Favourite posts of 2017, #12: Christmas countdown Week 12, The Waits

One week till Christmas! Scroll down for a treat at the end.

Last week's post ended the chapter (and the book, Parents and Children). This week we go back to the poem Charlotte Mason used to open the chapter. "Waits" in much earlier times were paid civic musicians. By the nineteenth century, they were roving amateur players and singers. In this case, Christmas carollers.

The Waits!

     Slowly they play, poor careful Souls,

     With wistful thoughts of Christmas cheer, 

     Unwitting how their music rolls

     Away the burden of the year.

     And with the charm, the homely rune,

     Our thoughts like childhood's thoughts are given,

     When all our pulses beat in tune

     With all the stars of heaven.'

          ––JOHN DAVIDSON.

In the Spirit of Charlotte Mason:

The Scottish poet John Davidson (1857-1909) has been called "the first of the Moderns," and is said to have influenced T.S. Eliot. Davidson was the author of an 1893 book called Fleet Street Eclogues, which owed inspiration to Spenser's Shepeardes Calendar. It is a series of poems that follows a group of big-city journalists throughout one year, as they get together to drink, tell stories, and complain about the world, beginning on New Year's Day and ending on Christmas Eve. 

The version of the poem printed above does not seem to exist outside of Charlotte Mason's writings. Davidson's Eclogues were written in play format, like this:

Basil 
Hush ! hark ! Without : the waits, the waits ! With brass, and strings, and mellow wood. 
 
Menzies
A simple tune can ope heaven's gates ! 

Sandy
Slowly they play, poor careful souls, 
With wistful thoughts of Christmas cheer, 
Unwitting how their music rolls 
Away the burden of the year.

Basil
And with the charm, the homely rune, 
Our thoughts like childhood's thoughts are given, 
When all our pulses beat in tune 
With all the stars of heaven.

But what about the thought itself? Why did Davidson's lines speak so clearly to Charlotte Mason?

As "Sandy" says, the waits are simple people who offer their gifts freely and without any agenda...like children. "Basil" agrees that the music, at least for awhile, seems to restore his connection with eternal things.

These "hard-bitten" journalists, viewing the world with cynicism but also longing for a simpler, more innocent and joyful world, mirror our own time very well. The poem also adds poignancy to Charlotte Mason's words at the beginning of the chapter.

"Children necessary to Christmas Joy––In these levelling days we like to think that everybody has quite equal opportunities in some direction; but Christmas joy, for example, is not for every one in like measure. It is not only that those who are in need, sorrow, or any other adversity do not sit down to the Christmas feast of joy and thanksgiving; for, indeed, a Benjamin's portion is often served to the sorrowful. But it takes the presence of children [or waits?]to help us to realise the idea of the Eternal Child. The Dayspring is with the children, and we think their thoughts and are glad in their joy; and every mother knows out of her own heart's fulness what the Birth at Bethlehem means."

Things to do this week:

This is our last visit to the wonderful 1977 world of Family Circle Christmas Helps. The cute pair of dolls on the cover reappear in this week's "Bountiful Brunch" photo, which features Broiled Breakfast Steaks, Marbled Waffles, and Continental Fruit Compote. And that's just breakfast; "Dinner that Dazzles" takes up the next three pages.

Maybe that's what Peg Bracken meant by "full-color double-page spreads picturing what to serve on those little evenings [or Christmas mornings?] when you want to take it easy. You're flabbergasted. You wouldn't cook that much food for a combination Thanksgiving and Irish wake." (The I Hate to Cook Book, 1960)

But celebrations are important, aren't they? Certain cooking aromas in the house make things seem right and untroubled, and bring back memories of our yesteryears. Holiday food and good company can lift the spirits of even the cheeriness-ambivalent.

"One mile north of the Mitford monument, Old Man Mueller sat at his breakfast table in the unpainted house surrounded by a cornfield, and, with his dentures soaking in a jar by the bed, devoured a large portion of the cake Esther and Gene Bolick had brought him last night on Christmas Eve. He didn't have any idea why they would bring him a cake every Christmas...All he knew is, if one year they forgot and didn't show up, he'd set and bawl like a baby." [He also gave a piece to his dog.] ~~ Jan Karon, Shepherds Abiding

So to wind up this series, I have found a dessert recipe that seems the perfect way to share the season...and it's much easier than Esther's cake. You can see the whole thing at Sizzling Eats: 20 Minute Snowflake Cream Puffs. Go have a look, I'll wait.

You cut large snowflake shapes from prepared puff-pastry sheets; bake them; cut them in half horizontally; then fill with your choice of something nice, and sprinkle with powdered sugar.

This seems to be the holiday dessert with infinite possibilities, depending on your dietary needs and budget. You can make or buy gluten-free puff pastry, if that's what you need; commercial brands of puff pastry are often vegan-friendly. (Where we live, Tenderflake pre-rolled pastry now uses "simpler ingredients.") You can use whipped cream or a substitute topping; or go for some kind of mousse, lemon filling, even a scoop of frozen dessert. The sheets of pastry come pre-rolled, so kids or other helpers could cut out snowflake shapes, and also fill the baked shells. If you don't have a snowflake cutter, you could try a star, or a plain circle (or use a cardboard template for a shape you like). 

I'm also thinking that you could add a drizzle of raspberry sauce, or chocolate sauce, and some fresh berries, fancy citrus peels, or whatever you like on top.

That is what we'll be having here on Christmas Day! I'm very grateful to Sizzling Eats for posting the recipe.

And we wish you a joyous holiday season, with all the gladness and joy of the Birth at Bethlehem.

Favourite posts of 2017, #11: Christmas Countdown Week 4, Something for Everyone

First posted October 23, 2017

9 weeks until Christmas...

"The Christ-child lay on Mary's heart,
His hair was like a fire.
(O weary, weary is the world,
> But here the world's desire.)"
~~ G.K.Chesterton

Here is this week's passage from Parents and Children:

"Humility Unconscious of Self.––Humility does not think much or little of itself; it does not think of itself at all. It is a negative rather than a positive quality, being an absence of self-consciousness rather than the presence of any distinctive virtue. The person who is unaware of himself is capable of all lowly service, of all suffering for others, of bright cheerfulness under all the small crosses and worries of everyday life. This is the quality that makes heroes, and this is the quality that makes saints. We are able to pray, but we are hardly able to worship or to praise, to say, 'My soul doth magnify the Lord' so long as in the innermost chamber of our hearts we are self-occupied.

"The Christian Religion Objective––The Christian religion is, in its very nature, objective. It offers for our worship, reverence, service, adoration and delight, a Divine Person, the Desire of the world. Simplicity, happiness and expansion come from the outpouring of a human heart upon that which is altogether worthy. But we mistake our own needs, are occupied with our own falls and our own repentances, our manifold states of consciousness. Our religion is subjective first, and after that, so far as we are able, objective. The order should rather be objective first and after that, so far as we have any time or care to think about ourselves, subjective."

In the spirit of Charlotte Mason:

In the children's book Understood Betsy, Betsy trudges home to the farm on a late winter day, having failed a test at school. She plans to tell every gory detail to Cousin Ann, who is busy making maple syrup, because that is what she would have been expected to do in her "old life" with Aunt Frances. Cousin Ann asks her bluntly, "Do you really want to tell me all this?" Betsy says, "Um, no." Cousin Ann says, "Fine. Here's some syrup, go make some snow candy." (I'm paraphrasing, but you get the point.)

This passage moves into the idea that even being overly focused on our own sinfulness, weakness, mistakes, things we have done and things we have left undone can, in a certain sense, become tiresome, a sort of pious navel-gazing. When soul-searching becomes soul-scraping to the point that we cannot accept God's assurance of His love and forgiveness, we may no longer call it humility.

In the same way that parents are directed to provide a healthy table but to discourage children from over-noticing what they are eating ("I like, I don't like..."), they are to train children in good habits, teach them that they have a Saviour, that they certainly do sin and need to repent, but not allow too much focus on the endless stream of mistakes, too much attention-seeking for either good or bad behaviour. Would we as parents enjoy having a child who came to us constantly, needing to tell and re-tell about the failure or the quarrel or the cheating, even after the situation had been resolved? Do we chatter about ourselves (good things and bad) too much, to the Lord, to each other, or as self-talk? Do we have too many self-help books cluttering our shelves?

The goal expressed in this passage is for us to focus fully on "the beauty of the Divine Person, the Desire of mankind."

Things to do this week

Frontier Gingerbread

In the 1977 Family Circle Christmas Helps magazine that inspired this countdown, the projects suggested for "nine weeks till Christmas" include baking gingerbread, making appliqued toaster and can-opener covers (I think I'll pass), covering wooden boxes with fabric (I like those), and making sets of needlepoint coasters. Here's a page from PlanetJune (a crochet designer's blog) with photos of some crocheted but non-Christmassy coasters and other things that may inspire you. [I also mentioned the annual Handmade Holidays roundups on Sew Mama Sew, but they did not run those this year.]

If you're not a crafter, you could decide to buy handmade gifts through a fair-trade shop like Ten Thousand Villages. Or from a craft sale or a church bazaar.

If you're more into recycling, you could buy second-life crafted items from a thrift store.

And if you're a minimalist and/or live in a tiny house, maybe you will be happier just looking at photos of other people's stuff, and thinking, "So glad that's not me."

Here is the 1970's-vibe recipe for "Frontier Gingerbread" that was included in the magazine. If you prefer, you could replace the egg, or you could even try leaving it out...our usual gingerbread recipe does not have an egg in it, and it works fine.

Frontier Gingerbread

makes one large oval or one 9x9x2 inch cake

Ingredients

2 1/4 cups whole wheat flour

1 1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. dry mustard

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

1 tsp. ground ginger

1/2 tsp. ground cloves

1/2 cup vegetable shortening, melted

1 cup light molasses

1 egg

1 cup hot water

Stir flour, baking powder, and salt together with a wire whip in bowl. Blend the other dry ingredients into melted shortening in a large bowl. Beat in molasses and egg with wire whip. Add flour mixture alternately with hot water. Beat mixture until smooth.

Pour into a well-greased and lightly floured 10-inch oval au gratin pan or a 9x9x2 inch baking pan.

Bake in a moderate oven (350 degrees) 45 minutes; or until top springs back when pressed with fingertip. Cool in pan on wire rack to cool completely. Serve with whipped cream or fruit sauce, if you wish.

Christmas cookies: not so hard

I made most of our Christmas cookies this year at the last minute, but they all turned out. These were the easiest, but everybody seemed to like them: the quick-mix sugar cookies linked here, with a little canned frosting and coloured sprinkles in the middle. I didn't press the cookies down as directed with a sugared glass, because I knew I was going to be adding frosting; I just flattened them with my fingers. 

The frosting was squished from a Ziploc bag with the corner cut out, so that I could frost them in a little spiral shape (I don't think you can see that so well in the photo).

(That one on the edge is a mutant.)

A stretched-out applesauce cake

We've been making this since the days of the Grocery Cart Challenge Blog. Here's the recipe.

Baked in a slow cooker, this cake turns out small, round and fragrant with cloves and cinnamon.

But it also works in a long, thin baking pan, or other cake pan, or muffin tins. (Photo of today's cake)

Happy eating.

A pan of date squares

Secret ingredient this time: I added the last of a jar of orange marmalade to the filling. These are for a family birthday tomorrow.

A plate of Christmas cookies

Chocolate Chip & Cranberry Shortbread Cookies, from The Flavor Bender.

This is a new recipe for us. I left the spices out, and changed the lemon zest to orange, since that's what we had in the fridge.

Still good!

In the week when Christmas comes: Thursday

Let every steeple ring a bell
With a joyful tale to tell,
     In the week when Christmas comes.

~~ from "In the Week When Christmas Comes," by Eleanor Farjeon

A real-time view of three days before Christmas:

8 a.m.: Lydia has just left for school, and I have just fed Muffin a bowl of lettuce and carrots. I'm reading through the blogs on my feed, including why we need to teach arts instead of subjects at Circe, a poem by Malcolm Guite, and a pantry post from Coffee, Tea, Books, and Me. I have butter softening on the kitchen counter (for whatever I might need it for).

9:45 a.m.: Mr. Fixit has gone on his usual Thursday treasure hunting, after we both spent a few minutes clearing snow. Lydia had mentioned that we were low on some things, but I didn't see how that could be, until I checked the flour and the white sugar. Oops. Some creative compromising was required, but I do have the baking plan figured out now, and the table is  covered with pre-measured bowls of flour, raisins, and chocolate chips. There is also a loaf of stuffing bread already going in the breadmaker. (It has to dry out for a couple of days.)

12 noon: one load of in the washing macine, one in the dryer. Most of the baking dishes done. Bread out. Three kinds of sweet things and one orange-cranberry loaf out of the oven. Ingredients collected for fudge-making later.

I need some lunch and some Christmas music.

2 p.m.: Mr. Fixit came home and we got everything swept, boxed, folded, hung, dried, and/or put away. I had a bit of time to check e-mail and read Overdrive library books (I'm trying to reach my Goodreads goal).  Muffin came out of his cage for a human-visit.

4 p.m.: We decided to have an easy dinner, so there's a pan of frozen cannelloni in the oven. Mr. Fixit is going around the corner to check our mailbox, because for the second winter in a row, Canada Post refuses to bring letters to our door. While he's out, he's going to pick up Lydia at her stop and save her the walk home. She gets picked up at our house now, but the dropoff point is a few blocks away.

6:30 p.m.: Dinner is over, the fudge is made, and Lydia is studying for a last-day-before-the-holidays history test on World War II. I am still working on library books.

10 p.m.: Some people are probably watching Christmas movies. We watched an episode of Star Trek: Enterprise and tasted the fudge.

And how was your day?

In the week when Christmas comes: Monday

This is the week when Christmas comes,

     Let every pudding burst with plums,

And every tree bear dolls and drums,

     In the week when Christmas comes.

~~ from "In the Week When Christmas Comes," by Eleanor Farjeon

The gift of the longest-possible Advent: a whole week for it to be The Week When Christmas Comes.

Yes, we have snow--plenty of it, unlike last Christmas. Lydia's school was even closed one day because of bad weather.

Yes, we have decorations. It's not looking too bad.

Yes, we have things to make cookies with, although nobody's done any baking because Mama Squirrel and Mr. Fixit have been down with colds and didn't want to "share the love."

But it's still too easy to focus on what isn't, what we'd rather have, what we could have done. I think everyone has some mental version of Dickens that comes to visit over holidays..It might be just a scrap of something missing, or a major discontentment, or outright grief. I wasn't sure whether to laugh or not at today's rather blunt Vivienne Files post. Under the portrait of a glum-looking woman painted by Chagall, Janice adds this note:  "She's NOT Feeling Christmassy... Some years, you just don't..."  Is it a coincidence that the imagined character's "accent colour" is a somewhat Grinchy green?

Then I read Brenda's post "Beauty With or Without an Audience," and things made more sense. If beauty is important, then we need to make beauty, even if it goes largely unseen. Even if those who do see it rush past (like the legendary crowd in the subway who didn't stop to hear the famous violinist, although you can read the true version of that here, since we try not to do Tonypandy at the Treehouse). Sometimes we make the extra effort simply as an act of faith.

I need a pre-holiday jump start (Do-Vember #15)

Do-Vember

It's just over six weeks to Christmas Day, but we're still figuring out plans. It's not a big crafting year for me; I know, I always say that and then an idea pops up and I spend all of November going from one project to another. But no, not so much this year.

I looked in the spot where we keep empty boxes and jars, and realized that somehow we had not kept most of the fishbowl-shaped canned pear jars I wanted to use for decorating. And the store hasn't had any pears lately. We might have to buy some canned beets (I am not a beet eater) and decant them. But I am not buying brand new jars just to put some tea lights in.

On our last weekend trip to Walmart, I picked up a few things that I thought might help set things in motion: the December issue of Canadian Living, which I mostly don't read the rest of the year; two packages of paper napkins; and a set of mini cookie cutters. (I already had the red basket.)  Mini cutters: I could see different possibilities for those. Cookies, biscuits, green peppers, fruit.

Between the magazine cover, the napkins, and the star cutter, we seem to have a bit of a star theme going. I'm good with that.

I just really liked the vintage truck and Christmas tree on these ones!

This isn't much of a year for cookies, either. But an article about bread...rolls, pizza dough, things like that--that's different enough to get my outside-of-Pinterest creativity happening.

Now, if Rold Gold would just bring back their white chocolate star pretzels, life would be perfect.

Christmas is coming (Do-Vember #13)

Do-Vember

I recently started a Christmas board on Pinterest, just to collect up ideas that were getting lost under other headings (was that Sewing? Crochet Patterns? Parties?).

Here are some of my favourites so far:

How to fold a disposable cup into a candy box (how's that for Sloyd?)

How to fold a green paper napkin into a Christmas tree

A pretty picture of jars with tea lights inside (but you can't click through for directions, it just goes to a weight loss site). I've actually saved up three or four jars like that this year, since we have a favourite brand of canned pears from Poland (really, don't ask), and they come in large jars. This is something I might actually Do.

Gingerbread Hug Cookies at the Wilton website, just because they are so unbelievably cute. Maybe not that practical, but cute.

Mama Squirrel's Daybook: Two weeks till Christmas

Weather: Warm enough for the ladybugs to reawaken. Frosty and his Mini-Me (above) are the only snow we have.

News from the Squirrels: The Apprentice has moved into a new apartment, no housemates this time, so she's having fun fixing up her own space. Ponytails is busy doing the things she does. Lydia has started rehearsals for a school musical.

Plans for the weekend: The Apprentice is coming for a visit, and we'll put up the Christmas tree.

In the slow cooker: Chili, part of a small batch of freezer meals we made today: Chili, Cheeseburger Soup (which we use for pasta sauce), Tortilla Filling, Teriyaki Beef, and one bag of Beef Stew. We still have some chicken meals left from the last round, so this filled in the holes.

Also to eat: Doreen Perry Cookies made with chocolate chips and holiday chips (red, white and green); and a pan of Chocolate-Cranberry Shortbread Bars from a recipe in last year's Walmart Live Better magazine. And some nice things we picked up at Euro Foods...oh, right, those are not to eat. Not yet, anyway.

Frugal "that's-so-obvious" thing: After I made the big floor-sitter with upholstery samples, I had a couple of fabric pieces left. What can you do with heavy fabric squares with serged edges? Put them under things. I have a brown piece under the stable for our Nativity scene, and a red and green striped one under a basket of Christmas music.

New Year's Cookies: No-Bake Chocolate Fingers

NO-BAKE CHOCOLATE FINGERS, from Canadian Living's Family Cookbook

INGREDIENTS: 

1 pkg (350 to 400 g) digestive biscuits (For those of you who can't get digestive biscuits, you can substitute 1-3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs.)
½ cup finely chopped nuts (we use hazelnuts)
½ cup butter
½ cup granulated sugar
½ cup sifted unsweetened cocoa powder

1 Tbsp instant coffee granules
1 Tbsp hot water

2 eggs, beaten
2 tsp vanilla

GLAZE:
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
2 Tbsp shortening or possibly butter or cream cheese (I do not usually have shortening around so I have tried other things)

WHITE CHOCOLATE DRIZZLE (our addition): A bit of white chocolate: melt and add to the top after the rest is set. NOTE: You do not need to use as much as we did--a little drizzle is good. More than that makes them hard to cut.

INSTRUCTIONS

Line 8-inch square pan with waxed or parchment paper, leaving enough paper hanging over the edges for easy removal later.

1. Using food processor or rolling pin, crush biscuits until in fine crumbs (or use a food processor). Transfer to bowl and add nuts.

2. In saucepan or bowl set over simmering water: melt butter; whisk in sugar and cocoa.

3. Dissolve coffee in hot water; add to pan and cook over simmering water, whisking for 1 minute or until thickened and sugar is dissolved.

4. Whisk in eggs and vanilla; cook, whisking, for 4-5 minutes or until thickened slightly. Remove from heat.

5. With fork, stir in crumb mixture. Mix well.

6. Press firmly into prepared pan (lined with wax paper). Cover and refrigerate until cool, about 1 hour.

GLAZE: (don’t prepare this until base is cooled and ready)

1. In saucepan over simmering water (or microwave), stir chocolate with shortening until melted and smooth.

2. Pour over base, spreading evenly.

3. Cover and refrigerate until set.

4. White Chocolate Drizzle, optional: melt and drizzle. Let set before cutting.

5. Using waxed paper as handles, lift square from pan. Cut carefully into small squares or fingers (running hot water over the knife helps).

6. Keep covered in refrigerator. These will keep for several days.

Previously posted here.

Three things we didn't bake today

Chocolate-Covered Pretzel Christmas Trees.  Warning (tip): we used the red gel as recommended, but the dots stick to anything they touch--wax paper, other cookies, etc.  Another time I would probably use either candy sprinkles or some kind of icing that hardens better.

No-Bake Coconut-Date Squares, from Vegetarian Times Magazine

No-Bake Apricot Nuggets, from Canadian Living Magazine (not cut yet). Lydia's turn to make these, this year!

Brown Sugar Buttons (shortbread)

Lydia and I made Brown Sugar Buttons today.  (Link updated 2022)