Getting Christmas Dinner On a Ranch by Theodore Roosevelt

      One December, while I was out on my ranch, so much work had to be done that it was within a week of Christmas before we were able to take any thought for the Christmas dinner. The winter set in late that year, and there had been comparatively little cold weather, but one day the ice on the river had been sufficiently strong to enable us to haul up a wagon load of flour, with enough salt pork to last through the winter, and a very few tins of canned goods, to be used at special feasts. We had some bushels of potatoes, the heroic victors of a struggle for existence in which the rest of our garden vegetables has succumbed to drought, frost and grasshoppers; and we also had some wild plums and dried elk venison. But we had no fresh meat, and so one day my foreman and I agreed to make a hunt on the morrow.

We dismounted to examine them.

      Accordingly one the cowboys rode out in the frosty afternoon to fetch in the saddleband from the plateau three miles off, where they were grasing. It was after sunset when he returned. 

      It was necessary to get to the hunting grounds by sunrise, and it still lacked a couple of hours of dawn when the foreman wakened me as I lay asleep beneath the buffalo robes. Dressed hurriedly and breakfasting on a cup of coffee and some mouthfuls of bread and jerked elk meat, we slipped out to the barn, threw the saddles on the horses, and were off.

      The air was bitterly chill: the cold had been severe for two days, so that the river ice would again bear horses. Beneath the light covering of powdery snow we could feel the rough ground like wrinkled iron under the horses' hoofs. There was no moon. but the stars shone beautifully down through the cold, clear air and our willing horses galloped swiftly across the long bottom on which the ranch house stood, threading their way deftly among the clumps of sagebrush.

      A mile off we crossed the river, the ice cracking with noises like pistol shots as our horses picked their way gingerly over it. On the opposite side was a dense jungle of bull-berry bushes, and on breaking through this we found ourselves galloping up a long winding valley, which led back many miles into the hills. The crannies and little ravines were filled with brushwood and groves of stunted ash. By this time there was a faint flush of gray in the east, and as we rode silently along we could make out dimly the tracks made by wild animals as they had passed and repassed in the snow. Several times we dismounted to examine them. A couple of coyotes, possibly frightened by our approach, had trotted and loped up the valley ahead of us, leaving a trail like that of two dogs; the sharper, more delicate footprints of a fox crossed out path; and outside one long patch of brushwood a series of round imprints in the snow betrayed where a bob-cat--as plainsmen term the small lynx-had been lurking around to try to pick up a rabbit or a prairie fowl.

      As the dawn reddened, and it became light enough to see objects some little way off, we began to sit erect in our saddles and to scan the hillsides sharply for sight of feeding deer. Hitherto we had seen no deer tracks save inside the bullberry bushes by the river, and we knew that the deer that lived in that impenetrable jungle were cunning whitetails which in such a place could be hunted only by aid of a hound. But just before sunrise we came on three lines of heart shaped footmarks in the snow, which showed where as many deer had just crossed a little plain ahead of us. They were walking leisurely, and from the lay of the land we believed that we should find them over the ridge, where there was a brush coulee.

      Riding to one side of the trail, we topped the little ridge just as the sun flamed up, a burning ball of crimson, beyond the snowy waste at our backs. Almost immediately afterwards my companion leaped from his horse and raised his rifle, and as he pulled the trigger I saw through the twigs of a brush patch on our left the erect, startled head of a young black-tailed doe as she turned to look at us, here great mule-like ears thrown forward. The ball broke her neck, and she turned a complete somersault downhill, while a sudden smashing of underbrush told of the flight of her terrified companions.

      We both laughed and called out "dinner" as we sprang down toward her, and in a few minutes she was dressed and hung up by the hind legs on a small ash tree. The entrails and viscera we threw off to one side, after carefully poisoning them from a little bottle of strychnine which I had in my pocket. Almost every cattleman carries poison and neglects no chance of leaving out wolf bait, for the wolves are sources of serious loss the the unfenced and unhoused flocks and herds. In this instance we felt particularly revengeful because it was but a few days since we had lost a fine yearling heifer. The tracks on the hillside where the carcass lay when we found it told the story plainly. The wolves, two in number, had crept up close before being discovered, and had then raced down on the astounded heifer almost before she could get fairly started. One brute had hamstrung her with a snap of his vise-like jaws, and once down she was torn open in a twinkling.

Turning to go into the log house.

      No sooner was the sun up than a warm west wind began to blow in our faces. The weather had suddenly changed, and within an hour the snow was beginning to thaw and to leave patches of bare ground on the hillsides. We left our coats with our horses and struck off on foot for a group of high buttes cut up by the cedar canyons and gorges, in which we knew the old bucks loved to lie. It was noon before we saw anything more. We lunched at a clear spring --not needing much time, for all we had to do was to drink a draught of icy water and munch a strip of dried venison. Shortly afterward, as we were moving along a hillside with silent caution, we came to a sheer canyon of which the opposite face was broken by little ledges grown up with wind-beaten cedars. As we peeped over the edge, my companion touched my arm and pointed silently to one of the ledges, and instantly I caught a glint of a buck's horns as he lay half behind an old tree trunk. A slight shift of position gave me a fair shot slanting down between his shoulders, and though he struggled to his feet he did not go 50 yards after receiving the bullet.

      This was all we could carry. Leading the horses around we packed the buck behind my companion's saddle, and then rode back for the doe, which I put behind mine. But we were not destined to reach home without a slight adventure. When we got to the river we rode boldly on the ice, heedless of the thaw; and about midway there was a sudden, tremendous crash, and men, horses and deer were scrambling together in the water amid slabs of floating ice. However, it was shallow and no worse results followed than some hard work and a chilly bath. But what cared we? We were returning triumphant with our Christmas dinner. Theodore Roosevelt, 1909 Tazewell Republican

More Sites About Theodore Roosevelt:

• Theodore Roosevelt at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• "East of the Sun and West of the Moon – by Theodore and Kermit Roosevelt".
• "Biography from WhiteHouse.gov".
• "Theodore Roosevelt entry at NobelPrize.org".
• "Theodore Roosevelt – Congressional Medal of Honor entry; including citation and pictures".
• "Theodore Roosevelt: A Resource Guide from the Library of Congress".
• "Theodore Roosevelt Dies Suddenly at Oyster Bay Home; Nation Shocked, Pays Tribute to Former President; Our Flag on All Seas and in All Lands at Half Mast". The New York Times January 6, 1919
• Detailed biography from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition (1911)
• "Theodore Roosevelt Association – Founded in 1920 by Roosevelt's friends and admirers to preserve his legacy. Online resources and bibliography".
• Julian L. Street Papers on Theodore Roosevelt at the Seeley G. Mudd Manuscript Library, Princeton University
• Almanac of Theodore Roosevelt
• Theodore Roosevelt Collection at Houghton Library, Harvard University
• Hunting in Many Lands: The Book of the Boone and Crockett Club (1895), Roosevelt, Theodore (Editor). Project Gutenberg. (Also contains a chapter written by Theodore Roosevelt.)
• Theodore Roosevelt at C-SPAN's American Presidents: Life Portraits
• Theodore Roosevelt at C-SPAN's American Writers: A Journey Through History
• Booknotes interview with Nathan Miller on Theodore Roosevelt: A Life, February 14, 1993.
• View works on Natural History by Theodore Roosevelt online at the Biodiversity Heritage Library.
• Roosevelt, Theodore (1911). "Revealing and concealing coloration in birds and mammals". Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 30 (Article 8): 119–231.
• An American Lion Documentary from YouTube

     

A Song for Christmas

Illustrated print from newspaper.

A Song for Christmas

by James Whitcomb Riley.

Chant me a rhyme of Christmas--

Sing me a jovial song,--

And though it is filled with laughter,

Let it be pure and strong

Sing of the hearts brimmed over

With the story of the day--

Of the echo of childish voices

That will not die away.--

Of the blare of the tasseled bugle,

Ans the timeless clatter and beat

Of the drum that throbs to muster

Squadrons of scampering feet.

But, O, let your voice fall fainter,

Till, blent with a minor tone,

You temper your song with the beauty

Of the pity Christ hath shown,

And sing one verse for the voiceless;

And yet, ere the song be done,

A verse for the ears that hear not,

And a verse for the sightless one.

For though it be time for singing

A merry Christmas glee,

Let a low sweet voice of pathos

Run through the melody.

What is a Belznickel?

I crafted this Belsnickel from clay, sheep's wool
and old quilt scraps. See more . . .

  Belsnickel (also Belschnickel, Belznickle, Belznickel, Pelznikel, Pelznickel, from pelzen (or belzen, German for to wallop or to drub) and Nickel being a hypocorism of the given name Nikolaus) is a fur-clad Christmas gift-bringer figure in the folklore of Palatinate region of southwestern Germany along the Rhine, the Saarland, and the Odenwald region of Baden-Württemberg. The figure is also preserved in Pennsylvania Dutch communities. According to the German (Deutsch) Americans, the Belsnickel is a mythical being who visits children at Christmas time. If they have not been good, they will find coal and/or switches in their stockings. The Belsnickel was a scary old crone, not well loved except by parents wanting to keep their children in line.

      Sometimes English speaking peoples get confused about the origins of the Belsnickle and mistake his character for Krampus. However, Krampus and Belsnickle are two separate Christmas characters. Krampus is a wild, horned demon akin to the devil. His name translates to “claw”. Belsnickle never had a tongue that hangs out, only Krampus. Belsnickle, on the other hand, dressed in furs and was very human, save for his short stature. He may have been a fur trapper, a hermit, or a very tall elf or tomten as the little people were called in the Scandinavian countries. His folk tale was passed down to generations of Germans who immigrated to America, primarily to Pennsylvania (the Pennsylvania Dutch/Deutsche). “In Germany, there is a strange old gnome called Belsnickle or Pelsnickle meaning ‘Nicholas dressed in fur,’” from "Christmas Around the House," by Florence H. Pettit (she connects the Pelz with fur in stead of the German verb "pelzen" or "belzen").

      Old European "Santa" characters dressed and acted more like Belsnickles than the current American prototype of Santa Claus of today. Santa Claus in America is generally depicted as a portly, joyous, white-bearded man - sometimes with spectacles - wearing a red coat with white collar and cuffs, white-cuffed red trousers, and black leather belt and boots (images of him rarely have a beard with no moustache). This image became popular in the United States and Canada in the 19th century due to the significant influence of Clement Clarke Moore's 1823 poem "A Visit From St. Nicholas" and of caricaturist and political cartoonist Thomas Nast. This image has been maintained and reinforced through song, radio, television, children's books and films.

Lovely old antique photograph 
of a Belsnickle

      Images of Santa Claus were further popularized through Haddon Sundblom’s depiction of him for The Coca-Cola Company’s Christmas advertising in the 1930s. The popularity of the image spawned urban legends that Santa Claus was invented by The Coca-Cola Company or that Santa wears red and white because they are the colors used to promote the Coca-Cola brand. The Coca-Cola image of Santa Claus is still the popular favored image of the vast majority of North Americans.

       Saint Nicholas of Myra is the primary inspiration for the Christian figure of Sinterklaas. He was a 4th century Greek Christian bishop of Myra (now Demre) in Lycia, a province of the Byzantine Anatolia, now in Turkey. Nicholas was famous for his generous gifts to the poor, in particular presenting the three impoverished daughters of a pious Christian with dowries so that they would not have to become prostitutes. He was very religious from an early age and devoted his life entirely to Christianity. In continental Europe (more precisely the Netherlands, Belgium, Austria and Germany) he is usually portrayed as a bearded bishop in canonical robes. In 1087, the Italian city of Bari, wanting to enter the profitable pilgrimage industry of the times, mounted an expedition to locate the tomb of the Christian Saint and procure his remains. The reliquary of St. Nicholas was desecrated by Italian sailors and the spoils, including his relics, taken to Bari where they are kept to this day. A basilica was constructed the same year to store the loot and the area became a pilgrimage site for the devout, thus justifying the economic cost of the expedition. Saint Nicholas was later claimed as a patron saint of many diverse groups, from archers, sailors, and children to pawnbrokers. He is also the patron saint of both Amsterdam and Moscow.

      In our home, the figure of Santa embodies both the legend of Christmas generosity  and the ideals of the revered abolitionist, Saint Nicholas of Myra. He is dressed in the robes of an elderly gentleman who wanders the planet bringing gifts to all children, whether they are naughty or nice. He does not need to be portrayed as belonging to a particular race or time period, but, he is portrayed as a redeemer of slaves, a lover of Jesus, and kind friend to all little children everywhere. 

Links to The Real Saint Nicholas or Santa Claus: 

• St. Nicholas Center   

Santa Prototypes: 

• View the Coca-Cola Santa Prototype 

My Gift

My Gift

When Santa Claus is hitching up

The reindeers to his sleigh,

I'm going to bring a great big bag

Of love to him and say-

"Dear Santa Claus, please take this bag

And on each Christmas tree

Tie just a little bunch of love

Fast with a memory.

To you dear friend I wish the best

Of all good gifts that are.

Good health, and wealth, and fame, and love,

The last more precious far.

So search ye closely every branch

When candles bright and the tree,

And you will find my bit of love

Tied with a memory."

 

 

        You can make a special gift for the Christmas dinner guests and help your parents make the feast look cheery and bright! Print the place cards below, color them, write each guest's name neatly on their own cards. (check the spelling)  Next, glue the cards lengthwise to clean paper tubes. Now you can roll up a colorful napkin to feed through the tube. Place the card and napkin on top of each guest's plate so that they know where to sit and each person will have a napkin provided to them in that place.

 

Six little soldier place cards to save a seat for special guests. You may need to print more!

The City by The Bay Celebrates Dickens At Christmas

      It is likely that A Christmas Carol stands as Charles Dicken's best-known story, with frequent new adaptations. It is also the most-filmed of his stories, with many versions dating from the early years of cinema. According to the historian Ronald Hutton, the current state of the observance of Christmas is largely the result of a mid-Victorian revival of the holiday spearheaded by A Christmas Carol. Dickens catalyzed the emerging Christmas as a family centred festival of generosity. Its archetypal figures (Scrooge, Tiny Tim, the Christmas ghosts) entered into Western cultural consciousness. A prominent phrase from the tale, 'Merry Christmas', was popularized following the appearance of the story. The term Scrooge became a synonym for miser, and his dismissive put-down exclamation 'Bah! Humbug!' likewise gained currency as an idiom. Novelist William Makepeace Thackeray called the book "a national benefit, and to every man and woman who reads it a personal kindness".

 

Visit the official web pages belonging to the annual Dickens Fair.

Craft Or Print A Victorian Gift Tag

       The Victorian decorative arts refers to the style of decorative applications and design created during the Victorian era, roughly from 1837 to about 1910. Victorian design is widely viewed as having indulged in a grand excess of ornament. The Victorian era is known for its interpretation and eclectic revival of historic styles mixed with the introduction of middle east and Asian influences in furniture, fittings, and interior decoration. The Arts and Crafts movement, the aesthetic movement, Anglo-Japanese style, and Art Nouveau style have their beginnings in the later half of the Victorian era. 

       Many Americans still prefer to decorate their Christmas trees in the fashion of the former Victorians. So, it would follow that there would still be great interest in designing gift wrap, trims, stockings etc... to compliment the Victorian Christmas Theme in the homes of those people who love the Era.

More Victorian Wrapping and Tags: Check out the pinboards by Susan Warner for hundreds of ideas * A sample of a Victorian Christmas Box * Visit TallyHoOxford * Regency Victorian Gift Wrap * Napkin and Nosegay Furoshiki - yes, this is VERY Victorian! * Victorian Christmas Ideas * Victorian Christmas BBC * More color Victorian gift tags from me! *

       "I used a Digital collage sheet I designed to make these tags for a challenge my friend Sandi is having on her blog called "Christmas in the Bank 2013" You can read more about it, and find links to the embellishments I used on my blog post.  You can purchase the collage sheet here."

Print this Victorian gift tag for your packages this Christmas for free. 

I cleaned and redrew this graphic in Photoshop for my visitors; 

Merry Christmas!

 More Links to Learning About Victorians:

• Great Victorian Lives – An Era in Obituaries from The Times
• Mostly-Victorian.com A collection of primary-source documents drawn from Victorian periodicals.
• The Victorian Dictionary
• The Victorian Web
• Victorians British Library history resources about the Victorian era, featuring collection material and text by Liza Picard.
• Timelines: Sources from history – British Library interactive
• Notable Victorian Scientists and Inventors

Craft Your Own Christmas Crackers

Above you can see two different styles of Christmas crackers. The top example is made from
 a recycled cardboard tube and the bottom example is cut from a free stencil that visitors
may download from the web for free.

      The Oxford English Dictionary records the use of cracker bonbons and the pulling of crackers from the early 1840s. Tradition tells of how Thomas J. Smith of London invented crackers in 1847. He created the crackers as a development of his bon-bon sweets, which he sold in a twist of paper (the origins of the traditional sweet-wrapper). As sales of bon-bons slumped, Smith began to come up with new promotional ideas. His first tactic was to insert mottos into the wrappers of the sweets (cf. fortune cookies), but this had only limited success.

      Smith added the "crackle" element when he heard the crackle of a log he had just put on a fire. The size of the paper wrapper had to be increased to incorporate the banger mechanism, and the sweet itself was eventually dropped, to be replaced by a small gift. The new product was initially marketed as the Cosaque (i.e., Cossack), but the onomatopoeic "cracker" soon became the commonly used name, as rival varieties came on the market. The other elements of the modern cracker, the gifts, paper hats and varied designs, were all introduced by Tom Smith's son, Walter Smith, to differentiate his product from the rival cracker manufacturers which had suddenly sprung up.

More Links To Christmas Crackers:

• Crackers from Mini-eco
• Make your own traditional English Christmas crackers
• Make Christmas Victorian Style

A "Silent" Christmas Carol

(The silent film is from 1910)

      A Christmas Carol is a novella by English author Charles Dickens, first published by Chapman & Hall on 19 December 1843. The story tells of sour and stingy Ebenezer Scrooge's ideological, ethical, and emotional transformation after the supernatural visits of Jacob Marley and the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Yet to Come. The novella met with instant success and critical acclaim.

      The book was written and published in early Victorian era Britain when it was experiencing a nostalgic interest in its forgotten Christmas traditions, and at the time when new customs such as the Christmas tree and greeting cards were being introduced. Dickens' sources for the tale appear to be many and varied but are principally the humiliating experiences of his childhood, his sympathy for the poor, and various Christmas stories and fairy tales.

      The tale has been viewed by critics as an indictment of 19th-century industrial capitalism. It has been credited with restoring the holiday to one of merriment and festivity in Britain and America after a period of sobriety and sombreness. A Christmas Carol remains popular, has never been out of print, and has been adapted to film, stage, opera, and other media multiple times.

• A Christmas Carol original manuscript facsimile at Morgan Library with transcription and audio
• A Christmas Carol at Internet Archive
• A Christmas Carol e-book with illustrations
• A Christmas Carol Project Gutenberg free online book
• A Christmas Carol Free solo audio version at Archive.org
• A Christmas Carol University of Glasgow Special Collections
• A Christmas Carol Charles Dickens Website
• Jonathan Winters' A Christmas Carol (from NPR)

''When Santa Claus Comes"

Dreaming of toys for Christmas.

When Santa Claus Comes

A good time is coming, I wish it were here;

The very best time in the whole of the year.

I'm counting each day on my fingers and thumbs

The hour that must pass before Santa Claus comes.

Good-bye for a while, then, to lessons and school;

We can talk, laugh, and sing, without breaking the 

rule;

No troublesome spellers, no writing, nor sums,

There's nothing but play time, when Santa Claus 

comes.

I suppose I shall have a new dolly, of course,

My last one was killed by a fall from her horse;

While for Harry and Jack, there'll be trumpets and

drums,

To deafen us with when Santa Claus comes.

I'll hang up my stocking to hold what he brings;

I hope he will fill it with lots of good things;

He must know how dearly I love supar plums,

I'd like a big box full, when Santa Claus comes.

And now that the snowflakes begin to come down,

And the wind whistles sharp, and the branches are

brown,

I don't mind the cold, though my fingers it numbs,

'Cause it brings the time nearer when Santa Claus

comes.

 

 

        Did you know that a Danish custom is the breaking of china and crockery on New Year's Day against the doors of friends' houses. The family who has the largest pile of smashed crockery before its door is the best-loved. For this custom, Danes hoard all their broken crockery throughout the year! To see what Christmas is like in a Danish city, Copenhagen visit via a video...

Parents, Colin and Meg take their adorable girls to 

Copenhagen to experience Christmas!

"The Snowman"

Cover of children's storybook.

     The Snowman was adapted as a 26-minute animated film by Dianne Jackson for the fledgling British public-service Channel 4. It was first telecast on 26 December 1982 and was an immediate success. It was nominated for the 1982 Academy Award for Animated Short Film. 

     The film story is told through pictures, action and music, scored by Howard Blake. It is wordless like the book, except for the song "Walking in the Air". In addition to the orchestral score, performed in the film by the Sinfonia of London, Blake composed the music and lyrics of the song, performed by a St Paul's Cathedral choirboy Peter Auty. 

      The film ranks 71 on the 100 Greatest British Television Programs in a year 2000 list drawn up by the British Film Institute, based on a vote by industry professionals. It was voted number 4 in UKTV Gold's Greatest TV Christmas Moments.

• Snowman Enterprises, Ltd. Official website
• The Snowman at the Internet Movie Database
• The Snowman at BFI screenonline
• Recordings of "The Snowman" and "Walking In The Air"
• Toonhound: Book (1978), Animated short (1982)
• The Snowman in libraries (WorldCat catalog) —immediately, first US edition
• Father Christmas in libraries (WorldCat catalog) —immediately, first US edition

Christmas Poem by Scott

Christmas

by Scott

And well our Christian sires of old

Loved when the year its course had rolled,

And brought blithe Christmas back again,

With all his hospitable train,

Domestic and religious rite

Gave honor to the holy night;

On Christmas eve the mass was sung;

That only night in all the year

Saw the stoled priest the calice rear.

The damsel donned her kirtle sheen;

The hall was dressed in holly green.

Forth to the wood did merry men go

To gather in the mistletoe.

Then opened wide the baron's hall,

To vassal, tenant, serf and all;

Power laid his rod of rule aside,

And ceremony doffed his pride.

The heir with roses in his shoes

That night might village partner choose.

The lord under a gating share

The merry game of "Post and pair."

All hailed with uncontrolled delight

And generous voice the happy night,

That to the cottage and the crown 

Brought tidings of salvation down.

Antique Belsnickle Postcard

        Download and print these restored antique Christmas postcards to include in your homespun crafts this holiday season! Read our Terms of Use first; images are for personal use only.

This old-fashioned belsnickle carries a fir tree and a sack of toys for some lucky little girl or boy.
 There is a little country church in the background and he is framed with poinsettias.

Belsnickle lights a Christmas taper.

"Grown-Up Christmas List"

Natalie Cole sings "Grown-Up Christmas List."

      "Grown-Up Christmas List" (sometimes titled "My Grown-Up Christmas List") is a Christmas song composed by David Foster (music) and Linda Thompson-Jenner (lyrics), and originally recorded by Foster (with singer Natalie Cole on vocals) for his 1990 non-holiday album River of Love. Though it was also released as a single, the song was not a hit upon its first appearance. 

      The song is about a visit with Santa Claus by an adult who does not ask Santa for anything material for Christmas, but rather nothing but good things for all humanity.

      The original version by David Foster with Natalie Cole also appeared on Foster's 1993 holiday set, The Christmas Album.

      In 2003, former American Idol winner Kelly Clarkson performed "Grown-Up Christmas List" on the show's Christmas special, which resulted in renewed airplay of the song during the holiday season that year.

The Hans Christian Anderson Christmas Village

       This woman is so cute; she reminds me of my daughters. In this film she shares a bit of Danish Christmas tradition. If your in Denmark during the Christmas holidays, the Hans Christian Anderson Market is a lovely place to visit and celebrate some old-fashioned Christmas cheer.

"Good King Wenceslas"

Vintage sheet music of "Good King Wenceslas" lyrics included, CC.

      Wenceslas was considered a martyr and a saint immediately after his death, when a cult of Wenceslas grew up in Bohemia and in England. Within a few decades of Wenceslas's death four biographies of him were in circulation.

      These hagiographies had a powerful influence on the High Middle Ages conceptualization of the rex justus, or "righteous king"—that is, a monarch whose power stems mainly from his great piety, as well as from his princely vigor.

      Referring approvingly to these hagiographies, the chronicler Cosmas of Prague, writing in about the year 1119, states:

"But his deeds I think you know better than I could tell you; for, as is read in his Passion, no one doubts that, rising every night from his noble bed, with bare feet and only one chamberlain, he went around to God’s churches and gave alms generously to widows, orphans, those in prison and afflicted by every difficulty, so much so that he was considered, not a prince, but the father of all the wretched."

      Several centuries later the legend was claimed as fact by Pope Pius II, who himself also walked ten miles barefoot in the ice and snow as an act of pious thanksgiving.

      Although Wenceslas was, during his lifetime, only a duke, Holy Roman Emperor Otto I posthumously "conferred on [Wenceslas] the regal dignity and title" and that is why, in the legend and song, he is referred to as a "king". The usual English spelling of Duke Wenceslas's name, Wenceslaus, is occasionally encountered in later textual variants of the carol, although it was not used by Neale in his version. Wenceslas is not to be confused with King Wenceslaus I of Bohemia (Wenceslaus I Premyslid), who lived more than three centuries later.

The Irish Rovers sing "Good King Wenceslas"

More About "Good King Wenceslas:"

• The Original Words to "Good King Wenceslas"
• Good King Wenceslas Christmas Program
• Good King Wenceslas, The Song and the Story

Oreo Cookie Balls

      Our daughter, Natalie, loves a package of Oreo cookies. But, she loves Oreo balls even more! These cookies are real crowd pleasers at Christmas parties and, yes, they are fattening beyond belief. These cookies are  incredibly easy to make. 

More Recipes Made With Oreo Cookies:

• Cookies 'N Cream Oreo Fudge Brownies 
• Desserts Made With Oreo Cookies
• 15 Creative Ways to Use Oreos
• Oreo Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookies

Sugar Spun Run makes Oreo Cookie Balls

Sandbakelse Cookies

Sandbakelse and their tins.

      Sandbakelse are sugar cookies from the nineteenth century Norway. The dough is pressed into tins, and then baked in an oven. Sandbakelse or 'Sandbakkels' (meaning sand tarts) or 'Sandkaker' are a Norwegian sugar cookie. They are a Christmas tradition in many families. 

      Sandbakelse are made of flour, butter, eggs, sugar, and almond extract - possibly with vanilla or cardamom. After the dough is mixed and cooled, it is pressed into fluted tins. After ten minutes in the oven, popping the cookies out of the hot tins is best left to adults. 

      In 1845 a recipe for sandbakelse appeared in a Norwegian cookbook, but they were not widespread until later in the 19th century. They became popular later than the similar krumkake because sandbakelse required fine flour, which wasn't yet widely available. Emigrants took their tins and recipes west across the sea, where sandbakelse remain an "old-country" Christmas tradition for many Norwegian-Americans.

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup of soft butter
• 3/4 cup of white sugar
• 1 egg white
• 1 3/4 cups of all-purpose flour
• 1/3 cup blanched almonds finely chopped
• 4 unblanched almonds finely chopped

Procedure: Cream the butter, sugar and egg white together and then stir in the remaining ingredients. Chill the dough for a few hours. Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Pull the dough apart in chunks and press it firmly into the sandbakelse tins. Do not unmold the cookies. This cookie dough must bake inside the tins for approximately 12 minutes. Remove the molded cookies from a cookie sheet and let the molds cool. Tap the molds against a wooden bread board to unmold the sandbakelse.

Pfeffernüsse Cookies

      Pfeffernüsse originate in Scandinavia and date from medieval times when spices were used exclusively in holiday baking Pfeffernüsse (also spelled pfeffernuesse in English, in Danish: pebernødder (plural), päpanät in Plautdietsch, and pepernoten in Dutch; singular Pfeffernuss) are small, firm, round biscuits, sometimes with ground nuts. 

      The name translates to pepper nuts in German, Danish and Dutch, describing their spicy taste as well as the fact that many recipes actually call for almonds or walnuts. Bahlsen's pfeffernüsse has no added nuts. Despite the name they do not necessarily contain black pepper.

      Pepernoten are originally a Dutch treat, baked during 'Sinterklaas', a feast on 5 December (6 December in Belgium and Germany) on which little children receive gifts from the holy St. Nicholas, the partial inspiration for Santa Claus. In Germany, Pfeffernüsse are traditionally made during the Christmas season. 

      These recipes often call for the dough to be rounded into a ball. Today they are sometimes produced with a chocolate base. Like most baked goods, there are many variations of pfeffernüsse. While most recipes call for cloves and cinnamon, some also use nutmeg or anise. A Danish recipe for pebernødder requires white pepper, while most recipes don't use pepper at all. Some versions of pfeffernüsse contain pecans, ginger, or cardamom. Pfeffernüsse are extremely hard when they are first baked. For at least a week, it is difficult to bite into them without first dunking into a beverage. However, they soften with age. 

      In Germany they are also known as "Pimpernüsse" in some places, and are traditionally given out at Martinisingen. They are very popular at church concert receptions, especially around Christmas time.   

      Pfeffernüsses are often confused with Russian tea cakes because they are a similar shape and are both generally covered in powdered sugar, but Pfeffernüsses are much more bitter owing to fewer refined ingredients.

Ingredients:

• 

  A plate of pfeffernüsse.

  1/2 cup of soft butter
• 3/4 cup of brown sugar
• 1/2 cup of molasses
• 1 egg
• 1 Tablespoon licorice flavored liqueur
• 3 1/4 cups of all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon of baking soda
• 1 teaspoon of cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon of cloves
• 1 dash of black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon of nutmeg
• powdered sugar for dusting the cookies

Procedure: First preheat your oven to 350 degrees and grease the cookie sheets. Then beat the butter and sugar together until the mixture is creamy. Beat into this mixture the molasses, egg and liqueur until the mixture is fluffy. In a separate mixing bowl, combine the dry ingredients, then mix together both the dry and wet ingredients. Shape the dough into small tablespoon sized balls and bake. Raw dough balls should be placed approximately 2 inches apart on the cookie sheets and these should be finished baking after 12-14 minutes. Cool the cookies on the cookie sheets. Dust the cookies thoroughly with powdered sugar and store them in airtight containers after they have cooled completely. 

German Spice Cookies for Christmas by Food Wishes

More Pfeffernüsse:

• Chocolate Pfeffernüsse
• Flourless Chocolate Pfeffernusse Cake
• Vintage Cookbooks: Pfeffernusse rich in spice tradition

Krumkake Cookies

      Krumkake are centuries-old cookies from Norway. They were originally baked over open fires using decorative irons; however modern cooks use electric or stovetop irons to bake these wafer-thin biscuits. Krumkake are wrapped in a cone shape, and are named for the crumbles left in your hand after taking the first bite.

      Krumkake or 'Krum kaka' (/ˈkruːmkɑːkə/; meaning bent or curved cake, plural krumkaker) is a Norwegian waffle cookie made of flour, butter, eggs, sugar, and cream. Krumkake is traditionally made during the Christmas season. 

      A special decorative two-sided iron griddle, similar to a waffle iron, is used to bake the thin round cakes. Older irons are used over the stove, but modern electric irons offer the convenience of nonstick surfaces, automatic timing, and multiple cakes per batch. While hot, the 13–20 cm krumkake are rolled into small cones around a wooden or plastic cone form. Krumkake can be eaten plain or filled with whipped cream (often multekrem) or other fillings. 

      These cookies are popular not only in Norway but also among Norwegian immigrant descendants in the American Midwest. Krumkaker are traditionally made in preparation for Christmas, along with other Norwegian sweets including Sandbakelse and Rosettes. They offer a sweet dessert after the traditional Christmas Eve dinner of ribs or pinnekjøtt. 

      In Germany, the cookies are commonly filled with sweet stuffings. They are also used as a type of ice cream cone.

Left, Krumkake just off the hot iron, being shaped on a conical rolling pin. 
Right, Krumkake, some dusted with powdered sugar

 Ingredients:

• 4 eggs
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup (approx. 1 stick or 1/2 pound) butter or margarine, melted and cooled
• 2 tablespoons corn starch 
• 1/2 teaspoon cardamom seed 
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Procedure: Beat the eggs and sugar until just mixed; do not over beat. Add the cooled melted butter, vanilla and cardamom seed. Then Sift together the flour and corn starch before adding it to the egg mixture. The batter should have a dough-like consistency.  I have included a youtube video above that demonstrates "how" the batter is then made in on a krumkake grid. This procedure is of course best done with genuine Norwegian cooks in your kitchen. If you do not know any genuine Norwegian cooks, I suppose the recipe may turn out in the long run? 

Note* You do not need a conical rolling pin in order to make krumkake cookies. You may just roll the soft pancake cookie by hand.

Serve the krumkake with with fresh berries and wipped cream piped inside the cookies.

Fattigmann Cookies

Traditional fried doughnuts.

      A traditional cookie which dates from the Middle ages in Norway, Fattigmann cookies are deep fried in unsalted fat.They are also eaten in the areas of North America where Scandinavians settled during the nineteenth century and the beginning of the twentieth century. The dough is made from egg yolks, egg whites, sugar, cream, cognac, cinnamon, cardamom, and flour.

Ingredients for dough:

• 2 eggs, beaten lightly
• 1 tablespoon of sugar
• 3 tablespoons of butter
• 1 3/4 cups of flour
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla
• pinch of salt

Procedure: Beat the eggs gently and then stir into these the sugar, softened butter, flour, salt and vanilla. Combine the ingredients until a soft dough is formed. Roll out the dough on a wooden cutting board that is covered with a dusting of flour. The rolled dough should be approx. 1/8th inch thick. Use a Fattigmann cutter to cut the shapes and make a basic knot from this. Deep fry the cookie dough in the fryer. Cool the cookies on a rack and allow these to drain into paper towels. Sprinkle the cookies with confectioner's sugar from a sifter and serve immediately. Store the left overs in a tight container for freshness.

The Value of a Token

Remember your token.

The Value of a Token.  The following incident appeared in a New York daily: Bent with age but bright-eyed and alert, James Swift, eighty-four years old, was committed at his own request to the almshouse yesterday by Magistrate Krotel, sitting in Yorkville Court.

     "I'm goin' to start for California just as soon as I come out of the almshouse," Swift told the magistrate. The old man displayed a silver watch with copper chain, which he said, was a perpetual pass over the Union Pacific Railroad. It had been given him as a token that he was one of the men engaged in the construction of the road, the presentation being made on the occasion of the driving of the last spike in May, 1866. All he had to do, he said, when he wanted to ride over the road was to show the timepiece to the conductor.

In much the same way are the traditions of Christmas like tokens. All we need do is unpack the examples of mirth, good cheer, delight, childhood wonder, and stories of miracles and promises made to us by God and then, suddenly, we pass over the next hard patch in the middle of the road. We wish for you dear visitor, that Christmas becomes a reminder of good things once had and good things yet to come.

• Christmas, the gift that keeps giving...
• What God Wants for Christmas
• The Wish Book: A Sermon for Christmas Eve