The Cheerful Cherub

By Rebecca McCann

"I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day..."

This Christmas Carol is based on the poem "Christmas Bells" by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, during the American Civil War.

Longfellow had just lost his wife in a house fire and his son had been severely wounded in battle. When he stepped outside, on Christmas morning, to the sound of bells chiming, he was anguished. The world was not at peace. How could anyone ring those bells? Then he worked out his pain on paper. It's worth reading. A poem of hurt and dispair but also a poem of understanding and hope.

And isn't hope what Christmas is about?

If you would like to hear a very stirring rendition, go here.

Photo: Public Domain

"Had I But One Penny in the World, Thou Shouldst Have It for Gingerbread." --Wm. Shakespeare

I don't like crunchy cookies. I like them soft.

These gingersnaps are a family favorite but they don't snap so maybe we should call them Ginger Squishes or something along that line.

The secret is the cane sugar and the margarine. The one and only time I will use margarine is when I am making these cookies. If you substitute butter, they will be harder cookies. I recommend Parkay Margarine. If you use another brand, make sure you are not using one which consists largely of water or you will have a mess on your hands. Likewise, if you buy a "brown" sugar instead of true cane sugar, you will not get the best results. Many cheap brands of brown sugar are simply beet sugar with molasses. The taste is very bland in comparison. True cane sugar is tastier and safer for those of us on a gluten-free diet.

SOFT GINGERSNAPS 375F cookie sheets 12-15min. approx 3 dozen

1 cup light or dark cane sugar (C&H Brown Sugar)

3/4 cup Parkay margarine

1 egg

1/4 cup Brer Rabbit Gold Label Molasses

2 1/2 cups flour ( for GF cookies use 2 1/2 cups Bob's Red Mill

Gluten-Free All Purpose Flour sifted with 1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum)

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon ground clove

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon ginger

some white sugar in a bowl, custard cup, or shallow mug

Cream the cane sugar and the margarine together.

Add the egg and mix well.

Add the molasses and mix well.

Stir the dry ingredients (except for the white sugar) together in a separate bowl and then mix into the wet ingredients a little at a time.

Chill the dough for at least one hour.

Roll into balls, roll the balls in white sugar, and bake for 12-15 minutes at 375 degrees F.

You can really impress your guests by serving these, hot out of the oven, with a small scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Dreaming of a Christmas White

Halcyon Days

The fourteen days preceeding the winter solstice are referred to as Halcyon Days. In ancient times, the belief was that this bird, a kingfisher, nested on the sea, which it calmed in order to lay its eggs on a floating nest. For this reason, the ancients expected the weather to be calm around the winter solstice. Ultimately, the term "halcyon" came to mean calmness or peacefulness.

I mentioned previously that I'm not all that fond of winter. Still, I think these last, short days of the year are a wonderful time to reflect and look forward to lengthening days and more sunshine. I am a Christian, but I observe the solstice as well. I see no conflict here. Rather, it is another way of marking time and remembering to be grateful for all the wonderful gifts we have in the natural world.

photo licenced by david meeker

C is for Cookie

Learning to obtain, cook, bake, and eat gluten-free is a real challenge. It is expecially tough for someone like me, who loves to bake. Tough, I guess, because the end product often seems inferior, no matter how much effort goes into it.

I learned very quickly that prepared gluten-free food is at best, tasteless, and often the texture is even worse.

For the first few months of this odyssey, I vacillated from avoiding the grocery store completely and just not eating much, to wandering around the local grocery, slobbering like Pavlov's Dog, as I examined one forbidden item after another. I will say that no matter how great the temptation to cheat, it usually didn't happen. The effects of eating wheat or wheat gluten are immediate and not something one discusses in polite company. It just isn't worth the very real pain it causes.

I tried one recommended item after another and ended up wondering just how long it had been since the well-meaning, fellow Celiac had tasted "real food". Store-bought GF sandwich bread: 1/2 the size, 4 times the price, and tastes only slightly better than soggy cardboard. GF frozen waffles: tasteless and gritty. I could write a whole lament here but that would not be helpful.

I wanted food I could feed to family and friends without them noticing that the food was different.

I have found that it is best to plan ahead and cook and bake at home. I rely on the wonderful Gluten-Free Gourmet series of cookbooks by Bette Hagman and some great blogs like Gluten-Free Girl and Jennifer Ate. Why? Because the ingredients, and therefore mistakes, are expensive.

There are three items I find enormously helpful:

Bob's Red Mill GF All-Purpose Flour This flour can be substituted successfully in a large number of my old recipes for muffins, fruit breads, and cookies. There is no need to look up conversions. If the recipe calls for 1 cup, 1 cup of this flour is fine. I do add a little xanthan gum, especially for cookies.

Bob's Red Mill GF Pancake Mix Yes, pancakes. It won't do to mix up too much of this the first time. The pancakes are slightly heavy and very filling. But they're good.

Cherrybrook Kitchen's "Gluten-Free Dreams" Sugar Cookie Mix I've saved my favorite for last. This mix is so yummy there is just no point in making sugar cookies from scratch. I do take liberties with this mix. By substituting Almond Extract for Vanilla Extract, they can be made to taste like spritz cookies. Add 1/4 tsp. of cream of tartar and roll them in ground cinnamon before baking and you have Snickerdoodles. If I am going to a function like a baby shower or a wedding reception, I smuggle some of these cookies in so that I can have dessert too. My next mad scientist project for this mix will be melting chocolate (the safe kind) and dipping the cookies half way into the chocolate.

All of these items can be ordered directly from the manufacturers' websites. I often get them at Super Target. If you cannot find them, amazon.com carries all of them, at a lower price, and will charge you even less if you set up "subscriptions" based on how much you will need in a 3,6, or 9 month period. If you set up these subbscriptions with Amazon, the shipping on these items is FREE.

For a little extra encouragement, go here.

New York, 3 October 1789

"By the President of the United States of America, a Proclamation.
Whereas it is the duty of all Nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey his will, to be grateful for his benefits, and humbly to implore his protection and favor-- and whereas both Houses of Congress have by their joint Committee requested me to recommend to the People of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many signal favors of Almighty God especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness.
Now therefore I do recommend and assign Thursday the 26th day of November next to be devoted by the People of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being, who is the beneficent Author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be-- That we may then all unite in rendering unto him our sincere and humble thanks--for his kind care and protection of the People of this Country previous to their becoming a Nation--for the signal and manifold mercies, and the favorable interpositions of his Providence which we experienced in the course and conclusion of the late war--for the great degree of tranquility, union, and plenty, which we have since enjoyed--for the peaceable and rational manner, in which we have been enabled to establish constitutions of government for our safety and happiness, and particularly the national One now lately instituted--for the civil and religious liberty with which we are blessed; and the means we have of acquiring and diffusing useful knowledge; and in general for all the great and various favors which he hath been pleased to confer upon us.
and also that we may then unite in most humbly offering our prayers and supplications to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations and beseech him to pardon our national and other transgressions-- to enable us all, whether in public or private stations, to perform our several and relative duties properly and punctually--to render our national government a blessing to all the people, by constantly being a Government of wise, just, and constitutional laws, discreetly and faithfully executed and obeyed--to protect and guide all Sovereigns and Nations (especially such as have shewn kindness unto us) and to bless them with good government, peace, and concord--To promote the knowledge and practice of true religion and virtue, and the encrease of science among them and us--and generally to grant unto all Mankind such a degree of temporal prosperity as he alone knows to be best.
Given under my hand at the City of New York the third day of October in the year of our Lord 1789.
Geo: Washington"

Just in case you've never had the priviledge of reading it.....