Yuletide Blessings - for Harp

 

This is the first-ever holiday carol composed by me! Instead of singing it (lol), I have arranged it for harp. Hope you enjoy it (about 2 minutes long).

Pictures in Video -

1 - Postcard by Ellen H. Clapsaddle, New York, 1907
2 - Bringing Home the Yule Log, greeting card, London, circa 1900
3 - Bringing Home the Yule Log in Catland, book illustration by Louis Wain, London, 1910
4 - Bringing in the Yule Log, book illustration, London, 1856
5 - Yule Logs, book cover, George Alfred Henley, London, 1898
6 - Inglenook, textbook illustration, Foresman, Chicago
7 - A Stitch in Time, Victorian trade card
8 - Time for Porridge, watercolor card by Jenny Nystrom, Sweden, pre-1947
9 - Around the Yule Log, book cover, William Boyd Allen, Boston, 1898
10 - The Circle of Love, book illustration by Eliza F. Manning, London, 1894
11 - With Kind Regards, greeting card, Germany, 1915
12 - The Great Bell, book illustration by Sarah Hutchins, Philadelphia, 1890
13 - Christmas bell, magazine illustration, Germany, 1892
14 - May Your Christmas Be Happy, postcard, US, 1910

Irish Soda Bread

I must give my daughter credit for this recipe. For years I tried various recipes, producing many Irish soda bricks. Eventually she came up with this winner.

IRISH SODA BREAD

4 cups unbleached flour
1 Tbsp sugar
1-1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 cup cold butter
1-3/4 cups buttermilk

Preheat oven to 375 deg. F.

In a large bowl, combine the dry ingredients. Using a pastry blender, cut-in the butter.

Stir in the buttermilk (plain milk can be substituted) until the ingredients are combined and doughy. Knead dough a few times to form a non-crumbly mass. Pat into a ball-shape.

Place on an ungreased cookie sheet and flatten to form a 7” round loaf. With a sharp knife, cut a cross in the top, about 1/4” deep.

Bake for 40-45 minutes, until crust is golden-brown. Serve warm.

Serves 8-12

Irish Coffee (nonalcoholic)

What can I say? We don't drink alcohol, and at dinnertime I use a high-quality decaf coffee for this. It's really good. Try it with Hazelnut Shortbread.

IRISH COFFEE (nonalcoholic)

12 oz. strong black coffee
3/4 tsp. brandy flavoring (or rum flavoring)
1-1/2 tsp. sugar
dollop of sweetened whipped cream

Place sugar and brandy flavoring in the bottom of a large mug or Irish coffee cup. Add coffee, leaving 1-2 inches of space at the top. Stir to dissolve the sugar.

Add a dollop of whipped cream on top. Do not stir.

Makes 1 large serving. For an 8-oz. serving, use 1/2 tsp. flavoring and 1 tsp. sugar.

Here’s a toast:
Cream as rich as an Irish brogue
Coffee strong as a fighter’s arm
Sugar sweet as the tongue of a rogue
And whiskey smooth as the wit of the bard.
Good Health!

(still looking to see where I got that version)

Hearty Potato Soup

We love this chunky, flavorful soup. It's a super-comfort food.

HEARTY POTATO SOUP

2 lbs. potatoes, scrubbed or peeled* & chopped
8 Tbsp. (1 stick) butter
1/8 tsp. black pepper
2 med. leeks, washed & chopped up to 1” above the white part
    or 1 med. onion, chopped
1-1/2 tsp. salt
8 cups vegetable stock
2/3 cups milk (non-dairy is okay)
1/2 tsp. dried rosemary, ground in mortar & pestle

Melt butter with pepper in a large pan while preparing potatoes. Add chopped potatoes and cook on med-low heat, stirring often. Add leeks to potatoes, and continue to cook until leeks are soft.

Add salt, stock, milk, and rosemary. Simmer until potatoes are very soft. Mash with a potato masher. Some chunks will remain.

Serves 8

* Note: if using russet potatoes, peel them. The skins of red or white potatoes are fine in this soup, but russet skins are too tough.

Hazelnut Shortbread

This is a yummy shortbread, which turns out a little chewy from the oats. If you want a classic crisp shortbread, grind the nuts and oats in a food processor. You can substitute other nuts, but the hazelnuts give it a marvelous flavor.

HAZELNUT SHORTBREAD

1/4 cup whole, shelled hazelnuts
1/4 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup unbleached flour
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1/4 cup dark brown sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 Tbsp. cornstarch
1/16 tsp. salt (couple of pinches)

Preheat oven to 325 deg. F.

Spread hazelnuts in a skillet, and heat on med-low until lightly toasted. Place nuts in a kitchen towel and rub vigorously to remove the skins. If the skins don’t come off, give them more heating time in the skillet. While removing the hazelnut skins, lightly toast the oats in the skillet.

Chop the nuts finely, and combine with the oats.

In a large bowl, cream butter and sugars together until fluffy. Beat in the hazelnut mixture and vanilla. Blend in flour, cornstarch, and salt. Turn out onto a floured board and knead briefly until smooth.

Brush an 8” stoneware shortbread pan (or cake pan with removable base) with a light coating of vegetable oil. Press the dough into the pan firmly. Prick the entire surface with a fork, and bake for 30-35 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove from oven and let cool in pan for about 10 minutes.

Loosen the edges of the shortbread with a knife, and flip the shortbread pan over to turn out—you might have to tap one edge of the pan to help it come out. (Or remove sidewall from cake pan and slide shortbread off the base.)

Cut while still warm. Serves 8.

Adapted from a recipe in Mary Engelbreit’s book, “Christmas with Mary Engelbreit, vol.1."

Yuletide Mulled Wine

This is a great, warm start to a Yuletide meal. It's especially nice served with some good cheese before dinner.

MULLED WINE

1 bottle red wine (nonalcoholic is okay)
1-2 Tbsp. lemon or lime juice
1/2” chunk of nutmeg (or 1/8 tsp. ground)
5 allspice berries (or 1/8 tsp. ground)
9 whole cloves (or 1/8 tsp. ground)
1/2 cup honey or vegan sweetener
cinnamon sticks, dried orange peel, etc. for garnish

Place spices in a spice infuser, tea ball, or cloth bag. If using ground spices, stir them into the lemon juice.

Combine lemon juice, wine, and spices in a large pot. Bring to a boil. Turn down the heat and simmer, covered, for 5-10 minutes. Turn off heat and stir in honey.

Serve with a ladle, and garnish with cinnamon stick, dried citrus peel, or your favorite powdered spice.

This can be transferred to a crock pot for serving and keeping warm. You can also serve it in a punch bowl with apple or citrus slices added.

Serves 4

Dinner for Yule

Our Winter Solstice dinner has become a family tradition. Consisting mainly of comfort foods, this meal is not as heavy as the vegetarian Thanksgiving and Christmas fare at our house.

Most of these recipes can be converted to vegan by using non-dairy alternatives instead of butter.

Mulled Wine
Potato Soup
Onion Pie
Irish Soda Bread
Hazelnut Shortbread
Irish Coffee

Veneta Donaldson: "Time of Yule"

Veneta Donaldson with niece and husband, 1959
This is my aunt's Yuletide poem. She loved this time of year--her house was warm, her tree was draped with tinsel, and wonderful smells drifted from the kitchen. What a joy it was to visit her!

Time of Yule
by Veneta Donaldson

My heart rejoices with delight
In beauty glimpsed at time of Yule
When Heaven's wisdom reigns supreme
And fellowship and goodness rule.
The look upon a little face
At sound of merry tinkling bell,
The depth of faith in eyes grown dim
Through Christmases too sweet to tell,
The crunch of footsteps on the walk
When all the world is strangely quiet,
Heralding the approach of one
Who makes a cherished fireside bright,
The sound of carols, high and clear,
Borne upward by young voices sweet,
A wistful face in window framed
With gaze intent on snow-banked street,
The cheer of holly on a door,
And firelight's gleam like jewels spilled,
The glow of candles in the dusk–
Are mine until my heart is stilled.


This is part of a group of poems by Veneta Donaldson. A brief bio and the beginning of the series can be found here: Veneta Donaldson: A Poet in the Family.

Holiday Cooking

"Never trust a skinny cook." That's posted at the cafe up the road from us. But here I am, getting ready for Thanksgiving dinner.

This post is sort of a round-up of my holiday recipes for anyone who is interested. It's all vegetarian, and most can be converted to vegan by substituting olive oil for butter. There are no eggs in any of these recipes.

Black-Eyed Pea Soup
Butterscotch Bark
Chestnut Soup
Hazelnut Shortbread
Holiday Nut Loaf
Irish Coffee
Irish Soda Bread
Maple-Pecan Fried Slaw
Mince Pie
Mulled Wine
Onion Pie
Potato Soup
Pumpkin Pie
Pumpkin Soup
Sage Gravy
Spiced Pecans
Spiced Tea
Stir-Fried Spinach
Stuffed Cheese & Walnut Loaf
Wassail
Whole Cranberry Sauce

Yuletide Blessings!

Yule Warmers

This is a wide-striped variation on the Witch Warmers pattern (knit version). It uses a variegated yarn for 2 stripes, coupled with a coordinating solid. The yarns are both Hobby Lobby's "I Love This Yarn" in sportweight: Dark Olive and Autumn Multi. *

Here's how to make them from the pattern:

1. Make a gauge swatch. This yarn knitted up smaller than the sportweight yarn used in the pattern. I had to make a size larger to get a size x-small. I decided not to use larger needles to get gauge, because the stitches would come out loose enough to not be so warm anymore.

2. Follow the notes for the short-version wristwarmers.

3. Knit the ruffle and the first 2 stripes of the pattern in Dark Olive, or your solid main color.

4. Alternate the remaining wrist stripes this way: 2 stripes all variegated, then 2 stripes all solid color, 2 more stripes variegated.

5. Skip to the top section and work all in solid color.

You can find more variations for Witch Warmers here:
Evening Length: I'd Open a Vein for You Armwarmers
Short Witch Warmers



* Photos feature my newly married daughter's beautiful harpist-hands.

Butterscotch Bark: A New Decadence

Here's the new recipe I tried... well, thought-up... this year for Yule and Christmas. With my new step-grandson visiting, I was careful to avoid chocolate and red food coloring, as requested. So, I came up with this super-easy variation on peppermint bark (couldn't find white peppermint candy this year, anyway). It tastes totally sinful!

Now I want to try this with other hard candies, like lemon drops or root beer barrels.

BUTTERSCOTCH BARK

11 oz. (1 pkg.) white chocolate chips
4 oz.(1/2 cup) butterscotch hard candies, unwrapped

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Place candy in a heavy plastic bag, and hit with a hammer to break up into 1/4” or smaller pieces. For best results, do your hammering with a folded towel under the bag, placed on a hard floor or cement. This will leave some candy powder, so a few layers of plastic wrap or paper towels under the bag will help.

Place white chocolate in a microwaveable bowl. Cover and microwave for 2 minutes or less, depending upon the wattage. Stir until smooth, then stir in the butterscotch.

Spread the mixture 1/4” to 1/2” thick on waxed paper placed on a cookie sheet or in the bottom of a large, flat pan . Cool in refrigerator for about 45 minutes.

Break into bite-sized pieces and store in an airtight container.

Wassail

Another one of our Yule favorites is this nonalcoholic wassail. My kids have loved it since they were little.

WASSAIL

1-1/2 quarts (32 oz.) apple juice
2 cups pineapple juice
1 cup orange juice
juice from 1 lemon
9 allspice berries
9 whole cloves
1 cinnamon stick
1 small orange (optional)

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Place spices in a spice infuser, tea ball, or cloth bag. The wassail can be made with ground spices instead: use about 1/4 tsp. each.

Combine juices in a large pot. Bring to a boil. Add the spices and boil for 1 minute. Turn down the heat and simmer, covered, for 10 minutes or more.

Turn off heat and serve with a ladle, or turn down to a very low simmer to keep warm. This can also be transferred to a crock pot for serving and keeping warm. If desired, you can add a clove-studded orange or orange slices to the punch bowl.

Serves 8 - 10

Note: It comes out sweeter if you use apple juice without vitamin C added. You can also use apple cider, but there will be a bit of alcohol, which is mostly cooked out by the time the wassail is served.

Onion Pie!

The main dish for our Yule dinner is always onion pie. It's a warm, yummy vegetarian comfort food--perfect for the Winter Solstice. The picture here was made the day after, with leftovers. When chilled, it slices into wedges very well, but when it comes out of the oven, the only way to serve it is with a spoon, like a cobbler. This recipe serves about 12 people, and I make it in a huge, round terra cotta casserole dish. You can halve this recipe and bake it in a 9" deep-dish pie pan.

ONION PIE

1 stick (1/2 cup) butter
2 med. onions, sliced into half-rings
1 sm. cabbage, chopped in 1” pieces
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp. dried thyme (or 1/2 tsp. ground)
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1-1/2 tsp. salt
5 med. tomatoes, cut into 1/4” slices,
          or 28 oz. can whole tomatoes, drained and diced
1/2 lb. mild white cheese, such as Monterrey Jack, cubed (1/2”)
2 pie crusts, uncooked

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Preheat oven to 375 deg. F.

In a very large pan, melt butter. Cook onion, cabbage, and garlic on medium heat until softened. Stir in thyme, pepper, and salt.

Spread the onion mixture in the bottom of a large casserole dish or two 9”deep-dish pie pans. Add the cheese, distributing evenly. Lay the tomato slices on top.

Place the pie crust(s) over the tomatoes, arranging to completely cover the pan--overlapping crust is fine. Any pie crust that extends beyond the edge of the pan should be folded inward, to lie loosely on top. Cut slits in the crust to vent.

Bake for 45 minutes (20-30 for half recipe) or until crust is browned. Remove from oven and let sit for a few minutes. Serve with a spoon, like cobbler.

Note: this pie refrigerates well, and can be cut into wedges when cold. Heat slices individually in microwave or conventional oven.

Serves 10-12.


For more of my favorite cabbage recipes, see
How to Cook Non-Yucky Cabbage
Barely Borscht
Cabbage Soup
Colcannon
Maple-Pecan Fried Slaw

Elf Warmers

Short and cute, these wristwarmers make a fast crochet project... great for stash-busting too. The instructions for making them are included in the Witch Warmers in Crochet pattern. Just use the short version notes in italics. You can make short anklewarmers, too, and a matching neckwarmer to complete the look.

If you prefer, you can knit these using the original Witch Warmers pattern, designed for knitters.

The yarn for this project was I Love This Yarn Sportweight by Hobby Lobby. It's 100% acrylic, inexpensive, and it has a lovely, soft feel when working with it and wearing it. In order to make this project, I broke down and bought acrylic to save money, and I was pleasantly surprised at how nice it was. Since these wristwarmers were a holiday project, I don't expect to be washing and drying them a lot, so they will probably continue to look good for a long time.

You can find another variation for Witch Warmers in Crochet here:
Evening-Length Winter Warmers