Merry Christmas

Christmas is here!

Inspite of its lack of fanfare for me this year the past two days have been great. It started last night at church. I haven’t gotten to go to church in a while. We’ve been working round the clock. But I missed it. I missed corporate singing. I missed the teaching. I missed just the time set aside to be with God. I’m also convinced that the sermon last night was just for me.

He talked about how the baby Jesus came to turn everything upside down, inside out and right side up. Upside down because the Kingdom of God makes the last first, the weak strong and the blind see. Then he turns everything inside out. He reveals motives and shakes things free. Finally once everything is upside down and inside out he turns them right side up, because now its the way its supposed to be, His way.

Whether the sermon was just for me or not it gave me hope. There was also such an amazing sense of God’s presence in the service. You could almost touch it. It was so peaceful, welcoming and restful. I actually didn’t want to leave. I slept better last night than I have in a while.

Today we had a leisurely morning, then I made orange zest pancakes and sausages. My brother and family came over around noon. We had our family Christmas with lots of squeals of delight from the boys over their presents, which is a good thing. Top presents of the day were an i-dog soft speaker for Jordy and new Bakugan for Mikey.

This year instead of ham or turkey we had a Mexican soup for lunch – posole with all of the fixings. It has pork, hominy, onion, garlic and chile guajillo. On top of it you put oregano, lime, radishes, shredded cabbage and salt to taste. Mmmmm so good. I haven’t had it since the last time I was in Mexico, over seven years ago. My sister-in-law did a great job on it. It was amazing.

Tonight we had friends over and we did about three hours of karaoke. Favorites were – YMCA, Sweet Caroline, Mickey, Build Me Up Buttercup and Hang On Sloopy. We laughed, danced and sang our hearts out. So much fun.

It was a fantastic day full of lots of great people and food. While it wasn’t a white Christmas it was still an awesome one.

Filed under: Cooking and Food, Friendshipping, Mi Familia , karaoke, posole, singing

German Chocolate Cake

Apparently I only bake this cake every 17 years and when I’m sick. Nevermind that I have now only made it twice. That is besides the point.

The first time was when I was 16. I had an undiagnosed gallbladder condition that only let me eat top ramen noodles for a year. Not a fun thing, but I loved to bake and decided to make my dad his favorite cake for his birthday. In Mexico they don’t sell grated coconut so I had to grate the coconut by hand out of the shell. Oh yea, this cake was from scccrraatch.

I was going to make it for him again this year, but I was too busy. But I did promise to make it for a guy that works with us for his birthday this week. Only I got bronchitis. But a promise is a promise, so I made it.

I wasn’t a complete martyr, I was really looking forward to doing it. There is something therapeutic about baking for me – it’s precise while allowing room for creativity and inspiration. It’s relaxing because no one was asking me questions, demanding anything from me and I didn’t have to make any decisions. All I had to do was follow the recipe. It was easy, I could turn my brain off for an hour.

I also forgot how much fun it is. I got into baking a bit this summer, but this was my first foray back into hardcore sift-the-flour, melt-chocolate, use-special-ingredients-baking. I must say the cake was delicious.

Who knows what I’ll make next.

Filed under: Cooking and Food , baking, German Chocolate Cake, relaxing

New Favorite Coffee Creamer

I’ve made it clear that I love coffee as a vehicle for the flavored creamer.

My usual favorite is southern butter pecan. It is smooth, nutty amd creamy, so good. I almost have a mouth-gasm just thinking about it. But I’ve discovered a new flavor to add to my arsenal of flavorliciousness.

It is Mocha Almond Fudge. I wasn’t sure what to expect with this one but its almond (my favorite nut) and fudge (my favorite chocolate candy). It is subtle, chocolately goodness.

If you love coffee and more importantly creamer, you must try it.

Filed under: Cooking and Food, Things I love , coffee, creamer