★~♥~♥~★~ El Morno! ♥~★~★~♥ ~
December 13,2012
★~ Todays Quote: In the right light, at the right time, everything is extraordinary. ~Aaron Rose
★~ Santa Lucia Day:
Santa Lucia Day: According to the old Julian calendar, December 13th was the longest night of the year. The ancient people were very much aware of the diminishing daylight and feared the cold and hunger that accompanied the sun’s decline. Men yearned for a friendly spirit to intercede and restore the light to the earth. Over many centuries, this spirit of light became personified in St. Lucia, the Queen of Light. In the present day, St. Lucia’s Day is most commonly celebrated in Sweden. “Lucia,” usually the eldest daughter who comes singing the ancient Sicilian song “Santa Lucia,” awakens families all over Sweden.Dressed in white and wearing a crown of lighted candles, she presents saffron buns and Christmas cookies to members of the family.
I wrote about how children who attend a Waldorf school celebrate St. Lucia Day last year.
This year, I will share the bun recipe for St. Lucia day for all of you who have Kitchen Aid Mixers ( I now know 8 people who have bought a new Kitchen Aid Mixer this year. Odd)
St. Lucia Bun Recipe This is NOT a Pioneer Women Bun Recipe.
★~ Cocoa Day:
Cocoa is the champion of wintertime beverages because no one wants to come home after a day of sledding and relax by the fire with a mug of orange juice. Whip up some hot coco to enjoy with your Santa Lucia Buns! And for lovers of Green Chili, I’m told this is an excellent recipe:Green Chili Hot Chocolate
★~ Ice Cream Day:
For those of you paying close attention, yes, we have already had holidays to celebrate ice cream flavors, ice cream cones, ice cream sodas, ice cream sandwiches, and ice cream sundaes. Does ice cream really need an additional day of reverence? Of course it does! And there’s no better opportunity than in the midst of the sweet-tooth overload that is part of the holiday season. Scoop up some of your favorite holiday flavored ice cream and celebrate Ice Cream Day! Might I suggest peppermint ice cream? Ho Ho Ho.
★~ Today in History:
♥~ 1913 – Leonardo da Vinci’s La Gioconda or, Mona Lisa for us art neophytes, was returned to the Louvre Museum in Paris after a two-year absence. The stolen painting was recovered and was valued at that time at $5,000,000. In 1962, appraisers set the value at one hundred million dollars. It is said that Mrs. Gioconda’s only payment for four years of modeling was free entertainment by jesters, players and singers.
♥~ 1961 – Grandma Moses (Anna Mary Robertson Moses) died at the age of 101. The self-taught artist took up painting in her sixties; having her first showing in New York City at the ripe, young age of eighty. Her style was nostalgic and primitive — mostly rural scenes: The Old Oaken Bucket, Christmas at Home, The Quilting Bee.
♥~ 1978 – The Philadelphia Mint struck the first Susan B. Anthony dollar coins, with 1979 dates and the first “P” mintmark since the silver nickels of World War II. Denver production began on January 9, 1979, and San Francisco minting began on February 2, 1979. The Susan B. Anthony dollar, the first coin to honor a woman, was not a hit with the public for several reasons, most importantly because it was often mistaken for a quarter.
★~Born Today:
♥~ 1913 – Archie Moore Boxing Hall of Famer: Light Heavyweight Champ: only boxer to have fought both Rocky Marciano and Muhammad Ali; career: won 194, lost 26, drew 8, KOs 141 [world record], no contest 1; died Dec 9, 1998
♥~ 1925 – Dick Van Dyke Emmy Award-winning actor/comedian: The Dick Van Dyke Show, Diagnosis Murder
♥~ 1929 – Christopher Plummer (Orme) Emmy Award-winning actor: The Moneychangers [1976-1977], Madeline [1993-1994]; The Sound of Music
♥~ 1949 – Randy Owen musician: guitar, singer: group:Alabama:
♥~ 1989 – Taylor Swift songwriter, singer: LPs: Taylor Swift, Fearless; singles: Tim McGraw, Teardrops On My Guitar, Our Song, I’m Only Me When I’m With You,Picture To Burn; she was highest-selling artist of 2008 in the U.S. with combined sales of more than four million albums; CMA Entertainer of the Year [2009]
★~ Did You Know:
♥~ The upside of this upside-down 7-foot pre-lit Christmas tree is that you’ll have more room for presents underneath! This strange tree was originally designed for specialty stores to display ornaments while using as little floor space as possible.
♥~ It’s probably too late for you to start doing this one: the awesome Mountain Dew Christmas Tree. It took about 3 months of soda drinking (approximately 400 cans of Mountain Dew) and 4 days of building. Link (with video clip)
♥~ If you’re into knitting and crafts, why not knit yourself a Christmas tree? Like this big one done by about 1,000 knitters at Eden Project.
♥~ Don’t want to bother with shedding pine needles or the hassle of putting together an artificial Christmas tree? You can make one out of books and magazines like this Shelf Tree
♥~ Singapore jeweler Soo Kee Jewellery created this Christmas tree with 21,798 diamonds totaling 913 carats and 3,762 crystal beads. The tree looked like (and was actually worth) a million bucks! Link
♥~ This is the mother of all Christmas trees: a gigantic 7-story “tree” made from 350 regular-sized artificial trees!
♥~ This Pac-Man Christmas tree inspired in the most classic arcade game is on display in Madrid, Spain. It was made of colored LEDs and to make it even cooler, it’s an animated version!
♥~ Nothing says Merry Christmas like a Sushi Christmas Tree!
♥~ And for those looking to simplify Christmas this year.
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El Morno will conclude with the music of St. Lucia Day.
Do you have a favorite type of Christmas tree? Real, Scotch Pine, long needle. Artificial, flocked, big, little, pink? Care to share a picture? E-mail it to me and I will post it on Odd. Katybethj at gmail dot com.
Wishing you a wonderful day. I will be back later to muse about Cole’s Christmas concert last night.
♥~
Morno,
I won’t make those buns but I did find a bakery on the way to work that makes them so I will stop on my way in to the office. Only wish I had a basket,a candle crown and could sing.
The mountain dew Christmas tree is cool. I put up a tabletop Christmas tree my daughter bought me. One of my favorite ornaments is a small golf bag with my initials.
Need to get a move on if I am stopping for buns. Have a good one.
Mike, please no basket or crown but singing softly could work.
Mountain Dew is so awful…now if they made it with Coke it would be much improved.
Sounds like a Christmas ornament that fits you to a tee. Ho. Ho. Ho. I amuse myself.
I love tradition. St. Lucia reminds me of a scene from the movie,The Ref. one of the funniest movies, ever.
I have never seen that movie. Does anyone die? Any animals in it? Horses on mountains? Violent?
Bad language, no animals, no death. Dennis Leary is in it – must rent for the holidays.
No way I am making those buns but I might look for them at the bakery. It’s a beautiful tradition. I like that shelf Christmas tree. How clever!
I like a real tree and we usually buy it at a neighborhood lot which supports the school.
Off to do a little Christmas shopping and enjoy lunch with a friend. Fun day. Hope you have a fun one too.
Oh Liz come on make the buns. Give it the old college girl, I can do it try. What is the worst that could happen?? Nobody ever asks me that but surely you will have more luck!
saffron buns reminds me of my mom…….one of her favorites to make & enjoy.
very creative trees. the uoside down tree…….hmmm.
i prefer short needle trees. we have a fir……fraser i think. maybe noble. nikki isn’t much interested in it unless she sees me with head under watering it.
ice cream deserves multiple days honoring it.
i can never view your videos from work. they deem all inappropriate…….
The buns are really tasty. We buy them at a Swedish bakery. It’s a long standing school tradition and who am I to buck TRADITION! The videos…well some are boarderline inappropriate but I usually issue a warning…However NEVER on St. Lucia Day—just beautiful music..nothing like the mooning Santas I just sent my sweet Mama.
the video screening filters are extra sensitive. i have no issues with your taste!
That upside-down Christmas tree discombobulates me! It looks like it shouldn’t stand. I do love the diamond version, though, and the Pac-Man one is interesting, too. I tend to prefer an artificial tree, big and beautifully decorated. Real trees with their pine sap just irritate my allergies!
The upside down tree is so cool!! Would you suffer the allergies for the jeweled tree??
By the way if you ever have sap on your hand–toothpaste removes it speedy quick. Just thought you should know…why? because I like you.
Maybe I’ll make those buns, maybe not. Today I have made 10 pounds of fudge and 1 apple pie. Tomorrow I’ll do a cake and cookies. Next year I swear I’m sending recipes. You know, give a pesron some fudge and they enjoy it for a week. Give them the recipe and they can enjoy fudge forever!!!
MJ
Well if you do make some please send some to your grandson.
I can’t ever remember having those rolls, but I’m sure my Swedish grandma must have made them sometime in her life. Now the Swedish Korv is to die for. If you haven’t ever had it,give it a try. It is usually fixed with carrots an potatoes in a pot on the stove. You must be sure to stab the Korv a few times with a fork so it don’t split open as it cooks. For more info on this let me know. I try to have it around the holidays. The Lute Fisk is another story and will go into that another time.
Looking forward to hearing about Lute Fisk…Of-course I haven’t had Swedish Korv either. I will have to google it as I have no idea what Korv is….