MORE THAN PRESENTS.....

"Light a candle, for the old man who sits staring out the frosty windowpane...for the children who need more than presents can bring...." -"Light a Candle" by Avalon

"For outlandish creatures like us, on our way to a heart, a brain, and courage, Bethlehem is NOT the end of our journey, but only the beginning....

...Not home, but the place we must pass, if we EVER are to reach home at last...." -Frederich Buechner

"...and He will be called wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Prince of Peace..." -Isaiah 9:6

"In the silence of the midwinter dusk, there is a sound so faint, that for all YOU can tell it may only be the sound of silence itself.....

...You hold your breath to listen. You are aware of the beating of your heart...

...The extraordinary that is about to happen, is matched only by the extraordinary moment, just before it happens...

...Advent is the name of that moment." -Frederick Buechner

"Advent....the time to listen for footsteps. You can't hear footsteps when you're running yourself..." -Bill McKibben

"Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you, as the world gives. Do not be troubled, do not be afraid.." -John 14:27

                Pa-rum-pa-pum-pummmmm...

      "...pause in silence, to understand a presence..."

                                                                            -Pope Benedict XVI

"I am determined to enjoy each day to the fullest. I don't want to wish away Christmas..." -Shelley Shepard Gray

                "Advent is a journey...."-Richard Rohr

"Peace flows into me as the tide to the pool by the shore; When sunset burns and dies, You are my deepening skies, give me your stars to hold..." -Sara Teasdale

"The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it...." -John1:5

 Photographs 2025 (Advent of Peace)

CHOCOLATE CRANBERRY FRUITCAKE...

"Do you know what chocolate is made of? It is made of cocoa, dense, strong, velvety... abyss, dark, deep, enveloping..." -Fabrizio Caramagna

….I’ve tweaked the original recipe and changed a few ingredients around to make it work better. Absolutely a favourite. You can scatter chocolate chips on top of the batter before baking....the combination of cranberry and chocolate is definitely wonderful.                 

PREHEAT oven to 300 degrees. Line 7 small loaf tins with veggie sprayed parchment paper. 

Basic recipe makes a normal loaf. I TRIPLE this recipe to get 7 small loaf pans, or ONE angel food cake pan.

                                        

I prefer the small loaves as they freeze well.

Easier to do a TRIPLE batch as then you can have the cake on hand...

So here we go.....recipe is as follows........

"Baking a Christmas cake is a work of art that warms the soul..." -Unknown

A GROUP (SOAK the FRUIT)

                1 cup golden raisins, 1 cup dried cranberries, ¼ cup rum  or other,                  1 cup slivered almonds,1 ½ cups choc chips                                      

"Cake, like Christmas, is ALWAYS a good idea..." -Unknown

B GROUP ( Dry ingredients) 1 ½ cups flour, 1 tsp cinnamon, 1 tsp gr ginger

                 ½ tsp baking powder, ¼ tsp baking soda, ¼ tsp nutmeg, ¼ tsp allspice

                                                      

"Other foods are just food. But chocolate is CHOCOLATE..." 

                                                                                                              -Patrick Skene Caitling

 C GROUP: ½ cup plant butter, ¾ cup brown sugar, 3 large eggs, 2 tbsp maple syrup

                    1/3 cocoa mixed into the softened  butter,  ½-3/4 cup orange juice or other

Fold all together with a wooden spoon or spatula till well combined. Divide between pans

Bake in oven till cake tester comes out clean. This may take 40 minutes to 1 hour. You must test cake periodically, and add minutes to baking timer as needed. Wrap well by putting entire small loaf pan with baked Cake into a freezer bag, and label...

"Christmas is a necessity. There has to be at least one day of the year to remind us that we're here for something else besides ourselves."- Eric Severeid

Photographs 2025

HOLDING HOPE...

"In the stillness of the quiet, if we listen, we can hear the whisper of the heart giving strength to weakness, courage to fear, HOPE to despair..." -Howard Thurman (1899-1981) 

"There is something on the horizon the likes of which we have never seen before....

                                                             

So stay. Sit. Linger. Tarry. Ponder. Wait. Behold..."-Jan L. Richardson ( artist)

"When you have ears to hear and eyes to see... 

                                              

...you will recognize Him at any moment in your life..." -Henri Nouen

"While we wait for God....

                                                      

...we are with God all along, that while we need to be reassured of God's arrival, or the arrival of our homecoming...

...we are already at home..." -Michelle Blake

"The people walking in darkness have seen a great light...

...on those living in a land of deep darkness a light has dawned..."

                                                                                                                                       - Isaiah 9:2-6

"Advent is the art of holding HOPE gently, until it becomes light..."

                    - unknown

"When the song of the angels is stilled...

...when the star in the sky is gone, the work of Christmas begins...." 

-Howard Thurman (author, theologian, civil rights leader)

Photographs 2025. First Advent of Hope.

ISHBELL's SHORTBREAD ...

She was my mother's best friend. For always and forever. She was a talented artist. She had a family. She laughed and believed in the goodness of people. She loved my mother, and my mother counted her as her best friend. My mother fondly called her "Ishbell". She knew my dad. After he was gone, she told me how "Davy" as one in a million, about his generosity and kindness. I only knew him for a short while. Ishbell made him come alive.

My mother was godmother to her daughter, Marie, who became one of my best friends, my "god sister". To this day, Marie and I share a unique bond with each other, a friendship that has lasted through thick and thin. Ishbell gave my mother her the recipe for shortbread one year. Mum made it every year, squishing the tops with silver dragees, then  filling up the glass cookie jar with the  sugar showered rounds. I used to sneak them at midnight knocking off the silver dragees into the sink, pretending  they were marbles... 

                                         

 ISHBELL's SHORTBREAD ( updated with plant butter)

1 pound plant butter (you can use butter), 1 cup brown sugar, 3 3/4 cups flour ( maybe a tad more to get the right consistency of dough) 

"Christmas is the day that holds all time together..." -Alexander Smith

Beat the softened plant butter with the brown sugar till combined like pudding.

Add the flour and combine like pastry.

My mother and Ishbell were  so good for each other. So good for us.  She spent many Christmas evenings at our house, by the fire, listening to me dutifully scraping away at carols on the violin, then playing the same ones on the piano. "Wonderful, dear," she'd say encouragingly, no matter how I sounded. 

Combine dough well, and press into an ungreased, lined, cookie sheet. I used foil, because I ran out of parchment paper. Works just as well. 

Bake at 325 for about 12 minutes, for the first half of baking.

Score the hot shortbread into rectangles, or squares. Place back into oven and bake till brown and baked through. About another 8 or 9 minutes. I just keep an eye on it and lift up a piece to see if it's baked through.

It was always exciting when Ishbell and her family came over. She told stories with my mother, sipped sherry, and munched on fruitcake and shortbread. 

Lovely, sweet lady. I can still see her,in later years, long after mum was gone, surrounded by paintings, drawings, sketches, cards, and wonder. She  was full of wonder and grace. She still called me "dear". I can still hear her soft voice saying "Wonderful, dear..". But she was the dear one, for always and ever....

       "At Christmas, all roads lead home..." -Marjorie Holmes

Photographs 2025   "Ishbell's Shortbread" For Marie.......

                                                  
                                   

          ( "Ishbell" with her daughter.)     Mum walking on Government Stret, Victoria B.C. 1940's