The sun is shining,
but I added a wool blanket to my bedclothes
this winter morning.
Today’s a nipping day, a biting day;
In which one wants a shawl,
A veil, a cloak, and other wraps:
I cannot ope to everyone who taps,
And let the draughts come whistling thro’ my hall;
Come bounding and surrounding me,
Come buffeting, astounding me,
Nipping and clipping thro’ my wraps and all.
-Christina Rossetti
Before January is half over, I will share the last of my Christmasy activities and images. I don’t want to wait until next year to tell of the occasion shown above, when my grandsons Raj and Rigo were quick to lend a hand moving decorations into the church, the Sunday before Christmas.
I went back to having a freshly cut tree this year; it only required getting help from a friend and a son. But I had no time to trim it before family started arriving, so Raj and Rigo helped me with that, too, almost as soon as they walked in the door.
One toy I bought in advance of figuring out whom I would give it to, was these Magnet Men. 
They turned out to be the perfect toy to give to the whole bunch of (nine) kids to play with together, and in my house they provided hours of fun. For most people, I think, the refrigerator might be the only object they could interface with, though I heard of children using a set of dumbells for a Magnet Men playground.
They are very acrobatic, and hold on to each other, as you can see, but my entry and stair railings made the perfect equipment to show off their gymnastics. I sent all the cute toys home with the grandchildren, but maybe I should have kept some here, where they are the most fun.
I had a friend over for tea one day and used some of my Christmas gnome placemats for the last time, serving up the last of the Christmas cookies I’d baked, and four little pieces of rose-flavored Turkish Delight that I’d bought especially for Christmas. That rose candy was so beautifully flavored, to me it seemed the exotic star of every plate of sweets. If only it weren’t so, so sweet…. but then, it wouldn’t be Turkish Delight.
We Glads have a few Christmas traditions that we return to, not always every year, but when the combination of people and days aligns properly. I’m thinking of oyster stew, which came through Mr. Glad’s German and English families. Or was it just the German side? I have made it many times using the recipe in the Joy of Cooking that my mother gave me at my marriage. This year son Soldier volunteered to make the stew, which is really a bisque or soup, and he began to read the recipe in that book.
Soon everyone in the kitchen was laughing uproariously as he read aloud the amounts of some ingredients. For example, 1/4 teaspoon chopped onion, and “a sliver of garlic.” I didn’t see how much onion Soldier put in, but I heard that several cloves of garlic were minced and added. From my garden I brought in chives and parsley, which were used in generous quantities. After all 18 of us were seated at two tables, the oysters were dropped into the broth, and soon the glorious stew was served into bowls and set before those who were willing or eager to try it. I found it to be the best I’ve ever eaten.
I have another “Overthrow the Tyranny of Months” calendar from Beauty First Films, which leads me in joyful anticipation of upcoming weeks, often several more than four at a time. Here is the page I’m looking at now:
How sweet is it, to have my 2025 calendar start with Christmas Day?? I’m waiting until February 2 to take my tree down, and will wait until next December to write any more about Christmas. More feasts and seasons are upon us, the days full of good things.
One of those that happened in our family recently was the birth of my son “Pathfinder’s” first grandchild, my second great-grandchild. I may need to meet him before I will think of a nickname, and he lives a good distance from me, so you will have to wait for details. The Whole Glad Family welcomes Little Guy ❤
Rejoice Evermore!
I myself live in northern California, far from the fires that are devastating large areas in the southern part of our state. The situation doesn’t affect me directly, but I do have friends and family who are suffering and still endangered, as many of you probably do, too — not to mention all the thousands of people whom we don’t know who are literally embroiled in this disaster. So I appreciate this prayer that just came to me through email, and which may give relief to your hearts’ groanings as well. I transcribed the text below the image.
O Lord our God, keep our cities and every city and land from the ravages of fire 
and ruinous wind. Strengthen our firefighters and emergency workers who labor heroically to preserve life, limb and dwellings from destruction. Protect from harm those who are in danger. Draw near, Heavenly Father, and comfort those who have suffered terrible loss and devastation. Uphold the grieving and provide for the evacuated, displaced, and bereaved. Calm the winds and send us gentle rains to quench the conflagrations.
Visit us all with repentance, and renew our faith. Hear our cry, O God our Savior, the Hope of all the ends of the earth and of those who are in the midst of calamity, and be gracious, be gracious, O Master, upon our sins, and have mercy on us. For Thou art a merciful God and lovest mankind, and unto Thee we ascribe glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, now and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen.
In former times I used to make moussaka at least once a year for special occasions, like my late husband’s birthday. I hadn’t made it at all in the last ten years or so, until last week when I decided to bake up a double batch for an event. I buy a half a lamb every year from a local farmer, and usually have ground lamb in my freezer as a result. So I kept with my tradition and made the moussaka with lamb, though beef also works.
Does any of you my readers make this dish? My version is a small-print clipping from an unnamed magazine, glued into my oldest, messiest personal collection of recipes; tiny notes in the spattered margins tell of adjustments I have made based on other cooks’ ways. This time another unique result was the product of my efforts. Eggplants are not symmetrical and vary in size and weight; my packages of meat were whatever amount came from my particular lamb; I used a combination of whole milk and evaporated milk to make the custard sauce that goes on top; and I forgot to include the breadcrumbs. I ended up with one 9×12 pan and one 8×8 pan, and leftovers of the meat mixture and the sauce to pour over.
As is too often the case, I was in a hurry in the end to get the dish to the event, and forgot to take a picture when it came out of the oven. In looking through my files to see if I had by any chance had an old moussaka-from-the-oven pic, I found a whole series of shots of preparing it, ten years ago, also lacking the triumphant final pose. So here is an example from the internet, which looks like it has cheese on top instead of the custard, and the eggplants I used were larger, my slices wider — but it looks somewhat similar.
Maybe I will get in the habit of making this dish again, and refine my recipe so that I don’t end up with leftovers. If that happens, I’ll share it with you. In the meantime, I know you can find many moussaka recipes online to work with if you like? I am still wondering, Do you like?
Gladsome Lights 
