No Childish Antics: Leave Christ in the Story

A few years ago, I wrote a devotional for my church's Advent devotion book. Since I had a four-year-old son at the time (and he had a closely competitive four-year-old cousin), I had the perfect, true story to use as background for my writing. A relative reminded me of the story during a recent gathering, so I thought I'd share the Christmas story with you:

Leave Christ in the Story

It has become a Christmas Eve tradition to read the story of Jesus’ birth at our annual family gathering. Since we had two energetic four-year-old boys at last year’s celebration, I decided to tweak our tradition a bit and read the Christmas story from a preschool book. This was a special book to the boys; it was a lift-the-flap book. As many of you know who have children, grandchildren, nieces or nephews of your own, lift-a-flap stories and the surprises that await little fingers under the flap are extra special. 

We made our way through several pages of the book, each boy taking a turn lifting a flap to reveal the angel Gabriel and animals in the stable. When we got to the flap that lifted to reveal the baby Jesus in the manger, a small tussle broke out between the two boys vying to see who could lift this flap. In the struggle, they both grasped the baby Jesus cutout and ripped him right from Mary’s arms! How ironic. Inadvertently, these boys had removed baby Jesus entirely from the “Christmas Story.” 

Oops

How many times have we done the same thing during this most festive time of year? In our mad rush to buy gifts for others and juggle our schedules to attend every Christmas party, we often rip God’s real gift to us right out of our celebrations. Let us remember Jesus’ words in John 10:28 – “I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand.” And that is the most wonderful gift of all. We must be ever careful to leave God’s precious gift to us in all of our holiday celebrations.

With love,

TCB

Merry Christmas, Y'all

Hope you have a peaceful holiday. Spend time with your family. I'll see you back here the first week of January.

Peace,
TCB

If a Tree Falls in the Forest...

....does anyone hear it?

If someone decorates on a rural road, does anyone see it?

Well, do it anyway.

Hear ye, hear ye!

Here comes Santa!

We are enjoying the Christmas season. Please enjoy it, too, whether anyone is looking or not.

Merry Christmas!
Love,
TCB

Mama's Five-Flavor Cake

I made an easy and great cake over Thanksgiving, which is actually a little early for me. I usually bake this cake over the Christmas holidays. It's one of "Mama's" recipes. She used to make it for a few customers each year who couldn't get enough. I love it because I'm not much of a baker and it starts with a cake mix but SO TASTES 100% HOMEMADE. I believe Sandra Lee calls that "semi-homemade."

Five-Flavor Cake

Ingredients:

1 box yellow cake mix
1 sm. package (4 servings) instant vanilla pudding
3/4 cup chopped pecans
2 tsp. ground nutmeg
3/4 cup oil (I use canola)
5 eggs
1/2 cup water
1 tsp. each: vanilla, butter, rum, coconut, and lemon flavorings

First, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Then spray bundt cake pan and spread pecans in the bottom of the pan.

Mix together dry ingredients - cake mix, instant pudding, and nutmeg.

Add the wet ingredients - oil, eggs, water and flavorings. Beat with a mixer for about 2 minutes on high speed.

Pour into the prepared bundt pan and bake 45-50 minutes.
Meanwhile, about 10 minutes before the cake comes out of the oven, prepare the glaze.

Glaze:
1 cup sugar
1 stick butter
1/4 cup water
1 tsp. each: vanilla, butter, rum, coconut, and lemon flavorings

In a boiler on the stove top, combine all the above ingredients and boil for 3 minutes, constantly stirring. You need to stay by the pot and stir, because the ingredients will boil over in a skinny second.

Here's the finished glaze.

When the cake comes out of the oven, pour half of the glaze over it immediately. Let it sit in the pan 10 minutes.

Turn the cake onto a cake plate and drizzle the remaining glaze over the top.

The glaze puddles around the bottom. Delicious.

Let the cake cool completely before you cover it.

This cake is particularly good a day or two after you make it. It gives enough time for the glaze to fully penetrate the cake and make it extra moist.

It may not be the most beautiful cake in the world, but it is one of the most flavorful I've ever had.

Love,
TCB

He's Back to his Old Tricks

He's baaaaaaack.

Don't let him fool you. Tinsel looks happy. But Tinsel is MISCHIEVOUS.
He just came back two days ago, fresh in from helping Santa make toys. He came to check up on my son.

Overnight, he seems to have had a little fun with "Brother."

Brother just smiled through it all. We found him the next morning.

Happy Holidays!
TCB

A Feliz Navidad Supper

Are you like me and getting a little tired of turkey and ham this time of the year? In the South, it's very important to have a bird (or a side of pig) on the holiday menu.

I have another idea this time of year. My "feliz navidad" dish - taco salad!

Why ever would I call it Feliz Navidad? Look at the beautiful Christmas colors in this dish! And the happiest part for me is that it is a cinch to make and feeds a crowd for a last-minute dinner party idea. I have even made two of these to feed a VERY hungry group.

Start with a base of blue corn tortilla chips (organic is great, if you can find them) on a large platter.

Layer on a deep green vegetable over the chips, such as fresh spinach. Then cook 1/2 to 1 pound ground venison or beef with taco seasoning, draining the fat as necessary. I like to use deer meat when possible because it is much leaner and has less artery-clogging fat. But sometimes I run out (it's not deer season all year long!), and I will use ground round.

Next, open and rinse a can of black beans and a can of dark red kidney beans. I sprinkle on about 3/4 of each can, for an extra protein boost to fill up the boys all night long!

Next, chop and add a tomato to the top. Dress it with dollops of light sour cream and salsa. In a pinch, I usually use jarred salsa, but I'll give my homemade recipe in a later post. Top with a sprinkling of grated Monterrey Jack cheese, and wa-la! You are done.

I'm a big proponent of using what you have, so you can substitute colby or cheddar cheese, or even mozzarella. Since I live out a little piece in the country, it's not very easy for me to run to the grocery store if I'm out of something.

Hope you will enjoy at one of your gatherings this season!

Love,
TCB