January 15: Martin Luther King Jr.'s Birthday

Racial barriers are tricky to discuss.  Children, in my extremely limited experience, seem to be color blind regarding other people.  My girls look at me blankly when I try to explain how things used to be, and how they still are -- no facts I relay or anecdotes I share correspond with their experience.  They have been surrounded since infancy by people of different races and nationalities, and they do not understand why that would bother anyone.  And that is what we celebrate today.

Unlike many holidays, which have become days of fluff and fun and department store sales, Martin Luther King, Jr.'s birthday still has a serious undertone.  I like to begin our celebration of the day by reading Sister Anne's Hands by Marybeth Lorbiecki.  The lovely illustrations, which remind me so much of my own school days, are by K. Wendy Popp.

This is a gentle story about the arrival of an African-American teacher in an all-white Catholic school in the early 1960s, and how the children react.  Sister Anne helps the children overcome their fears and open their hearts a bit.  "One thing you're going to learn," she tells them, "is that some folks have their hearts wide open, and others are tight as a fist. . . .  For me, I'd rather open my door enough to let everyone in than risk slamming it shut on God's big toe."

Holly and Lily learn about Dr. King at school and are familiar with his most famous speech -- which makes today a great day to talk about dreams.  And so on this date I make dream pillows for them.  I let them choose the fabric from my small stash and I stick an herbal tea bag in with the fiberfill.  It's more fun to select individual herbs, but much easier to use something you already have in your cabinets.  This year we used Bigelow's Sweet Dreams herb tea, with its lovely mix of chamomile, hibiscus, peppermint, rose blossoms, spearmint, and orange blossoms.

And to further help everyone have sweet dreams, we have Dream Pie for dessert.  Here's the recipe, copied from a package of Dream Whip.

DREAM PIE

2 envelopes Dream Whip Whipped Topping Mix

2-3/4 cups cold milk, divided
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 packages (4-serving size each) instant pudding and pie filling, any flavor
1 cookie crust

Beat whipped topping mix, 1 cup of the milk, and vanilla in a large bowl with electric mixer on high speed for 6 minutes or until topping thickens and forms peaks.

Add remaining 1-3/4 cups milk and pudding mix; beat on low speed until blended.  Beat on high speed 2 minutes, scraping bowl occasionally.  Spoon into cookie crust.

Refrigerate at least 4 hours.  Garnish as desired.

Winter Treats

Like many parts of the world, we have had an unusal amount of snow this week.  My husband often reminisces about the snow cream his mother used to make in rural Virginia, and so today I made it for him.  He went outside and filled our largest mixing bowl with clean snow.  Meanwhile, I stirred together one cup of milk, half a cup of sugar, and a teaspoon of vanilla.  When Ron came back in I poured the milk mixture into the bowl of snow and stirred it around.  It was really tasty!  Not like ice cream -- maybe more like sorbet -- but surprisingly good.  We all had seconds!  And it brought back happy memories for Ron.

This week we have also been enjoying a reindeer cake.  I try to make this before Christmas but this year I ran out of time.  Another reason to be glad the Christmas season lasts beyond December 25!  I use a pound cake mix and bake it in a lamb pan.  The antlers are broken pretzels.  Not the most photogenic reindeer, but a yummy one.

December 6: Saint Nicholas

The feast of Saint Nicholas, Bishop of Myra

Nicholas was born toward the end of the third century.  He was ordained a priest, and appointed abbot of a monastery.

Nicholas was very generous to the poor.  Once he heard that a man who had become very poor intended to abandon his three daughters to a life of sin.  He went out by night, flung a bag of gold into the window of the sleeping father, and hurried away.

St. Nicholas is regarded as the special patron of children; the word Santa Claus comes from his name.  He died at Myra in the year 342.

(St. Nicholas image and text from the New Picture Book of Saints by Rev. Lawrence G. Lovasik, S.V.D.)











Our celebration of the Feast of Saint Nicholas has grown over the years.  Although many families follow the Dutch custom of leaving shoes out for the good saint to fill with treats, we have not consistently done that.  Frankly, I can't deal with the idea of candy and chocolate -- even wrapped up -- being put into stinky shoes!  So we have developed other traditions.

The Saint Nicholas nutcracker goes on display, along with a framed picture of the saint leading a group of children to a nativity scene.  This year for the first time I followed the suggestion of the St. Nicholas Center and added a miter and crosier to a large chocolate Santa.

We also usually read The Saint Who Became Santa Claus by Evelyn Bence.












Because Nicholas was from Myra, in modern-day Turkey, some years I prepare revani -- a sweet, moist cake -- for dessert (see recipe below).  This year we went out for the evening to a local production of the Gingerbread Boy, so there was no time for baking.  Instead, we came home and I announced it was time for a special St. Nicholas Day treat.  "Is it him?" Lily asked excitedly, pointing to our chocolate "Bishop of Myra."  And indeed it was -- we happily devoured him, along with Pepperidge Farm Gingerman cookies and hot chocolate. 

For the past several years we have made a point to "be St. Nicholas for others" and gather together toys to donate to a local charity.  This is the hardest part of the day for our girls, but they always rise to the occasion.  This year we brought a bag of stuffed friends to the nearest Catholic Charities office.  The sting of loss is mitigated a little because December 6 always sees the return of the Playmobil Santa House and this jolly old elf -- a relic from my childhood -- from their hideaway in the attic.

Our St. Nicholas Day celebrations began in a small way years ago, but have expanded as we've learned more about the saint and found new ways to celebrate.  It's now one of the highlights of Advent for us.



REVANI

Syrup:
1 cup + 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
500 ml water
4-5 drops lemon or orange juice or vanilla extract

Wet ingredients:
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 eggs

Dry ingredients:
1/2 cup semolina or farina
2/3 cup flour
1 tablespoon baking powder


Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Boil the syrup ingredients for a few minutes, then put aside and keep warm.

Use a mixer to blend the wet ingredients for a few minutes.  Then whisk the dry ingredients together in another bowl.  Combine the two thoroughly, again using the mixer.

Grease the bottom and sides of an 8 x 8 x 2" baking dish and pour in the batter.

Bake at 375 degrees F. for 25 minutes.

Pour the warm syrup on top while the cake is still warm.  Use a ladle to do this and make sure to do it slowly so the cake absorbs the syrup evenly.

Let cool and serve with whipped cream.  Keep this dessert refrigerated.

The First Snow of the Season

An unexpected treat yesterday -- a late afternoon snowstorm.  Although the vague forecast called for "a wintry mix" and "snow showers," we were graced with a real storm that left an inch of wet snow in the yard and on the trees.

And so Ron took the girls sledding -- or should I say "saucer-ing" -- in the magical white and purple twilight. 

The sun was bright today but the air was still quite cold, and the three of them played outside again.  Two dignified snow people appeared in the yard -- one with a carrot nose and the other with silk flower eyes, both with fabric remnant scarves.

We always celebrate the first snow of the season with Snowflake Cakes -- my fanciful version of funnel cakes.  They are wildly unhealthy, so we eat them only on this one day each year.  Here's the recipe:

SNOWFLAKE CAKES

1 egg
1 cup milk
2 tablespoons sugar
1-1/2 cups flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon vanilla
Vegetable oil
Powdered sugar

Beat all ingredients except the vegetable oil and powdered sugar until smooth.  Batter should be thin enough to pour from a pitcher.

Pour vegetable oil into a cast iron skillet, to a depth of about 1/2- to 3/4-inch.  Heat the oil to about 375 degrees -- sizzling hot.  Drizzle the batter from a pitcher into the hot oil in a swirly, crisscross pattern to resemble a snowflake.

Let the cake brown on one side for about 1 minute, then turn and brown on the other side.  Lift carefully from the oil and drain on paper towels.  Sprinkle with powdered sugar.

Makes 4 medium or 3 large snowflake cakes.