What is Christmas really for?

“Blessed are those who mourn, 
for they shall be comforted."
~ Matthew 5:4

Christmas is for those who hurt and are broken... for those who are lost and have no other hope...

Yes... we hurt. We are broken in spirit. Our hope grows dim at times. 
To whom shall we turn?

⁰ 
"The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me,
Because the Lord has anointed me
To bring good news to the afflicted;
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
To proclaim liberty to captives
And freedom to prisoners;
To proclaim the favorable year of the Lord
And the day of vengeance of our God;
To comfort all who mourn,
To grant those who mourn in Zion,
Giving them a garland instead of ashes,
The oil of gladness instead of mourning,
The mantle of praise instead of a spirit of fainting.
So they will be called oaks of righteousness,
The planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified."
~ Isaiah 61:1-3

Yes, in this baby, in this Jesus, is the hope we so desperately seek!

"For unto you is born this day 

in the city of David a Savior, 

who is Christ the Lord. 

And this will be a sign for you: 

you will find a baby 

wrapped in swaddling cloths 

and lying in a manger.” 

~ Luke 2: 11-12

"Do not let your heart be troubled; 

believe in God, believe also in Me."  

~ John 14:1

Christmas is for those who mourn that they might find hope.

Today...

That they may know they are not alone in their sorrow... 

and pray...

Photo: Simple Mom

Simple Cookies with Big Flare!

I love all those gorgeous Christmas cookies that are beautiful decorated with all sorts of icing and such. You know the ones... like Martha Stewart makes.

But seriously... during the holidays, one of the BUSIEST times of the year, who has time to do all that? I wanted something that LOOKED spectacular, but really didn't require too much effort. Something the kids could help with.

Found it. Jay's Catering in Garden Grove, California had these DARLING cookies. So I took their idea and made my own using a simple gingerbread recipe. I did modify them a bit... Jay's uses two cookies and sandwiches them between a cream filling. I skipped the cream filling.

So how is this so simple? Well the cookies are just rolled balls, not cut outs. Second, the white on them is just melted white chocolate... dip and dry. EASY. Finally, the red and green holly leaf is about as easy as you can get with icing. You can crank these out in mass quick as a wink!

I'm including the Gingersnap recipe for you here, but I would add more ginger if you want that sharp ginger taste, especially since the chocolate or candy melt softens it a bit. Personally, I wanted more of a bite to the cookie so as to compliment the mild candy taste. Really, you could use any cookie recipe and just decorate it accordingly.

For the "chocolate", I just used Wilton's White Candy Melts, so they really aren't chocolaty, but if you can find the chocolates it would be even better. For the holly berries and leaf I used Wilton's Meringue Powder and coloring.

Gingersnap Cookies
from Joy of Baking
Makes about 4 dozen cookies

Ingredients

3/4 cup (170 grams) unsalted butter, room temperature

1/2 cup (105 grams) dark brown sugar

1/2 cup (100 grams) white granulated sugar

1/4 cup (60 ml) unsulphured molasses

1 large egg

1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

2 cups (260 grams) all purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

2 teaspoons ground ginger

1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

Garnish: extra granulated sugar

Directions

In the bowl of your electric mixer (or with a hand mixer), beat the butter and sugars until light and fluffy (about 2 - 3 minutes). 

Add the molasses, egg, and vanilla extract and beat until incorporated. 

In a separate bowl whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, and spices. Add to the butter mixture and mix until well combined. 

Cover and chill the batter for about 30 minutes or until firm. 

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C). Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. 

Place about 1 cup (200 grams) of white granulated sugar in a medium sized bowl. When the dough has chilled sufficiently, roll into 1 inch (2.5 cm) balls. Then roll the balls of dough into the sugar, coating them thoroughly. Place on the baking sheet, spacing about 2 inches (5 cm) apart and, with the bottom of a glass, flatten the cookies slightly. 

Bake for about 12 -15 minutesor until the cookies feel dry and firm on top.  (The longer the cookies bake, the more crisp they will be.) Cool on a wire rack. 

Enjoy with a cup of Christmas tea!

Wrapping Up Christmas

No, it's not over yet. I'm talking about gift giving... wrapping paper. This year I wanted to do something a bit different and so I pulled together a few Pinterest ideas to create my own unique version.

Basic brown kraft paper from the dollar store, a red ribbon, an old photo printed from the computer, and the recipient's name stamped on front (I just wrote in black sharpie on the back who the gift is "from"). And since these are shipping out via postal service, they'll pack nicely in boxes without messing up the ribbons.

For the photos I selected some scenes from a past Christmas together, but I'm thinking I may go further back... WAY back and do a few from our childhood. Wouldn't that be fun? If you don't like the black and white theme, you could print these in color, or sepia, or whatever suites your fancy. And these were just printed on standard printer paper and glued to the front with a glue stick. Definitely simple and frugal (and I had such fun looking at the old photos!).

To give each package an extra special touch, I used a bit of that red and white baker's twine I'm so fond of lately to "tie it up" a bit...

Food gifts are a big item in our family... we like to share what we make that's really yummy. Using supplies I had on hand, I covered the jar in white paper, tied it up with some more red and white baker's twine, added a tag telling what's inside, and a sticker with our name embossed on top.

Years ago I invested in a simple embosser with our name on it and I've used it again and again. For the sticker, I just used some large printer labels for shipping in white and cut out 2" circles using a Marvy jumbo paper punch. (This is another excellent investment that I use all the time for gift giving tags with various embossers).

Understated, with just a touch of Christmas. These will go in kraft paper bags along with a scone mix and then accented with red gingham paper, a red ribbon, and some rosemary, boxwood, and pine tied to the front along with a stamped tag. (If you don't have a pine tree, but you have a cut Christmas tree, reach up underneath or deep inside and cut a few smaller branches. You can also use any evergreens available in your area.)

And with that, Christmas will be all wrapped up... simple. frugal. beautiful.

Barn Hop #91

Welcome to the Monday Homestead Barn Hop where you're invited to link up your blog with your very best post of the week; something happening at your homestead or something of interest that will help benefit fellow homesteaders. Plus, each of the 3 Homestead Barn Hop hostess selects her favorite post of the week to highlight the following week. So be sure to visit all three blogs because the "Featured Homestead" could be YOURS!

Thank you to everyone who has been linking back to Homestead Revival, The Prairie Homestead, or New Life on a Homestead. It's like flying the colors of the homestead community and showing others the way to a great life living closer to the land! 

I just had to share this post with you all. Melissa at Tilly's Nest has an excellent tutorial on making Candy Boards for bees during the winter. Now I realize not everyone is as excited about this kind of thing, but if you even THINK you might want to keep bees at some point, check this out. It's the best way I know to feed bees during the coldest part of winter when traditional methods might cause the sugar water to freeze. And most first year hives, they are going to need some feed to supplement them so they don't starve before the first nectar flows in spring.

"...Honeybees work. they work all spring and summer to store up enough pollen and honey for their colony to survive the winter. However, sometimes, their best efforts are not enough and they can end up starving to death if their supplies run out.... sugar syrup and freezing temperatures do not agree, thus, those keeping bees in colder climates must feed their bees another way." 

Nicely done, Melissa! I need to get mine completed this week so my wee friends can have a feast!

If you've been featured in the past...

If you've been a featured blogger on the Barn Hop, either today or in the past, we now have a special button for you should you wish to add it to your sidebar stating that you've been a featured blogger! You can find it on my button page by clicking the hen with the blue barn on my sidebar that says "HR Buttons". It's a good idea to link it back to the page where you were featured so your readers can see where you're actually mentioned. (These buttons do not have a code since it needs to be linked to the page you're featured in and it will change from week to week. Just copy the button or drag it to your desktop).

Join The Barn Hop!

Jill @ The Prairie Homestead

Kendra @ New Life on a Homestead

and Amy @ Homestead Revival...

...invite you to link up and share your homesteading adventures!

Did you share any cool new homesteading tips on your blog this week? If so, we’d love to have you link up below! Even if you don’t have a blog, we always welcome your comments!

Please remember that the Homestead Barn Hop is meant to be a place to share homesteading related encouragement and inspiring ideas specfically related to homesteading. In an effort to keep our weekly round-up clutter free, links which are not specifically homestead related, and any promotions such as giveaways, contests, carnivals, etc, will be deleted in order to maintain the integrity of the Barn Hop. Please remember this is a family friendly link up. Any pictures or posts linked to the hop which aren’t appropriate for our children to view or read will also be deleted immediately. We’re pretty conservative, so we ask that you use good judgment and err on the side of caution. 

Make sure that you link to your Barn Hop post, not your blog’s main page, so your guests won’t have any trouble finding your great tips!

We would also appreciate it if you would link back to the Homestead Barn Hop in the post that you share! Feel free to grab the banner at the top of this post to link back to us with.

Want a chance to be a “Featured Homestead” next week?

Be sure you've included an actual link to the Barn Hop, preferably the button, on your post or sidebar, with a link back to us. Thank you for sharing the message about the Homestead Barn Hop!

Occasionally there is a problem posting due to glitches in the internet or the Linky Tools. If you have difficulties posting and it does not show up immediately, please wait a little while and try re-posting (this helps avoid double posting). We're sorry for any inconvenience this may cause, be we do not have absolute control over the internet. Thank you for your patience and understanding!

Coming, next Monday...
On December 17th, the Barn Hop Ladies will be hosting a special link up where we are asking readers to only post something related to Christmas or the Holidays. So dig out your best recipe, snap some shots of your decor, research the origins of your family traditions... whatever it is that you want to share related to Christmas or the Holidays, be ready to link up at the final Barn Hop of 2012. (There will be no Barn Hops on December 24th or 31st).


Don't forget...
The Preparedness Challenge Grand Finale is going on right now! Link up and share what you did to prepare this past month and you'll be entered to win a Wondermill Junior Deluxe!

Preparedness Challenge 2012 Grand Finale!

Welcome to the Preparedness Challenge! Each month of 2012 USA Emergency Supply has generously hosted a great give away to encourage families to set something aside to prepare for a time of emergency or the unexpected.

I've been so excited to see how many of you have been preparing. And although link ups on here have been down a bit (due more to my lack of promotion probably than anything else), overall, I'm hearing and seeing more and more people taking preparedeness seriously. 

Recently Jamie Lee Curtis was on a late night show and brought her Bug-Out bag with her to show viewers. Nice, Jamie! It took some courage to "come out" and share that she's a prepper, too! 

Toni at A Bowl Full of Lemons has just launched her new Emergency Preparedness E-Book... Way to go, Toni! Yesterday, she started the first week of her 8 week Emergency Preparedness Program, so you're just in time to get started with her! I  haven't had an opportunity to view the e-book yet, but it's got a lot of printables as well... LIKE that. I think it's going to be great as she's VERY organized.

Todd at Prepper Website launched his FREE new journal this past month called The Preparedness Review, with some awesome articles. I was very excited to be included in his publication as well as his featured December Website of the Month (should be posted next week right here so check back if you want to see some fun answers to the questions he asked me!). If you haven't read the Journal, you need to click the link above and download it... the publication is free and full of great information. 

Finally, I want to say a H.U.G.E. thank you to Justin at USA Emergency Supply for so faithfully supporting the Preparedness Challenge all year long with such wonderful give-away items! He has a huge heart for this and has been extremely generous... please take a minute to stop by his website today and just say "thank you" for supporting families getting prepared. 

Speaking of give-aways...


Last month's give away winner is...

Langela @

Langela won the bucket toilet with deodorant and digester! Congrats, Langela! Email me when you get a chance, please.

This month's give-away...

As a grand finale to our 2012 Preparedness Challenge, USA Emergency Supply is offering an End-Of-The-Year Blast for our give-away...

Wondermill Junior Deluxe

Value $219!

What an amazing give-away item! Woo hoo! Someone is going to be VERY happy with this mill. Rather than me tell you all about it here, please take a quick cyber-jump to see the details of this item for yourself. Can you imagine how handy this would be in an emergency?

How I Met The Challenge!

• Food Storage:  I added some awesome organic walnuts to my food storage from Fillmore Farms, as well as lots of canned tomato products, rice, and beans.

• Emergency Preparedness: I set up a family medical notebook which has all our most important medical information all in one place, including copies of major tests, etc. (More details on that to come in a later post, I hope).

• Sustainable Living: I scored big in this department... 3 commercial truck loads of wood chips for the garden for only $50! I'm talking a HUGE pile! I think I'm finally set for getting the garden Back to Eden. I also acquired another book... The Apple Grower by Michael Phillips. I'm considering a small orchard out back and this book focuses on doing that organically. 

Join the Challenge & Enter The Give Away

I'm doing things a bit differently for our Grand Finale... using Punch Tab to record your entries (see below). I am just asking that you please do not participate unless you can comment and tell at least one thing you did this month to be prepared. And please pass along this post and share the give-away. Helping a friend or another blogger take up the challenge could someday save a life. We're in this together, friends!

Friday Inspiration: Stamped Cookies

There are a lot of different cookie ideas out there, but to keep things simple, I'm going to share only one today. One that I've never thought of, but an ingenious idea, if you ask me! The photo says it all, but you'll find more information and a recipe at Scullery Made.

Such a sweet idea, don't you think? Any firm cookie dough that doesn't spread too much would work. I may try this with my Swedish Pepparkakor Recipe.

Time to get baking!