All three grandkids have been having a grand time at Nana and Pop's house during this Christmas visit! And the toys are everywhere, with play, laughter, sometimes crying (too many bumps), and tons of energy, they keep me and their parents hopping!
For books at Christmas, I have several at least our oldest grandson will listen to (Hugo is 4 years old). Some others more age appropriate for the one-year olds. There are many resources on-line of great Christmas books for young children.
Another on-line resource is where books are read aloud by Screen Actors Guild members(not just seasonal books) on a site called Storyline Online. These are well-done readings, and well-chosen books. It's a wonderful free place for kids to hear a book, see the book pages, and let adults rest their voices.
Tomorrow is our family's Christmas Day, in that we will celebrate with family traditions and exchange presents and eat lots of yummy food. That means tonight (December 29) I am making our traditional Swedish sweet coffee bread (like Lussekatter or Lucia Buns minus the saffron). We eat those with cheese and coffee and milk first thing as we gather in the living room by the tree, and begin to sort presents.
I love cardamom, a spice used in India and the Middle East, but also around the world. In Scandinavia the spice is used in baking primarily, especially seasonal--Christmas--baking. Cardamom is hard to describe. Here is the Penzeys description:
An extremely flavorful and ancient spice native to India, cardamom's use has spread throughout the world, with nearly every culture having its own distinctive use for the flavorful seeds. In India where both green and black cardamom are used, it is an important ingredient in meat and vegetable dishes. In parts of the Middle East the seeds are mixed with green coffee beans before brewing. In Northern Europe (especially Scandinavia) white cardamom is used to season baked goods such as Christmas stollen, cakes, cookies, muffins and buns. Green cardamom is preferred in India and the Middle East. Cardamom is a pod consisting of an outer shell with little flavor, and tiny inner seeds with intense flavor. Fancy white and green pods have no splits or cracks in the shell, so the flavor keeps well. Stored in a glass jar, cardamom pods will stay fresh indefinitely. Shelled or decorticated cardamom seeds are inexpensive and flavorful, but sometimes need to be crushed or ground before use. Ground cardamom has an intensely strong flavor and is easy to use (especially in baking, where the fine powder is desirable). Black cardamom, long a staple in African cooking, was originally used in India as a cheap substitute for green cardamom pods. Black cardamom has a unique smoky flavor and has developed its own following over the years.
I recommend the Penzeys spices. They are high quality and easily ordered on-line or by phone. Since I bake this basically once a year, the small 1.2 oz. jar has lasted me several years. And it retains it's intensity that long.
You can make a braid which takes less time and my family likes because it is moister than the rolls often. Here is a recipe to try (we don't use the saffron---we like cardamom better AND saffron is very expensive). And here is another that is a Swedish Coffee Bread. I have not made this before but my mother did, and she called it a Swedish Tea Ring, making it festive like a Christmas wreath.
Happy 5th Day of Christmas!! Yes, remember, the first day of Christmas is December 26!
Yes, I have been messing around with my blog design and background, etc. Seems I can spend more time at that than writing it. Reminds me of my husband relating that when we have moved into a new home, he is putting the bed together while I am figuring out where to hang our art! You get it, he works on the practical and necessary, while I mess around with the unnecessary. From an artist's viewpoint, the art is necessary, just maybe my timing is off.
I continue to read such fantastic blogs by others (several listed here) that I am inhibited by them. Still, I want to continue. I do have things to say, and I want to work on saying them well. My writing has become rusty because I just have not written enough in recent times.
The fantastic blogs I am referring to are so deep and meaningful. Plus the writers lay themselves bare. And they do this to pull us, the average person in, to give us the grace and love of Jesus Christ. To affirm us, the broken or defeated, the struggling, the "average." These writers show us they are also fighting their own battles, their own struggles. They are real. REAL. Praying and writing for themselves, and their readers.
Yes, the writers/bloggers I am referring to are also younger than
I am. Mainly in their late 30's to mid-40's I'd say. A different generation. What does that mean? I am not sure. Except that my mother's generation (at least the women I knew), were much more private, more closed-mouthed. Maybe I just didn't know the right women? Or ask the right questions? My mother was very much the closed, private mid-west farmer's daughter. A Dane. With the personality that only showed the acceptable, made for public display self. I have always fought against that, being the more open, out there personality. Partially for my own search for self, identity, acceptance. My quest for "real." Yes, like the Velveteen Rabbit.
It is hard to believe it is already the third Sunday in Advent. As it speeds by, I am slowing down. Slowing down to read Advent devotions, listen to our Advent choral music recordings (most from England). Now with the decorating finished, I can enjoy it. Sometimes with music, or with coffee, by myself, or with my husband. We have been reading Advent devotions together this year. We are using Ann Voskamp's book "The Greatest Gift: Unwrapping the Full Love Story of Christmas." Her writing is poetic, meaningful, insightful. Reading this book has motivated me to read her first book, "One Thousand Gifts."
It is almost December 6, which is St. Nicholas Day. I celebrate St. Nicholas because of the marvelous acts of love and grace he gave the world.
I won't reinvent the wheel here, but refer you to my post last December 6. That post explains who St. Nicholas was, and how our present day Santa Claus is based on him.
Another post from last December 5 also relates to this day.
Blessings to you and yours, and a very happy St. Nicholas Day!
