven't even taken a photo for our Christmas card.

creating . . . made Artemisia a hat (crochet) and now working on a matching one for Kalliope.

around the house . . . the upstairs sitting area has most of our Christmas decorations laying about waiting to find their home.  I do have a lovely Saint Nicholas mantle and the Julbock has found his home on the half wall between the dining room and the family room.  I've got the nativity on the mantle and made a pretty crochet garland to hang the Swedish straw ornaments on (at the mantle).

from the kitchen . . . Maybe Saint Lucy's Saffron Bread today, or at least this week sometime.

real education in our home . . . I'm counting driver's ed as school.  The kid spends 6 hours in class for 5 days this week.  He's learning...that's school, right?

rhythm and beauty in our home . . . regardless of how behind I am, the Christmas decorations I have out do make the house look so lovely.  I just love it!

one of my favorite things . . . crochet garland - so easy, and they have a sweet old-fashionedness to them that I love.

recent milestones . . . Athos started DRIVER'S ED this week.  I am very conflicted about this, of course.  :)

the week ahead . . . bible study Christmas party last night (with awesome opera singers, decorating contests and good food), making Saint Lucy bread today, another Christmas party tomorrow, a special lunch celebration Thursday, and a trip to a historic plantation for their Christmas event on Saturday.

picture thoughts . . . (coming soon) - I needed to get this post up and haven't downloaded photos, yet.  :)

If you are reading in a feed reader, please click through to the blog for the Mr. Linky posts! 

For those submitting links: So that others might enjoy the carnival, don't forget to add a link on your post back to this page, thanks!

Caramelized Onion and Cheddar Souffle

Last night we feasted for Saint Nicholas Day!  I'd planned on making a Caramelized Onion and Cheddar Souffle, but couldn't find the recipe, so I dug out Joy of Cooking and tweaked a basic souffle recipe there.  This isn't a traditional souffle...it is a little easier, but just as DELICIOUS!

Here's my recipe...



Caramelized Onion and Cheddar Souffle  

2 lg onions (get the sweetest ones you can find - the flatter the sweater), very thinly sliced
1 T olive oil (or so)
2 T butter
salt

In a large saute pan, drizzle the olive oil and drop in the  butter warm over med heat.  When the butter has melted and just starts to bubble, drop in the onions all at once.  Give them a good salting and lower the heat quickly to low.   (The salt, which "sweats" the onions, is essential to this, so be sure to use it!)  Let the onions cook very slowly, stirring regularly until very soft and almost "melty".  This will take 15 minutes, or so...maybe a bit longer?

You can then prepare the souffle (or set the onions aside and use later - I did this to save a little time at dinner.  Started the onions about an hour before and left them covered on the stove until I was ready to make the souffle.)  You want your souffle to be the last thing ready for the table.


Basic "Blender Cheese Souffle" from Joy of Cooking 
(Makes about 6 servings.  Firmer than a fancier souffle - but every bit as delicious!  I don't have a blender, so I used my food processor):

Prepare a souffle baking dish (something round and with fairly high sides...I use a 9in round baking dish with about 4" high sides) by buttering the bottom and sides well.  Dust the sides only with grated parmesan cheese (keeps the souffle from rising too high, and adds flavor, but otherwise not essential).

Preheat oven to 325.

You'll need:
6 oz sharp cheddar cheese (JoC recommends cubed, but I used grated)
1 1/2 c milk
2 T butter
6-8 pieces of crustless bread, torn into large pieces (I used day old french bread with the "crust"...pieces about 1" big)
1/2 tsp salt
dash of pepper
4 egg yolks,
4 egg whites

Have the butter, bread, salt and pepper ready as you need to add them quickly and all at the same time.

Heat the milk just to boiling.  (I accidentally boiled mine, just let it cool a moment before using in the recipe).  Pour milk into blender (or processor) and quickly add the butter, bread, salt and pepper.  Blend (or process) until thickened.

Add the cheese and blend a bit more.

In a large bowl, beat the egg yolks until lemon-colored.  Add the cheese mixture very slowly, beating constantly.

In another large bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff, but not dry.  Fold them into the cheese and egg yolk mixture, gently.  Add the onions.

Pour mixture into your prepared souffle dish and bake 50 minutes or until set.  (It should have a bit of golden amber color on the top and a nice "lift", but won't be way up over the top of the dish.)

Serve quickly for the most drama...but fallen is equally tasty!

Nativity Carnival: Keeping Advent -- Dec 4th

Welcome to the Nativity Carnival: Keeping Advent

Each Sunday, Advent through Epiphany, a new "Mr Linky" will be posted for you to share your Nativity Season-related ideas and thoughts from your blog.  (Just copy the link to your post and paste it into the Mr Linky box below.)

Also, please add a link on your post back to this page, thanks!

(My computer is dead and with it my pictures and plans for this post - just a power cord issue.  So, I'm stuck begging time on my son's computer.  I hope you don't mind a post of links!)


Artemisia said to me yesterday, "I wonder if the animals understood what was going on when Jesus was born in the stable."  What a sweet thought to contemplate.   What do you think?

While you think about that...how about some Advent music? 




Did you read about our Saint Nicholas feast yesterday?  Next week, the 13th, is Saint Lucia Day (and this one).  We'll be celebrating that, too.  Maybe both girls will get to deliver early morning goodies to their brothers and dad this year!

What are you doing to observe Advent this week?


If you are reading in a feed reader, please click through to the blog for the Mr. Linky posts! 

For those submitting links: So that others might enjoy the carnival, don't forget to add a link on your post back to this page, thanks!

Virtual Advent Tour - Saint Nicholas

Welcome, Virtual Advent Tourists! 

What is your first memory of Santa Claus?  Was it in the mall at a "Santa's Workshop"?  Was it in a book or a movie?  Was it setting out cookies or digging through your stocking on Christmas morning?  I'm not sure what my earliest memory of Santa is, but my most clear one is the year Santa actually stopped in for a visit on Christmas Eve.

I must have been around 4 years old...maybe 5 or maybe 3.  I just remember being at a neighbor's home enjoying Christmas Even festivities when the adults began to make a big commotion about something.

"Did you hear that?"
"What could that be?"
"Oh, there's someone on the roof!"
"Could that be Santa Claus?"

Just as it began to dawn on me what they were saying, in the front door walks this huge man in a red outfit...Santa Claus!  I remember feeling a little apprehensive, but after some coaxing I approached him and shared with him what I hoped to get on Christmas.  I have no idea what I asked for!  (Mom, do you remember?)  The magic of the moment melted over me slowly.  It is one of the crystalline childhood memories...something you are certain you'll never forget.

After I had kids, we continued the Santa tradition, but adapted it a bit for our family.  We hoped to take a little bit of the "Santa" hype off of Christmas morning by celebrating Saint Nicholas' Day on December 6th.  This is not a custom that either my husband or I grew up with, but our kids have really come to enjoy it.


So what is our Saint Nicholas celebration like?


Following an old European custom we set out shoes on the night of December 5th to be filled with small gifts by the good Saint during the night.  In the morning, we enjoy a special feast day breakfast (the menu varies, but we ALWAYS have hot cocoa with a candy cane in it).  During the day, the kids and I often make gingerbread cookies.  This is the day the first of our real Christmas decorations come out (before that we ONLY have the Advent wreath and a few other Advent items): a small collection of "Santas" displayed together on our mantle.  Christmas "blooms" in our home with little bits of decorations coming out during the Advent season.

As we've grown into this "new" tradition, we've discovered that getting one or two smallish gifts early in the season really has helped relieve a bit of the "wait" for Christmas.   We also enjoy that by celebrating Saint Nicholas rather than just Santa Claus, we get to celebrate a REAL person's life.  And, most importantly, it provides a little separation between Santa and CHRISTmas.  It isn't Santamas, after all!


Would you like to celebrate Saint Nicholas or just learn more?


Saint Nicholas Day is coming up this week on Tuesday, December 6th.  It doesn't take much to start a new tradition...just do a little research and then gather up your family's shoes (and a few small items to tuck inside them)!


Here are some resources:
:-: The Saint Nicholas Center has a huge website with online stories, book recommendations, crafts, and a catalog.

:-: There are some lovely children's books about Saint Nicholas.  My favorites are:  Saint Nicholas by Ann Tompert and Santa's Favorite Story by Hisako Aoki.

Happy Saint Nicholas Day to you!

  If you enjoy what you read here, poke around my blog a little bit and you'll find lots of other posts about Advent from the past few years: 

Church Year Page

(Advent is up currently, I plan to add more during

this upcoming year.  You'll find links to several Advent

Carnivals from past years.)

Nativity Carnival 2011 

(note this one began a couple of weeks ago 

and will run through Epiphany, January 6th.)

Daybook: Monday, Nov 28th

outside my window . . .  another gray day has broken.  But I think the gray will bring rain and a change in weather tomorrow - sunny and cool.  I'm ready for the chilly weather!  We had some in October, but November has been much warmer.  Nearly 80 degrees recently!

listening to . . . the train whistle in the far distance, tick tocking....and now "Curious George".  A little one just came to snuggle while I finish my morning preparations.

wearing . . . still in my pajamas!  But I'm planning to wear jeans, a black 3/4 sleeve top with a bright raspberry long sleeve top underneath...and a grey and pale raspberry scarf.

so grateful for . . . my grandmother coming to spend Thanksgiving with us!  I haven't had a REAL visit with her in years...just day trip visits.  I'm so thankful all my children have gotten to know her.

pondering . . . how to encourage Faramir to push on through the last bit of school work before Christmas break.  He's so ready to be DONE.

reading . . . Keeping House, On the Incarnation, still The Orthodox Church, and The Oresteia with my reading group.

thinking . . . about Christmas decorations...and Advent plans...and St. Nicholas Day, just around the corner!

on my iPod . . . loaded some new books:  War and Peace, Wicked, and In the Company of Cheerful Ladies

around the house . . . getting ready for more guests this weekend.  Missionary friends are staying with us while they visit our church.  Oh, and new curtains for the kitchen!  I'm hoping they'll help with the glare (it is a very sunny kitchen) and some noise reduction.

from the kitchen . . . maybe some batches of Spiced Pumpkin Bread for the freezer.

the church year in our home . . . the Advent wreath is up.  Today I'm going to print out some images for our little icon cards.  We plan on using Katherine's Jesse Tree devotions.

one of my favorite things . . . fresh cranberry relish!  I just love the sweet tartness of it.  Why do I only make it at Thanksgiving?

the week ahead . . . back to school for the kids, today Artemisia and I have to go check the lost and found for items she left at church yesterday, CC on Wednesday for the boys, missionary friends arrive Friday with a special dinner and dessert for them to share their work with our friends.

Nativity Carnival: Keeping Advent -- Nov 27th

Welcome to the Nativity Carnival: Keeping Advent

Each Sunday, Advent through Epiphany, a new "Mr Linky" will be posted for you to share your Nativity Season-related ideas and thoughts from your blog.  (Just copy the link to your post and paste it into the Mr Linky box below.)

Also, please add a link on your post back to this page, thanks!

The first Sunday of Advent, and a new liturgical year, is here!  It came in gray and slightly cool at our home...with a batch of cinnamon rolls to coax the kids from their beds and get them out the door in a pleasant mood.  It is always so hard to get up this first Sunday of Advent after the busy-ness of Thanksgiving.  And we only did a little Black Friday shopping!  (Hubby and I went to a few stores looking at rugs and curtains for our kitchen which desperately needs some noise absorbing textiles.  Didn't buy anything, but probably will this week.)

We said good-bye to our Thanksgiving company: my mom, step-dad, and grandmother on Saturday morning.  There were movies and playdates in the afternoon - and very tired kids last night.

This is the first Advent in a long time when we are not about to or have just recently gone through a major life change: in 2008 it was pending adoption travel, in 2009 it was a newly adopted baby, in 2010 a new home (and the flu)...and now...nothing.  Baby has been home for nearly 3 years...and we've been in our new home for a little over a year.  Wow - normalcy....will we know what to do with it?

If it is any indication, I actually have my Advent box emptied, the wreath assembled and some of my Advent books ready to be used as needed.   So, that bodes well!  You'd think someone who has lots of great ideas to share would be totally ready for Advent, right?   ** sigh **

I have managed to put together a menu plan.  Do you menu plan in advance?   I find it REALLY helpful!  Otherwise I wind up wandering around in my pantry, or worse the grocery store, trying to think of SOMETHING to have for dinner.  The trick, I think, is not being married to the menu plan, just dating it.  LOL!  Seriously, though, I just use it as a helpful tool...not at all written in stone.  You'll notice that I plan breakfast and lunches, too.  Since we are home all week together, I plan these meals for the kids.  Hubby and I tend to eat leftovers for our lunches rather than the "kid" food.

So, today, my contribution to the Nativity Carnival is my Menu plan for the Nativity Season.  If there are any recipes that you'd like me to share, just leave a comment!

If you are reading in a feed reader, please click through to the blog for the Mr. Linky posts!

For those submitting links: So that others might enjoy the carnival, don't forget to add a link on your post back to this page, thanks!

Nativity Carnival: Keeping Advent -- Nov 20th

Welcome to the Nativity Carnival: Keeping Advent

Each Sunday, Advent through Epiphany, a new "Mr Linky" will be posted for you to share your Nativity Season-related ideas and thoughts from your blog.  (Just copy the link to your post and paste it into the Mr Linky box below.)

Also, please add a link on your post back to this page, thanks!

Christ the King Sunday, November 20th, 2011

Yesterday was Christ the King Sunday, also known as "Stir Up Sunday".

While I don't have any plans to make a Christmas Pudding, I thought perhaps a recipe that requires some good stirring, but could be made well ahead of Christmas might be in order.  So, I'd like to share with you a recipe for Spiced Pumpkin Bread.  I found this on Food.com, so I can take NO credit for it.  This also freezes up beautifully...and that is one thing I love to do this time of year, make easy sweet breads that can be frozen and then brought back out whenever we have company or I need to take a treat to share to a party, etc.  This would also make a nice baked good gift.

Spiced Pumpkin Bread
Makes 2 loaves.

3 c sugar
1 c vegetable oil
3 lg eggs
1 can or pumpkin (16 oz)
3 c all purpose flour
1 tsp ground cloves
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground nutmeg
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 c coarsely chopped nuts (recipe recommended walnuts, I've used pecans.  But I've also omitted these altogether.)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Butter and flour 2 9x5x3 loaf pans.  Beat sugar and oil in large bowl to blend. (I didn't pull out my mixer for this, just used a spoon to mix energetically.)  Mix in eggs and pumpkin.  Sift flour, cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda, and baking powder into another large bowl.  Stir into pumpkin mixture in 2 additions.  Mix in nuts, if desired.  Divide batter equally between two prepared pans. Bake until knife inserted into the center comes out clean, about 1 hour and 10 minutes.  Transfer pans to racks and cool 10 minutes.  Using a knife, gently release bread from side of pan.  Turn loaves out onto racks and cool completely.


Some feast days coming up in the next couple of weeks:

:-: Saint Clement's feast (November 23rd) - stock up and feast on clementine oranges!  (I wonder if that is why they got this name?  Anyone know?)  He's also the patron saint of blacksmiths and metal workers.  It is the day before Thanksgiving, so I'll be polishing silver.

:-: Saint Andrew's feast (November 30th) - Andrew is a patron of many localities and countries (Scotland, Greece, diocese of Constantinople, Germany), so you have your pick of foods to choose from.  Since we have Scottish roots, we'll probably have something from this tradition.  Might also make some felt "thistles" to pin to our lapels.

:-: And Saint Nicholas Day is only 2 weeks away (Dec 6th)!  Will you be celebrating?  This is a special feast day in our home!


***And finally, I want to point you to a lovely and simple Jesse Tree resource.  I love that these readings are only enough for us to have to do a few nights a week to keep up.  With four children, there was always someone going somewhere...or something coming up that kept us from staying caught up with other Jesse Tree readings.***

If you are reading in a feed reader, please click through to the blog for the Mr. Linky posts!

For those submitting links: So that others might enjoy the carnival, don't forget to add a link on your post back to this page, thanks!

Nativity Carnival: Keeping Advent -- Nov 13th

Welcome to the Nativity Carnival: Keeping Advent

Each Sunday, Advent through Epiphany, a new "Mr Linky" will be posted for you to share your Nativity Season-related ideas and thoughts from your blog.  (Just copy the link to your post and paste it into the Mr Linky box below.)

Also, please add a link on your post back to this page, thanks!

Oh, my have I been grouchy this week.  Every day it seems I notice more and more Christmas decorations going up in grocery stores, department stores, and neighborhoods.  All I can think is, "We've still got eleven days before Thanksgiving, people!"  And in my book, even THAT is too early.  But two weeks before Christmas?  And some stores have been setting out holiday displays for nearly a month now!  It is hard to take.

Our Advent wreath from last year.  Very simple.  Glass taper holders on a cake stand with clear
and purple flat marbles and greenery.

However, did you know that some Christians are just about to begin their preparations for Christmas?  No?  Neither did I until recently.  But these Christians do it right...they actually FAST during Advent.  Imagine that...while the rest of the world "parties on" (with excesses of food, decorations, and activities), these Christians quietly prepare to receive the Incarnation, the Christ Child.  Who are these Christians?  The Eastern Orthodox.  Their Nativity Fast begins on Tuesday, November 15th.  Depending on the church (Greek, Russian, Antiochian, etc) some will fast very strictly (no meat, animal products, or oil) and others allow some animal products to varying degrees.  And even with these restrictions, practices vary based on personal abilities. (You Orthodox out there, please correct me if I get any of this wrong.)

Those of us in the west, particularly we Protestants, could learn a valuable lesson here.  I am finding more and more the truth in the vacuum theory.  Nature abhors a vacuum...and this is true in human nature as well.  When we remove something (fasting before feasting, in this case), our natural tendency is to fill it with something else and of course that would be more feasting!  Protestants (especially American Protestants), in their zeal to "de-Catholicize" their faith, have removed from their practices so many of the traditions of the Church that these vacuums are then filled with junk from the secular culture.  

Kalliope in the very dim light of our Advent devotions. 

God established His Church.  He led the Church Fathers to build a carefully balanced annual cycle of fasting and feasting, and we, in our modern attempts to "correct" those who've gone before, now have a very out-of-balance faith.  It makes you wonder how that has affected us spiritually. 

Advent offers us a chance to regain some of that balance.  I plan to take the time this year to prepare my heart and my home for the Christ Child.  How about you?

If you are reading in a feed reader, please click through to the blog for the Mr. Linky posts!

For those submitting links: So that others might enjoy the carnival, don't forget to add a link on your post back to this page, thanks!

Fairy Tales for Today

On my way to run an errand recently, I popped on the radio to our local NPR station where a panel of very ardent women were discussing the evil that is the Disney princess empire. One panelist explained her concern that girls get stuck with a princess mentality: looking for a man or money or just really long hair to solve life’s difficulties. They were also quick to point out that the male figures in these stories didn’t fare much better.  What surprised me was that their concern wasn’t just with Disney, it was with the fairy tales even in their original form.

Now, I don't like the disney-ization of fairy tales either, but these women were ready to strip all children's stories of anything that diverged from their political agenda.  We'd be left with stories in which no children lose their mother.  No children are  in any danger.   No ugly creatures are transformed by another's love. No princesses ever need rescue.  No strangers ever offer a poisoned apple.

It would be safe, I suppose.  But how anemic.  How boring.

Fairy tales present opportunities for a child to confront some of their biggest fears, for example being small and helpless in the face of bad people.  Once can see this most clearly in the persistent absence of mothers in fairy tales (only dead mothers and mean stepmothers).  Is this not the epitome of vulnerability to a child?  Fairy tales allow a child to enter into those deep fears, without them being too realistic for comfort, and imagine themselves triumphing by kindness, wit, bravery, and love.

I know this is not revolutionary thinking.  JRR Tolkein has written about fairy tales. Bruno Bettelheim published The Uses of Enchantment: The Meaning and Importance of Fairy Tales.  William J Bennett has compiled volumes of stories that display virtue. GK Chesterton commented on fairy tales in Orthodoxy.   More recently, Vigen Guroian, a theologian, author, and professor of Religious Studies at Univ of Virginia, examined the importance of fairy tales in developing a child's "moral imagination."(a great essay, by the way)

Fairy tales are also just good story-telling.  A good story has a dynamic power which can fire a child's imagination.  When we feed our children’s minds on good stories, those that present Goodness (not just niceness), Truth (not just honesty) and Beauty (not just prettiness), they grow up to be adults who seek those virtues.  Fairy tales are all about Truth and Beauty and Goodness.  Captain Underpants, not so much.

I understand those ladies were just trying to do their best to provide their daughters with "strong role models."  But I would remind them that generations of daughters were able to love fairy tales as children and still manage to grow up to be wise and good mothers, hard workers, and faithful leaders in so many aspects of their lives.  There are more to those fairy tales than just princesses with beautiful dresses and long, flowing hair.

Daybook: Wednesday, Oct 19th

outside my window . . .  it is very drippy.

listening to . . .  a few of Artemisia's friends from Classical Conversations playing upstairs, downstairs, and on the stairs.

wearing . . . dark olive green jeans and a pale purple tank under a tan sweater.

grateful for . . . new, old chairs.  New to me, old to me: they were in my grandmother's home for many years.  We hope to recover them in the near future.

reading . . . Pride and Prejudice, The Orthodox Church, my most recent "First Things Journal", and the Paul's Epistle to the Romans.

on my iPod . . .  just listened to an interesting show from KERA (Dallas) called "The Case for Boredom."


around the house . . . no more rearranging this week.  Plowed through Artemisia's room sorting clothes and junk.  She just needs a few items to complete some outfits for the fall.

from the kitchen . . . I mentioned last week that I needed to make banana bread, and I did!  Actually made Coconut Banana Bread.  It was delicious!

real education in our home . . . the girls and I read "Ferdinand" last night.  It is one of my favorite books.  I'd forgotten about the "corks" growing on the cork trees.  Artemisia asked, "Is that how cork grows?"  Had to set her straight.

recent milestones . . . Kalliope is now in a booster seat!  Oh, my, a new bed, potty-training and a booster seat all in the last month and a half!