This Week's Features

V. Supplement: Family and Food

Family Special: Making Christmas Memories

by Shirley Dobson

Making Christmas Eve Memories

The Christmas holiday season is nothing short of magical, especially for families with small children in the household. As adults we can easily forget the wonder and anticipation of the lights, the decorations, and the promises of unexpected gifts and having our secret desires fulfilled. To create memories that will last a lifetime, no matter what the future holds for our kids, we must reinvent the wonder of Christmas in ourselves, and provide for them an environment where the miracle of a special family Christmas can blossom. Shirley Dobson shares some of her favorite things to do on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Take a drive through a town or nearby large city to see the outdoor light displays.

Read the Christmas story aloud from the Bible.
Sing carols around the piano or sing with a favorite Christmas record.
Have every family member take his turn by giving some kind of Christmas performance.
Attend a candlelight or watch-night service. Make attending this special service an annual family affair.
Let the children open one gift on Christmas Eve. (Perhaps this gift could be sleepwear to keep the children snugly and warm on Christmas eve.)
Hang stockings (to be filled with such things as small toys, toothbrush, comb or brush, old-fashioned toys such as kaleidoscope, wooden top, jacks, pickup sticks, wood flute, etc.)
Serve hot wassail. (See recipe below)

Making Christmas Morning Extra Special

Take pictures or videotape of the children getting up on Christmas morning.
Have the children stay in bed until Dad gives a special signal. (he could put a record on the stereo such as "Here Comes Santa Claus" or some other Christmas music.)
Have a short worship time before opening gifts. Children could do this with parents being the "congregation."
Have a special Christmas breakfast every year. A sample menu might be: fried apples, bagels and cream cheese, blueberry muffins, scrambled eggs and bacon; or dried beef gravy on homemade biscuits. (Some families serve "chocolate gravy" that is similar to chocolate pudding, but thinner.)

Christmas Day Reunion

Gather the family together for a reunion at grandparents' home. Make it a "bring-in" dinner, everyone supplying his or her special dish, so that no one has all the work!
Choose one person to be "Santa" and pass out gifts. This might be the same person each time, or the honor could go to the youngest child or the youngest teenager; or, all could "draw straws" for the honor.
Celebrate by singing around the piano.
Listen together as Grandfather or another older family member reads the Christmas story, or recite it together from Luke, chapter 2.
Before Christmas dinner, put two fresh cranberries on each plate. After the family is seated, pass around a basket and, as cranberries are dripped in, share two ways in which Christmas is special to you. Follow by reading John 3:16, and conclude with prayer.

By now you've probably noticed a theme in the activity ideas I've presented. Christmas for the Dobson family is all about families spending time together. From the first cold night that Mary and Joseph huddled over their newborn son in a manger to more than two thousand years later, what will make your holiday memorable is how you choose to enjoy the gift God has given you in your own unique family. There's no right or wrong way to do it. Whether you prefer classic activities or enjoy the exciting razzle dazzle of new technology and entertainment options, I hope that you and your family will participate hand-in-hand, hearts united, and don't miss the opportunity to praise and thank our almighty Father for the gift of His son – the reason for the Christmas holiday.

Blessings and Merry Christmas!

Shirley's Christmas Recipes

by Shirley Dobson

Recipes For:

Christmas Morning Brunch Cinnamon Rolls
Ambrosia
Hot Wassail

Christmas Morning Brunch Cinnamon Rolls
(Serves 6)

Ingredients

• 1 pkg. Pillsbury Crescent Dinner Rolls
• butter or margarine
• granulated sugar
• cinnamon
• 1 small pkg. crushed pecans

Directions

Unroll dough into 4 rectangles (do not tear apart as in making crescent dinner rolls). Butter each rectangle generously. Then sprinkle on lots of sugar. Shake cinnamon on top. Add pecans. Roll into small logs and put in refrigerator for 3 minutes. Take out and slice into 1/4-inch thick pinwheels. Place on an ungreased baking sheet, tucking pinwheel end under roll to prevent from unraveling while baking. Bake according to package instructions. Remove from oven and glaze. Make a powdered sugar glaze to spoon on top while rolls are still warm. Absolutely scrumptious with hot coffee or chocolate, crisp bacon, and scrambled eggs. Merry eating!

Ambrosia
(serves 8)

Ingredients

• 1 large bunch of green grapes
• 4-6 large oranges
• 1 large can crushed pineapple
• 1 cup chopped pecans
• 3-4 bananas
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• whipping cream

Directions

Cut each grape in half. Take out seeds and peel off skin. (The men can do this around the table while the women are preparing the meal.) Cut and peel oranges. Section orange slices and remove all white membrane. Cut each section of orange “meat” in half. Add pineapple, pecans, sliced bananas, and sugar. Mix well. This should be real juicy. Serve in glass dessert dishes with sweetened whipping cream on top. We serve Christmas Ambrosia with pound cake - delicious!

Hot Wassail
(Serves 6)

In the base of a twelve-cup percolator put:

• 1 part cranapple juice
• 5 parts apple cider (unpasteurized)

In the percolator basket put:

• 6-8 whole cloves
• 2 cinammon sticks
• 2 tbs. honey
• ¼ chopped lemon, including rind

Brew wassail as you normally would coffee, or you may put spices in liquid and simmer cook in a crock pot or pan on the stove. Dip with a ladle. Serve hot with a sliver of lemon or a cinnamon stick.

Recipe: Maple-Cinnamon Coffee

Ingredients

6 Tbsp. ground Decaffeinated Coffee
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 cup lite maple-flavored or pancake syrup
4-1/2 cups cold water
6 Tbsp. thawed COOL WHIP Sugar Free Whipped Topping

Directions

Place coffee in filter in brew basket of coffee maker; sprinkle with cinnamon.
Pour syrup into empty pot of coffee maker. Add water to coffee maker; brew. When brewing is complete, stir until coffee mixture is blended.
Serve topped with COOL WHIP.

Kitchen Tips

Lemon Viennese Coffee: Prepare as directed, substituting 1 Tbsp. lemon zest for the cinnamon and 1/3 cup honey for the syrup.

Special Extra: Use a cinnamon stick as a stirrer for each cup of coffee.

Variation: Prepare using regular syrup and COOL WHIP Whipped Topping.

Recipe: Saint Nicholas Day Baking Project

The following recipe, for "speculaas" (speculations) ginger cookies are served especially on Saint Nicholas Day or on Christmas.

The recipe is from A Continual Feast, by Evelyn Birge Vitz (Ignatius Press), and is traditional in the Low Countries. (In America these cookies are called "windmills", usually embellished with almonds, and can be bought at the grocery store.)

This cookie dough may be cut into the shape of Saint Nicholas, following our pattern here, which can also be used for coloring. When cool, the cookies can be decorated with icing "paint" -- thinned icing colored with food coloring -- and applied with brushes.

This delicious ginger cookie might also be cut into other shapes, recalling other aspects of the kindly bishop's legendary life and work: such as the three young girls to whom he threw the three bags of gold for their doweries, or the three little boys whom he brought back to life, or the sailors whom he saved from the storm.

Speculaas cookies

Ingredients

1 Cup (2 sticks) sweet butter, at room temperature
2 cups dark brown sugar
2 eggs
Grated rind of 1 lemon
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg or mace
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/8 teaspoon ground ginger
1/8 teaspoon cardamom
1/8 teaspoon salt
4 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder

Optional: powdered sugar for decorative icing

Directions

In a large bowl, cream the butter with the sugar until fluffy. Stir in the eggs one at a time, blending thoroughly after each addition. Stir in the lemon rind.

Sift the spices and salt with the flour and baking powder, and stir gradually into the butter mixture. Wrap in waxed paper or plastic wrap and chill for several hours or overnight. (If you are in a hurry, start the chilling process in the freezer: leave the dough in the freezer for about 20 minutes.)

On a floured surface, roll out the dough to about 1/8 inch, or for larger figures to about 1/4 inch. Cut out with cookie cutters, or trace around a heavy paper pattern with a sharp knife. This dough can also be used with a cookie mold, or can be molded by hand.

Bake at 350 degrees until lightly browned. If you like you cookies soft, remove them from the oven when they are just set -- the longer the baking time, the crisper the cookie.

Optional: Paint when cool. These cookies especially when baked in the form of Saint Nicholas are fun to paint with colored icing.

Icing "paint"

In little pots or plastic containers, mix powdered sugar with a little bit of water (or lightly beaten egg white, or lemon juice) and a few drops of food coloring, to produce the desired shades and the desired consistency for painting. Apply with small paintbrushes.

Yield:: approximately 3 dozen cookies or fewer large figures.

Recipe: Fantastic Fruit Cookies

Ingredients:

1 cup flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 cup water
1 cup dates, chopped
1/2 cup apples, peeled and chopped
3/4 cup raisins
1/2 cup butter
1 cup quick oats
2 eggs, beaten
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup pecans, chopped

Note: You may also add 1 teaspoon cinnamon to dry ingredients if desired.

Directions:

Sift flour and baking soda, set aside.
Cook water, dates, apple and raisins; bring to a boil. Simmer 3 minutes. Remove from heat and add the butter and stir.
Cool mixture and then add eggs, oatmeal, and the dry ingredients; add the vanilla and nuts.
Cover and refrigerate overnight.
Drop on cookie sheets 2 inches apart.
Bake in 350 F (175 deg C) degree oven for about 24 minutes.
Store in the refrigerator in air tight container.

Source: by Chet Day