Cooking Turkey with No Oven?

Have you ever cooked a turkey with no oven in a small apartment with little countertop space? lol. Sounds like fun, eh?

This Christmas was my 3rd time trying it and I'm starting to get the hang of it. I used this roasting pot that sits on the counter top and plugs into an electrical outlet.

Here are close ups of the bird, stuffed with bread stuffing and ready to be cooked.

I roasted this small bird for 5 hours and it was delicious. It fed 3 men and 3 women with no problem and there were plenty of leftovers for snacking and for making turkey soup the next day. The soup was delicious too.

I didn't get a photo of the cooked bird. My my niece was getting very tired by 2:00 p.m. which is the time when she is usually napping. I barely had time to get the bird cooked, feed her and the others and get her home by 3:00 p.m. so she could nap and have another dinner, lol.

How was your turkey this year?

Peace on Earth, Goodwill to Men

"GLORY TO GOD IN THE HIGHEST
AND ON EARTH PEACE, GOODWILL,
TOWARD MEN." LUKE 2:14

Luke 7-14

7 And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.

8 And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.

9 And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.

10 And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.

11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.

12 And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.

13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,

14 Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

MAY EACH OF YOU HAVE
A BLESSED CHRISTMAS DAY
AND MAY GOD GRANT YOU THE PEACE
THAT PASSES ALL UNDERSTANDING.

Santa Was in the Mood for Singing

I ran into Santa when running errands the other day.

He was in a singing mood.

Seems like his arthritis is kicking in as I could hear the creaky noise as he swayed back and forth to the music.

Nonetheless, he is such a reliable old man, always there whenever Christmas rolls around. I wanted you to enjoy his singing and captured it on video...but I couldn't upload them before I left for my Christmas visit with family. As I left, Santa told me to wish all of you a very Merry Christmas as he is going to be rather busy over the next while.

"HO, HO, HO, Merry Christmas!"

Recipes for Christmas

When I was a young girl my mother would make something called dream bars. They were delicious. She got the recipe from the back of a Robin Hood Flour bag. I could not find the recipe any longer in the Robin Hood recipe archives on line but I have inherited the back of the flour bag with the recipe printed on it. I made several batches of these bars this week. One for eating and two for taking to Christmas eve and Christmas Day gatherings.

I have to admit that my version is not as tasty as my mother's. Mom was such a wonderful cook. I find that my base is not as melt in your mouth as her version was but it is still very good, I must hasten to add, lol. My guess is that mom used more butter than called for as she had an intuitive sense for what made a recipe better and she was well known for her fabulous cakes, pies and other goodies.

The other recipe I've provided here is for a type of yeast bread. I like this recipe because it is made in one bowl and doesn't seem to require as much rising time as other breads. I always look for easy recipes whenever I decide to cook or bake.

The bread recipe is from a cookbook entitled "Talk About Good!" which was published by the Junior League of Lafayette, Inc. in Louisiana (copyright 1969). I picked it up in a bookstore as I like the old timey recipes. I found the bread quite delicious in my taste test. It is slightly sweet and I think it will be a delicious addition to the Christmas dinner.  I'm sharing both recipes here as I think you will like them. Let me know if you try them yourself. Happy Baking!

Dream Bars  
Base:
1 1/2 cups of flour
1/4 cup icing sugar
1/2 cup soft butter

Measure flour into bowl. Add icing sugar and stir well to blend. Blend in butter with fingertips until mixture is mealy. Pat firmly into bottom of lightly greased 7" x 11" oblong pan. Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 8 minutes. Remove from oven.

Topping:

2 eggs
1 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
1 cup coconut
1 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 tsp. vanilla

Beat eggs well. Then add brown sugar and beat until well mixed. Stir in coconut, walnuts and vanilla. Spread mixture evenly over partially baked base.

Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for about 30 minutes or until golden. Cut into bars when cool.


One Bowl Bread


2/3 cup lukewarm water
1 pkg. active dry yeast
1 1/2 cup water or milk
1/2 cup cooking oil
2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. baking powder
1 cup sugar
4 to 5 cups flour

Dissolve yeast in a large bowl with water and let stand for 10 to 15 minutes. Add water or milk, cooking oil, salt, baking power and sugar. Stir until dissolved. Then add 1/2 cup flour at a time, stirring until a soft dough is formed and all the flour is blended. Stir dough with hands from side to center for about 3 minutes. Let rise in a warm place for about 30 minutes.

Slightly grease a 14 x 10 inch baking pan. Oil hands and pinch enough dough to make rolls or loaves kneading slightly with hands. Let rise again, approximately 45 minutes and place in a 400 degree oven for 30 minutes. Grease top of rolls or loaves and continue cooking in 250 degree oven 30 minutes until bread is done.

Enjoy!

Christmas in Kericho

My friend Pastor Jonah of the Missions of Hope has been very busy leading up to Christmas.

This past week there was ministry to the children, hospital patients and prisoners, giving out food and drinks to those that cannot afford such things. It really warms my heart.

Here are a few photos

At the Rehabilitation Centre School.

At the hospital.
At the prison.
This weekend his church is having it's annual gathering to celebrate the birth of Christ with Christmas pageantry and music. Then early in the week he will be in leadership meetings before getting to celebrate Christmas with the villagers and his family. I am hoping they get to have a community gathering to share some food and give clothing to some of the neediest children and orphans. I wish I was there to celebrate this part with them as the needs of orphans and widows is very close to my heart.

Wishing you the joys of the season and much love and peace.

Christmas for IDPs in Kenya

Hi friends, my friend Pastor Jonah and other leaders are visiting the Internally Displaced Peoples (IDPs) this week in Kenya. They are trying to show love and provide some food to the people before Christmas. They have been doing what they can for the IDPs throughout the year whenever they can. At this time of seasonal cheer and loving others, let us try to keep our hearts open to those in need around the globe. Please read on. I'm sure your heart will be as touched as mine is. Blessings.

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We are going to visit the internally displaced people this week. God willing, we are gathering food from the villages and towns to feed these people who are living in makeshift camps.

These folks are living in deplorable conditions and need our help. We do hope to distribute what we got, and hope the government will come and help them somehow.

These are trying moments for our country, and we do hope to make some changes in their lives.

Please pray for these people. If you can, give to help these people. Otherwise many blessings over the blessed Christmas season. Pastor Jonah

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If you can help at all, please go here

What a Difference a Day Makes!

Rain, rain go away
Rain, rain go away
Come again another day
Little Johnny wants to play
Little Johnny wants to play

Do you ever remember singing this song as a child? Or perhaps you are a mother now and you sing these songs to your little ones. In case you've never heard it before, here is a link to the nursery song.

I was out and about taking pictures of the rain. It was such a sudden change that I wanted it to go away and let the snow fall for a few days more but it wasn't to be. One good thing about the rain though is that it brings warmer temperatures.

Flying Snow

The other day I wrote about how we were expecting all this snow and it never arrived, just a small sprinkling on Saturday overnight.

Well tonight the snow is really flying. It was fun to be out there doing my little bit of shopping. I wanted to share it with you for many of you who read this blog don't get snow and have never seen it. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

Listen to my greeting.


Happy Snowy Holidays!
Merry Christmas.

Christmas Crackers

My friend Lynda in Tanzania wrote about the history of the novelty Christmas cracker over at her blog today. I love the handmade ones that are made in Tanzania by the residents in leprosy homes.

My family never grew up with this tradition but as I got older I have incorporated it into my tradition whenever I have Christmas dinner at my house. Since mom hasn't been able to travel for some time, I haven't had dinner at my house for a few years. I now make Christmas dinner over at her home when I visit and the family gathers there.

Lynda's blog reminded me that I still have a whole box of unused Christmas crackers that have been languishing in a cupboard. I have now taken them out and will add it to the growing list of things I'll take with me on my Christmas visit.

Here are some pictures of my box of novelty crackers.


Inside there are usually plastic or crepe paper hats (crowns), a plastic toy and a little joke or verse. I think these are quite neat and I like adding them to my dinner festivities. Maybe you also like to have Christmas crackers at your table or perhaps you have never used a Christmas cracker. You can learn all about how to use them here. Happy pulling!

Christmas Moms and Christmas Humour

Some years don't you just wanna strangle the perfect woman who has everything under control and ready waaay before Christmas (jk).Did you ever meet anyone like that? LOL. Here is a cute cartoon about such a scenario.

It is easy for me to be ready in advance of Christmas with no children. It is still a lot of work though I do far less than many women (in part because I don't have my own immediate family for whom I would prepare Christmas). I often marvel how women do it all, especially when they often have a busy job, children, a husband and a household to run for all of them.

My hats off to these super women. I think it is a marvellous thing that so many of them take their home making and household preparations so seriously, especially at this time of year. Without such women and moms, most households would not have the wonderful creation of Christmas memories that their family members look back on fondly with each passing year.

Wishing you moms a joyful holiday season. Don't forget to take time for yourself to rest and savour the joys you are helping to create for your loved ones.

Beautiful Details

For days now I've been hearing about the Arctic Front (and it is cold here). The front is supposed to bring about 15 centimeters of snow over the city starting today and ending Monday or Tuesday.

Today is Friday and though there was some frost on the patio we didn't get any snow yet. It will likely start falling tonight. Apparently after Tuesday we will be having less of a cold snap, and getting more rain. An El Nino, winter of rain (lots), to be exact.

I took advantage of our dry spell and went for a nice walk. I enjoyed my walk very much and spent my time looking at the details of things. Let me share some of those details with you.

Look at the street banners and the bare branches outlining them. You can see how cloudy the sky is. You can almost "feel" snow.
A photo of a dormant tree. I am not much of a gardener but my guess is these leaves will need to be removed in the spring to make way for new growth.
Carvings on the building...way up high. I can see a face in there. Can you? I wonder who it is? I'm joking of course. It doesn't quite look like the usual gargoyles I see with the pointed ears, wings or horns. I am not a fan of those kinds of gargoyle as they are so scary and nasty looking but those kind of gargoyles can also be found on other parts of this particular building. I found this excellent manuscript explaining all about gargoyles here.
A carved pillar adorns the front of the same building. I especially like the pattern on this pillar.
A black metal stair rail gives support to the front steps of the building. I've seen the same kind of stair railings on the stairways of buildings half way around the world.A carved or built up impression (mould) on the building. This reminds me of the provincial flower, the Dogwood.
A close up photo of the mosaic tile in front of the building. The colours remind me of the historic department store, The Bay, which began as a way for Great Britain to exploit the animal furs in the colonial wilderness.A cool detail of several trees and many bare branches lining the gently inclined street. I turned the coloured photo into a black and white one. Then I coloured part of the picture with a beautiful shade of blue to accentuate the bare branches.
A close up of bare branches against a dark sky.
A beautiful little surprise beckoned me as I peeked into this building.I love the atmosphere that the Christmas season brings. Don't you?

I truly hope you enjoy yourself this season; wherever you may be.