Anglican Christmas Services in Doha, Qatar
Children’s Service:
Crib and Christingle Thursday, 24 December 5 pm DESS
Family Services:
Christmas Day Service Friday, 25 December 10:30 am DESS
Christmas Evening Service Friday, 25 December 7:30 pm DESS
If you need additional information, you can email:
epiphany@qatar.net.qa
The church website is:
http://www.epiphany-qatar.org
Peppermint Candy Ice Cream
Do not use your candy canes for this! Well, you CAN, but you can get plain old peppermint candies, the round kind in Doha, relatively easily, and crust them. Use your Candy Canes for Christmas!
You will not believe how easy this is, and how delicious.
The ingredients for peppermint candy ice cream are wonderfully simple:
Peppermint Candy Ice Cream
3 cups cream
2 cups crushed peppermint candy
You add one cup of the crushed peppermint candy to the cream, put it in the refrigerator overnight. The next day, you stir it, and put it in the ice cream making machine to process. (It will be pink, from the red coloring in the candy)
When it is nearly finished (it is thickened and the machine starts to labor) you put the remaining one cup of crushed peppermint candy in through the tube where you can make additions, allow it to process maybe 30 seconds, then – it is finished.
No, there was no added sugar, there is enough in the candy to make it sweet enough. Because it is pure cream and no additives, it is very very fattening and very very delicious.
In my little ice cream maker, this doesn’t make so much – maybe three cups. Serve in small ramekins, or in the beautiful tea glasses you can find selling in Doha – a little of this ice cream goes a long way, especially if you have other desserts, cookies, sweets along with it. 🙂
St. Nicholas Eve
I’m putting out a little bit of Christmas, and came across these lovely, Palestinian embroidered towels. I’ve had them for around thirty years, and I still love them:
I’m also thinking – we in the west never hear about Palestinian Christians, of which there are / or used to be (?) many. I know there are groups in Jerusalem, working towards the use of Jerusalem as an inter-faith city, and I know they work closely with Palestinian Christians, but are the numbers of Palestinian Christians as large as they used to be?
Advent is a little like Ramadan, or it is supposed to be. The four weeks leading to Christmas are a time for thoughtful meditation, repentance of wrongful things we have done, and contemplating the birth of that special baby, the Gift of God, in Bethlehem. I love Advent; I love the whole peaceful focus and world-holding-its-breath-waiting-for-this-birth aspect.
A mosaic portrait of St. Nicholas:
It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like . . .
I couldn’t believe my eyes – it wasn’t even the first day of Eid, and here were Christmas decorations popping up:
The Ritz is always so glorious with it’s sky-high Christmas tree; whoda thunk you would find so much Christmas in an Islamic country? There is a sense that goes beyond mere tolerance; I feel welcome here.
Hotels to begin Christmas revelries with tree lighting
Web posted at: 12/1/2009 5:41:55
Source ::: The Peninsula
DOHA: The Ritz-Carlton Hotels here, the Sharq Village and Spa and the Doha Ritz-Carlton Hotel, announced they will have their Tree Lighting Ceremony on December 4 and 5 respectively.
Kicking off their slew of Christmas events at Sharq Village and Spa is the Tree Lighting Ceremony at 6pm on December 4. The event will be held at the main lobby of the hotel where the hotel’s general manager Hossein Vetry will light the 15-foot tree.
The event includes performances from carole singers, a visit from Santa Claus and the presence of two elves. Throughout the evening, revellers can look forward to a continuous serving of hot chocolate with marshmallows, juices, apple cider and ohter drinks. Guests will also be offered homemade Christmas confections such as fruit cakes, minced pies, gingerbread cookies, which are also available for sale at the Christmas Gift Shop in Al Jalsa.
The Doha Ritz-Carlton Hotel will signal the start of their Christmas events with the Tree Lighting Ceremony on December 5 at 5.30pm. Guests will be served with cookies, hot chocolate and mulled wine and will be entertained by carolers. Santa will also drop by for a visit. The hotel’s Gingerbread House will also open at the lower lobby at this time.
Mom’s Fruit Cake in Qatar
Life has gotten busy, and somehow November is here and I haven’t made my fruitcakes. I need to fix that! For those of you who think fruitcakes are a joke – my Mom’s fruitcake has a secret ingredient – chocolate. Even people who don’t like fruitcake love this fruitcake.
I am in Qatar – I have brandy. I have rum. No, I don’t drink hard liquor, but oh, they do make my fruitcakes tastier. Today, I will soak the raisins in brandy overnight, so they will be ready to go tomorrow!
I am reprinting this recipe for those of you who would like to give fruitcake a try.
Mom’s Fruit Cake
This is the original recipe. I remember cutting the dates and prunes with scissors when I was little; now you can buy dates and prunes without pits and chop them in the food processor – a piece of cake!
1 cup boiling water
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup lard or butter
1 T. cinnamon
1 t. cloves
3 Tablespoons chocolate powder
1/4 cup jelly
1 cup seeded raisins
1 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 cup candied citron
1/2 cup cut prunes
1/2 cup cut dates
Put all in a pan on stove and bring to a boil. Boil for three minutes. Let cool. Add:
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
Flavor with lemon
Bake at 350° in loaf pans for one hour. Makes 2 normal bread loaf sized cakes.
My variations: I put in about three times the fruit, the difference primarily in the candied citron – I prefer using whole candied cherries, because they are so pretty when the loafs are cut. This recipe doubles, or quadruples with no problems.
Pans: Mom used to line all the pans with brown paper and grease the paper. I grease the pans, then dust with more of the chocolate powder. Use a good quality chocolate, not cocoa. When the cakes come out of the oven, let them cool for ten minutes, loosen them with a knife, then they will shake out easily. Let continue to cool until they are totally cool, then wrap in plastic wrap, with several layers, then foil, then seal in a sealable plastic bag. Let them age a couple months in a corner of your refrigerator. I make mine around Halloween, and serve the first one at Thanksgiving.
I never make these the same any two years in a row.
You know how raisins get all dried out and taste yucky in fruitcakes? The night before you intend to make the fruitcakes, take all the raisins you intend to use (depending on how many fruitcakes you intend to make) and put them in a glass container. Pour brandy over them, to cover. Microwave just to the boiling point. Let stand in the microwave overnight.
The next day, you can drain that brandy and use it in a stew or something, and in the meanwhile, you now have plump, juicy raisins to use in your fruitcake, and just a hint of brandy flavor. Yummmm!
Spectacular Diamond Find
On my Christmas wish list, LLOOOLLLL!
From BBC News
One of the largest, high quality diamonds discovered to date has been found at a mine in South Africa, mining group Petra Diamonds has revealed.
The 507 carat stone, which could be worth in excess of $20m (£12.5m), was found with three other large diamonds.
They were discovered at the famous Cullinan mine, where the largest diamond in history was found more than 100 years ago.
The new find is being analysed by experts to determine its true value.
A 480 carat diamond found at the end of last year fetched $18m.
“The Cullinan mine has again given the world a spectacularly beautiful and important diamond,” said Petra’s chief executive Johan Dippenaar.
“Initial indications are that it is of exceptional colour and clarity, which suggest extraordinary potential for its polished yield.”
Petra said the stone is one of the 20 biggest, high quality diamonds to have been found.
A 168 carat stone was also discovered, alongside one of 58 carats and another of 53 carats.
The largest diamond to be discovered, named the Cullinan, was 3,106 carats. It was cut into nine separate stones, many of which are in the British Crown Jewels.
Family Crisis
The Gospel reading for today details a family crisis. We grow up with these words, we know them by heart, but it is only living in the countries near where Jesus was actually born that I have come to ponder these words in my heart, and try to imagine what it meant in Mary’s time.
Matthew 1:18-25
18 Now the birth of Jesus the Messiah* took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. 19 Her husband Joseph, being a righteous man and unwilling to expose her to public disgrace, planned to dismiss her quietly. 20 But just when he had resolved to do this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, ‘Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.’ 22 All this took place to fulfil what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet:
23 ‘Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,
and they shall name him Emmanuel’,
which means, ‘God is with us.’ 24 When Joseph awoke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him; he took her as his wife, 25 but had no marital relations with her until she had borne a son;* and he named him Jesus.
Living in Jordan, living in the Gulf has helped me so much to understand the context in which this birth took place. In America today, it is still hoped for that women will be married when they have children, but it is not taken for granted. No one goes out and kills a daughter or sister who has had sexual relations with a man before she is married. Parents don’t disown daughters who conceive before the vows are publicly exchanged.
Even now, in the Middle East, most expect women to be virgin at marriage, and to conceive only after the formalities of marriage. There are steep penalties to be paid for varying from that route. Banishment. Death. Dishonor. A bastard child, if she lives that long. These are all things Mary was facing as she entered her earliest months of pregnancy. Joseph had decided to set her aside – not to marry her. He was a decent man, but a man of the times, he didn’t want a pregnant bride. The angel comes – he tells Joseph that this baby is special, conceived of the Holy Spirit, that Mary remains virgin. And miracle of miracles . . . Joseph listens.
What a courageous woman. What a courageous man.
The Most Memorable Present of 2008
You look, and all you see is a candle.
It came with a tag that said “You can burn this candle any time you want.” We laughed until we cried.
When our son was seven, his class took a field trip to a Christmas Market in the German town where we lived. He had saved his money, and bought us Christmas presents there. One present he bought was wonderful – little beeswax candles.
We were delighted. They were beautiful, and they smelled so good! To honor him, we lit one right away.
Big mistake. When he walked into the room, his smiling face turned to utter horror!
“What are you doing??” he cried!
“We are burning your Christmas candle!” we said, proudly.
“No! No! You are not supposed to burn it!” he said, his eyes big and sorrowful! (Bad Mommy! Bad Daddy!)
We quickly snuffed the candle, and saved it, using it only for decoration for many years. I probably still have it, with our Christmas boxes, in storage.
We told this story when we were all together for Thanksgiving, and we all had a good laugh. The laugh was even better when we got this candle, with its note, telling us we could burn it any time we wanted. 🙂
Sunrise 27 December 2008
It’s another beautiful winter’s day in Kuwait. The bone-chilling cold has gone – for the moment, anyway – and the days are balmy high sixty’s (Fahrenheit) – low seventies. At night, you get to wear a light sweater. It is heaven.
The market is still full of Kuwaiti shrimp, which disappear around the 15th of January, when the season finishes. Meanwhile – a feast!
AdventureMan and I are dining on leftovers these days, sounds bad, but Christmas leftovers are the best. Flavors have time to mellow and marry, and we’d rather eat these leftovers than go out to eat!
Smoked Salmon Spread:
Rouladen:
Cranberry Salad:
The faucet in my kitchen is fixed, thanks be to God!
Have a great day, Kuwait.
Il est né le Divin Enfant
One of the first Christmas carols I learned to sing in French:
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