LITTLE DRUMMER BOY


Come they told me, pa rum pum pum pum
A new born King to see, pa rum pum pum pum
Our finest gifts we bring, pa rum pum pum pum
To lay before the King, pa rum pum pum pum,
rum pum pum pum, rum pum pum pum,
So to honor Him, pa rum pum pum pum,
When we come.
Little Baby, pa rum pum pum pum

I am a poor boy too, pa rum pum pum pum
I have no gift to bring, pa rum pum pum pum
That's fit to give the King, pa rum pum pum pum,
rum pum pum pum, rum pum pum pum,
Shall I play for you, pa rum pum pum pum,
On my drum?
Mary nodded, pa rum pum pum pum

The ox and lamb kept time, pa rum pum pum pum
I played my drum for Him, pa rum pum pum pum
I played my best for Him, pa rum pum pum pum,
rum pum pum pum, rum pum pum pum,
Then He smiled at me, pa rum pum pum pum

Me and my drum.

manger

manger

Christmas come and gone

Christmas has come and gone once again. And again! this issue brings about the business of the season. After a trip from seeing my father in Calgary, my plans were to have a simple dinner that you would prepare and could serve to the men in your life also. Well! It turned out to be quite a feat to get ready.

The stockings had to be filled, planning what to put inside, decorations all in place, table set, and groceries to be purchased, what to put on the bulletin board, Whew! and then I realized we only had one hour in which to cook, so things had to be simplified some more. Some of the food had to be precooked.

Three thirty, and all was done, not a thing left out, not even the dessert! The evening turned out incredible. Each of the ladies just took up their spoons and knives and worked away at preparing a great meal.

Down to the last minute, the men have arrived and as this was not our regular meeting we did not go thru the usual preliminaries. We did have a moment of worship just before the meal was served. I will set the stage with pictures and You enjoy the rest of the evening. Thank you for coming each one. Thank you for your generosity in Giving to the Smithers Transition House. Four large boxes were overflowing with goodies as well as the thanks they gave when they received the stuff.

Recipes

Recipes:

Veloute of Butternut Squash Soup
We used banana squash

2 medium butternut squash, peeled, seeded and cubed
5 shallots, sliced or green onions
we used 1-2regular large onions and sautéed
salt and pepper to taste
1 bay leaf
about 2-3 cups mashed potatoes

Cool all ingredients in large soup pot until soft. Blenderize until smooth, keep warm and add the Hazelnut Cream on top for decoration
Toasted Hazelnut Cream –Beat 1 cup heavy cream until lightly thickened. Swirl parsley, cream and hazelnuts on top of soup for a garnish or mix the nuts and cream and each one can decorate their soup individually. Serves 6-8


Wild Mountain Cranberries
5 ounces of apple juice
1 2/3 cup of sugar or less!!
2 pounds of cranberries
Peel and juice of ½ lemon and orange
1 tsp or to taste of pumpkin pie spice
or
A cheesecloth bag containing ½ cinnamon stick, 2 bay leaves, 15 peppercorns, 3 star anise, and 10 juniper berries. Boil, mash if you like, cool. This will keep for 6 months. Yield about 6 cups.




Stuffing Balls

1cup onions chopped

4 tablespoons butter

1/2 cup celery, chopped

6 cups dry bread cubes
1-2 cups kernel corn

2 cups low sodium chicken broth or water

2 eggs, beaten slightly

4 tablespoons dried parsley flakes

4 teaspoons dried sage

2 teaspoons dried poultry seasoning

1/2 teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper

1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg melted butter

garnish with sage leaves


Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onions and saute approximately 5 minutes. Add the celery and continue cooking until softened. Remove from the heat. Add the beaten eggs to the broth or water and blend well. Add the corn parsley, sage, poultry seasoning, pepper and nutmeg, mix well and pour over the dry bread cubes and stir. Shape the mixture into 2-inch balls and place on a greased cookie sheet, drizzle a small amount of melted butter over the balls. Bake uncovered in 375 degree F oven for 20 minutes. You can also shape these into smaller balls and bake in mini-muffin tins.

Chocolate Truffles

10 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped fine 3 tablespoons unsalted butter 1/2 cup heavy cream 1/2 cup Dutch process cocoa powder, finely chopped nuts, and/or toasted coconut, for coating truffles 8 ounces semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, chopped fine

Simply put bittersweet chocolate and butter and cream in heavy saucepan,
Melt slowly, stir until well blended. Then cool for about an hour until you can spoon out a spoonful.
Roll in small balls, then roll in cocoa powder, or coconut or oatmeal
Or other decoration.

Boxes and boxes of stuff were brought in each for the different items to be served like blenders, mixers, pots and pans, bowls, you would think my whole kitchen was moved in! I started with the potatoes as they had to be peeled and ready for someone to cook.













A huge bowl for the fresh Strawberry Salad with greens - parsley, spinache, kale, romaine, celery and walnuts. A spray on balsamic dressing on the side also Hemp/lemon/maple syrup salad dressing too. Florence and Laura on the Salad. Yes! Even the walnuts have to be washed!! Ruth helped with the salad too.

Betty came next and tackled the precooked mixed macaroni salad with colored peppers, onions, olives, and a French dressing.
Becky Santos prepares the Bread Stuffing, Lots of ladies in the small kitchen, we had fun bumping into each other! and also worked hard to get everything ready in one hour. We DID it!. Jo was one of the first ones to arrive and she stepped right up and put the soup together with the Hazelnut Cream on top. Yum! Looking good already! When you make this soup, make sure you have an extra big soup pot along for the transfer from the blender to the other pot.












And then the dessert, Chocolate Truffles, very sticky stuff to do, but we rolled the little balls into cocoa and coconut. A nice finish to the meal. Someone ate three of them! Charlotte also brought cookies from her bake sale. SHHH I forgot-the cranberries- you know who you are! They were good—Bonnie right!
Main course was prepared by Alma who saved the labels from the Cans of Swiss Steak from Lorna’s store. I think she saved the cans too. They make good bread pans!!! Are you getting hungry again Ladies??? We are just about ready!!! The men are here…………… The table is set with white roses at every place setting. White ribbon for snow and Green Christmas balls for accent and pine branches that Ike cut for the occassion.

With dinner waiting in the background and everyone seated Valerie and Jo combined story and thoughts of the song “The Drummer Boy”, Valerie did sing some of it –pud umm pudum or was it rum a tum tum!! Anyway- You can find the story in Christmas in my Heart.















Prayer and Praises

To keep with tradition we had prayer request and prayer before we settle down to eat. Then the Pastor prayer for the thanksgiving of our meal.

1 Thank you for the great supper and food from His grocery store

2 Remember Harvey in your prayers, and Cori, and Gail’s husband.
3 Remember Rex and Phyllis as Rex has been in and out of hospital
4 And also my father Marvin who has been in hospital also. We have taken him off all medication and are giving him only pain relief now He cannot eat and has gone thru a couple of strokes.
5 Jo and Florence have had surgeries and remember Florence’s broken arm that it will heal quickly
6 Pray for Dolores and the SDA School and traveling mercies for Ike & Valerie and the teacher and others you know about
7 Alma’s brother will come to visit
8 Curt and his new wife and they will keep bible faith
9 Remember our pets – Homer the cat

By the time of this publication holidays will be over and most of us survived the holidays in some form or the other – thank you to both Donnies who worked fixing my water over the holidays

That was our time together, celebrating the Christmas season as Christ the baby was born, grew up, is risen from the grave and just like God's final Banqueting table in heaven, as we sit together here, I pray that we will all be there. Thank you for all coming and helping to clean up. God bless.

The rest of the pictures you can see on line on the Webshot link. Here you can see Bonnie saying good bye. Your stockings are filled with dish soap, sesame crackers and an orange except for the men they got the other half of their stocking!!!. Each one took a rose home plus a CD of the music that was playing with a Martha Stewart calendar craft inside the cassette. Look on the link above also. A Selah Moment
READ: Psalm 24
He is the King of glory. Selah. —Psalm 24:10
King David proclaimed: “The Lord of hosts, He is the King of glory” (Ps. 24:10). The word Selah was later added to the end of this psalm and many others. Some believe it refers to an instrumental interlude because the psalms were often set to music. Biblical scholars also suggest other possible meanings, including “silence,” “pause,” “interruption,” “accentuate,” “exalt,” or “end.”
Reflecting on these words can help us to take a “Selah moment” to pause and worship God during the day.
Be silent and listen to the voice of God (Ps. 46:10).
Pause from a hectic schedule to be refreshed in spirit (Ps. 42:1-2).
Interrupt the day to do a spiritual inventory and be cleansed (Ps. 51:1-10).
Accentuate the joy of God’s provision through thanks-giving (Ps. 65:9-13).
Exalt the name of God for answered prayer in spite of disappointment (Ps. 40:1-3).
End the day by reflecting on the Lord’s faithfulness (Ps. 119:148).
David’s reflection on God included a Selah moment. Following his example will help us worship our God throughout the day. —Dennis Fisher


From your heart give God your praise


For His blessings all your days;


Lift your voice to God above—


God of mercy, God of love. —Hess



No day is complete without worship.

Oh! Glorious Love

VERSE 1
In the darkness Jesus found me
Touch my eyes and made me see
Broke the chains that longed had bound me
Gave me life and liberty

CHORUS
O glorious love that Christ my Lord, divine
That made Him stoop to save a soul like mine
Through all my days and then in heaven above
My soul will silence never
I'll worship Him forever
And praise Him for His glorious love

VERSE 2
Oh amazing truth to ponder
He whom angel host attend
Lord of Heaven thou somewhat wonder
He became the sinners friend

REPEAT CHORUS
O glorious love that Christ my Lord, divine
That made Him stoop to save a soul like mine
Through all my days and then in heaven above
My soul will silence never
love
And praise Him for His glorious love I'll worship Him forever
And praise Him for His glorious love

TAG
And praise Him for His glorious