Holiday baking

This year's holiday baking has included buckeyes (always a favorite), Joe Froggers (more commonly considered gingerbread), and yesterday I went to me mum's, and she, my cousin, and I made chocolate-covered cherries. What a project! It takes some practice and talent, but when you're done, they look great. Chocolate-covered cherries the size of your head! The fondant is the hardest part. The dipping in chocolate I've got down pat from doing two batches of buckeyes.

I also experimented with peanut butter fudge. I used what is actually a frosting recipe, that when I first made it as frosting, I thought, "You know, if I cooked this any longer, I bet it would turn into fudge." Well, it does. It's not as good as my Grandmama's recipe, but for a first attempt at fudge ever, I think it turned out not bad. (Oh, wait. I've tried fudge before. It turned out as hard tack/toffee.)

I also made for dinner last night the ginger peanut soup that whitemartyr gave me the recipe for. It's really quite good. Geo liked it quite a bit, and I'm fine if I have a glass of milk at the ready (it's very spicy, and I have a lower tolerance for burning-lips spicy than he does).

Pondering Carols

I was pondering "Silent Night" a few days ago. I've pondered this before, but this year, I actually shared my thoughts (with Geo, and with a couple people at church. No one had ever thought in these terms before, I don't think). Specifically, my thoughts on how the phrasing of the music is nothing like the phrasing of what's being sung. I bring this up because the lyrics to the traditional carols are so rich and vivid, and yet when we learn them (often as children) we have no idea what we're saying. ( Compare )

Not that I'm *complaining* about this, mind you. I love Christmas carols. The more familiar or unusual or exotic the better. (I love "The Huron Carol," for example; it gives a completely different, amazingly beautiful, and wholey useful image of the Nativity.) As I said, the language is rich in these songs, and much of my musical education came from learning to play Christmas carols. I just find it an interesting point to ponder.

Thoughts?