HaPPy YuLeMas, Wynter Tidings, and MeRRy Christmas,

Apparently, Naughty can be Nice!

 Sweet Sugar Plums! Daddy's come home...muah!

 I Saw MoMMy KiSSing Santa Claus ~ The Ronettes
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kFj4D11Wmn4

Santa Baby ~ Eartha Kitt
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xOMmSbxB_Sg&feature=related

Fantasia Fairies ~ Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy

 Every Yulemas Eve, its a tradition to fall asleep to Fantasia 

{well, we try anyhow}

Its warm

Its cozy

Its magical

The tree lights glow like the Fairies themselves.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8At8zfh_o3E&feature=related

Yulemas EvE Celebratories with Muppest Christmas Carol and Fantasia

Yulemas EvE finds us, the Parental Units, just as excited as the Sugar Plums are.

Its showers, 

and setting out cookies, and carrots, 

and snuggling up to watch the Muppet's Christmas Carol 

and then drifting off with Disney's Fantasia,

while the lights on the tree mesmerize us into a deep wynter rainbow dream sleep.

After all, in the infamous words of Kermit Kringle, after all, there's only one more sleep til christmas.....

I"m too excited to sleep!

The Monkees Christmas Special ~ December 25, 1967

The Monkees Christmas Special

and dare I say it???

1967!!!!

Fond, Fond MeMories of The Monkees.

All part of the Happy Childhood that I was Lucky enough to have.

Chock fuLL of Shenanigans,

those Cheeky Munkeys!

Add the two together

The Monkees AND Yulemas and You've got a great show.

Frosting on the CupCake ~ aired December 25, 1967!

{okay, I was but a mere BaBe that actual night, 

but I caught on the next go round}

That would make this song the Silver Star Sprinkles that go on the Frosting on the Cupcake.
Absolutely Lovely ~
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yRljpaOe2YI
















  

Have The Man, splash on some Old Spice, pour the eGGnoG... settle in for some Vintage Fun.


This blog has the whole episode in 3 clips:
http://classicshowbiz.blogspot.com/2009/12/monkees-christmas-episode-with-special.html

http://www.monkees.net/default.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Monkees

Spirit of Ursa Yulemas ~ The Yulemas Bear

Bear is a great protector. 

As a Child, Bear would scare Me.

As an Adult, I came to understand Bear, 

She was there for Me, not to harm Me.

Wynter is a time for Resting, and Hibernation, a look inside..

A perfect Tyme, to become One with Bear, 

To give Thanks;

 Especially as We get closer to The Wynter Solstice.

This is the most Sacred time and will be the time of the Alban Arthuan, the Light of Arthur.  This is the Wynter Solstice, Yule or the Wheel of the Year.

In the ancient tales this would be when Bear travels into the dark places,  where We are scared to go, and retrieves the Sun from the Stag, Son of the Heavenly Doe.

Bear hibernates in the cold months, allowing access to the Unconscious in order to blend Introspection, Intuition and Instinct leading to attaining personal power.

This animal reveals the interrelationship between the Person: within the environment of creation, within the clan and within the universe.
Bear helps People recognize personal truth and strength, when to stand up for rights and when to walk away.

It imparts Inner Knowledge that makes it possible for People to seek alternative paths to Their goals.

She represents Primal Power and defends with fierceness from all dangers; She has the ability to use Intuition to find Truth.

This Primal Power and Intuition merge into one uniting Star.

The Yulemas Bear is a reminder to go within,
to find it,
use it,
Become One with it.
Let that Star Shine....
and She does it all with LoVe!
{hence, the Heart at the center of Her crown}

 Printed On Card:

Spirit of Ursa Yulemas {The Yulemas Bear} 
She represents Mother, a Fierce Protector, especially of Her Young. 
She blends Introspection, Intuition, and Instinct so You can recognize Personal Truth. 
She is most powerful during the Yulemas Season, 
with Her power the greatest on Wynter Solstice, 
Her most Sacred Time. 
In Her Hibernation, or Dream Time, 
She goes into the darkest places where We are scared to go, and brings back the Light. 
She is Strength (or primal power) and Intuition 
merged into One Uniting Star, that radiates forth.

Turkish Tea

 

Turkish Tea

 People are paSSionate about Their Tea.

No doubt about it.

Back to that Turkish heritage, Lucky Me!!!

There's a ritual to making Turkish Tea, 

and the right taste is in the brewing to Some, 

   For Me its the amount of water added to the cup. 

To little and the brew is strong, to much and its watery. 

I have a Cousin that went by color, deep rich amber.

{Tea is essential to a Turkish Hostess with the Mostess}


 

                                

The Turkish Mother

While waiting for the cOOkie dough, 

I asked The Turkish Mother to show Me

how to make The Turkish Tea.

Fill the bottom of the Turkish Tea Pot with water.

Put 1 to 2 Tsp. tea leaves in top, with about 2 tbls of water to steam.

Once the water in the bottom starts to boil, 

let it boil approximately 5 mins 

and then add about 1 cup of the boiling water from the bottom to the top.

Let it simmer for about 10 minutes.

 

Add tea brew from top to glass, about 1/3 full.

Add boiling water from bottom to glass

Sweeten with Sugar....I LoVe using Sugar Cubes!

 

 Short and Sweet...

perfect with Turkish Cookies

Fresh bread and cheese

Baklava

Borek

Sour Cherry Preserves and Bagets

Simit Turkish Bread

Turkish Tea

 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turkish_tea

  

Making Tea

 http://www.turkeyforyou.com/turkey_turkish_tea_howto

 Kafkas Sour Cherry Preserve ~My fave brand

 http://www0.shopping.com/xPO-Kafkas-Kafkas-Sour-Cherry-Preserve-380-G

 Simit {`smit} Turkish Bread

 http://mideastfood.about.com/b/2006/10/11/turkish-simit.htm

Borek [Turkish Meat Pie ~ have not made these particular recipes}

http://www.turkishfoodandrecipes.com/2008/12/turkish-borek.html

 The Meaning of Tea {movie/documentary}
http://www.themeaningoftea.com/

Turkish cOOkies

Turkish Cookies

These are the most Fattening, Indulgent, Damn gOOd cookies in the World, 

in my humble onion.

{yes yes, I am ToTally in the Turkish Cookie Cult}

Wait till You see the ingredients!
This is another of My Childhood past~times. My brother and I would get so excited when MoM said "We're making cookies".
One great thing about this dough is that you can play it like play doh. We would use everything from straws to cups to braiding the dough.  
And We would eat the dough along the way.
Over the last several years, it has become a Yulemas tradition now, for all the grandkids to go over and make a batch. 
 A BIGGG!!! batch.

I purchased this bucket of cookie cutters from ABC Distributing  a looooong time ago.
ABC doesn't appear to have them anymore, but Amazon does and it looks like even K~mart might. 
Wilton's 50 piece Animal Bucket. 
The Sheep, Cow, and Cat are my absolute FabFaves.

My Mom bought the Dinosaur and Heart & Circle sets.


The Sheep wins out for Santa's plate.

Turkish Cookies are basically a shortbread type cookie. They are made thick, so they have a cake like consistency. They aren't an overly sweet cookie, sweeter than a shortbread, but not like a sugar cookie. To Me, it's the very slight orange flavoring that makes it a Turkish Cookie  {and also that's what My MoM called them}.  
They are even more YummY the next day after the Flavors have melded, and the texture is perfect.  Now, this is another of the recipes that I've grown up with, so I know more by sight. And translation can be, challenging.


I recommend trying a smaller batch first to get a feel and taste for it. 
I recommend not giving it up. 
It really is worth getting to know. 

My mom calls this a 2 cup liquid batch. all the liquids equal 2 cups.  







Turkish cOOkies:

8 cups flour
5 cups sugar
2 cups eggs
2 cups milk
1 cup melted butter
1 cup oil {cooking}
2 tbls baking powder
2 tbls vanilla
1  to 1 1/4 tsps. Orange Zest


Glaze:
egg yolk
1/2 cup milk


.........like I said, this is a BIGGG! batch {4 families, 8 adults, 7 grandkids}


Mom says there is no order to mix, just put it all in, and start mixing by using your hands.

You want to Fold and Knead kind of together. You want the consistency to be, as she put it "the same as your ear lobe".  It works.  You will also want to taste the dough when you get it mixed for the Flavors. Is it sweet enough you can just taste the sugar? Can you taste the hint of orange? If you need to fix either, I would go about 1/2 cup sugar, with an extra tablespoon. Watch Your Orange Zest, I wouldn't go more than 1/8  tsp. and a pinch, because it will get overpowering and bitter.


Let your dough rest, cloth covered in the refrigerator for at least a 1/2 hour.
Grease Your cOOkie sheets, and preheat the Oven. 
Remember The Rule of the Oven:  Gas and Electric are very different.  Mom bakes her cookies at about 375 in her gas oven.  The electric oven next door had to go to about 350. Do a test cookie or two. You want a golden brown.  Some cracking can occur during cooking, its normal. And watch the bottoms so they don't burn. 

Put your rack in the oven middle.


Lightly flour Your area, take a nice handful of dough and and roll a few times with hands to smooth your dough, and then we just patty cake it on the  floured area. I would say the thickness is 1".  Using your cookie cutters, proceed to cut your stuff. Lay on greased cookie sheet ; make sure you leave enough space for the cookies to rise when they cook, about, um, 1/2". When the tray is full and right before you put the tray in the oven, brush the glaze wash over the cookies and put in oven.  As stated above, watch your golden scale. Once the cookies are done, remove from the tray and place on rack or plate to cool. Store covered when completely cooled.



and of course, EVERY year, everyone wants to eat MY! cookies and leave Their burnt wonky ones for Me.