More Time will be on vacation for a short time. When I've cooked a bunch more, I'll be back! In the meantime, make my Sparkly cookies. Make merry, friends!
Sparkly, Very Sparkly Stars
This not-too-sweet, pie crust-like, melt in your mouth gem is actually a tiny, fluted piece of shortbread showered in white sanding sugar. Regular old white sugar will work just as well, as would bright red cookie sugar from the grocery store. The white sanding sugar, however, gives the cookies a sheen and a sophisticated sparkle unlike any other. It yells, "I'm special."
While other cookies try and steal the show with great globs of frosting or hunks of high-quality chocolate, this cookie (tiny, but mighty) shows strength and endurance because after you put out a big bowl of them, folks will just keep nipping in until they're gone. One isn't enough. Especially with hot tea... or a little snifter of brandy. Try this:
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"Light One Candle" Peter, Paul, and Mary... This is, for me, the song of the year in view of the loss of our people in Newtown, Connecticut.
It's a not new Hanukkah (but is also Christian, Buddhist, and whatever else ) song performed by Peter, Paul, and Mary in a holiday special years ago. The album is available on amazon...
and you can also watch a performance of it on youtube.
Here are the lyrics:
Light one candle for the Maccabees' childrenWith thanks that their light didn't dieLight one candle for the pain they enduredWhen their right to exist was denied Light one candle for the terrible sacrificeJustice and freedom demandBut light one candle for the wisdom to knowWhen the peacemaker's time is at hand Don't let the light go outIt's lasted for so many yearsDon't let the light go outLet it shine through our love and our tears Light one candle for the strength that we needTo never become our own foeAnd light one candle for those who are suffering--
Pain we learned so long ago Light one candle for all we believe inThat anger not tear us apartAnd light one candle to find us togetherWith peace as the song in our hearts Don't let the light go outIt's lasted for so many yearsDon't let the light go outLet it shine through our love and our tears Don't let the light go outIt's lasted for so many yearsDon't let the light go outLet it shine through our love and our tears What is the memory that's valued so highlyThat we keep it alive in that flame?What's the commitment to those who diedThat we cry out they've not died in vain? We have come this far always believingThat justice would somehow prevailThis is the burden, this is the promiseThis is why we will not fail Don't let the light go outIt's lasted for so many yearsDon't let the light go outLet it shine through our love and our tears
Years ago, Dave and I lost two babies in two years. To say we were devastated doesn't begin to do justice to what we lived through. And no, you never get "over" any of it. You learn to go around, through, embrace, and then you pray to heal.... Which, thanks to all the loving people and God's grace, we did. But one thing I know is this:
None of these parents ever expected to have to bury their own children. Most of them, I'd guess, never had a funeral fund in the bank. They probably had barely got a college fund started.
The last thing they can do for their children is bury them.
Nothing like the fragrance of rosemary for remembrance filling the house in December.
I'm not a cheap cook, but I have always looked for inexpensive ways to provide our daily bread. Raising a house full of kids, I often had no choice. Even today, when we're empty nesters with a bit more funds than when the kids were home, I look for ways to save a bit here and there because it's the right thing to do. It's often healthy, too. I buy the best I can find for the least amount of money. If you've ever cooked for a soup kitchen, or worked in a food pantry, you'll know that beans go a long way, are low in calories, and high in fiber. They're filling and versatile. They can also be yummy. Hence this pot of smokey-fragrant "French" beans with lots of
There are meals when the main course is light, delicate -- a brothy-frothy soup or a small piece of white fish with a few vegetables. Or maybe you just have some squash leftover you'd like to make into a pretty "meaty" meal. On the other hand, this would also be a decidedly different and total side for a few great slices of pork loin or a lovely duck breast over the holidays. If any of those things is the case or even if none is, this is your salad.
Festive and healthy at the same time is a winning combination. While we often think of holiday meals leaning toward big hunks of meat and baked desserts, it may be just the time we should be thinking of cutting a bit here and there. If you'd like a gorgeous December salad that's colorful and filling without being heavy, try this little plate of love. There's plenty of shrimp (I bought cooked shrimp for ease of preparation) for those who need visible protein, but it's off-set by the addition of lots high-fiber quinoa, green apples, red pomegranate seeds, cucumber, fresh cranberries, clementines, and spinach--to say nothing of the blue cheese grace notes. A light orange vinaigrette spiked with a bit of crushed red pepper tops it all. You could add some steamed, chopped asparagus or green beans, I think, but the spinach gives you lots of green. I served a little bread and butter with this salad to round out the meal. Try this:
I don't know if Friday Night "Dinner and a Movie" is still on. Last time I tuned in, it
offered decent film viewing as well as little vignettes and cooking
segments presented by talented folk. The music was the late 40's jump tune (Louis Thomas Jordan), "Beans and Cornbread!" Loved it. I don't know what it is about the phrase... Once you hear it, you just start walking around going, "Beans and cornbread uh uh uh...Beans and cornbread..." The "uh uh uh" is the tenor sax.
