Advent Activity Calendar - December 3

UPDATED***

Scripture Reading:

Isaiah 11:1-3a

"A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit. The Spirit of the LORD will rest on him-- the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of power, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD-- and he will delight in the fear of the LORD."

Country in Focus: Scotland

Tradition: Yule Log

Activity: Make a Yule Log cake.

Materials: jelly roll pan, wax paper, tea towel, chocolate cake mix, whipped cream, confectioner's sugar, chocolate frosting, chocolate sprinkles, silk holly leaves, candles

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Prepare cake mix according to directions.
3. Grease 15X1o inch jelly roll pan. Line with wax paper. Grease paper.
4. Spread cake batter into prepared pan. Smooth top of batter and bake 12 minutes. Top of cake should be set and spring back when ready.
5. Dust a clean (like I needed to tell you it should be clean?) tea cloth with confectioner's sugar. Turn cake out onto the cloth. Roll up cake, jelly roll style. Transfer, seam side down, to a wire rack to cool for 30 minutes.
6. Unroll the cake and remove the cloth.
7. Spread whipped cream over the cake to within 1 inch of edges.
8. Re-roll the cake and place seam side down on a serving platter.
9. Frost with the chocolate frosting including edges of "log". Run fork along top to give it a bark look.
10. Sprinkle with chocolate sprinkles. Add garnishments of your choice such as silk holly leaves or candy holly pieces.
11. Put in the candles which will make the log "burn".


UPDATED!!! Here is a picture of our Yule Log cake.

The good thing about chocolate frosting is that it hides a multitude of problems including cracked cake. So even if you are rolling your cake and it is not working out, don't give up. It will still taste great. Just use your chocolate frosting to hide all!




Background:

During the 16th Century, Scotland banned Christmas, which was seen as a Roman Catholic holiday. As an Anglican country, they found the practice unacceptable, and there were legal ramifications for those caught celebrating. This ban was not lifted until the 1950s! The Scottish being a stubborn lot, often continued their family celebrations quietly, if you can call dancing around the fire on Christmas Eve in a kilt quietly.

One secret custom that they continued was the Yule log. The Yule log was another Germanic pagan tradition modified into a Christmas celebration. Originally used to observe the winter solstice and remember their ancestors, it was adapted into British folklore. Father Christmas was often depicted as carrying a yule log on Christmas cards.

There are many stories about the yule log tradition. It was the darkest time of year, so burning a large log would give off both a great light and much warmth. In the 4th Century AD, Pope Julius I decided to adapt it into a Christian tradition. The log was brought into the home and placed in the hearth. It was sprinkled with oil and fragrances and prayers were said over it. Then personal faults and mistakes were burned with the log so that everyone could start with a clean slate for the new year.

Scottish anthropologist, Sir James Frazer discussed how the Yule log tradition was adapted in his controversial book The Golden Bough: A Study of Magic and Religion. Although he received a great deal of criticism at the time, it was accurate in its portrayal of how many of our Christmas traditions were once part of the winter pagan festival celebrating the winter solstice. Depending on your child's age and their ability to understand, you may want to discuss this with them. Once again, I reiterate that none of these things take away from God's truth. The Church's desire to use things that people already understood to teach them about Christ was not wrong, even if at times as humans they were misguided.

It's our desire to reach people where they are so that we can all grow. At least hopefully that is still our desire today!

Advent Activity Calendar - December 2

Scripture Reading:

Isaiah 37:31-32

"Once more a remnant of the house of Judah will take root below and bear fruit above. For out of Jerusalem will come a remnant, and out of Mount Zion a band of survivors. The zeal of the LORD Almighty will accomplish this."

Country in Focus: England

Tradition: Stained Glass windows

Activity: Start making goody bags. Make stained Glass cookies. (*updated)

Materials: Sugar cookie dough, lollipops or hard candies (I am using Jolly Ranchers), plastic sandwich bags, hammer, wax paper, a baking sheet, and cooking spray or butter (I love Baker's Joy spray) and aluminum foil* (updated!)

Directions:

On a floured surface, roll the sugar cookie dough 1/4 inch thick. Cut the dough into 1/4 inch wide strips. Cover a baking sheet with aluminum foil and grease the aluminum foil.* (updated!) Place the strips onto the foiled and greased baking sheet forming window frames.

Keeping the colors of your hard candy separate, place the candy into plastic sandwich bags and crush them with a hammer. Place crushed candies inside window frames to form a pattern.

Bake for eight minutes or until candy is melted. Cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes or until the candy is hard. Lift the cookies off with a spatula and pull off the aluminum foil*(updated!). Then transfer them to another plate for storage. Use wax paper between layers.

Background:

Every year, my family and I make goody bags for our community. Now is the time to start making the list and doing the baking. It will take about a week and a half to make enough cookies, brownies, pretzels, and bread loaves to go around. I want to encourage you that when you make your list to think beyond the "usual suspects".

Of course, we want to bless our pastor and Sunday school teachers, Scout leaders, and coaches. But there are many people in our community that do things for us every day that we just don't think about. Also, it's an excellent way to reach out to others. When you think about your list, don't forget your mechanic, librarian, video store clerk, bank tellers, fast food workers (yes, I do take cookies to the people working at McDonald's), DMV employees, city tax office, etc. I also keep a few bags with me in the car all the time in case I run into a homeless person at the traffic light.

Remember to tell your children to say "Merry Christmas" when they give their goody bag away. They get shy and forget, even the most rambunctous child! You would be surprised how something this small blesses people. It's a great lesson for your kids!

Why stained glass windows as a Christmas tradition? The idea was suggested to me in a way by my husband. He was discussing the beauty of stained glass windows. He was impressed by the ability of these windows to draw non-Christians to a church because of their beauty.

The history of stained glass windows in the Church is controversial. Although stained glass was used in art by the Egyptians and Romans, it's glory was reached in the Middle Ages. Churches used the window to depict Biblical events or patron saints. By the Renaissance, the staining of the glass improved so that colors did not fade as much over time. During the Reformation, in England, many of the stained glass windows in churches were destroyed and replaced with plain windows. However, in other countries such as Germany, even with the rise of Protestantism, the classic style of stained glass windows continued.

In England, there are still some beautiful examples of stained glass windows that remained undamaged. One of them is Hengrave Hall in Suffolk, which is a private chapel. Another is the Canterbury Cathedral in Canterbury, Kent.

UPDATE!:

When my boys and I made our cookies today, for the life of me I couldn't figure out what I was doing wrong. I remembered making these with my oldest son! After a couple of failed attempts, I realized that I had covered the baking sheet with aluminum foil and then pealed the aluminum foil away. I hadn't remembered that! I cannot even describe the mess that's left behind if you don't.

Here's a picture of one of our disasters.

Funny thing...Tutone pointed out...maybe these were the stained glass windows that were destroyed when the Anglican churches came in and took over! At least he paid attention to the lesson while we were baking!

Our success looked much more appetizing! Good luck! And have fun!

Advent Activity Calendar - December 1

Scripture Reading:

Isaiah 11:10

"In that day the Root of Jesse will stand as a banner for the peoples; the nations will rally to him, and his place of rest will be glorious."

Country in Focus: England

Tradition: Christmas Cards

Activity: Make your own Christmas cards.

Materials: card stock, stamps, colored paper, markers, buttons, glitter, beads, ribbons, card making directions, pictures of your children, scrapbooking scissors, glue, whatever else you can think of!

Background:

The first Christmas cards were printed in London in 1843. Today, too many of us resort to the "e-card". Your great aunt Sally doesn't appreciate email as much as she does a handmade one!

This is a great day to start working on your cards. You probably won't finish all of them today. Let your child help you make the Christmas card list. Think about people that you need reach out to as well as family and friends.

And remember your Christmas spirit! The cards are from your kids, so they are going to look like it!