Christmas Memories 2

My husband had to prepare to speak in church. He was assigned to speak about Christmas and the Christ. He had sent out emails to each of the children asking them what their memories of Christmas were. He asked them if one or two Christmas experiences stuck out. I had a lot of fun reading them and going back in time, when the children were young and still thought that mom and dad were cool Both our girls said the Christmas that really stood out was the Christmas they got a trampoline. It was amazing how the two girls said just about the same thing, word for word! This topic of favorite Christmas' started me thinking. What was my favorite Christmas, and did one stick out?

Yes, one did stick out for me. It was a Christmas that stood out for Melissa too. It was the Christmas that two of our children were serving missions. (That is why it stood out for Mel, she was one of our missionaries.) That Christmas, we had only one child home, and she was home just for the holiday and would be returning to BYU-I. We put the tree up on my birthday, the 17th. It was not very a jolly time either. Try as I could, I was missing my two missionaries. Our youngest child, Fay, picked up on this and put her arm around me telling me to cheer up, because the next Christmas was just around the corner. I survived the tree!

On Christmas day we did something very out of normal. We gave up our Christmas dinner and worked all afternoon and evening at a homeless shelter. It was very hard work to prepare all the food to feed the tenants. But what I liked best of all, was the behavior of our Fay. She was busy actually filling plates up and bringing them to the individuals. I often saw her place her hand on someone elses hand and saw her speak words of encouragement to them. I saw a beautiful young woman care for others, more than she cared for herself. It's no wander she is a nurse, taking care of others.

Christmas Memories

Christmas morning in our family meant that the children could come down stairs AFTER 7:30 am. They would wake up much earlier, but Christmas didn’t start until 7:30. They were then allowed to open their stocking and then we had breakfast. Breakfast was always Rice Pudding. This was a tradition Mark brought home from serving a mission in Norway. Hidden in the rice pudding was an almond. (Remember, Fay always got it) Whoever got the almond was awarded a dollar. This last year Mark took me to Disney World. While there we found a wonderful cookbook from Norway. I finally was able to make the Rice Pudding, or Rice Cream in Norway, the right way. I made it today just as a practice run before the real thing on Christmas morning. It was so easy, and I have never tasted anything like this! I am attaching the recipe, so you can use it too, if you carry on this tradition. It can be easily made the day before and left in the fridge. I love you all and had lots of fun getting phone calls from each of you today. The girls are still wondering how Thom managed to beat them all! Gotta love that boy!

From a kitchen in the Antartic? (We are in the middle of a blizzard here!)
Love you tons
Mom

Rice Cream
¾ C long grain rice, not minute rice
½ t salt
4 C Whole milk (I used skim and it was just fine)
½ C Sugar
1 t almond extract
1 pint whipping cream, whipped and sweetened to taste
½ C chopped almonds
1 whole almond

Cook the rice and salt in milk in a double boiler until rice is soft and mixture is thick, about 1.5 hours. (I ended up cooking it for 2 hours. You can make your own double boiler by putting a smaller pot into a larger pot.) Add sugar and almond extract. Chill. Add chopped almonds and the whole one. Stir in the whipped cream.


But the real reason for writing this is thst I wanted to share an experience. Since our last RS general meeting where President Uchtdorf spoke about service, I have many times, planned my day around what I could do to bring a smile to someone's face. Last Monday, we had 70 mph winds and had ice and compact snow in parking lots. At Fred Meyers I got out of my car and started my trek to the store, when I saw a very elderly lady trying to get to the store also and without falling. She had a cane and was leaning on it very heavily. I walked up beside her, and linked arms with her and told her how difficult this weather makes it to get to the stores. We walked all the way to the store like that. I had never met her before, but on that day, I showed an older lady some respect and care that she deserved and most of all, I put a smile on her face!

moms bread

When my parents were married in 1945, there were not a whole lot of material conveniences to bring into a new household. But mom had a unique way of making Dad and others feel loved and cared for. She baked home made bread.
There is nothing more inviting and mouth watering as coming home to the aroma of home made bread, and Mom's recipe made four beautiful loaves. But Mom did something very special with her bread, she always gave the prettiest loaf away.
In 1962, when I was seven years old, my Dad suffered a massive heart attack. He was unable to work for more than a year. Not only did we come close to losing Dad, but we lost most everything else. We lost Dad's business, our extra car, the boat, the trailer, and almost our house. However Mom found enough work to keep us fed and even managed to make her bread, always giving the prettiest loaf away.
One of the jobs Mom worked was as a row-boss in a berry field. The days were very long, and the sun would always burn her. In fact she was often called Dorothy, the Red-Nosed Row-Boss. After a few years of this, she found a job as a dental assistant. Though the workday was long and Mom was tired when she came home, she still made time to bake her, bread and to give the prettiest loaf away.
I will never forget the day when Mom called me into the kitchen to teach me the fine art of bread making. She carefully told me of each ingredient, taught me how to knead and to shape the dough into loaves. But the most important part was to give the prettiest loaf away.
When I was a senior in high school my Mom was diagnosed with breast cancer. She had a Radical Mastectomy and then went through Chemotherapy and Radiation. She lost her hair numerous times, she suffered terrible burns from the radiation, but all through these hard times she continued to bake her bread and to give the prettiest loaf away.
Mom's condition deteriorated as her cancer metastasized and it became increasingly difficult to keep up with her bread making. Normally, after Mom gave a loaf of bread away, the remaining three loaves lasted about one week. One day Mom realized that she could not give a loaf away and still have the energy to make enough bread for she and Dad to last the week. Our family all agreed that it was time to think of herself first. The day the decision was made to not give a loaf away, Mom went about her baking. She did nothing different, she used the same recipe, adding nothing extra. But while the bread was rising, Mom decided that she really did need to give a loaf away. This tradition was so ingrained in her life style, that she could not let it go. As Mom went to shape the dough into loaves, she found there was too much dough for the four regular loaves. In fact there was just enough dough for a fifth loaf! Mom could give the prettiest loaf away and still have enough bread for she and Dad to last the week.
From that day forth, Mom's recipe made five loaves. The day arrived when she was too weak to get out of bed to make the bread herself. Dad called me to come home to help Mom. Her time left here on earth was very near over. I took over mom's bread making that day, with Mom passing away a few days later. I have continued Mom's legacy, but try as I may, I cannot get mom's recipe to produce any more than four loaves. Is it missing some secret ingredient? No, miracles do happen. “…for it is by faith that miracles are wrought; and it is by faith that angels appear and minister unto men…” (Moroni 7:37) I know this, because I have witnessed it.


Mom Dennis' Bread Recipe
1/2 C water (warm)
5 C hot water
1 C brown sugar
6 tsp. salt
1/2 C oil
16 C flour
Soften yeast in 1/2 C warm water, Combine hot water', brown sugar., salt, oil and 4 Cups flour, beat well. Add yeast. Beat well, Add remaining flour. Knead. Let rise twice.
Makes 4 loaves.
Cook at 375 for 30 minutes.