A Strong (& Delicious) Finish

Remember my goal of cooking at least one new thing a month in 2012?  For more details, see here.  Well, I was able to meet that goal and finish the year strong with some delicious homemade gingerbread cookies, one of my very favorite types of cookie.  A friend at school shared this recipe with me, and I made a few minor adjustments.  My cousin Sarah and I had great fun making these on Christmas Eve, and all the family enjoyed eating them throughout the week.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup butter or margarine, softened
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup water (*I changed this to 1/2 cup water because I wanted the cookies to be a little moister, and it worked great.)
• 1 cup molases
• 5 cups all-purpose flour (*I used slightly less than 5 full cups, but at least 4 and 1/2 cups.)
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 and 1/2 tablespoons ground ginger
• 1.2 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1 and 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Steps:

• Beat butter and sugar at medium  speed with an electric mixer until fluffy (3-4 mins).  Stir together 1/4 cup water and baking soda until dissolved, stir in molasses.
• Combiner flour and next 4 ingredients.  Add to butter mixture alternately with molasses mixture, beginning and ending with flour mixture.
• Shape dough into a ball, cover and chill for 1 hour.
• Roll dough to 1/4 inche thickness on a lightly floured surface.  
• Cut with cooke cutters and place 2 inches apart on parchment paper-lined baking sheets.
• Bake at 350 degrees for 12 minutes.  (*Time may be a little less depending on the thickness of your cookies.)

 

Pre-baking: We didn't have a cookie cutter for gingerbread men, so we made gingerbread hearts and stars. 

Just out of the oven, lightly dusted with powdered sugar, and ready to be enjoyed!

All the Poor and Powerless

Last Wednesday at church, we had our Nine Lessons and Carols service.  This special Advent service is always well-anticipated and does not disappoint.  Nine Scripture passages are interspersed between various songs, traditional and modern.  Some songs are sung by the choir, some by soloists, some by the congregation, or a combination of these.  My favorite song from the 2012 service was one that I heard for the first time.  It's called "All the Poor and Powerless," and I absolutely. love. it.  Here are the lyrics and a link to the song by All Sons and Daughters.

All the poor and powerless
And all the lost and lonely
All the thieves will come confess
And know that You are holy
And know that You are holy

And all will sing out
Hallelujah
And we will cry out
Hallelujah
All the hearts who are content
And all who feel unworthy 
And all who hurt with nothing left
Will know that You are holy

And all will sing out
Hallelujah
And we will cry out
Hallelujah

Shout it
Go on scream it from the mountains
Go on and tell it to the masses
That He is God
We will sing out
Hallelujah
And we will cry out
Hallelujah

The Humility of Christmas

"Why have we come to this odd corner of the town?" Scrooge asks the Spirit of Christmas Present as he looks around a poor street in London.

"It's Christmas here, too, you know," answers the spirit.

As I drove home last Sunday night, this scene from A Muppet Christmas Carol (my family's favorite version of the classic Dickens story) suddenly came to my mind...I was driving past one of the housing projects in town, and several of the units had Christmas lights and decorations that created a cheery sight for passers-by to enjoy.  Seeing this and remembering that "it's Christmas here, too" made my heart happy.

I was also driving home from the hospital, having just visited friends and their tiny newborn who wasn't even yet 24 hours old.  I thought about how Jesus left all the glory and power of heaven to become likewise for our sake and so that He might dwell with us.  I recalled one of the verses we had read earlier that night in church:

"Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name 'Immanuel' (which means, God with us)." -Matthew 1:23

As all these thoughts gently mixed in my head, I was struck with the humility of Christmas.

"My soul magnifies the Lord, 

and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,

for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant.

For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed;

for he who is mighty has done great things for me,

and holy is his name.

And his mercy is for those who fear him

from generation to generation.

He has shown strength with his arm; 

he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts;

he has brought down the mighty from their thrones

 and exalted those of humble estate;

he has filled the hungry with good things, 

and the rich he has sent away empty.

He has helped his servant Israel,

in remembrance of his mercy,

as he spoke to our fathers,

to Abraham and to his offspring forever."

~Luke 1:46-55