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Comment by Dept of PMM Artists & things on November 24, 2013 at 4:17pm

Candy Cane Cookies

Cookies:
1 cup unsalted butter
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon almond flavoring
1 cup chopped almonds
2 cups all-purpose flour

Icing:
2 cups powdered sugar
2 to 3 tablespoons milk
Approximately 4 to 6 crushed candy canes
Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C).
For Cookies: Combine butter, sugar, salt and flavoring into large electric mixer
bowl and beat until fluffy. Stir in almonds and flour until well blended.
Roll a heaping tablespoon of dough into a rope and form into a candy cane shape.
Place on well-buttered or parchment-lined baking sheet and repeat using all of
the dough to make 20 to 24 cookies.
Bake until slightly browned, 15 to 17 minutes. Cool on pan until slightly firm,
then carefully remove to a wire rack and cool completely.
For icing: Stir powdered sugar and milk together. Add food coloring, if desired.
Drizzle on cookies and sprinkle with crushed candy canes
Makes about 2 dozen.

Comment by Dept of PMM Artists & things on November 24, 2013 at 4:17pm

Maraschino Chocolate Thumbprint Cookies

2 (10-ounce) jars maraschino cherries
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 baking powder
1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
2 tablespoons milk
Drain maraschino cherries, reserving 1 teaspoon juice. Combine flour, cocoa, salt,
and baking powder in a large mixing bowl; mix well.
Put butter and sugar in medium bowl. Beat with an electric mixer on medium speed 3
to 4 minutes, or until well blended. Add egg and vanilla; mix well. Add flour mixture; mix well.
Put chocolate chips and milk in a small saucepan. Heat, stirring constantly, over low
heat until chocolate melts. Stir in reserve maraschino cherry juice. Let cool slightly.
Shape dough into 1-inch balls. Place on ungreased baking pan. Push in centers with
thumb; spoon 1 teaspoon chocolate mixture into each thumbprint and top with a cherry.
Bake in 350°F (175°C) oven 10 to 12 minutes, or until cookies are firm. Remove to
wire racks. Let cool completely. Store in an airtight container.
Makes about 3 dozen cookies.

Comment by Dept of PMM Artists & things on November 24, 2013 at 4:17pm

Chewy Cranberry Oatmeal Cookies

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 1/2 cups old-fashioned oats
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 cup light brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 tablespoon honey
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 1/3 cups dried cranberries
1 cup white chocolate chunks
Preheat oven to 350ºF (175ºC). Cover two cookie sheets with parchment paper.
In medium bowl mix flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon; stir in oats. Set aside.
With an electric mixer, beat the butter and both sugars until light and fluffy. Beat
in eggs one at a time. Add honey and vanilla; beat until blended. Add the flour mixture
in two additions, beating until well combined. Stir in cranberries and chocolate chunks.
Drop the dough by heaping tablespoons about 2 inches apart onto the cookie sheets. Bake
until the centers of the cookies are soft, about 9 to 11 minutes. Let cool on the sheets
for 5 minutes; transfer to wire rack to cool completely.
Makes about 4 dozen.

Comment by Dept of PMM Artists & things on November 24, 2013 at 4:17pm

sugar cookie recipe
1 cup softened butter
2 cups sugar
1 tsp vanilla
2 eggs
2 Tbls milk
4 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder

Cream butter and sugar together; add vanilla, eggs, and milk and mix until creamy; add flour and baking powder - mix slowly at first so that flour doesn't fly everywhere and then either knead together with a heavy duty mixer, or use hands to blend together into a ball. Dough should form a ball but still be soft.

Refrigerate for one hour.

Roll out 1/4 inch think. Cut cookies and place on baking sheet (I use parchment paper to line the baking sheet) Bake at 350 degrees for 12 minutes. Allow to cool until just slightly warm and frost. This allows the frosting to melt just a little bit and forms a protective barrier on the top of the cookie to keep it from drying out. Allow frosting to dry and immediately cover. If you keep them covered air tight they stay slightly crispy at the edges, yet soft and chewy in the middle.

Comment by Dept of PMM Artists & things on November 24, 2013 at 4:16pm

Yule Prosperity Potpourri

3 Cups: water

4 Tablespoons: cardaman seeds

2 Tablespoons: whole cloves

3 Sticks cinnamon

3 Nutmeg barries

1 Teaspoon ginger

Simmer ingredients together on a stovetop or in a potpourri pot to let the fragrence fill the room.

Comment by Dept of PMM Artists & things on November 24, 2013 at 3:29pm

WINTER SOLSTICE SPELL PRAYER

There are those who fear the night

There are those who don't see light.

from a thousand million suns

since the multiverse began

rain upon us purest light.

Radience fine and radience bright

blessing us with starlights' song

bring us the new and heal the wrong.

Velvet darkness old and wise

draws all up into the skies

let your hopes and fears now flow

to the heavens, make it so.

Give to all the starry night,

let what once was wrong be right.

When you flow so crystal clear

starlights music you can hear

starlights messages you can sense

from the world which never ends

from the realms of beauty free

bringing stellar harmony.

Now to you, and now to me,

lifts us, loves us, lets us see

universal tapestry.

Wonder filled infinity

living light awakens in me.

So it is.

So shall it be.

Comment by Dept of PMM Artists & things on December 16, 2012 at 11:29pm

~~YuleTime Blessing~~

by atendersoul

Yule Blessings

Blessings to you from the Earth Mother.
She is the Moon.
She watches over all of us by.

The light that she casts over the blessed earth.
Walk her night lit path
And happiness you will find at every turn.
Blessed be!

Blessings to you from the Sky Father.
He is the Sun. He holds us up
And brings us strength. Carry his sword
To cleave the evil from your path
And you will be unmolested.
Blessed Be!

Blessings to you from the Great Spirit.
It binds us all together:
Man to womyn; beast to beast; all.
We are it and it is us.
Blessed Be!

May you have a wonderful Holiday.
The time has come for the sun to be reborn
He lies in his Mother's womb waiting...
Awaiting his reappearance on this plane.
Let us all rejoice in his rebirth and ours.
Blessed Be!

Comment by Dept of PMM Artists & things on December 3, 2012 at 1:57pm

Many aspects of this festival are Alemannic in origin, yet go back to earlier agrarian traditions of heralding the return of the sun. We know from the Nebra Disk and the Golden Hats that our neolithic ancestors had a meticulous calendar system in that regard, based on both solar and lunar cycles. During the dark days of Winter Solstice in central Europe it is as if all has withdrawn into deep hibernation, huddled under a pristine blanket of solace.

Indeed, this is what our ancestors understood as the passing of the old into the new; the heavy white frosts an integral process of purifying and regenerating the earth in this period. Thus it is time to tidy up the old homestead and sweep out the foul air with smoldering bundles of antiseptic herbs, particularly aromatic conifers from which the sap was collected to make frankincense. Boughs of conifer were hung over the doorways and hearth, sometimes their logs burnt in the hearth for that same purpose. Their garlands also included holly and mistletoe; the red and white berries representing the life giving elements of blood and semen in the royal marriage between the sun and the earth.

This time was known to us as “Weihnachten” which literally means “Consecrating Nights”; namely cleansing, blessing and taking stock. It was, after all, on these dark nights that the old wilderness spirits and frost giants descended on the community to steal away the sick, old and feeble in what was understood as the “Wild Hunt”. So, it was only wise that one kept a healthy warm and well stocked household to remain safely indoors on such nights. Even when the Romans invaded with their Saturnalia and the Mithras cult, they too had to adapt to the climatic conditions from which these traditions had been born, nor could the Holy Roman Empire do more than adopt them under more Latin labels with the masquerades of Saturnalia (Fasching) pushed to the end of the season. Otherwise the traditions remained the same in principle over the course because they were agrarian, where neither laurel nor palm leaf could grow.

Hence the first “Christmas tree” appeared in Freiburg in the year 1419, in front of the local bakery, where children were allowed to plunder its sweets. Then over the course of the 16th century they became increasing popular throughout the communities of the Upper Rhine Valley as a decorated festive tree erected in town squares much like the birch tree is to this day. Of course the nobility, far and wide, soon adopted this unusual trend with their own decorated trees in the courtyards of their burgs and palaces. Small candles, figurines of wood, sweets, dried fruit and nuts suspended on ribbons made the decorum. Adept wood carvers from the Black Forest readily advanced their skills; evolving the wooden figures into nutcrackers and incense burners- and inevitably, the elaborate candle driven mobiles known as the “Christmas Pyramid”. However, the finer Norwegian spruce was a rare commodity in those days, and didn't become a household item until the 19th century when the demand was enough to prosper planting whole forests of them. Nonetheless, alot of the decorum that makes traditional Christmas in the western world these days, actually came from this region.

 

Comment by Dept of PMM Artists & things on December 3, 2012 at 1:56pm

Among the Germanic people it was customary to bind a wreath of evergreen in the form of the sun wheel, which was then burnt on Yule, marking the end of the solar year. The word "Jul" itself means "wheel of life". The twelve "Raw Nights" thereafter were usually devoted to divination, lighting candles and casting runes each day to foretell what the new year would bring. Over the course of Christianisation however, the yule wreath became the advent wreath with four candles, each lit on the Sundays preceding Christmas eve, whereas for New Year's the Germans adopted the old Roman divination practice  of casting melted lead in cold water, or "Molybdomancy" as it is called. 

This quote from wiki:

Molybdomancy is a technique of divination using molten metal. Typically molten lead or tin is dropped into water.
The method was invented in ancient Greece, and today it is a common New Year tradition in the Nordic countries and Germany and Austria. Classically, tin is melted on a stove and poured into a bucket of cold water. The resulting shape is either directly interpreted as an omen for the future, or is rotated in a candlelight to create shadows, whose shapes are then interpreted.

In Finland, shops sell ladles and small bullions in the shape of a horseshoe for this expressed purpose. Originally made from tin, now they are made from cheaper low-melting alloys based on lead. The practice is known as uudenvuodentina; . World's largest uudenvuodentina, 41 kg, was cast by members of the Valko volunteer fire department in Loviisa, Finland in New Year 2010.

The shapes are often interpreted not only literally, but also symbolically: a bubbly surface refers to money, a fragile or broken shape misfortune. Ships refer to travelling, keys to career advancement, a basket: a good mushroom year, and a horse: a new car.

Comment by Dept of PMM Artists & things on December 3, 2012 at 1:44pm

Make a Tree Topper from Found Natural Items

If your family puts up a holiday tree, it can sometimes be hard to find just the right tree topper. After all, you may not be into angels, Santa Claus might not be your thing, and some of those gold stars are pretty floppy. So why not celebrate the natural aspect of the season, and make a tree topper out of the gifts the earth provides?

Collect an assortment of the following:

Sticks - try to find five with a similar diameter
Nuts, berries or acorns
Small pinecones
Feathers
Vines, bark or dried moss

You'll also need some raffia or cotton string and a hot glue gun.

Cross the sticks over one another to form a star. Use a dab of hot glue to hold them in place while you wrap the raffia or string around the intersections of the five sticks.

Add nuts and berries, pinecones, feathers or pieces of bark to embellish your star. Tie a piece of raffia or string into a loop at the top, and hang your star on the top of your tree.

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