Advent, Art and German Bread
Hooray for December 1st!
The last day of November is normally a bit of a let down for me. I’m sitting on go to start the Advent calendar and Christmas prep on 1 December. This last little bit of November gets in the way.
This year, I amped it up a bit - helped in no small part with having an EVENT to attend, the Open House at Gloria Mani’s Fine Art and Restoration studio. Great art, nice people, good location - next door to a coffee shop and about a mile and a half from home. My husband has no interest in art or artists, he just dropped me at the door and waved as he drove away to our warm little house. I took my earbuds and phone so I could listen to a podcast while walking back.
I’m still having to really work on my attention and where I place it. Some of you thought it funny that I speed walk while listening to podcasts about Zen meditation. Well, this 10% Happier podcast was on Buddhist meditation and a few minutes into it I’m advised to listen to the wind, listen for any sound around me and take my attention off of my thoughts and DIRECT them somewhere else. Thus gaining control of my mind. Huh. I’ll have to keep working on that one. A bit of a Catch-22, since I have to listen to the monk telling me not to listen to him.
ANYWAY - here are some photos from the gallery. I love her work - lots of color, super loose, a definite Fauvism influence. And isn’t it a cute location? The brick chimney is perfect. The last painting, with detail, is my favorite - the looseness and texture of the cotton field, and the gracefulness of the tree trunks. Unfortunately, I never have much money right before Christmas, I am planning gifts for others instead of gifts for me. (Plus, if I brought one home, my husband would say “I’M SORRY, but don’t you PAINT?” Um, yes, but it’s still nice to fall in love with the work of other artists.)
I also decided, on a whim, to bake some bread. I have TONS of bread flour, because I go through this bread making frenzy every year for a few weeks. Then remember that carbs, no matter how delicious, are not my friend. (I hate to blame the poor innocent carbs, I guess I should really say that I have no self control around carbs. Or ice cream. Maybe someone will start a Carbs Anonymous for the gluttons of the world. They’d make a fortune. Hmmm. Possible new career option?)
Behold the stages of my delicious pumpernickel bread. I had to go German, of course. The color is not due to dark flour, but the addition of unsweetened cocoa powder and molasses - who knew?
The recipe uses bread flour and rye flour. My rye flour is three years old. And I just listened to a podcast last week while weeding - it’s not just walking, people, I apparently can’t perform any manual labor without letting my brain opt out - called “Tigers on the Ceiling”, MrBallen’s Medical Mysteries. 1n 1951, dozens of people in a French village became ill after eating bread made with rye contaminated by a fungus. Ergot poisoning. A late outbreak of St. Anthony’s Fire, the middle ages scourge that ran second best killer to the Black Plague.
I smelled my rye flour. Smells okay. I don’t see any mold. But would french bakers have used moldy flour if they could visibly detect it? Probably not. Well, drat it. I have two bags of the stuff. I’ll take a chance. Tastes very good with a slab of butter and a sprinkle of sea salt. They turned out rather well, don’t you think? It’s been 24 hours and I’m still standing.
And finally, the start of Advent. Advent calenders, my secret pleasure - from the little wrapped pieces of chocolate behind paper doors, or felt toys to hang on a numbered Christmas tree, or even numbered tiny stockings along the mantel.
This year, I went sugar free with my Advent calender. I scored this one at Aldi. I had a little trouble lugging it to the cashier’s conveyor belt while holding on to my other items, but a nice nurse saw me struggling and waved me to the front of the line. Instead of candy, this Advent calender has a CANDLE for every day. Candles and Advent definitely go together. This morning, I lit the Cashmere Snow scented candle and started my Advent Bible reading.
Each morning I’ll have a new candle, and new verses. The premise is, you read the verses then copy them by hand into a notebook or journal. I certainly get more from this than just reading - you have to read several times as you copy, so the verse imprints a bit more successfully. This morning, it’s Isaiah 7:14-17. (I am pleased to tell you I REMEMBERED the book and verse citation without having to go back to the primary source. It works!)
14Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.
15Butter and honey shall he eat, that he may know to refuse the evil, and choose the good.
16For before the child shall know to refuse the evil, and choose the good, the land that thou abhorrest shall be forsaken of both her kings.
17The LORD shall bring upon thee, and upon thy people, and upon thy father's house, days that have not come, from the day that Ephraim departed from Judah; even the king of Assyria.
I always liked the eating butter and honey part, two of my favorite foods, but I didn’t know what it had to do with Jesus. Using a concordance and checking footnotes, butter and honey (or whey and honey, or yogurt and honey) were the food of poor people who didn’t have access to meat. Knowing to refuse the evil and choose the good is age of accountability. The learning never stops, does it? Thank goodness.
In spite of the self imposed holiday pressure - parties, travel, gift giving - December also has a calm center to help us flow into the New Year. Mornings spent with candles, bible verses and a journal - perfection.
Bonus - according to my husband. If I blow out the candles instead of burning them all morning, I can use the Advent calender again next year. Thrifty is his middle name. ;)
