BAKING DONE
Thursday and Friday, folks, that's it. Then comes Saturday...Christmas Eve and the beginning of Hanukkah! I hope all your preparations are going well.
Today, I finished the baking. I made my cranberry pudding. I used to cook it on the stovetop with large kettles filled a third of the way with water and then kept to a gentle roll as the pudding (usually in tin cans) would sit and 'bake?'. I use the oven now by putting the cans in a large container with about three inches of water. There's a lot less fussing this way and it always seems to get completely done.
So, this year I made fruitcake cupcakes, gingersnaps, Russian teacakes, shortbread cookies, depression icebox cookies, sugar cookies, four loaves of banana bread and a large batch of cranberry pudding. Believe it or not, that's a lot less than I used to make but then I had lots of folks who enjoyed sweets at Christmas.
MAYBE IT'S TIME TO STOP RUSHING AROUND AND JUST RELAX
I've seen several blogs beginning to talk about next year's plans. I'm going to wait until next week for those discussions. No sense in rushing things.
And that's what many of us do, don't you think? We rush from one thing to another, one appointment to the next, one holiday leading to another, etc. We experience our life with one eye on the the next thing in our calendar rather than truly enjoying the present occasion. I was and still am guilty of that. But as I get older, I have learned to just be present to now and whatever now is...be it a holiday meal, a visit with friends or just enjoying that first cup of coffee.
I have noticed that many of the blogs I follow, even ones that mostly focus on creative ventures, have written about mindfulness, about being present to each moment of their day. Many connect the current political/cultural atmosphere of fear and anger with a need to slow down and just be. And you know, that's not a bad idea. We all need to take a breather every now and then. Especially when what we perceive is negative.
So give yourself a little break. Be present to what you are doing right now especially if you are getting ready to celebrate the holidays with family and friends. Other concerns will still be waiting for us, so be kind to yourself and give yourself time to breath, to be, to enjoy and be joy-filled.
That's all I have today, folks...
Football tonight - imagine a big smile...
Tomorrow is my Bronx lunch date...
Thanks for visiting...
Talk to you tomorrow...