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CP002 Community Podcast – Advent & Christmas
Welcome to our Advent and Christmas podcast, the second Community Podcast featuring nun other than YOU! During this podcast, we’ll talk about favorite recipes, meal prayers, 
recipes, music, stories. Our first ever was on Thanksgiving and members of A Nun’s Life Community shared about all the things they love about Thanksgiving.
Our podcast format is a bit different from our other podcast because the idea as well as much of the content comes from you, our listeners and members of our community here at A Nun’s Life Ministry.
And you’ll be hearing voices other than Sister Maxine and myself. We invite you to let us know what you’d like to share about your Advent and Christmas faves. Send us an email at sister AT anunslife DOT org and let us know what you’d like to share. You can come on the air with us and talk about your fave or we can read whatever you send us. Feel free to also send us a link to a picture or YouTube video.
Visit ANunsLife.org/live
TODAY
8:30 p.m. Central Time (your timezone)
After the show, we’ll post recipes and any other mentioned links/resources in the comment box below.
For help with listening or calling in to Talkshoe, see our tips on using Talkshoe.
The fun starts at http://anunslife.org/live 
See you soon!
Post-show update:
Click PLAY below or right-click here to download the MP3.
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Hi Sisters, I see you are still in Italy (heehee) so I may need some help getting set up on talkshoe again. I have a YouTube video ready for link and also a recipe. Am looking forward to tonight. See you then.
J – Jesus
O – Others
Y – Yourself
I heard this at Mass today and needed to share it. Bishop Grecco said that you can’t have JOY if the letters aren’t in the right order. Jesus first, then others, then yourself. Such wise words.
I’m not going to be here tonight because of youth group but here’s one of my favorite traditions.
When my parents were just starting to have kids and make their own traditions they decided that they really wanted to keep Advent as Advent and not as Christmas ahead of time. We never set up our Christmas decorations or put on Christmas music until Christmas eve and when we were younger we weren’t allowed to go to Christmas parties. Instead we celebrate Saint Lucia day (Today Dec. 13th) by having an open house. We serve buns in the shape of cats because there is a tradition that says one day when Saint Lucy was taking food to the Christians in the catacombs there were Roman soldiers walking past and they heard a noise. Then a cat walked out and the soldiers thought that the cat had made the noise and went on their way. Here is the recipe for Saint Lucy’s cats.
1) Whisk together in a small saucepan:
2/3 cup water
2 Tbsp milk powder
20 drops yellow food coloring.
2) Heat gently until lukewarm, pour into bowl.
3) add 2 pkgs yeast and 1/2 cup sugar
4) Stir and allow to bubble
5) add 1 beaten egg and 1 1/2 cups flour.
6) Beat well (with paddle)
7) Beat in 1/2 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp nutmeg, and 1/3 cup (5 1/3 Tbsp) soft butter
9) Knead for 3 minutes
10) Place in greased bowl, greased side up and let rise ’til doubled.
11) Make 12 buns and shape them by making a snake then curling the ends, in the opposite direction, toward the middle. Let rise until almost doubled
12) Bake at 375 for 12 minutes.
They are really good if you put powdered sugar or honey in the butter! Enjoy!
JMJ+
~Betsy
Totus tuus Maria!
Thanks, Jeannie and Betsy! Will share the tradition and recipe on the air tonight, Betsy!
Our Nativity set has 13 figurines. We set up our Christmas decorations and tree on Advent Sunday, along with our Advent wreath and Nativity set. Mary, Joseph and the donkey start in one corner of our living room; the three kings in another corner, Baby Jesus is hidden away, and the shepherds, sheep, and other critters are in the place where the Nativity set goes (on top of our sideboard).
Each Sunday in Advent, we move the Kings and the Holy Family + Donkey to another place in our living room, so they make their separate “journeys” through Advent, arriving at the sideboard on Christmas Eve. Baby Jesus is added to the tableau when we get back from Midnight Mass. Our daughter loves thinking up new places to put the Nativity set!
I can’t join, either, but our favorite Advent tradition is to have our own Advent wreath at home. We light it every day and combine it with devotions from one of several Advent devotional booklets we receive or have on hand. Often we will rename the candles; instead of joy, hope, peace, etc., during the year I was pregnant, we named then Zechariah, Elizabeth, Mary, and Joseph and focused our devotions on waiting for a promised child–and the Promised Child.
Another year, when our son was small, our devotional booklet was all about stars. I cut stars out of yellow posterboard and strung them on different lengths of string. After our devotions, candlelighting, and prayer, my son’s father would carry him into the bedroom where they would thumbtack the string to the ceiling. By the end of Advent, he had a ceiling full of start, and we made an extra big one with glitter for Christmas Eve. He was only 3, but he remembers it to this day.
Christmas Morning Apple-Raisin French Toast Casserole
Ingredients
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 cup butter, melted
• 3 apples – peeled, cored and sliced
• 1/2 cup raisins
• 1 (1 pound) loaf French baguette, cut into 1 inch slices
• 6 eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 1/2 cups milk
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
Directions
1. Grease a 9×13 inch baking dish. In a large bowl, mix together brown sugar and 1 teaspoon cinnamon. Mix in melted butter. Stir in apples and raisins until evenly coated. Pour into prepared pan. Arrange bread slices in an even layer over apples.
2. In the bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, vanilla and 2 teaspoons cinnamon. Pour over bread, making sure every slice is fully soaked. Cover with aluminum foil, and refrigerated overnight.
3. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Remove dish from refrigerator while the oven is heating. Bake covered for 40 minutes. Remove cover, and bake 5 minutes. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.
Prep Time: 15 Min Cook Time: 45 Min Ready In: 1 Hr
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Apple-Raisin-French-Toast-Casserole/Detail.aspx
Raspberry Truffles by Julia
.25 cup heavy cream
.5 cup raspberry puree
(thawed frozen raspberries-blended)
1 tbl inverted sugar
(honey or corn syrup)
8 ounces Dark Chocolate
4 ounces Milk Chocolate
.25 cup butter
Cost of these ingredients for 40-50 pieces
=$7.74
Combine cream, puree, butter and corn syrup. Microwave in 1 minute increments until very hot, just below boiling. (approximately 3 minutes)
Pour hot cream mixture over chocolates and allow to sit for 2-3 minutes to soften the chocolate.
Using a small whisk or spatula stir by making quick SMALL circles in the middle of the ganache. Increasing the diameter of the circles as it begins to pull together. Mixture should now look like dark chocolate sauce. Put the bowl in the refrigerator for 24 hours.
Then take a small scoop of the now crystallized mixture into the palm of your hands and roll into a little ball. Place the round ball into unsweetened cocoa powder to coat. Repeat.
Put candy in little waxed papers (purchase at craft store) and festive box!
Pizzelle Recipe (Italian Waffle Cookies) from Sister Julie’s Gramma
6 large eggs
1 1/2 cup sugar
1 cup butter, melted and cooled (or margarine)
2 teaspoons flavoring (vanilla, anise, or lemon)
3 3/4 cups flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
Combine flour and baking powder. Put aside. Beat eggs, add sugar; beat until smooth. Add butter and flavoring; beat. Gradually add dry ingredients. Beat until smooth. Dough will be sticky and can be dropped by teaspoon onto hot pizzelle iron (make sure iron is hot before you drop dough the first time). Cook about 1 minute (or approximately one Hail Mary at moderate pace). Makes approximately 90 pizzelles.
Jeannie “Ave Maria” by Franz Schubert on flute
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E4vlFdi0Vq4&
Sister Maxine and Sister Julie’s Holiday Dance
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MF64FO3vdDE
I don’t believe most of the traditions we have in our family are all that unique. But here is one that I did for years when my daughter was younger that really seemed to be quite appreciated.
For many years, my daughter and I would make a different Christmas ornament – about 15-20 of the same ornament per season. Some were beaded, others made of clay, some bread dough, and yet others with just wood and paint. Once they were finished, we’d hang one on our tree and give the others away to those who invited us over for various Christmas gatherings. Some even went to teachers and other folks. In fact, tonight we were at a family Christmas party. I saw them put a bunch of our old handcrafted ornaments up on the tree!
rose
I mentioned in the podcast that I have a homemade icecream recipe up on my blog. If you click on my name, it will take you through to my blog, or you can go directly to the recipe here: http://pachydermnz.blogspot.com/2009/11/cooking-for-christmas.html
We’ve added a few recipes since your Thanksgiving podcast. Click on the link to see them: http://opblauvelt.blogspot.com/search/label/Recipes
Here’s the cheesecake recipe I was telling you about. I got ot from food network so I doubt there’s copyright. haha
Crust:
2 cups flour
1 cup butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
blend until crumbly. Pat gently into a 9″x13″ glass pan. Bake 15 minutes at 350 degrees F.
Cheesecake filling:
2 – 8oz packages cream cheese
2 eggs
1/2 cup white sugar
cream together until sugar dissolves and mix is smooth with a hand mixer or stand mixer. Pour over crust. This can be done while the crust is still hot.
Streusel topping:
3 apples diced. Place these over the cheesecake mix.
In a bowl mix together:
1 cup flour
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup rolled oats
1 teaspoon cinnamon.
Mix all this together until crumbly and sprinkle over apples.
Bake again at 350 for another 30 minutes.
Let cool and cut into bars. Top with whipped cream & drizzle with caramel sauce.
Note: I replaced the apples once with a can of cherry pie filling and it was delicious. I also used fresh peaches instead of apples once, also very tasty. Any fruit that cooks well can be used. Your imagination is your only obstacle. Have fun and enjoy.