The weekly “little of this, little of that” feature here at Like Mother, Like Daughter!
(This will all look and work better if you click on the actual post and do not remain on the main page.)
Getting closer…
There was a rare tandem foray to the pharmacy earlier this week, the Chief and I; as I waited for him to get his prescription filled, I noticed that they had some giant nutcracker soldiers on clearance.
Sore temptation!
But I resisted… valiantly… maybe I could go back when they were 75% off but what if someone snagged them first? But do I really need giant nutcrackers??
I was telling them in the car on the way home from Mass on Wednesday, and they definitely had a skeptical look. What on earth would anyone do with a 2 ft. nutcracker guy??
But later that day, who should come home with it under his arm… what a great guy!
I am unreasonably happy about this!
My friend Shyla says that this is how collections start… one purchase at the drugstore after another… I don't consider myself a nutcracker collector, but, well, I love him (and the other three on the mantel) so that's that.
In other thrifting news, in the summer I was at an estate sale and found this little cloth for $2 (and the small blue-and-white cake stand at Marshalls, who could resist):
The table is staging ground for a few straggling cards awaiting their addresses, dried oranges ready to string, and a centerpiece that needs sprucing up, like literal bits of spruce to fill it out! Or maybe holly…
Little by little!
If you too have a marble mantel that is also curved, or some other difficult stocking-hanging challenge, you might be interested in this solution.
I had gotten a bunch of those metal stocking-hanging-brackets on deep clearance one year, but they really don't work when deployed individually. They pop off and everything falls to the floor, dragging mantel decor with it.
I got the idea to find a long sturdy branch (pear-tree pruning! I keep it in the attic with the decorations because it's really perfect) and use the brackets to hang that.
The rings are actually shower-curtain rings that are dark and elegant enough to work here — they open, which is important, because you don't want to have to take off each and every stocking to rearrange or access your goodies. But they close in a convincing way.
Under the birdies and dried moss and burlap are a couple of pieces of duct tape, keeping everything stable.
On to our links!
- Just before Advent started, I gave a talk at St. Catherine's in Great Falls, VA. Some asked if it was recorded; it wasn't, but I wrote it out, and it was published this past week in Crisis: The Home: Cradle of Order and Wonder.
Two Advent motets for you (it's still Advent! Light that last candle tomorrow!):
- We sang this one, Rejoice in the Lord Alway, last Sunday (a bit faster):
- When I was a girl, I was totally oppressed by the piano exercises of Zoltán Kodály. I have an almost visceral reaction to his name, and it's not a good one! But all is forgiven with this setting of Veni, Veni, Emmanuel, which we sing tomorrow:
- Fr. Dwight Longernecker with some interesting points about the shepherds who heard the angels' message in Bethlehem. (To be enlarged upon by these reflections of the infancy of Our Lord by Pope Benedict and this book, Salvation is from the Jews, by Roy Shoeman. These are affiliate links.)
- In my opinion, a secondary school's curriculum should include an introduction to Euclid's Elements as its defining study. This is a problem for boot-strapping homeschoolers: who is going to teach this? I am hoping that my skeptical friend Mark Langley will chime in on this beautiful online interactive reproduction of a 19th-century edition of the first six books of the Elements. Will it help? I know we really need an actual teacher, but what if we are exiled where we can't find one?
- A thoughtful meditation on the wisdom of the East, by Thomas More College president William Fahey, to bookmark as we round towards Epiphany.
Here are the cookies I'm currently making:
- These Springerle, the recipe recommended by our friend Alice (who used to be Sukie's roommate in college! You can subscribe to her scholarly reflections on liturgical matters through a medieval lens here). I do like it better than the recipe I'd used before. I have added a little bit of anise oil as well as the seed, and a little lemon oil as well. We find these cookies pretty addictive!
- This shortbread, which I have not yet attempted to roll out/press in my molds. I made the gingerbread version but also added a bit of cocoa because why not.
- And I have some babka rising (this year I doubled the recipe — it freezes beautifully so seems like the thing to do).
Habou has several doughs stashed away — I'll have to ask her what kinds; and Bridget made our favorite sugar cookie dough, which we rolled out with the grandchildren/niece/nephews yesterday. I hope I have a chance to post some baking on Instagram!
From the archives:
- In this post I talk about the O Antiphons and incorporating them into your family devotions (and writing curriculum). Maybe your children would like something beautiful to copy or color in this weekend while the cookies are baking? The resources for this are from the wonderful Jennifer Gregory Miller, who has worked over many years to collect so much of Catholic tradition for family richness.
- If you scroll waaaay down in this post, you will find links to our family favorites in the Christmas cookie department.
- And here's where I chronicled making the babkas using three recipes.
Today we pray the 6th O Antiphon:
O King of all the nations, the only joy of every human heart;
O Keystone of the mighty arch of man:
Come and save the creature you fashioned from the dust.
We’d like to be clear that, when we direct you to a site via one of our links, we’re not necessarily endorsing the whole site, but rather just referring you to the individual post in question (unless we state otherwise).
Kate says
My nutcracker collection started with a marked-down nutcracker from a drug store. Now, we have a big tub full of them in different sizes (no 2ft tall ones yet). When the boys were little, they used to take them from their decorative corners and have games or “battles” with them throughout the 12 days of Christmas. Some of them are looking a little worse for wear and will need a bit of glue before taking up Christmas duty this year. We now live near a German center with restaurants and shops. There is a magnificent shop filled with nutcrackers of all descriptions. There are very expensive, but it’s fun to look.
Leila says
Kate, I don’t know if I would even know where to start looking for upscale nutcrackers!! haha sadly short of German centers around here…
NY Mom says
A desperate question, harking back to your elderberry cordial recipe from posts of yore: I made a double batch of the fermented cranberries and want to divide them among recipients. Do you give or store them drained or keep them in their salt & honey solution?
Also, does the cordial itself need refrigeration?
1,000 thanks!
Leila says
NY Mom — I have never given any away (sounds so ungenerous!) but I store them in their liquid. I think if you give them away, maybe drain off some of the liquid and add some honey?
I don’t know but I’d be interested in what you do!
The cordial does not need to be refrigerated — it has the brandy in it. I would think. I didn’t refrigerate mine!
Bethanne says
The nutcracker is perfect–and it will always hold a special place because your beloved surprised you with it. I am intrigued with the dried oranges. This reminds me of a favorite childhood book that I think was mentioned in the Fahey post: Cranberry Christmas–they used all natural elements to decorate, including fruit and shells. Do you put the oranges on the tree or are they garland for elsewhere? Blessed last few days of Advent and a Holy Christmas to you and yours!
Leila says
Bethanne, here’s the link for the garland we made last year, which we hung in the kitchen: https://www.instagram.com/p/BdDtzhZhjFy/
Annie says
I have a collection of 10 or 11 nutcrackers, given to me by my godmother over many Christmases from middle school through college! Luckily she stopped after that… I brought 4 with me across the country for my husband’s residency and my mom has the rest!! Maybe one day I’ll live somewhere with enough horizontal spaces for 11 nutcrackers…
Ann says
Enjoyed reading your article over at Crisis Magazine. Love your idea of creating “order and wonder” with regard to homeschooling and living our faith within the domestic church. Wishing you and your family a Blessed Christmas and Joyous New Year!
marklangley says
I wholeheartedly agree with you, Leila, that the secondary school curriculum “should include an introduction to Euclid’s Elements as its defining study.” I had seen Byrne’s text a number of years ago when we were wondering if it could be employed at The Lyceum (www.thelyceum.org) to make Euclid more accessible to our students. On the one hand I applaud any effort (well…most efforts) to make students more familiar with Euclid… and I do find Byrne’s Euclid very attractive. On the other hand, I think it is safe to say that the changes that Byrne makes to the text are so substantial that I do wonder if it is proper to say that it is Euclid’s Elements. For example- notice that he feels at liberty to have 35 definitions instead of 23 (in book I). He also appears to be playing fast and loose with the distinction between Postulates and Common Notions (i.e. axioms) Euclid presents 5 of each whereas Byrne presents 3 postulates and 13 axioms. This betokens some philosophical differences between Byrne and Euclid. 🙂
The other concern I have about the Byrne text is that whereas Euclid’s geometry is based in words and statements, which makes it a species of philosophy (in the old sense of the term), Byrne’s text appears to be leaning towards a merely symbolic representation of Geometry. I am suspicious.
It might be the case that only those who have already done Euclid would be able to appreciate Byrne’s attempt. I wonder if the ordinary student would see what it is that he is trying to do.
I think I would prefer your former idea about making the attempt to film a Euclid class to present home schoolers in an online format.
Leila says
Thank you, Mark! I knew you would have something trenchant to say about this. I see what you mean about the changes.
When can we expect the Lyceum Euclid Series on video? 😉
Sonja Maierhauser says
Leila, I look forward every week to your thoughtful, funny and often beautiful posts. What a surprise to find one here at the end of Advent! Thank you again for such a good, true, and beautiful blog.
Shamassy Monica says
I made the Plum Pudding and it wasn’t that hard- totally doable and smells delicious! (I used coconut oil it it seems to have worked great.)
Logan says
Merry Christmas LMLD!! Thank you for another year of wonderful writing!