Because You Don't Have Enough to Do During This Busy Season

I offer the following links for you to peruse during your "spare" time in between shopping, decorating, wrapping, cooking, baking, and stressing.

Cogent commentary on homeschooling from World magazine

Free classical music downloads from Performance Today (I'll be the first to admit that I did not download the George Crumb pieces.)

If you think TSA officials violating the Fourth Amendment make you safer when you fly, read this.

I always appreciate Russell Moore. I've had similar experiences more than once.

How pagan Rome gave way to Christianity. They'll know we are Christians by our love, not by our political activism.

A thoughtful blog post from Andrew Kern on Obamacare and the sexual revolution.

And the coup de grace~~Top 20 Worst Nativity Sets. People, the medium in which you place your message matters! As Mammy from Gone with the Wind would say, "It ain't fittin'. I just ain't fittin."

No! No! No! It ain't fittin'!

Thanks

Thank you to Girl of the House for the new header. Isn't it festive?

We decorated the house for Christmas today, but I'm too pooped to take pictures. I'll post some soon, though, I promise!

Pleasures of the Winter Kitchen

The calendar says it's the first day of December, and the weather agrees! On this first truly cold day there have even been snow flurries! Since we traveled for Thanksgiving (hence the long silence) we haven't decorated for Christmas yet. The big push will come this weekend, but in the meantime, I wanted to share with you my "Twelve Pleasures of the Winter Kitchen," based on Susan Hill's list in her delightful Through the Kitchen Window.

My list~~

Soups and stews bubbling in the slow cooker or in a big pot on the stove.

The kettle whistling for tea and hot chocolate.

Fruitcake hidden away, waiting for Christmas.

Pancakes with real maple syrup and butter for supper.

The geranium on the window sill that blooms because it doesn't realize it's cold out!

The bare tree in the distance silhouetted against the twilight sky while I cook dinner.

The extra warmth generated by the stove.

The aroma of bread, brownies, or cookies baking.

Cupboards and pantries full to overflowing with food stored in case of winter storms.

Warming hands in a sinkful of hot, soapy water.

Beans soaking overnight for baked beans the next day.

The gleam of firelight and candlelight on dishes as we eat dinner.

Though I enjoy cooking all year round, cooking in the winter is especially satisfying. I prefer cooking winter foods to summer foods, and it makes the house especially cozy when there are yummy things cooking that take a long time. What are some things you enjoy about your kitchen in winter?

15 Authors

Working its way around the blogosphere: List 15 authors you love or who have influenced you. Here's my attempt (in no particular order):

1) Edith Schaeffer
2) Lucy Maud Montgomery
3) Charles Dickens
4) Laura Ingalls Wilder
5) C.S. Lewis
7) J.R.R. Tolkien
8) A.A. Milne
9) William Shakespeare
10) Gene Edward Veith
11) Harper Lee
12) Amy Dacyzyn
13) Connie Willis
14) Douglas and Nancy Wilson (OK, so that's two. I cheated.)
15) Robert Louis Stevenson

Tomorrow the list would probably look different.

Fruitcake

Man of the House likes fruitcake, and in twenty-three years of wedded bliss I've never made him any. Shame on me! This year I decided to give it a whirl. I used this recipe (Christmas Wreath) from Living on a Dime. At first I thought that the ingredients were going to cost a packet for just a cake, but I decided Man of the House is worth it. As it turns out, the recipe actually made two and I have enough for two more! Here's a picture of the cakes in all their glory:



Now they are safely stored away to season until Christmas. (Is that just a fancy word for "to get stale"?)

Making fruitcakes reminds me of my favorite scene from my favorite episode of All Creatures Great and Small~~series 2, episode 14, "Merry Gentlemen." I don't think my Christmas cake can rival Mrs. Hewison's, though. Alas. (Begin about 7:10 and then finish the scene in the next video.)

Happy All Saints Day!

All Saints Day is properly recognized on Nov. 1, but if Nov. 1 doesn't fall on a Sunday, it is celebrated the Sunday after, which in this case is today. Reformation Day last Sunday; All Saints Day today!

This video was made for Issues, Etc. (see sidebar) and reminds us Christians that we are a part of something much bigger and much more ancient than our own local church.

Links O' Plenty

For your enjoyment and edification, I offer the following links:

Flanner O'Connor on teaching fiction

On Thomas Kinkade, the Painter of Lite

More on Thomas Kinkade

Free Classical Music Downloads

Rousseau's Maddening Legacy

Daniel Hannan, British author and MEP, offers this warning to America. It's long but so worth it: