A Prayer for Christmas

Nativity Prayer-Hymn of St. Ephraim the Syrian

The feast day of your birth resembles You, Lord
Because it brings joy to all humanity.
Old people and infants alike enjoy your day.
Your day is celebrated
from generation to generation.
Kings and emperors may pass away,
And the festivals to commemorate them soon lapse.
But your festival
will be remembered until the end of time.
Your day is a means and a pledge of peace.
At Your birth heaven and earth were reconciled,
Since you came from heaven to earth on that day
You forgave our sins and wiped away our guilt.
You gave us so many gifts on the day of your birth:
A treasure chest of spiritual medicines for the sick;
Spiritual light for the blind;
The cup of salvation for the thirsty;
The bread of life for the hungry.
In the winter when trees are bare,
You give us the most succulent spiritual fruit.
In the frost when the earth is barren,
You bring new hope to our souls.
In December when seeds are hidden in the soil,
The staff of life springs forth from the virgin womb

St. Ephraim the Syrian (AD 306-373)

An Advent Prayer, 2

Advent Prayer for Hope in Christ's Coming

All-powerful God,
help us to look forward in hope
to the coming of our Savior.
May we live as he taught,
ready to welcome him with burning love and faith.
We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. Amen
Liturgy of the Hours, Fridays in Advent

Advent Prayer for Hope

Lord Jesus Christ,
who is, who was, and who is to come,
we pray for the virtue of hope,
that amidst the trials and difficulties
of this world,
we may keep our hearts fixed
upon you, who reigns over the cosmos.
May your grace enliven us,
strengthen us,
and defend us,
as we await your coming in glory. Amen
David Bennett

Just So You Know...

Okay, I'm hoping that all of you are going to be staying busy with Christmas-y type things in the next 1-2 weeks, but in case you don't and come checking here for something to read...don't hold your breath. (Although you do know by now that every time I say I'll be too busy to post, I end up posting a bunch of stuff.) Anyhow, here's the plans for the next few weeks:

Friday, Dec. 19 - Drive from Wichita to Rochester, MN. Spend a few days with Steven's family.

Tuesday, Dec. 23 or Wednesday, Dec. 24 - Drive to my parents'. Details weather dependent.

Saturday, Dec. 27 (pm) - Drive back to Steven's parents'.

Sunday, Dec. 28 - Drive back to Wichita.

Monday, Dec. 29 - 1/2 day of work. Wedding details, etc.

Tuesday, Dec. 30 & Wednesday, Dec. 31 - Packing and moving Steven's stuff. Wedding details.

Wednesday, Dec. 31 - Some kind of New Years' Eve celebration?

Thursday, Jan. 1 - Unpacking/sorting/organizing apartment. Wedding stuff. Hang out w/people

Friday, Jan. 2 - Final wedding details. Rehearsal. Rehearsal dinner.

Saturday, Jan. 3 - WEDDING DAY!!!

Sunday, Jan. 4 - Early (a.m.) church, breakfast w/Andersians?, leave for undisclosed location!

Monday, Jan. 5-Saturday, Jan. 10 - HONEYMOON!!!

Sunday, Jan. 11 - Getting settled in...

Monday, Jan. 12 - Back to work!

Hints from Heloise

No More Sassy Sausages
Here's how to keep link sausages from spluttering and spattering over the stove when frying:
Cut the sausages apart and put them in a cooking pot big enough so that they can be covered with cold water. Place this over the burner on medium heat and just barely bring to a boil.

Take pot from the fire, place in the kitchen sink and run cold water over the sausages until they are completely cold. Then place in a colander and let drain until they are completely dry.

Put sausages in your refrigerator until ready for use. When ready to cook, place as many link sausages as you want to use in a cold frying pan. Turn on the heat and cook until they are brown on one side. Turn over on the other side and brown again. There will be no splatter or grease. When brown and hot clear through (avoid overcooking as this makes them tough) serve with a smile!

You can buy a few pounds of sausages at a time and prepare them this way. Then put as many links as you will need for one meal on a piece of foil, wrap tightly and put in your deep freeze. When you are ready to fry sausage for breakfast, you can take out one package at a time.

Do Something Radical for Christmas! A Reminder

Several weeks ago, I highlighted my friend Nettie's blog: Heart of the Mission. You can also find it regularly on my sidebar Blog List. Nettie is a "novice" with a mission called InnerCHANGE. She works with Latino youth in the Mission district in San Francisco.

Nettie spent last year in San Francisco as an apprentice. As a novice for the next 2 years, she needs to raise an additional $2000 in support each month. This is a lot! I would like all of you to consider supporting her - either regularly or with a one time gift. InnerCHANGE is an ecumenical ministry, so no need to get your knickers in a knot about supporting or not supporting a particular Christian denomination. If you want to support Nettie (or get more information), you can click here, and search for Antoinette Spitz.

From Nettie's Blog:

InnerCHANGE is a Christian order among the poor, and I am both proud and humbled to be walking within it. Our foundation is Micah 6:8 - we seek to do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with our God. We do this through relationships in our neighborhoods…where strangers become neighbors, neighbors become friends, and friends become beloved family.

From the InnerCHANGE website:

We are communities of missionaries living in poor, marginalized neighborhoods around the world – places most people want to avoid or ignore. We seek to live out the good news of Jesus among the poor, both with words and deeds.

We neither glamorize our calling nor diminish its importance. We are moved by the life and love of Jesus, enticed by his goodness. We have sensed his call to take up our crosses and follow: knowing that as we lose our life for his sake, we will truly find it. Despite the enormity of the missionary task, we do not pursue this work with long faces. Rather, we rejoice in our opportunity to be messengers of the King as he invites all people - poor and rich alike - to his banquet table.

Sunday Sandwich

You made it! You have survived to the end of the Great Ham Sandwich-a-Thon! I congratulate you! And I treat you to the remaining two ham sandwiches!

Automobile Sandwich
Run through the meat chopper two pounds of cold boiled ham, half a pound of walnut meats, and four dill pickles. Mix with a little French mustard, and place between slices of lightly buttered bread.

Stag Sandwich
Run cold boiled ham and dill pickle through the meat chopper, add a little French mustard, and spread on thin slices of lightly buttered white bread. Cover with another slice.

Aaaannnndd...it's over! YEEHAW! I bet you want to know what's up next, don't you? WELL...You're just going to have to wait and see!

An Advent Prayer

Advent Prayer to Jesus

You are our eternal salvation,
The unfailing light of the world.
Light everlasting,
You are truly our redemption.
Grieving that the human race was perishing
through the tempter's power,
without leaving the heights
You came to the depths in your loving kindness.
Readily taking our humanity by Your gracious will,
You saved all earthly creatures, long since lost,
Restoring joy to the world.
Redeem our souls and bodies, O Christ,
and so possess us as Your shining dwellings.
By Your first coming, make us righteous;
At your second coming, set us free:
So that, when the world is filled with light
and you judge all things,
We may be clad in spotless robes
and follow in Your steps, O King,
Into the heavenly hall.

Unknown Author, 10th century

Twittering?

I'm not going to join Twitter. And here's why. Umm...okay, I am going to join Twitter. And here's why. Well...I really don't want to join Twitter, but I'm really very very curious as to what it's like. Okay, fine. I'll give in and join. But I won't promise to like it. Or even use it very often.

I really don't need more technology in my life, at least not my private life. My work life could use some more technology sometimes. I think we're going to get a video camera that we can use to post short videos to our website. That will be fun! Hopefully it will also be useful and impactful in our ability to reach audiences we otherwise might not reach. Apparently the newspaper here is close to going bankrupt, which would pretty effectively cut back on a lot of the easy, cheap marketing and good press we get. Ouch.

Anyway, I really prefer blogging, even though I've been pretty lax about intelligent, thoughtful posts this fall. I blame it on the wedding. (Notice how I've lapsed into Kansas-speech regarding seasons. It probably qualifies as winter now though, since we've had a day where the high temperature doesn't get above freezing.) "Tweeting" on Twitter seems so...juvenile. Less thoughtful. I really don't need the additional temptation to distraction at work. But we'll give it a try. Chances are it will become what Facebook is...an interesting tool, but something I only check infrequently or when someone harasses me.

Hints from Heloise

Stocking Sandwiches

From a woman in Pennsylvania: "Our house is stocked with children of all ages - from 6 to 17. All are in school and take their lunches. By the time I feed nine children breakfast and each comes to the kitchen to make his own lunch, it is an eternal mess! I finally figured out the answer to this after all these years.

After the family is off to school, I make up a big supply of sandwiches, put them in small plastic bags and store them in the deep freeze. I do this at my convenience.

Now, when it comes time for school, each child goes to the freezer, picks out his frozen sandwiches and plops them in his lunch bag. The sandwiches are frozen when the children leave the house, and by noon, are completely thawed.

A Lesser Known Advent Hymn

I think we are all fairly familiar with Come, Thou Long Expected Jesus and O Come, O Come Emmanuel, but there are a number of other hymns that are much less common, but great for the season. The following hymn is one that I'd never heard before, but it seems like the mentality that the Jews may have had while awaiting a Messiah.

O Come, Divine Messiah

O come, Divine Messiah,
The world in silence waits the day
When hope shall sing its triumph,
And sadness flee away.

Dear Savior haste!
Come, come to earth.
Dispel the night and show Thy face,
And bid us hail the dawn of grace.
O come, Divine Messiah,
The world in silence waits the day
When hope shall sing its triumph,
And sadness flee away.

O Thou whom nations sighed for,
Whom priest and prophet long foretold,
Wilt break the captive fetters,
Redeem the long lost fold.

Dear Savior haste!
Come, come to earth.
Dispel the night and show Thy face,
And bid us hail the dawn of grace.

O come, Divine Messiah,
The world in silence waits the day
When hope shall sing its triumph,
And sadness flee away.

Sunday Sandwich

Only this week and next week left of the Great Ham Sandwich-a-thon of 2008! Enjoy it while it lasts!

Party Sandwich Rolls
Fresh bread is used for these sandwiches. Cut the slices as thin as possible and remove the crusts. Lay crisp lettuce leaves that have been dipped in mayonnaise dressing on the slices; on top of that place thin shavings of cold boiled ham; roll the slices very closely and fasten with a toothpick or ribbon. Pile on a serving dish and garnish with pickles and radishes.

Westphalian Ham Sandwich
Between thin slices of lightly buttered rye bread, place thin slices of Westphalian ham; add a dash of mustard, and garnish top with a pickle.

Snapshots

~~~1~~~

I had my first dress fitting with the seamstress on Wednesday. Happily, the dress fits beautifully, so all there is to do is the bustling and a couple minor things. My next fitting will be in 2 weeks, just before we are headed out for Christmas.

~~~2~~~

As we move through December, our fall classes wind down at work, but Garden Show planning speeds up. I have one more Market Farmer class, we have only 1 more Master Gardener Basic Training class (after this week), most of the committees are having their "Christmas Party" meetings, and so on. This is a good thing, of course, since I've got plenty of other things to do before January.

~~~3~~~

The Garden Show is 3 months from now. Since we are doing a vegetable display garden, I'm doing a lot of the planning and planting of veggies. Today I planted tomato, brussels sprouts, and globe artichoke seeds. Hopefully everything turns out okay, since I really have no idea what I'm doing.

~~~4~~~

Since it's now December, and the temperature is going to get down to a "frigid" 22 degrees, I decided to harvest some of the things I've been keeping going out in our demonstration garden. I harvested the rest of 4 varieties of lettuce, the remaining purple carrots, and the gold beets. Yum! I gave some of the produce away to staff, and the rest I made into a salad for MG Basic Training. The lettuces and carrots were gorgeous...maybe I'll get around to transferring some pictures to the blog.

~~~5~~~

Is it just me or have there been absolutely no movies worth going to see for months?!? Every few weeks I think, "Gee, we could go to a movie for something fun to do." Then I look up the movie listings and realize that there is absolutely nothing that looks enticing enough to pay too much money to see. Supposedly there are some movies coming out in December that are worth seeing, but I don't think we're going to have much time for movie-going.

~~~6~~~

I hope the Federal government doesn't bail out the automakers. I'm sorry that people will get hurt from losing jobs. But people are going to get hurt just as bad, if not worse, in the long run if the government keeps spending money it doesn't have. And that's all I've got to say about that.

Dominick the Donkey

Our local "Christmas" radio station apparently gets bored with normal Christmas music fairly frequently, because they come up with some really strange Christmas songs. (If you remember last year, I highlighted I Want a Hippopatamus for Christmas.)

Anyway, a couple mornings ago, I was awakened by Dominick the Donkey playing on my radio. Talk about rude wake-up calls!

Hey! Chingedy ching,
(hee-haw, hee-haw)
It's Dominick the donkey.
Chingedy ching,
(hee-haw, hee-haw)
The Italian Christmas donkey.
(la la la-la la-la la la la la)
(la la la-la la-la la-ee-oh-da)

Santa's got a little friend,
His name is Dominick.
The cutest little donkey,
You never see him kick.
When Santa visits his paisans,
With Dominick he'll be.
Because the reindeer cannot,
Climb the hills of Italy.

Hey! Chingedy ching,
(hee-haw, hee-haw)
It's Dominick the donkey.
Chingedy ching,
(hee-haw, hee-haw)
The Italian Christmas donkey.
(la la la-la la-la la la la la)
(la la la-la la-la la-ee-oh-da)

Jingle bells around his feet,
And presents on the sled.
Hey! Look at the mayor's derby,
On top of Dominick's head.
A pair of shoes for Louie,
And a dress for Josephine.
The labels on the inside says,
They're made in Bruccalin'. (Brooklyn)

Hey! Chingedy ching,
(hee-haw, hee-haw)
It's Dominick the donkey.
Chingedy ching,
(hee-haw, hee-haw)
The Italian Christmas donkey.
(la la la-la la-la la la la la)
(la la la-la la-la la-ee-oh-da)

Children sing, and clap their hands,
And Dominick starts to dance.
They talk Italian to him,
And he even understands.
Cummare's and cumpare's
Do the dance 'a tarantell',
When Santa Nicola comes to town,
And brings 'o ciucciarell'.

Hey! Chingedy ching,
(hee-haw, hee-haw)
It's Dominick the donkey.
Chingedy ching,
(hee-haw, hee-haw)
The Italian Christmas donkey.
(la la la-la la-la la la la la)
(la la la-la la-la la-ee-oh-da)
Hey! Dominick! Buonn Natale!

(hee-haw, hee-haw)
(hee-haw, hee-haw)
(hee-haw, hee-haw)
(hee-haw, hee-haw)
(hee-haw, hee-haw)
(hee-haw, hee-haw)

Hints from Heloise

More Hamburger Hints!
From Washington: "Here is a neat trick for those who want a new taste in hamburger and meat loaf. For each two pounds of ground hamburger meat, add one can of tomato aspic! For the hamburgers, no egg is necessary. For the meatloaf, add your eggs and other condiments as usual. Use a little less liquid in the mixture as the aspic suffices for some of it."

If your family is not fond of vegetables, save any bits of leftover peas, carrots, etc., and mash them up fine when you mix your meatloaf, or fix hamburger patties, and add the vegetables to the hamburger mixture.

To make juicy hamburger and meat loaf...whip one egg white until it is stiff and add to each pound of ground beef. Fold this into the beef mixture and you will find the hamburgers will be light and juicy even when well done.

Blog of the Week

It's been a looong time since I've done a blog of the week. This week's blog is Conversion Diary. The blogger, Jennifer F, is a former atheist. The blog is a combination of posts about her conversion experiences and also just plain, well-written, thoughtful (or amusing) stories and commentaries on her life. My "Snapshots" feature is also a blatant theft of her "Quick Takes" posts.

I've been reading this blog for quite awhile, but a couple weeks ago I realized that I'd never specifically shared this blog. (I believe I linked to one of her posts quite awhile ago!) Anyway, I can't tell you how many excellent posts she has stowed away on her blog, so make sure you check out the archives!

Hmm...

Now this is an interesting competition: Dance Your PhD. Yeah...I thought you'd find it amusing. There are over 30 videos on YouTube - some of them are pretty good, and some of them are pretty bad. All of the dissertations danced are from science fields, so you have to be pretty impressed that they even attempted to put these topics to choreography.

Do Something Radical for Christmas!

Several weeks ago, I highlighted my friend Nettie's blog: Heart of the Mission. You can also find it regularly on my sidebar Blog List. Nettie is a "novice" with a mission called InnerCHANGE. She works with Latino youth in the Mission district in San Francisco.

Nettie spent last year in San Francisco as an apprentice. As a novice for the next 2 years, she needs to raise an additional $2000 in support each month. This is a lot! I would like all of you to consider supporting her - either regularly or with a one time gift. InnerCHANGE is an ecumenical ministry, so no need to get your knickers in a knot about supporting or not supporting a particular Christian denomination. If you want to support Nettie (or get more information), you can click here, and search for Antoinette Spitz.

From Nettie's Blog:

InnerCHANGE is a Christian order among the poor, and I am both proud and humbled to be walking within it. Our foundation is Micah 6:8 - we seek to do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with our God. We do this through relationships in our neighborhoods…where strangers become neighbors, neighbors become friends, and friends become beloved family.

From the InnerCHANGE website:

We are communities of missionaries living in poor, marginalized neighborhoods around the world – places most people want to avoid or ignore. We seek to live out the good news of Jesus among the poor, both with words and deeds.

We neither glamorize our calling nor diminish its importance. We are moved by the life and love of Jesus, enticed by his goodness. We have sensed his call to take up our crosses and follow: knowing that as we lose our life for his sake, we will truly find it. Despite the enormity of the missionary task, we do not pursue this work with long faces. Rather, we rejoice in our opportunity to be messengers of the King as he invites all people - poor and rich alike - to his banquet table.

Plant of the Week

Name: Oca
Latin Name: Oxalis tuberosa
Origin: Andes Mountains, Peru

Oca is a little known root crop that is native to the Andes mountains. The starchy tubers are somewhat similar to potato or Jerusalem artichoke. The leaves are also edible, since it is in the same genus (Oxalis) as wood sorrels common in the U.S.

Oca is a staple food in the upper Andes mountains, and is common in New Zealand as a 'yam.' It is even fairly easy to get a hold of in Europe. (At least as a garden plant, if not a grocery item.)

The main reason that it isn't popular here is that it requires growing conditions that are fairly difficult to come by in the U.S. climate zones. It needs a long growing season, and it is also daylength dependent. It also doesn't tolerate heat or frost very well. In other words, it won't develop its tubers until there is less than 12 hours of sunlight each day. But it doesn't like the heat of mid-summer or the below freezing temperatures. The main problem is that we usually have a frost before the tubers have developed to full size. Still, there are ways that this could be manipulated or overcome, at least on a home garden scale.