Wise words . . .

During one of the darker periods of the world's history, Victor Frankl was an inmate at Auschwitz and Treblinka. He saw many terrible and horrible things. Interestingly enough his abiding memories of that time are of the people . . . inmates no better off than the rest of them, but who chose to comfort their fellow men and women.

There were many fine examples of some who would give away the lat of their bread to someone who could not possibly have been any hungrier than themselves.

"The way a man accepts his fate," he wrote, "and all the sufferent it entails, the way in which he takes up his cross, gives him ample opportunity . . . even in the most difficult circumstances . . . to add a deeper meaning to his life."

Pretty wise words and a lesson to be learned there for us all.

Short but sweet this morning as I overslept! I must have been really tired. I hope you'll forgive me! ☺ It's not often that I do that!

I made these lovely squares yesterday to take to our works party. I wasn't able to get many pictures of them before they were snaffled up. Just goes to show how tasty they are!





Mom's Christmas Feather Squares
Serves 12
Printable Recipe

When I was growing up, I knew that when these delicious bars were in the larder, Christmas could not be too far behind. Christmas was the only time my mother made these and we certainly looked forward to seeing them every year. A moist and delicious cake type base covered with sweet raspberry preserves and a lovely meringue topped with toasted coconut on top make these holiday winners!

4 TBS butter, softened
3 large eggs, the whites and yolks carefully separated and put into two different bowls
1 cup sugar, divided
2 TBS milk
1 tsp baking powder
1 TBS cornstarch
1 cup flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup raspberry preserves
1 cup flaked sweetened coconut

Pre-heat the oven to 180*C/350*F. Lightly butter an 8 inch square baking pan and dust with flour. Set aside.

Cream together the butter and 1/2 cup of sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg yolks, one at a time. Stir in the vanilla. sift together the flour, baking powder, cornstarch and salt. Add to the creamed mixture alternately with the milk, mixing together until smooth. Spread this mixture into the prepared pan. Bake in the heated oven for 20 minutes, until lightly browned and the top springs back when lightly touched. Remove from the oven and immediately spread with the raspberry jam.

Beat the egg whites until foamy. Continue to beat, adding the remaining 1/2 cup of sugar slowly until the mixture it stiff and glossy. Spread this over the top of the jam and sprinkle with the coconut. Return to the oven and bake for another 10 to 15 minutes, until golden brown and the coconut is toasty. Remove from the oven and allow to cool before cutting into squares with a wet knife.

These are best eaten on the day they are baked. Store any leftovers in the refrigerator.



It's Holiday Split Seconds over on The English Kitchen today!

PS - I've had to disallow anonymous comments on my blog for the moment due to the peppering of spam and links throughout the comments. I apologize for that, but it takes me far too long each morning to get rid of them. It's very annoying!