ADVENT 4: Tuesday: My Grown-Up Christmas Wish

<What is this illusion called the innocence of youth? Maybe only in our blind belief can we ever find the truth  As children we believed the grandest sight to see was something lovely wrapped beneath our tree Well heaven surely knows that packages and bows can never heal a hurting human soul. No more lives torn apart, that wars would never start, and time would heal all hearts… and everyone would have a friend, and right would always win, and love would never end…This is my grown-up Christmas list.>

-Linda Thompson-Jenner

ADVENT 4: Monday: God Replies, Thank you for bearing the light

We may say, <Thank you for this Advent journey. The anticipation has filled my life and made me long for a closer relationship with you.> and God replies, <Blessed are you who bear the light through unbearable times, who testify to its endurance amid the unendurable, who bear witness to its persistence when everything seems in shadow and grief. Blessed are you in whom the light lives, in whom the brightness blazes—your heart a chapel, an altar where in the deepest night can be seen, the fire that shines forth in you in unaccountable faith, in stubborn hope, in love that illumines every broken thing it finds. – Jan Richardson>

Advent Reflection: Mary's Enthusiastic Yes

painting: Henry Ossawa Tanner
American African American painter in the 1890s
more here: http://bit.ly/1wb3cVL

<For a moment I hesitated on the threshold. For the space of a breath I paused, unwilling to disturb her last ordinary moment, knowing that the next step would cleave her life: that this day would slice her story in two, dividing all the days before from all the ones to come.//The artists would later depict the scene: "Mary dazzled by the archangel, her head bowed in humble assent, awed by the messenger who condescended to leave paradise to bestow such an honor upon a woman, and mortal..." //Yet I tell you it was I who was dazzled, I who found myself agape when I came upon her— reading, at the loom, in the kitchen, I cannot now recall; only that the woman before me— blessed and full of grace long before I called her so— shimmered with how completely she inhabited herself, inhabited the space around her, inhabited the moment that hung between us.//I wanted to save her from what I had been sent to say.//Yet when the time came, when I had stammered the invitation (history would not record the sweat on my brow, the pounding of my heart; would not note that I said "Do not be afraid!" to myself as much as to her) it was she who saved me— her first deliverance— her "Let it be," not just declaration to the Divine but a word of solace, of soothing, of benediction for the angel in the doorway who would hesitate one last time— just for the space of a breath torn from his chest— before wrenching himself away from her radiant consent, her beautiful and awful "yes".>

– Jan Richardson

artist, author, UMC minister 

http://adventdoor.com/

http://www.janrichardson.com/

Pfeffernusse

photo source: http://bit.ly/1wX37Jg

The Christmas Season, to me and my friends and then my husband, always began when you'd find that first display of Stella D'oro Pfeffernusse. Yummers ! Wuhl, between 2006 and 9 Stella D'oro had problems and strikes and the company was sold, and when they put out the Pfeffernusse around 2010 it may have been the same sized package, still on sale for $3.89, but there were only 11 cookies in there ! and I'm cheap. So I asked around and my girlfriend came to the rescue. She's been working this recipe since High School. It's adapted from Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book c. 1970.

It's not a complicated recipe, but you really need to follow it closely and do NOT rush it.
When it says "let it cool" then don't get cute...let it cool completely. "Chill well" means chill well.
Thank you.

The other hilarious thing is, they're not really great right away. It's like they cure overnight. The first time I made them I was SO disappointed, they were like balls of chalky flour. I had been baking all night and I just went to bed and (metaphysically) cried. I woke up the next day and popped one in my mouth and It. Was. PERFECT. They're absolutely delicious. P.S. don't even THINK of doubling it, it's disastrous. I just put one saucepan next to another saucepan and one bowl next to another bowl and bang out a double batch on the Saturday before Advent 2 and they last all season. They're also great for gifting. P.P.S. my girlfriend says, "The bigger you make them, the softer and chewier they are, but even at the specified size, I've never had them be dangerous to bite down on the way most commercial ones are."

Set oven for 375 degrees

• 3/4 cup "light" molasses (i don't know what that means. i use Brer Rabbit or Grandma's)
• 1/2 cup butter
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 4 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour, sifted
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1 1/4 TEAspoons SODA
• 1 1/2 TEAspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/2 TEAspoon ground cloves
• 1/2 TEAspoon freshly ground nutmeg
• dash of freshly ground coarse black pepper
• confectioners' sugar for coating

In a saucepan, combine molasses and butter.
Cook until butter melts, THAT'S ALL, no more. Not even two minutes ...
Cool to room temperature.

While you're waiting, sift together flour, sugar, soda, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg and pepper.

Lightly beat 2 eggs and stir that in to the molasses and butter.

Add the flour mixture to the eggs, molasses and butter mixture.

Chill. Well. I find it's best to soak a tea towel in water and place it on the top of the dough.

Shape dough in to 1 inch balls.
Bake on greased cookie sheet at 375 for 12 minutes.
Cool.
Roll in confectioners' sugar.

ENJOY ! !

Advent Reflection: God Arrives in the Form of a Child

This is just so obvious, I'm even embarassed to share it. That a symbol could be so obvious all along and for me to have missed it for 50 plus years is just startling to me.

A dear friend (and the Canon for Pastoral Care of The Episcopal Diocese of New York, ThankYouVeryMuch) posted something this morning which just stunned me. She said, in part:

Protecting God: So often in our prayer we ask for God's protection. The story of the Annunciation to Joseph reveals, however, that God desires the mutuality of our protecting God, too...

and I guess ... I guess I never truly meditated on the enormous obvious symbol of God coming to us as a helpless little baby who needs OUR protection and nourishment. it brings a whole new and obvious level to me of us as God's co-creators, defining our responsibility in this whole elaborate dance. wow. just wow. Us as God's nuturer.

then another friend got out of me that I've always been taken with, as early as Genesis 3, <[they] heard the sound of God as God was walking in the garden in the cool of the day...> and God used to walk with Enoch, too. It always makes me fall in love with God all over again. The thought of finishing vespers and then taking a nice stroll with God always made me think that God might be a little lonely and I've always thought of the teachings of Jesus to be MAINLY about the fact that people STOLE GOD from other people with their religiosity and legalism and Jesus basically said, don't you know that's all crap? just TALK talk with God ... have a conversation as you would with a trusted parent or someone who is MADLY in love with you ...

so, anywho ... this is some good "meat" to chew on. i look forward to meditating on this for a good long while ...

ADVENT 3: Thursday: Thy Holy Flame Bestowing

Come down, O love divine, seek Thou this soul of mine and visit it with Thine own ardor glowing. O Comforter, draw near, within my heart appear and kindle it, Thy holy flame bestowing.  O let it freely burn, til earthly passions turn to dust and ashes in its heat consuming; and let Thy glorious light shine ever on my sight and clothe me round, the while my path illuming.  Let holy charity mine outward vesture be, and lowliness become mine inner clothing; true lowliness of heart, which takes the humbler part, and o'er its own shortcomings weeps with loathing.  And so the yearning strong, with which the soul will long shall far outpass the power of human telling; For none can guess its grace, till she become the place wherein the Holy Spirit makes Her dwelling.

Words: Bianco da Siena (15thC) 

Translation: Richard Frederick Littledale 

Music: Down AmpneyWilliams 

ADVENT 3: Wednesday: Let Your Light So Shine

When one is in love with God, one becomes like a person who used to travel the town lighting street lamps at dusk. In olden days, there was a person in every town who would light the street-lamps with a light he carried at the end of a long pole. On the street-corners, the lamps were there in readiness, waiting to be lit; sometimes, however, the lamps were not as easily accessible. There were lamps in forsaken places, in deserts, or at sea. There must be someone to light even those lamps, so that they may fulfill their purpose and light up the paths of others. It is written, "Our soul is the candle of God." It is also written, "A good deed is a candle, and the love of God is light." A follower of God is one who puts personal affairs aside and sets out to light up the souls of all with the light of the love of God and with good deeds. Souls are ready and waiting to be kindled. Sometimes they are close, nearby; sometimes they are in a desert, or at sea. There must be someone who will forgo his or her own comforts and conveniences, and reach out to light those lamps. This is the function of a true lover of God. This is the lesson of the Gospel.

- Adapted from a public talk by the Lubavitcher Rebbe

ADVENT 3: Tuesday: Your Life Gets Better by Change

photo source: http://bit.ly/1DFxQ3D

We often personally and repeatedly resist change. It seems so much easier to stay just the way we are, and there is VERY little time in our lives to step out of the rut of our daily travels. It's easier just to keep our head down and do as we always have done 'cause it seems to be working for us...so far. But God can see far ahead in to the future and the Holy Spirit always urges us toward change. Wuhl, REAL change is often uncomfortable and involves effort and sacrifice. Real change forces us to "step up" especially because the Gospel insists that change is essential for everyone. We are urged to change our minds - literally, to “repent”- every day. In Greek the word for repent is μετάνοια - metanoia, which comes from meta, "denoting a position behind, after, or beyond, something of a higher or second-order", and the verb noeo, to perceive with the mind, to have understanding, to ponder (as Mary pondered in her heart). In this compound word, the two meanings of time and change are combined in reflection, but more importantly, after the fact, to ponder, to meditate on these things from a higher perspective, to truly observe our actions behind our mind, perhaps with God's loving eyes for us, and realise many of our repetitive actions, in the long run, may be poor choices, may even be destructive choices, but, in the present, may just not be The Best Choices. With the Holy Spirit’s help, we need to change the way we think- about ourselves, the purpose of our lives, other people, our purpose in their lives, and God's own self. We need to learn to shake ourselves in to thinking like God thinks, in a loving and caring way toward ourselves, and not the constant berating, defeatist attitudes we may often default to. Because how we think shapes the way we feel, and how we feel influences the way we act, and as followers of the Gospel of love and peace, our behavior needs to match our beliefs. “To live is to change,” wrote Cardinal Newman, “and to be perfect is to have changed often.”

- the skeleton of a reflection by R. Scott Hurd and the rest is me

ADVENT 3: Monday: Rejoice Again-I Say Rejoice !

photo source: http://bit.ly/1AyDuyt

<We prepare this Gaudete Week ("Rejoice" Week) by feeling the joy.  We move through this week feeling a part of the waiting world that rejoices because our longing has prepared us to believe the birth of The Child is close at hand.  "Prepare our hearts and remove the sadness that hinders us from feeling the joy and hope which God's presence will bestow." Each morning this week we want to light a third candle deep in our spirit.  One of three candles, going from expectation, to longing, to joy.  They represent our inner preparation, or inner perspective.  Begin each day this week with a sense of liberating joy.  Perhaps we can pause, breathe deeply and say, “My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord, my spirit rejoices in God my savior.” Each day this week, we will continue to go through our everyday life, but we will experience the difference our faith can bring to it. We may experience the Light shining into dark places in our hearts and lives which show us patterns and ruts and habits we could shed which should urge us to invite God's intervention. We may also want to make gestures of reconciliation with a loved one, relative, friend or associate.  With more light and joy, it is easier to say, “I'm sorry; let's begin again.” Each night this week we want to pause in gratitude.  Whatever the day has brought, no matter how busy it has been, we can stop, before we fall asleep, to give thanks for a little more light, a little more freedom to walk by that light, in joy.>

(Jesuits, natch-urally
http://bit.ly/1w955Y7
Creighton University,
Omaha, Nebraska)

Egg Nog Cookies

Frosted Eggnog Cookies Recipe photo by Taste of Home

THESE ARE SO ! GOOD ! and MY HUSBAND LOVES-uh these ... so I guess it's a keeper ... and I'll be happy because the cookie is a perfect conveyance vehicle for a nice dose of buttercream icing :-)

I made this recipe from Social Couture / All Things for All Parties It was suggested by a girlfriend and when I went to look at other recipes there was hour-long chilling involved, some with booze, that I really didn't think would matter much to the taste and I ended up frosting them with this icing from Taste of Home (as well as the above picture)

I doubled this recipe and got 75 tablespoon-sized cookies, cookies

Ingredients:

• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• (I added 1/4 teaspoon allspice and a 1/4 teaspoon cloves)
• 1 1/4 cups white sugar (I always pass this through a seive) 
• 3/4 cup butter, softened
• 1/2 cup eggnog
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 egg yolks

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C). 
2. Combine flour, baking powder, cinnamon and nutmeg. 
3. Cream sugar and butter until light. Add eggnog, vanilla, and egg yolks; beat at medium speed with mixer until smooth. Add flour mixture and beat at low speed until just combined. Do not overmix. 
4. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheet 1 inch apart. Sprinkle lightly with nutmeg. Bake 20 to 23 minutes until bottoms turn light brown.

Notice it says "do not overmix" ? So, the dough was REALLY tight, I'm sure it's because I doubled it, and I ended up adding, prolly, between a half cup to three-fourths extra of egg nog.

I made this icing:

• 1/4 cup butter, softened
• 3 cups confectioners' sugar
• 1/3 cup eggnog

In a large bowl, beat butter until fluffy. Add confectioners' sugar and eggnog; beat until smooth. Frost cookies. Store in an airtight container. 

Firstly, I put about 2 teaspoons of nutmeg in there and 

Secondly, I actually I tripled this recipe thinking I wouldn't have enough and now I have enough to pave several miles of the Pennsylvania Turnpike.

I sprinkled them with red and green sparkles ...

The hilarious thing about this recipe is, they bake for 20 minutes so it takes HOURS to complete the cycle and you almost forget you have something in the oven if you're not careful, so be careful ! 

I also don't know what the heck to do with them, the icing is always live, it doesn't dry, so I don't know how to store them. I covered a shelf from an old bookcase with tin foil and they're just laid out on it.

If you try them, I hope you enjoy them. They really are tasty. xoxoxo

ADVENT 2: Friday: Wisdom in the Darkness

photo source http://bit.ly/1wmrqzR

<Dear God, From some place deep in our soul, we hear you calling us by name and we prepare with a joyful heart for your coming. Through the darkness, we look for your wisdom. Our hearts are open to you. But sometimes in these days of busyness, it seems that  so many things come between us. Help us to be awake and aware of the radiance you bring to our life. Help us to be grateful each day for the blessings of family and friends, bounty and ease. Let us be peacemakers in our own lives, and in the world. Let us pray especially for this difficult world and those who are in most need. Let us look forward in hope and turn to you with great trust, knowing you will guide our steps along the unknown path of this day.>

- Creighton U. Online Ministries Home Page, sort of

ADVENT 2: Thursday: God Is With Us

Emmanuel/Little Town/Christmas Hymn - Amy Grant

<Immanuel עִמָּנוּאֵל "God is with us". Comforting, because God has come to share the danger as well as the drudgery of our everyday lives. God desires to weep with us and to wipe away our tears. And what seems most bizarre, God, longs to share in and to be the source of the laughter and the joy we all too rarely know.>

– Michael Card

ADVENT 2: Wednesday: Let's Take a Spiritual Bath

photo source: Exsodus of FreeDigitalPhotos.net

<Just as, when we are tired physically, a bath in fresh running water invigorates us, so, when we are tired or discomforted mentally, spiritual communion, bathing in the ocean of the Infinite, invigorates the mind and clarifies the thinking. Every person should take time for this inner communion, time when she separates herself from all that appears /detracting/ or /draining/, time to plunge into the living waters of /the Infinite, the Calm, the One True Vibration/. Just as we take a sun bath, so there is an inner light into which we may plunge, an inner consciousness in which we may bathe. The rays of this invisible Sun penetrate the soul just as the rays of the physical sun penetrate the body, renewing and rejuvenating. As water purifies itself by flowing, so an inner realization of the flow of Spirit through us purifies the stagnant pools of morbid thought, and in so doing, eliminates stagnation in the physical body.>

- Holmes, Ernest (2007-12-27).

The Art of Life (Kindle Locations 1359).

Penguin Group US. Kindle Edition.

ADVENT 2: Tuesday: Laughter, Compassion, Forgiveness

photo source: http://bit.ly/1wuFXwH

<When the scriptures say "holy" they mean "separate" or "different" and set apart. The word implies being healthy and whole in a world where much is un-healthy and fragmented. The English phrase "hale and hearty" sums up true holiness. Holiness includes such concepts as humor and laughter, compassion and understanding, and the capacity to forgive and be forgiven, to love and be loved. That’s holiness. Holy families are not free from conflict, nor do they never hurt one another. Holiness in families, rather, comes from learning to forgive and to be reconciled, and learning to face our problems and do something about them. In family life, holy means striving to surrender to God’s light within us when the darkness around us seems overwhelming. It means struggling day after day to bring creative order—if only a bit of it—to the chaos in the world as it encroaches on our lives. When we work at cultivating forgiveness, reconciliation, and community, we embody God’s holy will in the context of family life. A family embodies holiness by striving to be ‘hale and hearty,’ not by trying to be ‘perfect’ according to a set of other worldly standards.>

- Mitch Finley, CATHOLIC DIGEST, Jan. 1993, p. 39

ADVENT 2: Monday: You're Beautiful with God's Beauty

con source: http://bit.ly/1IoCkeS)

 <Gabriel greeted her: "Good morning! You’re beautiful with God’s beauty, Beautiful inside and out! God be with you." Mary was thoroughly shaken, wondering what was behind a greeting like that. But the angel assured her, “Mary, you have nothing to fear. God has a surprise for you! / And Mary said, "Yes, I see it all now: I’m God's partner and element, ready to serve. Let it be with me just as you say.> - The Message Bible translation

We are all pregnant with the Christ. Each morning we make Mary's decision, will I be God's co-creator? Will I l put aside my ego for the sake of peace? Will I lay down my expectations to follow God's path for me? Mary was the first to do so, all for the sake of the Christ.

(p.s.: I KNOW this has nothing to do with the dogma of the Immaculate Conception, i just think it's just a lovely story about Mary.)

Best Brownie EVER

Original recipe @ Hershey's Kitchens here: http://bit.ly/1yYMbmi

You need this. Trust me. It bakes for 20 minutes, it takes less than 10 to put together and you prolly have everything on hand, or make sure you do, because this will be your go-to emergency chocolate treat. 

P.S.: there's a recipe for frosting at the bottom? It's nice and all, but I don't think you need it.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Grease a sturdy 8x8 pan. Glass is not ideal, but it's fine.

RECIPE:

• 1/2 cup flour
• 1/3 cup Hershey's powdered cocoa
• 1/4 TEAspoon baking POWDER
• 1/4 TEAspoon salt

• 1 stick melted butter
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 TEAspoon vanilla and eventually
• 2 eggs

baked for 20 - 25 minutes

• I measure out the sugar and put the vanilla in there.
• I melt the butter first.
• I mix the dry ingredients.
• I pour the sugar in the butter, then mix that in the dry ingredients.
• I whisk the eggs in a cup and then add to the mixture then
• pour in to the pan and bake.

The recipe calls for 20 - 25 minutes. 

What I do is set the timer for 10, twirl the pan and let it go for 10 more.

It's always perfect and a TEENY bit not-quite-done in places.

They include a recipe for icing, but I can't imagine...

ICING
blend

• 3 TABLEspoons of butter
• 3 TABLEspoons of cocoa
• 1 TABLEspoon of light (karo) syrup
• 1/2 TEAspoon of vanilla

into

• 1 cup of powdered sugar

add 2 TABLEspoons of milk, as needed, to be able to spread that over the brownie.

ENJOY ! !

ADVENT 1: Friday: We Are Pregnant, the Place of Waiting

<When asked about a life lived in Christian authenticity, a Master of Novices once said that to be a Christian was not to know the answers, but to begin to live in the part of the self where the questions are born.…She was speaking of an attitude of listening, of awareness of presence, of an openness to mystery...Pregnancy is at the core of the Christian message. We are pregnant. We are the place of waiting, the place of the question, of the advent. We are the womb through whose pulsing life God is born.">

- Wendy M. Wright, "Wreathed in Flesh and Warm"

ADVENT 1: Thursday: An Advent Examination

<Advent is the perfect time to clear and prepare the Way. Advent is a winter training camp for those who desire peace. By reflection and prayer, by reading and meditation, we can make our hearts a place where a blessing of peace would desire to abide and where the birth of the Prince of Peace might take place. Daily we can make an Advent examination. Are there any feelings of discrimination toward race, sex, or religion? Is there a lingering resentment, an unforgiven injury living in our hearts? Do we look down upon others of lesser social standing or educational achievement? Are we generous with the gifts that have been given to us, seeing ourselves as their stewards and not their owners? Are we reverent of others, their ideas and needs, and of creation? These and other questions become Advent lights by which we may search the deep, dark corners of our hearts.>

-Edward Hays, A Pilgrim’s Almanac, p. 196

ADVENT 1: Wednesday: It's Time to Grow Up

<The Gospel is not complicated. It does not require sophistication to understand...Jesus refers to his followers — and to us, modern readers — as babes. This suggests, I think, that we need to grow, to develop, to consume something more complex than what St. Paul calls “spiritual milk” in our life of faith. We have to learn to eat rich “spiritual food.” We are, in other words, meant to grow up. We are meant to grow into the full stature of Christ. This is not merely about filling our heads with facts. It is not about becoming wise as our world understands wisdom. Rather, I think we are meant first and foremost to be open to transformation. We study the scriptures not just to learn the stories, but to be changed by the Word. We serve the needs of the world not just to help others, but to serve Jesus Christ himself and to be transformed. We join in corporate worship not just to go through the motions, but to be fed and nourished by the Sacraments. Change and growth are the point, but to do that, we have to see ourselves first as babes. We have to know that it’s time to grow.>

- Scott Gunn+, Seven Whole Days

ADVENT 1: Tuesday: We Are Pregnant Together With Mary

Statue of the Visitation at Church of the Visitation in Ein Karem, Israel, source: Deror avi

<We have waited in silence on your loving-kindness, O God.—Psalms 48:8>

<Most of the time, we hurry and we push. We split time into tenths of seconds. We fret when a traffic light turns red or we miss a train. The press of hurrying creates harried and hassled souls, disconnected from Spirit and from the gift of kindness itself. "Waiting in hope" is an attitude of faith, of trust, of joyful expectation. Waiting with a quiet spirit, creating space for absolute trust that we are exactly where we are supposed to be, may be the most essential practice for followers of the Christ. It is in many ways the spirit of Advent, that time of year when we practice the waiting of gestation, hoping, of trusting in new life not yet fully known. Thomas Merton remarked that life is a perpetual Advent, a continuous contemplation: <Let us become more humble than the rocks, More wakeful than the patient hills.> He sensed that in that waiting, trust begins to grow. Trust in God who is beyond all that is created and is the source of all things, seen and unseen. Trust that God is now among us and will come again among us in a rich and meaningful way at the end of our waiting. Trusting and waiting allows the loving-kindness that is the essence of God’s own Life to grow in us, and to bear fruit that we never expected.>

<Grant me O God the capacity to wait in hope,
to allow your own loving-kindness to grow in me,
for the life of your world. > 

- Mary C. Earle, sort of

ADVENT 1: Monday: As We Wait in Joyful Hope

<What has happened to the old-fashioned, spiritual Christmas? The cause is our disregard of Advent. We set aside this four-week pre-Christmas season as a time of spiritual preparation for the coming of the birth of The Child. It is a time of quiet anticipation. If the Christ is going to come again into our hearts, there must be a turning away from worry and doubt and murmuring and mindless un-productive repetitions. Without adopting habits which give us a renewed spiritual life, our hearts will be so full of mundane things that there will be ‘no room in the inn’ for the Child to be born again.…During these four weeks we should not focus on the joy of celebration, which is the joy of Christmas, as much as we should focus on the joy of anticipation, ' as we wait in joyful hope for the coming'. - John R. Brokhoff, sort of>