Cranberry Torte

I know Christmas has come and gone--but here's just one more Christmas recipe worth sharing. Not too sweet, light after a big Christmas dinner, a fresh change from Christmas cookies...

CRUST

1 1/2 graham cracker crumbs

1/2 cup chopped pecans (or any nuts)

1/4 cup sugar

6 tab. melted margarine or butter

Mix it all together and press into a 9" springform pan. Refrigerate.

FILLING

2 cups of cranberries

1 cup sugar

2 egg whites

1 tab frozen orange juice concentrate

1 tsp vanilla

1/8 tsp salt

1 cup heavy whipping cream

Chop the cranberries finely with a food processor or stick blender. Cover them with sugar and let it stand for 5 minutes. Add the unbeaten egg whites, orange juice concentrate, vanilla and salt. Beat with the mixer on low speed until frothy. Then beat on high speed for 6 to 8 minutes until stiff peaks form. In another small bowl, whip the cream. Then fold the whipped cream into the cranberry mixture. Turn onto the crust. Freeze firm.

CRANBERRY GLAZE

1/2 cup sugar

1 tab cornstarch

1 1/2 cup whole cranberries

1/2 cup water

Mix together the sugar and cornstarch in a saucepan til smooth. Stir in the berries and water. Cook and stir until bubbly. Keep cooking and stirring until the cranberries pop and the sauce thickens. Cool to room temperature.

Freeze the dessert until firm. Then cut into wedges. Top with cranberry glaze and garnish with more whipped cream.

Delish. Merry Christmas! (one more time)

Comfort and Joy

The refrain "Comfort and Joy" has been coming to mind all through this Christmas time. Knowing friends who are going through extreme hardships this season-- a dear friend whose sister was murdered a few days ago, another friend in for cancer surgery today-- there is comfort.

For other friends -- one whose 4 children are coming home and will be celebrating the coming of another new grandchild-- there is joy. God, who gave his son as a babe for our salvation, also gives us comfort and joy as needed. God is good.

FUDGE

I know. I know. Everyone thinks their fudge recipe is the best fudge ever. Maybe that's because they haven't tasted my fudge recipe! I've been making it and overeating it every Christmas since I've had teeth. I remember it as one of my father's few culinary skills. So give it a try. I also have a strong opinion about the necessity of walnuts in the recipe (for all you no nut fudge eaters). Delish!

FUDGE

In a heavy pan mix: 2 cups sugar

2/3 cup evaporated milk

11 marshmallows

1 tsp. vanilla

Cook it all 6 more minutes after it starts simmering, stirring it the whole time so it doesn't stick to the pan. Then take if off of the heat and add:

1/4 lb. margarine or butter

1 cup chocolate chips

1 cup chopped walnuts

Mix until blended. Pour it all into a 9" square pan that has been buttered. Refrigerate. Wait as long as you can resist to cut the first piece so the fudge can harden.

This just tastes like Christmas to me.

Merry Christmas!

Favorite Five Books for Christmas

December 1st I package up my shelf of Christmas books for children and trundle them off to school. I love reading these stories at the end of the day to my students huddled around me on the rug. Here are my favorite five:

#1. The First Christmas by Tomie dePaola. Actually my copy is entitled Il Primo Natale since Larry bought it for me on a trip to Italy. It's a colorful pop up book with dePaola's simple bright illustrations, unfolding the wonderful story of the nativity. On each page there are moving parts--the kids love with the colossal star unfolds before the three kings or the innkeeper's arm moves to point the way to the stable. Colorful and engaging.

#2. Merry Christmas, Alex by Hanne Turk. In this tiny book an endearing small gray mouse sets to making cinnamon star cookies. The clean watercolors against the white background make each picture a joy in itself. After all that baking the little mouse falls asleep and suddenly awakes to find the cookies burnt black in the oven. After a tearful moment, the door bell rings and the mouse discovers a beautifully wrapped box of cinnamon stars left on his door step. The tiny perfect illustrations capture his joy, alarm, despair and eventually contentment perfectly. There is no text in the story, but the flap of the book, which was first published in Austria, explains that in that country 99% of the population eat cinnamon stars at Christmas time. A lot of cozy happiness in this little book.

#3. Christmas in the Country by Cynthia Rylant. You pick up this book first for the beautiful, simple illustrations by Diane Goode. But then the text pulls you in. It is the dear story of a young girl living with her grandparents through Christmas time-- the quiet country preparations, decorating and baking -- the trips to the little baptist church to sing with the other children, the friends and neighbors dropping by. She writes, "Grandfather always brought home a tree that was a little too wide or a little too tall and we would have to spend the next few weeks squeezing around it in the living room. It seemed sometimes like an embarrassed guest. But we loved that tree and couldn't wait to turn on the lights at night. It was the prettiest thing we had." Lovely text, sweet story. I sent this book to my Chinese daughter-in -law Jodi so she could imagine our Christmas here.

#4. Merry UnChristmas by Mike Reiss. This tale takes place in a town named Christmas City where they celebrate 364 days of Christmas each year and one glorious day of "UnChristmas!" The protagonist, Noelle, is thrilled when the big day arrives-- She can go to school! the family gets to enjoy tv dinners! her parents take he downtown to watching the un-lighting of the city tree. "De-lightful" her father says every year. And when a fat jolly man arrives with a huge pack on his back, it's the post man with a years worth of mail! Charming story with bright quirky illustrations that make you smile in themselves. A favorite of my kids at school.

#5. B Is for Bethlehem by Isabel Wilner. This Christmas alphabet book is for children/adults of any age. The highly detailed illustrations by Elisa Kleven use collage, ink and paint for a riotous explosion on every page. The book tells the Christmas story A to Z. "W's for worship, O come and adore. In starlight, in candlelight, glad carols soar." A wonderful, worshipful walk through the glad tidings. Glorious.

Jingle Bells

I just couldn't help posting this irresistible pic from a video of the grand-girls (kind of) singing Jingle Bells. Love it! Have nothing else to say. That's all.

Tuesday Evenings

There's a lot of joy sitting around this table. I never laugh so much as when our young moms group (well, at least they are younger than me by quite a bit!) gets together on Tuesday evenings. Don't get me wrong, they have all the normal ups and downs and when we share our stories, there are plenty of hard bits. But when Aimee starts in on... (well, maybe I'd better not say what Aimme starts in on), we cannot stop giggling! I love the time with these dear girls.

Ready for Christmas

I have to admit, I have come into this Christmas season with less than my normal enthusiasm. Maybe it is because last year at this time I was elatedly preparing for 2 grand-girls and all of my kids home for Christmas time. What joy! Or maybe it's just that Christmas shopping is not quite so fun when you are watching you pennies. Or could be the phone call last week to find out Aaron and Jessica can't make it home for Christmas.

After a few days of pouting, I had a thought. Perhaps like peeling back the layers of an onion, this is God's way of peeling back all the things I think I need to make a Christmas. Maybe I should remember to be thankful for God's enormous gift of our savior and hope, real hope.

Don't misunderstand. I've still got the tree up and a list of cookies to bake, presents to wrap and a bright painted sign to welcome home our Ani, Brian & Laurel. But I'm hopeful, I have a more tender heart to God's great, glorious gift. God is good.