Thoughts on Christmas happenings . . .

Source: scrapologie.blogs.com via Susan on Pinterest

Way back when . . . in the olden days when I was a child still at school, (in the younger grades) most of the month of December was a flurry of preparation for the annual School Christmas Concert. This was one of the highlights of the year, and very important to everyone. Girls all vied with each other for the coveted roll of Mary . . . and boys all vied with each other to be one of the select few that had nothing to do but stand in the back row of the choir, pinch each other and make faces at the audience. All month long, lines would be practiced, songs would be memorized and sung, and readings read over and over again . . . all in preparation for the big night.

Back at the home front, mother's were busy sewing and fitting costumes . . . on top of all of their other Christmas preparations, and many evenings were spent in helping us children to memorize the things we had to do, say or sing. One year I had to recite a poem called "Jest Fore Christmas," by Eugene Field. The first verse went like this:

Father calls me William, sister calls me Will,
Mother calls me Willie but the fellers call me Bill!
Mighty glad I ain't a girl -- ruther be a boy,
Without them sashes curls an' things that's worn by Fauntleroy!
Love to chawnk green apples an' go swimmin' in the lake --
Hate to take the castor-ile they give for belly-ache!
'Most all the time, the whole year round, there ain't no flies on me,
But jest 'fore Christmas I'm as good as I kin be!

Source: art.com via Susan on Pinterest

Now, I don't know why I was picked to memorize this poem. I didn't even remotely resemble a boy with my long dark curls and feminine graces. I expect they couldn't get a boy to do it. Anyways, I memorized it. There were five long verses and my mother worked with me night after night helping me to memorize it.

When the night came I shone. Rising to the occasion, I recited the whole thing, perfectly . . . complete with hill billy smart alecky boy voice, accent and intonations. I was always a bit of a ham. Another year I had to recite "Twas The Night Before Christmas" . . . and if I recall correctly, I did a good job with that as well. You can see I have always loved poetry and recitation.

It was a special time. There was an element of expectant excitement in the air for the whole month of December, and not just because Santa Claus was preparing to visit treasures upon us all . . . the school Christmas pageant was special to each one of us, child and teacher alike. It was always a real family occasion. On the appointed night, parents, grandparents, cousins, Aunts and Uncles all vied for coveted space up near the stage at the front of the school auditorium so that they could hear and see everything. There would be standing room only, and it would start to fill up at least an hour before the show. You'd have to be there really early to get a good seat.

Source: flickr.com via Elise on Pinterest

I can remember walking to the school in the cold night air . . . my breath puffing out in cloudy bursts of icy steam . . . the snow squeaking and crunching beneath my brown rubber galoshes, and feeling all excited with the promise of what was to come . . . a bit giddy with nerves at what I was about to accomplish. All the hustle and bustle backstage, the murmurs of the audience waiting out front, the excited voices of the children as they awaited the coming spectacle . . . the hurried last minute instructions of the teachers . . . these all added to the wonder and magic of the evening. What a wondrous time it was!!! I am so very grateful for those memories.

My kids did have Christmas Concerts. The older few were able to participate in ones that seemed more like the ones of my own childhood, but in the later years . . . by the time my younger ones were going through school, the annual event had disintegrated into a Festival of Lights concert . . . fear of offence having changed the very fabric of all that had been sacred and special and looked forward to all the year through. There was no longer any room at the Inn . . . and no place for the Saviour.

Source: Uploaded by user via Larissa on Pinterest

Gone were the special songs and carols and the special nativity at the end, only to be replaced with songs about Santa, Elves and fairy magic. There was still standing room only . . . and you still had to get there pretty early, but the same spirit just didn't seem to be there . . . or maybe that was only because I had been looking through the rose coloured glasses of the past . . .

I think we have lost something in our eagerness not to offend, to be politically correct in all things. In our rush to make sure that peoples of other nations and faiths are not left out, we have lost a huge part of ourselves . . . and it does make me sad. I am not against anyone, loving all peoples . . . but I do think that if we are not careful, eventually all that has helped our country to be the great country that it is . . . the traditions, the ceremony, the strength and nationality of the people, the pride of a nation . . . it will all slowly disappear to be replaced with who knows what. We don't know who we are anymore . . . and what's more, most don't seem to care. Christmas has dissolved into an excuse to get a few more days off work, a reason for a big drunken binge and a flurry of spend, spend, spend.

Source: twocrazycrafters.blogspot.com via Darlene on Pinterest

We seem to have lost the whole reason for the season . . . which is kind of sad really . . . I don't know why there can't be room for all sentiments and reasons to celebrate. Why not have concerts which celebrate all aspects of the Holiday season . . . Kwanzaa, Hanukkah, Ramadan, and the Birth of the Saviour???

Maybe I'm just getting old and cranky. Do you think???

I've got my fasting blood test this morning and then Todd and I are going to go and visit an elderly member of our church Ward that doesn't get out much these days. We've been planning on visiting him for weeks now and are only now just getting around to it. The time just keeps flying by and I have found that if we don't make a special effort to get these things done, they just don't get done.



A little something that I did yesterday afternoon . . .



A close up of the detail on the girl and bunny. I like the stars . . . they were done with Martha Stewart Glitter. I was surprised they showed up actually! I had my fingers crossed! Of course as usual it is available as a card or a print.

Here's a tasty winter pudding that will be sure to satisfy your family. Todd loves it. He has his with custard . . . I prefer mine with ice cream! It's the North American in me I think. ☺




*Plum Streusal*
Serves 4
Printable Recipe

I love this warm pudding. Over here in the UK dessert is calling pudding. This is comfy and delicious. Serve with lashings of cream, custard or ice cream!

1 large egg
1/2 cup light muscovado sugar
1/4 cup butter, softened
1 cup milk
1 cup flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
40 small purple plums, sliced in half and pitted

Streusal Topping:
1/2 cup light muscovado sugar
2 TBS plain flour
3 TBS butter, melted
1 TBS chinese five spice powder
1 tsp ground cloves
1/2 cup walnuts, toasted and broken into pieces



Pre-heat the oven to 180*C/350*F. Lightly butter a 9 inch square glass dish and set it aside.

Cream together the butter and the muscovado sugar. Beat in the egg. Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt. Stir into the creamed mixture alternately with the milk, mixing until smooth. It will be a loose batter.

Mix together the topping ingredients , the sugar, flour, five spice powder and cloves. Add the walnuts and melted butter, mixing until crumbly.

Place half the plums in the buttered baking dish. Pour half the batter over. Top with half the streusal topping. Repeat once more, ending up with streusal on top.

Bake in the heated oven for 1 hour, or until golden brown. Serve warm with custard or vanilla ice cream.



Cooking over in The English Kitchen today a delicious assortment of alternative Christmas Lunch Mains! (Part 1)

Touch the hem of His garment . . .

I was thinking this morning . . . and we all know what happens then, lol. I usually come up with something that's profound, if only in my own mind! I had this conversation with a friend the other day. She was really struggling with her faith and questioning why the Saviour felt so far away from her. I think we all feel like that from time to time . . . tis only natural.

It does seem that sometimes, just when we feel like we need Him the most . . . we can feel very far away from Him . . . alone, hurt, forgotten, trampled upon by what may seem like a myriad of problems . . . perhaps we have even given up on ever feeling close to him again. We may even feel dirty and unfit . . . covered with the dust of the world, which robs us of our courage and weakens our face. I know we've all been there.



So anyways, I was thinking about this . . . and then the story of the woman who reached out through a mob to touch just the hem of Christ's garment came into my mind. You know the one where Christ is walking through a whole crowd of people and he feels like someone has touched his clothes and he stops walking and asks, "Who is it that touched me?" She had been suffering with an issue of blood for years . . . and there may have been something inside her that wanted to think he had passed her by, or forgotton her, or even turned his back on her . . . but then her faith inspired her to reach out, even if she didn't feel particularly close to Him at that moment . . . even if she couldn't look Him in the eye and talk to him face to face . . . she knew that He still knew that she was there . . . and so she reached out through the crowd of people, knowing and believing that . . . If only I touch His cloak . . . I will be healed.

And she did . . . and she was.



How simple was her faith . . . how great . . . how inspiring. I am so very grateful for her example which even now . . . some two thousand years later . . . is able to touch my heart and teach me that it is faith, simple faith . . . that can get us through anything. No matter how far away from the Saviour that we may feel, or how unimportant we may feel. He is always there, just waiting for us to touch the hem of His garment . . .

I am very late posting this morning. I didn't even get out of bed until half past seven. That horrible cough has come back and I was coughing way into the night before I finally fell asleep. It's so draining . . . I think I will have to go back to the Doctor yet again . . .

We had the missionaries over for supper last night. I didn't cook anything too spectacular, just meat pies, mash, carrots, spring greens, gravy, rolls and then of course I served dessert. Butterscotch Pudding. Pudding in North America has a completely different meaning than pudding over here in England. Here the term is used to describe any variety of desserts . . . some stodgy, other's not, all delicious. Back home in canada it is a term used to describe a thick and milky cooked custard type of affair and comes in many delicious flavours, one of my favourites being . . .



*Butterscotch Pudding*
Serves 4
Printable Recipe

If you were to ask people which flavour of pudding is their most favourite they would probably say chocolate, but my personal favourite is the delicious, sweet and slightly salty flavour of butterscotch. Some people like their pudding ice cold, but I like mine slightly warm. Now that my friends is comfort food, pure and simple . . .

3/4 cup dark brown sugar, packed
2 TBS cornstarch
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups milk
1 large egg
1 TBS white sugar
2 TBS butter
1 tsp pure vanilla

Combine the brown sugar, cornstarch and salt in a heavy saucepan. Gradually stir in the milk. (any lumps should smooth out as the mixture cooks so don't worry about them)

Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture comes to a boil. Remove from the heat.

Beat the egg with the tablespoon of white sugar until light. Gradually stir part of the hot cornstarch mixture into the egg to temper it. Stir this mixture into the cooked mixture and then return the saucepan to the heat and cook for one to two minutes longer.

Remove from the heat and blend in the butter, stirring until it is melted and completely mixed in. Stir in the vanilla. Cool, covered, to help prevent a skin from forming. (Personally I like the skin . . . it's almost my favourite part). Serve warm or cold, with or without some whipped cream on top.



Over in The English Kitchen today there are some delicious Steak and Mushroom Pies!

“When our wagon gets stuck in the mud, God is much more likely to assist the man who gets out to push than the man who merely raises his voice in prayer—no matter how eloquent the oration.”
~Dieter F. Uchtdorf

Poetry Saturday . . . How To Capture a Poem

Look for one at midnight
on the dark side of a backlit angel
or in the space between a sigh
and a word. Winter trees, those
elegant ladies dressed in diamonds
and white fur, may hide another.



Look for the rhythm in the feet
of a waltzing couple one, two, three-ing
in an empty hall, or in the sound
of any heartbeat, the breath of a sleeper,
the bossy rattle of keyboards in offices,
the skittering of paper blown along.



You could find a whole line
incised into stone or scrawled on sky.
Words float on air in buses, are bandied
on street corners, overheard in pubs,
caught in the pages of books, sealed
behind tight lips, marshalled as weapons.



Supposing you can catch a poem,
it won’t tell you all it knows. Its voice
is a whisper through a wall, a streak of silk
going by, the scratch of a ghost, the creaks
of a house at night, the sound of the earth
vibrating in spring, with all its secret life.



You have to listen: the poem chooses itself,
takes shape and begins to declare what it is.
Honour the given, else it will become petulant.



When you have done your best,
you have to let it go. Season it with salt
from your body, grease it with oil from your skin.



Release it. It has nothing more to do
with you. You’re no more its owner
than you hold the wind. Never expect gratitude.
~Angela Topping

This is the first time I am featuring a poet that I have had the priviledge of meeting and doing a workshop with. Angela Topping is a published British Poet, having had her works published in a variety of magazines and by Macmillan,OUP, Hodder, Collins and Wayland in over 45 anthologies. Her work is beautiful, inspiring and thought provoking. Last Saturday I asked her if she would share one of her pieces with you all, and this is the one she chose.


Photo of Angela courtesy of Salt Publishing

I think she chose very well to gift us with this beautiful piece of her prose! You can read more about her on her webpage (just click on her name above) and you can read more about her latest publication, The New Generation, here. Thank you so much Angela for sharing this lovely poem with us today!

I created a little prose of my own yesterday.



Todd is always telling me I need to branch out and do more than little girls, etc. So I did this little piece yesterday to show him that I was more than a one trick pony! As always it is available as a print or a card. All you need to do is to send me a message and it can be yours! I love the way the sweet peas turned out! I always have to distance myself from a piece for a few hours before I can begin to appreciate it for what it is.

Oh, and a very Happy Thanksgiving to all of my Canadian family and Friends! I hope it is blessed all the way through!

I made this lovely bread pudding for our dessert one night this week. Loosely based on the idea of British Sticky Toffee Pudding, I found it a very comforting and delicious capper to what had been a quite delightful day . . .



*Sticky Date Bread Pudding*
Serves 6
Printable Recipe

As simple as this is it really is quite delicious. Who doesn't love bread pudding. This one, studded with sticky dates and crowned while still warm with luciously rich dulce de leche is a real lip smacking winner!

1 pound of day old brioche bread, cut into 1 inch cubes, approximately 8 cups
1 cup pitted and chopped dried dates
1 1/2 cups chopped ready to eat Deglet Nour Dates
(moist and golden)
6 large organic free range eggs
2 large organic free range egg yolks
1 1/4 cups caster sugar
1 3/4 cup of double cream
1 3/4 cup of whole milk
1 TBS pure vanilla extract
a pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
icing sugar for dusting
1 carton of Dulce de Leche for serving

Take a 9 by 13 inch bakign dish and butter it well. Arrange the bread cubes in it along with the chopped dates, tossing them together to make sure they are evenly distributed.

Put the eggs and egg yolks into the bowl of an electric mixer and beat until they are quite frothy. Add the caster sugar and beat again until the mixture becomes thick and pale yellow in colour. Add the milk and the cream, mixing it in well on low speed and then stir in the nutmeg an vanilla. Mix well.

Pour the resulting custard evenly over the bread cubes and dates. Let sit for about half an hour to an hour in order to allow the bread th absorbe the mixture, pushing the bread down occasionally with a wooden spoon.

Pre-heat the oven to 180*C/375*F. Bake the pudding for about 25 minutes. Open the oven door and give the bread a little push down into the custard again with a wooden spoon. (be careful not to burn yourself!) Continue to bake for another 15 to 20 minutes or until a knife or skewer inserted near the centre comes out clean.

Remove from the oven and let cool to warm. Dust with icing sugar. Heat the Dulce de Leche in a microwave for about a minute or so. Spoon some of the bread pudding out onto plates and then serve with some of the warm Dulce de Leche spooned over top. Delicious!



In The English Kitchen this morning some beautiful Fruity Muffins!

Love is . . .

Love is patient, Love is kind,
It does not envy, it does not boast,

It is not proud, It is not rude,
It is not self-seeking,

It is not easily angered,
It keeps no record of wrongs.

Love does not delight in evil,
but rejoices with the truth.

Love always protects, always trusts,
always hopes, always perseveres.

Love bears all things, believes all things,
hopes all things, endures all things.

Love never ends.

L o v e N e v e r F a i l s.

Corinthians 13 : 4 - 8

Love is a family

And I'm so glad God gave me mine...

When you taste this you are going to fall in love. I did …

*Chocolate Chip Brioche Bread Pudding*

Serves 8 - 10 (can be halved successfully)

Eating this lovely pudding is like having all your birthday’s come at once! It is wonderfully rich and sinfully good! The toasted brioche crumbs on the top give it a delightful crunch and the caramel sauce is well worth the effort of making. Although it is still good without it, it is truly magnificent with it drizzled on top!

1 (1 pound) brioche bread, crusts trimmed and reserved, bread cut into ½ inch cubes

8 large eggs

2 cups of whipping cream or half and half

2 cups milk (2% or whole)

1 ½ to 2 cups sugar

¼ cup chocolate Schnapps

1 TBS vanilla essence

½ tsp almond essence

200g good quality of milk chocolate, broken into chunks (I use 2 bars of Green & Black’s Organic Milk chocolate)

Place bread into a buttered 13 X 9 X 2 inch baking dish. Scatter with the chocolate chunks. In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, whipping cream, milk, sugar, Chocolate Schnapps, vanilla and almond essences, mixing well to blend. Pout over the bread cubes and let stand for 30 minutes, pressing the bread down into the custard from time to time. (You can do this up to 2 hours ahead if you wish. Cover and refrigerate)

Pre-heat the oven to 180*C/350*F. Arrange the reserved bread crusts on a baking sheet and bake until dry, about ten minutes. Let cool and then crush in a food processor to make fine crumbs. Sprinkle 1 cup of the crumbs over the pudding. Give the rest to the birds!

Bake the pudding until it is set in the centre, about 40 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool slightly. Serve warm with the caramel sauce.

*Caramel Sauce*

Makes approximately 2 cups

2 cups caster sugar

½ cup water

1 ¼ cups whipping cream

¾ tsp vanilla essence

Combine the sugar and water in a heavy medium sized saucepan. Stir over medium low heat until the sugar is dissolved. Increase the heat to medium high and bring to a boil. Boil, without stirring until the syrup is a deep amber in colour (about 8 minutes). Watch it carefully as soon as it starts to turn, remove it from the heat as it can burn very quickly from then on! The residual heat from the pan can finish it off to the right colour. Gradually add the cream. It will spit and sputter vigorously, but that’s ok. Stir over low heat until any caramel bits dissolve and the sauce is smooth. Stir in Vanilla. Let stand until cool but still pourable.

(This has been another reposting from my old AOL journal, just to give you something to read while I am away. These are family pictures, taken during my last visit home. Hope you enjoyed! )

The Simple Woman's Daybook

FOR TODAY, March 17th, 2010...

Outside My Window...
The sun is up as are all the birds. I've been getting up a bit later now that I haven't had to go to work. I miss getting up at 5, so I reckon tomorrow morning I am going to kick myself out of bed a bit earlier. The early morning is the best time of the day.

I am thinking...
I am so overwhelmed with everything that has been happening in our lives lately, and all the words of support and comfort I have received from everyone. On facebook, via e-mail, on here . . . every word is so very much appreciated. I don't know if I will have a chance to e-mail you back personally as there are so very many, but I will try. Todd and I can feel your warm thoughts and your prayers helping to carry us through these present trials. You have been a great comfort to us.

I am thankful for...
I am so thankful for the many blessings my Heavenly Father has given us. Despite all that has been horribly painful over these past weeks, there have also been small blessings and miracles. I am so thankful for a heart that sees . . .

From the kitchen...
I haven't been doing very much cooking or baking, but we are having people over for supper tonight so I will be cooking up a storm today. It is good to be busy.

I am wearing...
Having a good clearout, the type that you have when you are getting ready to move is good. You find all sorts of things you had forgotten that you had. I found some pajamas that I knew I had somewhere but hadn't been able to find. (Not sure what that says about me. hmmm . . . do I wanna know??? I think not!) Anyways, they are white flannelette with teddy bears all over them in pinks and browns and with pink trim. I remember them distinctly being tight . . . but guess what, they are almost falling off me. I thought I better wear them while I still could!!

I am creating...


I still have those dolls sitting here waiting to be sold. I guess people are not much in the market for dolls right now. I shall pack them away today and maybe once we have settled in at the other end someone will want them. I will have to close my shop for the period in which we are moving and getting settled as I will not have access to the computer for a week or so. That is going to be very painful!!!


I am going...
The movers are dropping off the boxes tonight and so tomorrow begins the job of packing everything up. We have been trying to organize things this week so that we are better prepared for that. On Saturday we are going to Todd's brothers for the day and to spend some time with them before we leave and go back up North. They are not travelling people so who knows when we will see them again. When we lived in Chester before, we often invited them up and even offered to go and pick them up and bring them up there, but they never took us up on it. They do go on Holidays from time to time but always to the same place in Devon and always to the same holiday camp. I think they are very much creatures of habit. But then . . . I think we all are to a degree.

Saturday night there is a Ward Activity. I think they are also going to use that as an opportunity to say farewell to us. I hate goodbyes . . . the people of our Ward have been like family to us and it is going to be very difficult to leave them all behind. Chester is only 270 miles away though and they all have a standing invitation to come up and visit us and I surely hope that they will. (Not all at once though! lol)


I am reading...




The Pull of The Moon, by Elizabeth Berg

'Dear Martin,
I'm sorry the note I left you was so abrupt. I just wanted you to know I was safe... I won't be back for a while. I'm on a trip. I needed all of a sudden to go, without saying where, because I don't know where. I know this is not like me. I know that,. But please believe me, I am safe and I am not crazy. I felt as though if I didn't do this I wouldn't be safe and I would be crazy... And can you believe this? I love you. Nan'

Sometimes you have to leave your life behind for a while to see it and really live it freshly again. In this luminous, exquisitely written novel, a woman follows the pull of the moon to find her way home. Sometimes humorous, sometimes heartbreaking, always honest, The Pull of the Moon is a novel about the journey of one woman - and about the issues of the heart that transforms the lives of all women. Written in the form of letters to her husband and diary exerpts, I am really enjoying this book.

I am hoping...
I am hoping that nothing more crummy happens to us, at least not over the next couple of weeks. I know that into each life some rain must fall, and that it is all a part of the ebb and flow of life, but I have had just about enough for the moment . . . I jokingly said yesterday that I was waiting for the boils to appear . . . I have got a pimple on my nose . . . I hope it's not a portent of things to come!

I am hearing...
The kitchen is silent, except for the ticking clock and my tapping keys. I need to put some music on to distract me from the silence. If silence is golden . . . well, I'm just not feeling it right now.

Around the house...
The place is a bit of a tip with cupboards being opened and everything being sorted. There are plastic boxes every where and more things waiting to be put into boxes. I once heard that moving was one of the most stressful events in people's lives, and I can well believe it! Oh well, once we get this move sorted that is it. I am hoping to never have to move ever again!

One of my favorite things...
is reading my scriptures each morning. They give my life and heart a special balance and much wisdom and comfort. The scriptures are amazing. They always touch my heart in a special way and tell me exactly what I need to hear at any given moment.

A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week...
Packing, Packing and more packing. There will be some bits of fun interspersed as well.

Here is picture thought I am sharing...



Todd and I took a break midafternoon yesterday. The day was so sunny and a bit milder and so we took ourselves off for a walk down through the village. There was a verge in the village just crammed full of oceans of crocus in full bloom. It was so beautiful, I could not resist taking several pictures.



Many of the blooms were being buzzed by big fat bumbly bees! What a beautiful portent of spring. Over in Canada it was always the Robin, but here I have to say it is the Bumble Bee. Big and fat and bumbling from flower to flower. They speak spring to my heart.



And there you have it, my Simple Woman's Day Book for today. Don't forget to hop on over to the Simple Woman to check out the other day book entries! (Or better yet, do a simple day book entry yourself! It's not that hard and I am betting you would enjoy it!)

This has been very good for my soul this morning . . . this reflection on all that is good in my life. My Simple Woman posts have always been one of my favourite activities during the week.

Nothing says comfort and home like Rice Pudding. This is one of Todd's favourites.



*Creamy Rice Pudding*
Serves 4
Printable Recipe

This is a delicious, homey and comforting pudding. You can add raisins if you like, which I sometimes do, or you can just opt to serve it warm and topped with a bit of fruit jam, as I have done here.

1 1/2 cups cooked rice
1 cup whole milk
2 slightly beaten eggs
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 cup heated whole milk
1 TBS butter
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup raisins (optional)
grated nutmeg
red fruit jam, such as cherry, raspberry or strawberry (optional)

Place the cooked rice, 1 cup of milk, beaten eggs and the sugar in the top of a double boiler over simmering water. Cook, stirring, until the mixture coats the back of a metal spoon. Remove from the heat immediately. Add the 1/2 cup of heated milk and the butter vanilla and raisins if using. Let stand for 30 minutes. Spoon into bowls to serve. Grate some fresh nutmeg on top and serve with a spoon full of jam on top if desired.




Now that's a tasty mouthful!! Over on The English Kitchen today, Whoopie Pies!