Christmas Countdown 18 : Moravian Spritz Cookies

http://www.ncfolk.org/moravian-cookies/

Today, 8 December, Christmas Countdown 18 is the feast of the Immaculate Conception - a Catholic Church celebration of the birth of the Virgin Mary, free from original sin. I must admit that I had not heard of Christmas cookies called Moravian Spritz, or Moravian Spice Cookies until today. They are prepared traditionally as part of the ritual of observing the Feast of the Immaculate Conception - a national holiday in many Latin countries and significant in the United States.

The spice laden cookies are said to celebrate the purity of the Virgin Mary, since Mary, too, "gave forth sweet smell like cinnamon and aromatic balm and yielded a sweet odour like the best myrrh." In the spirit of Advent, abstinence is practised, for traditionally the cookies must stand for ten days in the refrigerator before baking, and are then shaped into Christmas figures, especially hearts and liturgical symbols.

How did Moravian cookie recipes become popular in the USA?

Preparing Moravian cookies , Leaksville Church, Richmond, USA http://www.newsadvance.com

Moravian Church missionaries came to USA in 1735, from Herrnhut ( modern Saxony, Germany). They came to minister to the scattered German immigrants, to the native Americans and to enslaved Africans. Winston-Salem has one of the highest concentrations of Moravians in the United States, and the city is home to companies that continue the Moravian baking tradition. Aside from the buns and sugar cakes, Moravians are still best known for their signature spice cookie. A descendent of the German Lebkuchen cookie (many Moravians fled Moravia, in the present-day Czech Republic, and settled in Germany before heading to the United States), the Moravian cookie combines a powerful and exotic spice blend with some unique baking techniques to produce a thin, crisp cookie that cannot be resisted.. from http://www.ncfolk.org/moravian-cookies/

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/moravian-spice-cookies/

MORAVIAN COOKIES

1 c. molasses
1 stick butter
1 c. brown sugar
1 tbsp. soda
3 1/2 - 4 c. flour
2 tbsp. grape juice (or wine)
1 tsp. nutmeg
1 tsp. ginger
2 tsp. cinnamon
2 tsp. cloves
1/4 tsp. salt

Mix butter, sugar and molasses. Then add dry ingredients and grape juice; stir to mix well (very stiff dough). Cover and keep in cool place at least 3 days to ripen. Roll very thin (use a cloth-covered, floured board and plenty of flour). Cut with cookie cutter and gently place on cookie sheets and bake at 275 degrees for 8 to 10 minutes. Store in air tight container indefinitely.

from http://www.cooks.com/recipe/2f4vr283/moravian-cookies.html

Because we all love gingerbread, I think this recipe will be a hit.... I am ready to try it today - hope I am not tempted to bake too soon... at least this recipe suggests three days resting rather than the traditional ten!

Christmas Countdown 15 : Christmas Tree #11 - Disposable

Plastic cups https://littlebinsforlittlehands.com/christmas-stem-ideas-kids/ Advent Blog : Day 11 - Disposable We are all so much more conscious about ridding our landfills and oceans of plastic waste. For Christmas, here is a way to use up some of those disposable items which seem to multiply at holiday parties and celebrations, or perhaps you have just been saving them up for a creative use.... Who would have thought coffee pods would make such stylish Christmas trees ? ... Add caption If you don't have one of those machines, then perhaps you have coffee on the run - Starbucks or Nescafe ? from https://www.pinterest.com.au/pin/369858188126737920/ Nescafe cups https://www.pinterest.com.au/pin/72761350208620530/ The disposable cups don' t have to be brand names to work well as materials for Christmas trees. Taking an engineering approach to plastic cup trees seems to be the answer for a more ornate result. from https://www.pinterest.com.au/pin

Countdown to Christmas 20 - Fruitcake song!

There are many songs about fruit cakes - not all of them referring to the Christmas cake we know and love.It is really surprising to learn via Google that there are 89 listed songs with references to Christmas cake or fruit cake - not all of them complimentary. Probably one of the most famous folk songs about Christmas cake is Miss Fogarty's Christmas Cake (a favourite sung by The Irish Rovers). This first recorded comical Christmas song was written by C Frank Horn in 1883 in Pennsylania, as a variation of an Irish folk song, 'Miss Mulligan's Christmas Cake' . The chorus might give you the hint that Miss Fogarty's cake was not for the faint hearted or those who suffered from a weak stomach. Chorus : There were plums and prunes and cherries, There were citrons and raisins and cinnamon, too There was nutmeg, cloves and berries And a crust that was nailed on with glue There were caraway seeds in abundance Such that work up

Fish and Sticks : Art Dolls

This week I've been working on fish and sticks .... The sticks are the message stick art dolls which were very popular, attracting some attention and a few orders at the Wise Women exhibition. Each of the message stick dolls are from the Wise Women series, each with her own personality and message of wisdom, handwritten on a handmade timber tag. I gather the sticks during my walks around my neighbourhood and the tags are made from special bits of timber, some collected by me or my husband or from off cuts gifted to us from another doll making friend whose husband makes bagpipes. These dolls start off very simply with a wrap around a stick, in the general shape of a body. 'Naked" message stick dolls - strips of wadding wrapped around found sticks. Then I usually wrap other layers of fabric, wool, and/or fibres, over which I do some simple embroidery. I sculpt or mould small face masks for these dolls. I really like using "sari ribbon" as wrapping str

Empress Wu Designs with Wilma

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