Category Archives: Christmas

The Twelfth Day of Christmas

06 Monday Jan 2020

Posted by in Christmas, Epiphany, Uncategorized

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One definition for the word “epiphany” in Merriam Webster’s dictionary is “:a usually sudden manifestation or perception of the essential nature or meaning of something.”
This is the twelfth day of Christmas, it is Epiphany, the day on which the whole Christian Church celebrates the showing of the baby of Christmas to all mankind as the Wise Men visit Him in Nazareth. He was two years old at the time, and Mary and Joseph had returned to their hometown with their child to carry on their real lives.
By now many of you have put away Christmas for another year, or wish you already had that job behind you. You have broken at least one of your New Year resolutions, and the kids have perhaps already lost or broken some Christmas toy or piece of it.
But I wait for this day, maybe even more than I wait for Christmas.
It is quiet, and it is peaceful in my house today (well, okay, Jim is still snoring a bit), and I am sitting here, as I do each January 6, thankful for all this season means. I absolutely love Santa, I have a collection of Santas that decorates our family room 365 days a year. But I also know and understand why we celebrate Christmas, and Santa is just another reminder. There would be no Christmas, had we no knowledge of the baby born in Bethlehem…He is the reason for the season.
So on Epiphany I think about what this season is all about, in the quiet, in the peace of my own surroundings. And I have a new epiphany of my own each and every year, a quiet awakening of what it all means, and I am grateful to be here and have the opportunity to celebrate life and love with family, with friends, and with…myself!

Christmas at State Historic Sites, and Holiday Turkey, Act II

04 Sunday Dec 2016

Posted by in Christmas, Food, Illinois, Missouri, Photography, Poultry Dishes, Travel, Uncategorized

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Christmas in the Parks

My husband and I have been visiting our state parks here in Missouri, and state parks across the country for many years. They provide invigorating hikes, exciting wildlife viewing, and interesting and enlightening nature programs. We have also discovered that they are fun to visit as we travel to enjoy the Christmas season.

To escape the pressures of daily life,  to get away from the news, and to get a head start on our Christmas shopping, we recently traveled to Galena, Illinois. Galena is a small town in northwestern Illinois (you will find yourself only about 15 miles from the Wisconsin border).

The historic Main Street in Galena, with so, so many wonderful stores, full of so, so many wonderful items.
We stayed in the Hellman House Bed and Breakfast, built in 1895, atop of a hill providing us a beautiful view of the city.
For dining, there are so many options, and the Green Tavern on Main Street was one of our choices.

While enjoying our weekend in Galena, and in an attempt to get me out of the stores, Jim discovered that Galena is also home to the Ulysses S. Grant Home State Historic Site. The home was built in 1860, and presented to the Grant family in 1865 in gratitude for his service in the Civil War. The family lived in the home until Grant was elected President in 1868. After his election, he visited the home infrequently, but maintained it as his voting residency.

On the particular weekend of our visit, it was open for tours…and it was decorated for the Christmas season in the manner in which the Grants would have decorated while they lived in Galena.

The Ulysses S. Grant home in Galena, IL
A view of Galena from the front lawn of the Grant home.
The Christmas tree in the parlor of the Grant home…
and the rest of the parlor.
This was Grant’s favorite room in the house, his study/library.
Even the kitchen is decorated for Christmas.

This weekend, we again ventured out. This time we were on our way to Hermann, Missouri to visit the Deutschheim State Historic Site. Hermann is the center of Missouri’s wine country, and so we planned on visiting a couple of wineries, too.

Deutschheim State Historic Site was established to preserve the heritage of the German immigrants who moved to east-central Missouri between 1820 and 1860. They became the residents of a new town, Hermann, founded by the German Settlement Society of Philadelphia on 1,000 acres of farmland along the Missouri River. The crop these Germans introduced to the area was grapes, and the product they made was wine. When you visit Deutchheim, you will see some vines that are over one hundred years old, vines that helped establish the wine producing industry which is still expanding across the state. Wine is serious business in Missouri, and I can personally tell you that it is well worth your effort to experience some of our state’s great wines.

This particular weekend, Deutshheim was celebrating a Weihnachtsfest, or Christmas celebration. We toured one of the homes, decorated for Christmas, and enjoyed traditional cookies that would have been made for the Christmas celebrations of the German immigrants, including lebkuchen, chocolate lebkuchen, springerle, and pfeffernusse. They also had a display of springerle molds and rolling pins, and many of these were for sale in the gift shop. I am German from both sides of my family, and these Christmas traditions so reminded me of watching my grandmothers make springerle and lebkuchen. If I was not in the spirit before visiting Deutschheim, I certainly am in the Christmas spirit now.

Deutshheim State Historic Site in Hermann, MO
It felt like Christmas as soon as we arrived at the door.

One of my favorite scenes in the house was this Christmas tree, hung from the ceiling with wire. This method of putting up the tree not only saved space, it also kept little hands out of mischief.

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I also enjoyed the “real” Noble fir tree set up in the parlor. It is the type fir that was the inspiration for the “feather” trees so indicative of German Christmas tradition. It was decorated with traditional scherenschnitte ornaments (I am so German, I spelled that correctly on the first try!).

the Noble fir…look particularly at the top of the tree to see how it inspired the feather tree.
This display of feather trees is decorated with ornaments indicative of different eras in Hermann’s Christmas traditions. The first tree on the left has scherenschnitte ornaments that were cut in the 1940’s.

Other areas in the house were also ready for Christmas…

The kitchen is ready for the work of making the cookies of a German Christmas…
with the molds and rolling pins on display.

And then it was time for lunch and a visit to a couple of wineries…

We enjoyed lunch at the Vintage restaurant at Stonehill Winery. The restaurant serves authentic German food in portion sizes I remember my Dad enjoying!
Our favorite winery is just outside Hermann, Adam Puchta. We needed to stop here because a certain son-in-law who will be visiting from Minnesota loves their red table wine, Hunter’s Red…and so do we!

You can find out more about each of these sites we visited by visiting their websites. Galena has a visitor guide website at http://www.visitgalena.org. You can learn more about Deutschheim at https://mostateparks.com/park/deutschheim-state-historic-site.

I would encourage all of you to check out your own state parks and historic sites this Christmas season. You might be surprised at the magical Christmas events they have to offer. Merry Christmas to all…and to all, good traveling!

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Turkey with Lemon Garlic Sauce

This is one of the very best ways I have found to use some of that leftover turkey from the holidays. It is easy to make, does not take much time, and is perfect for those evenings when you are busy, want to get dinner on the table in less than an hour, but still want a special and delicious meal.

Ingredients

  • 2 Tbsp. butter
  • 3 cloves finely chopped garlic
  • 2 Tbsp. flour
  • 2 1/2 c. turkey broth*
  • 1/4 c. freshly squeezed lemon juice
  • 1 tsp. salt
  • 1/2 tsp. ground black pepper
  • 4 slices bacon, crisply fried and crumbled
  • 2 c. turkey, torn into bite-sized pieces
  • 1/2 c. half and half
  • 1/2-1 tsp. dried basil
  • 1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes, or to taste

Directions

  1. Melt the butter in a large skillet and add the garlic. Saute over low heat for 3-4 minutes.
  2. Stir in the flour, cooking for 2 minutes.
  3. Whisk in the turkey broth, lemon juice, salt, and pepper, and simmer on medium for 5-7 minutes.
  4. Add the bacon, turkey, dried basil, red pepper flakes, and the half and half. Simmer on medium heat for 10-15 minutes, or until everything is warmed through.
  5. Serve over mashed potatoes or rice, either is great!

*I make my own turkey broth from the bones of the turkey. If you do not have turkey broth, chicken broth will do fine in this recipe.

 

Winter Snow and Christmas Sugar Cookies

21 Sunday Dec 2014

Posted by in Christmas, Cookies, Family

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It is that time of year when the word “busy” barely explains what life feels like. And I love it…every last gift-wrapping, tree-trimming,  pine needles all over the floor, menu planning, cookie dough snitching minute of it. But there are times when I am exhausted, addle-brained, and tied up in knots. At these times I like to leave the “busy” behind and go for a walk.

After the holidays, a winter trip is always nice and relaxing. Today is the first day of winter, and I love winter…every bone-chilling, snow covered landscape, scarf over my nose, I need some hot chocolate minute of it. So in addition to getting ready for Christmas, I am also dreaming about those winter journeys, long or short, that Jim and I will be taking in January and February.

So, I thought I would take a few minutes to reflect on the beauty of the winter, as we have seen it, over the years…and to share the most important part of Christmas dinner in this house, the Christmas cookies we have made for decades, the one my mom made for decades earlier.

First, winter through my eyes…

I love walking in our neighborhood after a good snowfall…and in south central Missouri, a good, heavy snowfall is really special.
This picture was taken on a visit to Missouri wine country on a beautiful, snowy day.
I love seeing the first snowfall of the year. We caught this one in Indiana, at Turkey Run State Park.
We traveled to our son’s house in Michigan last year and went on a hike in the woods on a very cold day…
we even found our own Charlie Brown Christmas tree!
This is Bayfield, Wisconsin, the gateway to the ice caves of Apostle Islands National Lakeshore. Jim says it looks like a Currier and Ives print…our younger children have no idea what he is talking about.
Ice that forms along the edge of the Missouri River makes beautiful patterns’
We make frequent visits to Riverlands Migratory Bird Sanctuary, on the Mississippi River, in West Alton. Missouri. There are many eagles along the river in January and February, but on this day we found this heron and a beautiful white swan.
And after a day of snow crunching by car or on foot…
we are often treated to a gorgeous winter sunset.

I love winter!

And now those really good Christmas sugar cookies…

All the grandchildren like to come and help decorate the cookies.

All the grandchildren like to come and help decorate the cookies.

Christmas Sugar Cookies

  • 1/2 cup butter
  • 1/4 cup shortening
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 1/2 tsp. vanilla
  • 2 1/2 cups flour
  • 1 tsp. baking powder
  • 1 tsp. salt

In a mixer, cream together the butter, shortening, sugar, eggs, and vanilla. In a separate bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Stir the flour mixture into the creamed mixture. Chill for at least one hour.

Roll dough to 1/8″ thick on a lightly floured board. Cut with various Christmas cooky cutters. Bake for 6 to 8 minutes on an ungreased baking sheet. About 4 dozen cookies.

Enjoy!

This recipe is adapted from Betty Crocker’s Cooky Book, which was first published by General Mills in 1963.

Chicago Christkindlmarket…and Dr. Pepper Spiced Apple Cider

03 Wednesday Dec 2014

Posted by in Beverages, Christmas, Illinois, Photography, Travel

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It is that time of year again…time for Christmas shopping. Shopping is not one of my favorite activities…unless it means a train ride to Chicago and a trip to Christkindlmarket. Christkindlmarket is a market held each Christmas season on Daley Plaza in Chicago, featuring artisans from all over Europe.

Here you see the booths of Christkindlmarket in front of the Chicago Picasso at Daley Plaza.

Here you see the booths of Christkindlmarket in front of the Chicago Picasso at Daley Plaza.

You will find all sorts of beautiful handmade items at the market. Some of my favorites include the hand painted ornaments, the wooden toys and creches, nutcrackers and candle carousels, hand knitted sweaters, and handmade pottery. You will also find many booths with great food. The brats are wonderful, but the very best is the mulled wine served in the “warming” hut. The wine is served in a commemorative mug in the shape of a boot that makes a wonderful keepsake of your trip. There is even a hut featuring European candies and nut confections. We never leave Chicago without more than we intended on getting. What fun!

I love the tradition of hiding a pickle in the tree, and at Christkindlmarket, you can find a pickle in any size you want.
There are booths just packed with beautiful ornaments.

Christkindlmarket has been a tradition in the city of Chicago since 1996. It is fashioned on the original Christkindlmarkets that have been held in Germany since 1945. This year there are sixty booths at the market. The market runs from November 21 through December 24, and is open seven days a week. For more information about Christkindlmarket, you can check out their website at http://www.christkindlmarket.com.

This is one of our favorite trips to repeat again and again. We take the train from St. Louis and spend a weekend in the Windy City, sometimes meeting friends we don’t get to see often enough.

Here are a few of the things we like to remember from our trips to Christkindlmarket.

The tree is an important part of the setting for our Christmas shopping.
Sixty booths will be selling wares and great food at Christkindlmarket this year.
When we are not shopping or relaxing at one of Chicago’s great restaurants, we are walking the streets of the Windy City. I love this big mid-western town!
And who can go to Chicago without a trip to Macy’s?
Heading back to the train station to go home, we pass over the Chicago River.
One of my favorite pictures of Chicago is this one that I took as we were leaving for home on Amtrak.

Whether we are coming in from a big day of shopping, finishing up with decorating our home, enjoying a house full of kids and grandchildren, or just sitting and relaxing, our very favorite warm-up drink is Dr. Pepper Spiced Apple Cider. I got this recipe one cold winter day at a street market here in Rolla, at a booth that was a very welcome site! It is so very simple, yet so very good.

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Dr. Pepper Hot Spiced Cider

  • 1 gallon apple cider
  • 1-2 liter bottle of Dr. Pepper
  • 1 bottle of decorating red cinnamon candies, more or less, according to taste

Put all the ingredients into a large pot and bring to a boil. Stir occassionally, making sure the cinnamon candies don’t stick to the bottom.

That is it…couldn’t be simpler! This makes a big batch of cider, but at this house it does not last long, and any leftover spiced cider can be refrigerated. I often hear Jim, or one of the kids when they are home, going out to the refrigerator at any time of day or night…the microwave is their best friend on these trips! Enjoy!