What are Christmas Traditions

I have been thinking this past couple of days about "Why am I hitting my head against the lack of Enthusiasm for Christmas traditions amongst my family and others??" only a few people are involved in Christmas, and other's are either expecting the Old Folks to Make Christmas, or are doing the commercial thing, of buying ready made products; to busy to be involved in the Real Spirit of Christmas

Some of it can be laid at the feet of Parents who have done everything, and not involved the kids; for others it is our fast paste lives, spread out from Family and Friends; while still more likely is the lack of any desire to get into a Seasonal Spirit of Past Traditions Handed Down, it's too much work and takes time, so not the quick fix that the Fast Food / Instant Gratification Society wants life to be;

My generation may be the last one to have grown up with and done for themselves the Christmas Traditions, at least as far as I know in my own immediate family; only one Daughter has any inclination to Make Christmas, and she married a man who is into that as well; regardless of his other faults, he is still someone that I am glad is in the family ;-)

This year we will have our first Christmas Dinner here at the house, with a Pot Luck, overly organized but still a start; then on New Years Day, we are planning another dinner Pot Luck, we will have more of the traditions of the family, with additions from my daughter's husband, mixing in; it will be a Made Celebration, not bought; home made beer, mead, punch, wines; puddings, cakes, and year old mincemeat I started last January; 4-5 traditional cookies, cinnamon buns, Christmas Tryfle and Jul log rolls; the nuts, cold cuts, cheeses, with home made sausage rolls, buns and breads; and of course The Real Music and Movies of Christmas !!

But Christmas Traditions are more than just food and partying; they are just a way of sharing and caring amongst the family; each one bringing what they do best, and making up the Celebration; for the religious or spiritual amongst us, it is a concrete way of sharing the Gift of the Messiah with the family and friends; by going amongst the houses and visiting, sharing a drink, cookies or cold lunches, along with chat and hugs, that is building relationships that epitomize the Spirit of the Season; whatever religion we belong to it is universal to people at this time of transition in the yearly calendar;

What to me are important traditions, won't be important to others, and while I won't do all their traditions, I will realize they are important to them and respect their doing and sharing; in the end we all grow and develop as people and friends; if I had not met the Wagners and other Northern and Eastern Europeans, I would not have the joy and pleasure of those traditions in my Christmas, added to my own families traditions; it is an evolving organic celebration that can and will change with each generation, but the core is always there; as my son said in November, Christmas to him now, would not be Christmas without the Weihnachten Lieder or German Christmas Songs to those who don't know the term;

Prettige Kerstdagen en een Gelukkig Nieuwjaar
Frohe Weihnachten und ein glückliches neues Jahr
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year
Noflike Krystdagen en in Lokkich Nijjier
Joyeux Noël et Bonne Année
Glædelig Jul og Godt Nytår
God Jul og Godt Nyttår
God jul och gott nytt år
Boas Festas e um feliz Ano Novo
Feliz Navidad y Próspero Año Nuevo
Buon Natale e felice anno nuovo
Mele Kalikimaka me ka Hau'oli Makahiki Hou
Veselé Vánoce a Šastný Nový Rok!
Hyvää Joulua Ja Onnellista Uutta Vuotta!
Nadolig Llawen a Blwyddyn Newydd Dda!
Wesolych swiat i szczesliwego nowego roku

More on Mulled Cider Recipes

Mulled Cider Recipes

First a definition - what is Mulled Cider or Wines, what does it mean;

Mull: 

To warm or heat up (perhaps that is why it is also used for reflective thinking ;)

Mulled:

Warmed up (a beverage, esp. wine, beer, or cider) and added spices and sweetening to a beverage

a tankard of mulled ale

shall we mull some apple (juice) cider with cranberries and cinnamon 

             So mulled cider seems to have been a drink that was a common man’s beverage; it was made from whatever was available to hand, similar to his versions of wine and mead; in this case a base of apple juice, with a cover of herbs and other flavours, which range from various other fruits to spices; it would have been an experiment carried over many years and perhaps generations, as recipes were refined and quality was improved; the Gingerbeer recipes of the later 17^th to 19^th century would have been just one that became a staple of commercial and home brewing life;

      Below are a few that I have found on the web, and some that I have worked out myself; I’ll leave it up to you to decide which is which LOL

         Dave

 

HOT MULLED CRANBERRY CIDER   

http://www.cooks.com/rec/search/0,1-00,hot_mulled_cider,FF.html       

1 (32 oz.) bottle cranberry juice cocktail (4 c.)

1 (32 oz.) bottle apple juice (4 c.)

6 cinnamon-apple herbal tea bags

6 (8 inch long) cinnamon sticks

 

1. In 3 quart saucepan over high heat, heat cranberry juice and apple juice to boiling. Remove from heat. Add tea bags. Cover and brew 5 minutes.

 

2. Remove tea bags. Serve in glass mugs and use cinnamon sticks as swizzle sticks.

 

This is a drink to sip by a warm fire on a cold autumn day.

Gingerbread Dough and Royal Icing

well, it is time to do a Gingerbread house and cookies; at least it was a few weeks ago, and now after much procrastination, here are the results ;-)

first the cookies; (not many left to photograph I am NOT sorry to say ;-)

it is the same batter / dough as for the house so we will dispense with a repeat post:

First you will want to get the ingredients out; 

1/2 cup Shortening, 1 Egg and 1/2 cup Molasses at room temperature, leave out over night if you keep it in the fridge; 2/3 cup white sugar (I use 1/3 white and 1/3 DARK brown) 

    now here they suggest that you creme' the sugar and the shortening together and add the other ingredients one at a time; I have just plopped the lot in a bowl and with a spoon mixed it up; it still worked out well, your choice;

but my advice, the molasses and the shortening MUST be room temperature if you are using a hand mixer, as this is really tough on the motor; but if at room temp, it is also easy to mix by hand and save electricity ;-) if you are taking the molasses and shortening out of the fridge and using cold, then my advice is to use a pastry cutter or sharp knife to cut into small pea size pieces before using the hand mixer; just a bit of experience of the past 3 weeks making 5 batches ;-) 

    hmmmmmmm at this point it calls for 1/4 cup of hot water to be blended in; perhaps it pays to read the recipe ;( ok, next time; but you use it; it might help out a bit LOL ;-) 

     it says to gradually stir in the dry ingredients; ok, that would be the 2 1/2 cups of cake and pastry flour (ummmmmm, I used All Purpose in the first two batches, just removed a Tbsp for each batch, and sifted 2 times) 1/2 tsp of salt, 1/2 tsp nutmeg ground, 1 1/2 tsp of ginger ground; stir it up or sift it once; would be a good idea to do this before doing the wet ingredients, then it is ready when needed; combine with the molasses mixture and beat the h... (ooooops keeping it PG ;-) batter well until it is mixed; 

if your really getting into it, and you find that you want a darker batch, you can add another 1/4 to 1/3 cup of molasses and hand mix; it is an experience LOL as you can see; 

This is half a batch, on the cutting board, lightly floured, otherwise it sticks to the board and to hands; I used my hands to press it out, flipping the batter twice, and re-coating my hands once; then cutting the first cookies, and placing on the greased cookie sheet; then refresh the flour on the board and press out again, flipping only once, and then cutting the rest of the cookies; the remainder I shaped by hand and put on the pan; 

for the log cabin, I cut the "logs" from the pressed dough and put on the pan for baking;

rolling does not retain the round shape in the oven, as the dough flattens on the bottom; 

did a batch of rounds, hoping to make snow men, but they would have made better bushes ;-) filled with a nugat or almond past they would have made an interesting cookie, coated with a white icing ;-) just a suggestion LOL or a reminder to myself, as I just thought of it hahaha; 

    cut the squared logs off at the ends to make a neat end, otherwise they will need to be cut immediately after bringing out of the oven; same goes for the cookies, as they can be rather hard, though keeping in an airtight container will soften them; 

these are rounds that I cut with a 2 inch spice bottle lid; they baked to 2 3/4 inch width ;-) I was going to use them for an advent calendar, but they got eaten first ;-) it has been that sort of season; 

    Bake at 350 F on the top shelf for about 10 to 12 minutes, best to keep an eye on them unless you are sure you haven't got a "hot" oven like mine ;-) the first batch I left for the 12 minutes and the bottoms were caramelized ;-( not bad for me, but not what I would serve to others ;-) 

     as this is a method that does not utilize cooking on a stove, it is great for a quick last minute house or batch of cookies ;-) below is the Icing recipe; 

Royal Icing for the Gingerbread either cookies or houses

I took out the ingredients for the Royal Icing, and am a bit shocked, 1 lb of icing sugar and 3 egg whites 1/2 tsp of cream of tarter; have a feeling after beating for the 10 minutes, it is going to be quite the bowl of snowy white ;-) going to have to figure a way of either keeping it moist afterwards or cut it down ;-) of course I could mix in some cocoa, mint flavouring and coconut, flatten in a pan, make cut marks, and leave to harden and see how it turns out; think I can count on it being verrrrrrrrrrrrrry sweet - maybe add raisins and nuts to thin out the sugar ;-) 

 

Mulled Cider / Wassail / Crockpot Punch

Ok, well, this is just something I cooked up myself, just a bit of a tip of the hat to the people who have put recipes for Crockpot Punch on the web; 

    2 ltr Ginger beer, home made (or 2 ltr Ginger Ale bought)

    2 cans of pure Apple juice, not concentrate (usually 1.04 to 1.2 Ltr ea)

    1 stick of cinnamon, not ground or broken up

    1 Tbsp or more to your taste, of crushed cloves

    1/2 a nutmeg seed (just be careful cutting it) 

     an Apple and an Orange (any kind will do) sliced for decoration mainly, though the apple does cook and is edible ;-) and that is it, put it on high to boil up, then turn down to warm to maintain heat; easy to refill when it gets low and it does feel good when the temps are chilly and the snow is blowing ;-)  

     one other point I should make, this does NOT need sugar; using a hydrometer, there is enough sugar to ferment to 5-6 % alc./vol, so it is quite sweet enough as it is; and that fermenting it has crossed my mind, obviously LOL

      BTW the stronger the ginger beer, the more bite it will have, I used a mild batch, and it turned out quite acceptable, suitable for children and for adults with acid reflex, who may find the stronger taste and fire of a full ginger beer too much, 

This is a bit off the wall ;-) but I just took the apple pieces from the batch I made last night, and put them in a cereal bowl, covered with a cup of quick cook rolled oats, and a couple of scoops of punch then stirred up;  put in the Microwave for 1 min 40 seconds; with a bit of eggnog instead of milk, and a cup of punch on the side, a Christmas brekkie treat  ;-) 

BTW regarding Eggnog, there are more uses for it than straight drinking; if you think of replacing it where you would ordinarily use milk, either in drinks, breakfasts, cooking, it adds a special flavour to the seasonal fare; 

Light Cheese Biscuits

Here are a couple of recipes that should be added to the Family Traditions, but would be worth while keeping around for every day use; the Sister in Law's mother made them using a mix from Bulk Barn, but I looked up a recipe on line and found this; will make some tomorrow (don't have any cheese so they will be plain, and not into garlic ;) to see how they work out; 

the first is a Cheese Biscuit that is very light and fluffy, not hard tack ;-) and the second is a recipe for Buttermilk that while a few don't think highly of it, a majority of reviewers did say saved there baking; 

RED LOBSTER GARLIC CHEESE BISCUITS (LIGHT)

*  Exported from  MasterCook  *

 Recipe By     : 

 Serving Size  : 12   Preparation Time :0:00

 Categories    : Breads                           Muffins

                 Low-Cal

   Amount  Measure       Ingredient -- Preparation Method

 --------  ------------  --------------------------------

    2       c            AP Flour, Minus 1 Tb flour (or 2 c Cake ‘n Pastry Flour)

    1       tb           Plus 2 tsp baking powder

    1/2     ts           Baking soda

    1                    Pinch salt

    3       tb           Stick (Parchment) margarine, chilled

    3/4     c            Low fat (1.5%) buttermilk (see Substitute below)

    1 1/2   oz           Sharp (Old) cheddar cheese, grated

    1/4     ts           Garlic powder (optional)

   1. Preheat oven to 450F. Line baking sheet with

   parchment or waxed paper; spray with nonstick cooking

   spray.

   2. In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking

   powder, soda and salt. Add 2 tablespoons of the

   margarine and blend with pastry cutter until mixture

   resembles coarse crumbs. Add buttermilk and cheese;

   combine with fork, handling dough as little as

   possible. Drop by spoonfuls onto prepared baking

   sheet; bake until lightly browned, about 8-10 minutes.

   3. While biscuits are baking, in a small microwavable

   bowl, add remaining tablespoon margarine; microwave on

   high until margarine is melted. Stir in garlic powder;

   set aside.

   4. When biscuits are done, remove from oven and brush

   margarine mixture evenly over the warm biscuits.

   Remove from baking sheet and serve immediately.

   Serving (1 biscuit) equals 3/4 fat, 1 1/4 bread, 15

   calories. Per serving 83 calories, 2 gm pro, 9 gm

   carb, 4 gm fat, 338 mg sodium, 4 mg chol, 0 gm fib.

   Source: Weight Watchers Magazine, December 1994 Typed

   for you by Linda Fields, Cyberealm BBS Watertown NY

   and home of Kook-Net 315-786-1120

Variations:

     Instead of Cheese, add raisins, currants, cranberries, mixed peel (w/ Christmas spices) or blue berries / strawberries; 

Buttermilk Substitute

User Rating 4 Star Rating (26 Reviews) Write a review

By Erin Huffstetler, About.com Guide

Making a recipe that calls for buttermilk? Use this simple substitute, and you won't need to buy any:

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Total Time: 5 minutes

Ingredients:

• Milk (just under one cup)
• 1 Tablespoon white vinegar or lemon juice

Preparation:

1. Place a Tablespoon of white vinegar or lemon juice in a liquid measuring cup.

2. Add enough milk to bring the liquid up to the one-cup line.

3. Let stand for five minute. Then, use as much as your recipe calls for.