Christmas Eve and Some Finger Foods

Hannah is home, Christmas is here, relationships are budding and blogging has fallen aside.  But by no means has that mean I haven't continued to reflect on God's promises.  In fact, it is only through those promises that I am able to enjoy this holiday season.  No one told me the second Christmas in Spain would be as hard as the first one.  I thought we had "survived" the new and were treading into traveled waters, but no - this holiday season is just as hard as the first one.  We have been incredibly blessed with time with our teammates, Spanish friends, and having Hannah home - yet, traditions take years to establish, and I guess, years to stop "missing," if ever.

Before moving to Spain I worked on staff of a church that celebrated Christmas Eve with two services. One for children and another more traditional service.  Being the children's minister meant this was a day of "work."  Christmas Eve morning was filled with last minute tasks at home, cooking all kinds of finger foods, making a bed for my parents (who would join us at church), and of course, trying to be sure I remembered to buy everything on my list and where I had put it.

Christmas Eve afternoon was last minute preparations for the service and the laying out of costumes.  Every year was different - one year was even a Birthday Party for Jesus (complete with noise makers).  Then the noise began.  The church first began to be filled with the families of the children in the program.  For you see, each year we chose children to play the parts of the true Christmas story.  Every year we tried to choose children who had not been chosen for other parts that required singing or speaking.  One of my favorite years was when one of our shepherds was a young man who struggles with a form of autism.  He radiated from ear to ear.  I sat back and imagined he was truly representing what the shepherds experienced.  Awe and excitement to be at the foot of the manger.

My parents always came to town for this service.  The service ended with the lighting of candles and the singing of "One Little Light in the Darkness."  Never did I imagine I would one day be living in a country filled with so much spiritual darkness.  After the service my parents would help clean up from the manager and then head to our house (and sometimes take a child with them - even one year taking a bird with them which was a gift for Zachary) to finish up dinner.

After the rest of us stayed for the second service, we went home for a very unbalanced meal of finger foods - chicken wings, ham rolls, cheese dip, meatballs, texas sheet cake, ... - now I am hungry.  When we arrived home, we ate until we would pop and then gathered around the tree for the opening of ONE very important present.

Although we all acted surprised, no one was surprised with what that package held.  It always held PAJAMAS.  Why pajamas?  I don't know why my parents started the tradition, but I always got pajamas on Christmas Eve.  So, my kids always get the same.  But I decided this tradition meant the picures on Christmas morning had the kids looking somewhat "decent."

This of course was followed by lots of laughter, shaking of presents that were off limits, and finally a long discussion of what time everyone was allowed to get up the next morning.

The interesting thing is that gifts were saved for Christmas morning, and thus in the world's standards, the more important day of the process.  But it was Christmas Eve we looked forward to and the day we miss the most.

This year we are blessed that Hannah is here.  I can't imagine Christmas Eve without her.  But Zach and my parents are not.  Definitely a hole.

We'll celebrate tonight with friends by staying up way past midnight, eating lots of our traditional foods as well as theirs, and having our own Christmas Eve service.  We'll laugh and enjoy the moment, and yet yearn for years past.

But all this reminds me of one of my favorite (and most comprehensive promises) of all...

Isaiah 9:6
"And he will be called
    Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
    Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace."

Without this promise there would be even more tears and sadness, yet I can truly say HE has been all that HE has promised, even in the midst of missing the traditions.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Some of my favorite finger foods....

Ham Rolls

• 2 pans Pull apart rolls (you know, those rolls that come in a metal pan, pre-cooked, and little rectangles)
• Lunch meat ham
• Provolone cheese
• 1 stick butter
• 1 Tbsp dried mustard
• 1 Tbsp poppy seeds
• 2 Tbsp dried onion flakes
• Splash of Worcestershire sauce

1. Slit open the rolls and return the bottom half to the pans.
2. Lay ham and cheese over bread to cover them entirely.
3. Return top half of bread.
4. Pre-slice into servings (I usually consider two rolls a serving)
5. Melt butter
6. Add mustard, poppy seeds, onions, and worcestershire sauce.
7. Pour the butter mixture evenly over the two pans.
8. Cover with foil and refrigerate anywhere from 1 hour to a whole day.
9. Bake at 350 for about 25 minutes, or until warm.

Cheese Dip

(so simple, yet everytime I take to an event people ask for the recipe)

• 1 pound ground sausage
• 1 pound velveeta
• 1 can rotel

1. Brown sausage and put in crock pot.
2. Add velveeta and rotel
3. Occassionaly stir
4. Cook on low until melted and hot all the way through.
5. Serve with tortilla chips.

Meat Balls

I don't use a recipe for these, so no idea how much of each ingredients....

• Ground beef (depends on how many meatballs you want)
• Finely chopped onion - for one pound meat I use about 1/2 onion
• Bread crumbs - enough to make texture for molding balls
• Egg - I use one egg per pound and a half (or so)
• Spaghetti Sauce - my secret ingredient - add a splash to the meat - gives all the flavoring you need and a great texture

1. Mix well - saving bread crumbs to be last ingredient added.
2. Put on 9 x 13 pan 
3. Bake at 350 for about 15 minutes (no need to worry if they are totally cooked)
4. Place in crock pot (if you don't have a spare one, you can use a sauce pan) 
5. Cover with spaghetti sauce (I always used jarred for this recipe)
6. Simmer for an hour or so.
7. Christmas Eve we eat just as meatballs and later in the week as meatball subs.