Thursday, December 15, 2011
Chocolate Covered Cherry Cookies
Ingredients:
- 1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 cup softened butter
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 egg
- 1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla
- 1 (10 ounce) jar maraschino cherries
- 1 (6 ounce) package semisweet chocolate chips
- 1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk
Preparation:
Combine flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large mixing bowl, set aside.
In another bowl, beat butter and sugar on low speed until fluffy. Add the egg and vanilla, beat until well blended.
Gradually add in the flour mixture and blend well until smooth.
Shape into 1 inch balls by rolling a small amount of dough between the palms of your hands. Place on ungreased cookie sheet.
Using thumb, press down center of ball making an indentation.
Drain cherries, reserving the juice. Place a cherry in the center of each cookie.
For frosting: In a small saucepan, combine chocolate chips and sweetened condensed milk. Heat over low heat until chocolate is melted. Add 1 tablespoon and 1 teaspoon reserved cherry juice and stir.
Spoon about 1 teaspoon frosting over each cherry, spreading to cover cherry. If frosting gets too thick, add a little more cherry juice.
Bake in oven at 350° for 10 minutes. Cool on wire rack.
Makes 48 cookies.
Thursday, December 8, 2011
What if it happened today?
Here are some fun videos to answer that question:
http://youtu.be/LbBgyt9D2ow
Thursday
The Advent of Our God
The advent of our God
Our prayers must now employ,
And we must meet Him on His road
With hymns of holy joy.
The everlasting Son
Incarnate deigns to be;
Himself a servant's form puts on
To set His people free.
Daughter of Zion, rise
To meet thy lowly King,
Nor let thy faithless heart despise
The peace He comes to bring.
As Judge, on clouds of light,
He soon will come again,
And all His scattered saints unite
With Him in Heaven to reign.
Before the dawning day
Let sin's dark deeds be gone;
The old man all be put away,
The new man all put on.
All glory to the Son
Who comes to set us free,
With Father, Spirit, ever One,
Through all eternity.
Words: Charles Coffin; Translated from Latin to English by John Chandler
Tuesday, December 6, 2011
Advent
Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus.
HARRISBURG, PA. (Catholic Online) -Years ago, a little girl named Virginia O'Hanlon wrote to the editor of the New York Sun asking if Santa Claus was real. His answer, which spoke of skeptical men in a skeptical age who only believed in what they could see, is as relevant today as it was when Frank Church wrote it.
The name and face of Santa has been plastered over advertising, billboards, movies and television. We have single Santa's looking for wives, reluctant Santa's trying to escape their destinies, drafted Santa's to replace one who is "retiring", and even bad Santa's. The stories all have happy endings, with the magic of the North Pole somehow saving the day.
None of them are real, and many of them are even distasteful. Thankfully, none of them is Santa, either. Because Saint Nicholas, like every saint, is real.
He was born in Asia Minor and was bishop of the town of Myra in the fourth century. When he died he was buried in the cathedral there. When the Saracens conquered Myra in the early eleventh century, his remains were moved to the Italian city of Bari in 1087. His tomb is visited by thousands every year, even to this day.
His bones exude a clear liquid, called the "manna of Saint Nicholas", which is extracted from the shrine every year on May 9 in a formal ceremony conducted by the Rector of the Basilica in Bari, in the presence of the delegate of the Pope, the Archbishop of Bari, an Orthodox Bishop, civil authorities, the local clergy and the faithful. This has happened every year since 1980. The manna is distributed and is considered a relic with healing properties.
Nicholas is the patron saint of children, Russia, Greece, Sicily, sailors, prisoners, bakers, and pawnbrokers. His image is second only to Mary's in religious icons of both the Eastern and Western churches.
The stories of his generosity and kindness are legendary.
Santa Claus is a translation of his name.
When our children are little, we tell them to "ask Santa" at Christmas time. They can ask for anything - without limit. All Santa wants in return is goodness.
Isn't that exactly how we are supposed to relate to God?
But God is bigger than anything that we can comprehend. Developing an effective and complete relationship with God is the work of a lifetime. A work which most of us do not finish before our time here is done. That is why He sent His Son - so we would have someone we COULD connect with.
Saint Nicholas is a person who made that connection. When people pretend to be Santa, they act with levels of generosity and charity and kindness that they do not normally exhibit. In other words, they get closer to God. In doing so, they discover happiness.
And even in the convoluted versions of Santa being pushed by today's secular media, that message of happiness through goodness continues to resonate.
Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus. He is not just an idea. He was, and is, a saint. A saint who reminds us that we are loved without limits. A saint who challenges us to remove the limits on how we love others. A saint who calls us to holiness as we prepare to celebrate the greatest gift mankind has ever received.
And all we have to do is follow his example.
-----
Peg Luksik is the Chairman of the Center for American Heritage. Learn more about the heritage of this exceptional nation at www.centerforamericanheritage.com
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