Advent Cookies

A fun way to look forward to Christmas is to have a cookie baking day with the children! What better way to do this than to have cut out cookies but only use star cookie cutters as we look for and wait for the Star of Bethlehem to make it's appearance. This is a very simple recipe. When the cookies are baked and cooled, decorate them with sugar the color of Advent (purples) with a few cookies with golden sugar to show what is to come. It's a great way to give the children some time in the kitchen with you and help with the excited anticipation of the holiday with a hands-on project and the Christmas story, too!

Advent Sugar Cookies
2 3/4 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup (2 sticks) softened butter
1 1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
11/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extract

Preheat oven to 357 degrees and line your baking sheets with parchment paper or use vegetable oil spray. Mix together the dry ingredient and set aside. In a mixing bowl, whip together the butter and sugar until fluffy and blended. Add the egg and extracts. Stir in the flour mixture. The dough should be manageable. If not, add bits of flour as necessary.

Roll half the dough out on a lightly-floured board, about 1/4 inch thick. You can go thicker if you are working with little ones to avoid breakage. Using your star cookie cutter, cut them out as close as possible to avoid too much re-rolling of the dough. Place about an inch apart on prepared baking sheets. Bake for approximately 8-12 minutes depending on how thick you cut the cookies. Let rest a few minutes on the baking sheet once they exit the oven. Remove to a rack to complete cooling.

Basic White Icing
2 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon almond extract
1 teaspoon corn syrup
Enough milk to form a spreadable icing
Gold and purple sugar or decorations.

To avoid excessive clean up, tape sheets of waxed paper down on the table for the decorating. When you are done, just carefully roll up the waxed paper and you should have an easier clean up.

First Sunday in Advent . . .

Jeremiah 33:14-16
33:14 The days are surely coming, says the LORD, when I will fulfill the promise I made to the house of Israel and the house of Judah.

33:15 In those days and at that time I will cause a righteous Branch to spring up for David; and he shall execute justice and righteousness in the land.

33:16 In those days Judah will be saved and Jerusalem will live in safety. And this is the name by which it will be called: "The LORD is our righteousness."

The year continues it's mad spiral towards it's end. We are into the last few weeks of 2012 already. All our New Year's resolutions either happened or are now long forgotten. Sometimes, it seems like the year consists of Christmas/New Year's/Christmas, etc. with everyone in between getting lost in the busy shuffle of life.

I find it sad that Christmas items went on the store shelves before Thanksgiving turkeys were in the store. It takes away from the anticipation as we drag out the preparation of the holiday with early-bird sales.

When I was growing up, the week after Thanksgiving gave way to the beginning thoughts of Christmas. I would thrill at every little aspect of the holiday that would slowly come into play. We never put gifts under the tree because the Christmas tree didn't go up until a few days before Christmas. We had the gift of anticipation! I would go to Midnight Mass with my mother and when we came home, the house had changed! We were still hearing Christmas Carols in our head while we witnessed the coming of the Christ Child as gifts were now under the tree. I never knew how my mother accomplished this but no matter how close I kept to her side, the presents and lit tree always happened.

An undecided bird . . .

 Since the cold weather hasn't really arrived in California, this little bird seemed to be considering his options: stay and enjoy the weather or take off for warmer climes in case really cold weather finds it's way here.

We have the most uninterested dogs when it comes to the various birds that visit our yard. I've seen them both sitting on the patio and watching the birds frolic in their water bowl and help themselves to dog food. The dogs don't wiggle an ear or bat an eye over this, bat an eye.

obama aka Christ on the Cross - I think not!

The so called tolerance of our country is certainly one-sided and if the tolerance is offering a chance to disrespect Christians, then so much the better. Public displays of the Nativity scene are banned in many places, making obscene fun of the Catholic clergy and Pope is just 'innocent' fun, and art is a 'freedom of speech' act and should be honored and revered. This is just the latest in this war on Faith.
http://conservativebyte.com/2012/11/painting-depicts-obama-as-crucified-christ/

How this artist gets any respect for using his talent to disrespect our Lord and Savior is beyond me. It often reminds me of the story of the King's New Clothes and I'm just waiting for a public voice of reason to ask what the point is of dipping a crucifix in urine and getting a place in an art gallery or depicting the very, very pro-abort president as a Christ on the cross.

Thanksgiving is over . . . on to Christmas Baking!

The last of the Thanksgiving leftovers created dinner last night. The refrigerator is back to it's normal, roomy state so it is time to start organizing Christmas baking. No one seems to mind the gift of a plate of homemade cookies! My husband has a thee-day weekend coming up and he will be my helper in keeping up with the dishes, chopping nuts and fruits, and keeping track of the timer. He may even be called up for a mad rush to the store for something I may forget to include on my list. I was blessed to find an outlet for Hazelnuts so will be able to make cookies that I've been anxious to try except for the lack of this particular nut. I found them on a health/vitamin site which was having a sale so got an extraordinary discount on what is usually an expensive item.

I'll post recipes and pictures as they happen in the coming days of baking. I have a few tried and true recipes that show up on every Christmas cookie plate but always sneak in a few new and adventurous ones. So far, no complaints on that!

They may be over 18, but . . .

 We had seven young people at the Thanksgiving dinner table and they were all 18 or older. The child in them was still evident when I glanced over and saw the addition my daughter had made to her brother's dinner plate. Be assured they were plastic toys but they looked all too realistic! I guess there is a lot of 'child' in me, too, as I ran for the camera and am now sharing this with the world!

An Afternoon of Cats!

 Over the years, I've accumulated several lengths of fabric with cat pictures. The initial idea for their use didn't pan out so I was happy to come up with a need for the fabric and happily spent an afternoon putting thought into practice!

We recently had someone adopt two of the stray cats that were camping on our front step. They offered just a week before we would have had to either take them to the shelter or have them put down - neither was a happy solution for these beautiful animals. Well, a gentlemen contacted me and even though he has six cats of his own, said he would give a home to the two, beautiful strays. Given he and his sisters love of cats, what better way to thank them then personalized Christmas stockings with nothing but cats on them.