The Adoration of the Shepherds by Gerard van Honshorst

Merry Christmas!

We hope each of you has the merriest of Christmases. And in the midst of this day of family and feasting and presents, take a moment to remember the Reason for the season.

We understand this is a great land of freedom of choice, and while we celebrate that, we’ve got to admit that most Southerners realize that the first Christmas night came with the birth of that one baby boy.

Our family has a tradition on Christmas Eve to read the Christmas story (in the King James version, of course). While the language is beautiful and familiar, take a few moments to read this paraphrase, from The Message version by Eugene Peterson. Perhaps it will give you a fresh perspective of that first, cold Jerusalem night, thousands of years ago.

Good tidings to you and your family today!

About that time Caesar Augustus ordered a census to be taken throughout the Empire. This was the first census when Quirinius was governor of Syria. Everyone had to travel to his own ancestral hometown to be accounted for. So Joseph went from the Galilean town of Nazareth up to Bethlehem in Judah, David’s town, for the census. As a descendant of David, he had to go there. He went with Mary, his fiancée, who was pregnant.

While they were there, the time came for her to give birth. She gave birth to a son, her firstborn. She wrapped him in a blanket and laid him in a manger, because there was no room in the hostel.

There were sheepherders camping in the neighborhood. They had set night watches over their sheep. Suddenly, God’s angel stood among them and God’s glory blazed around them. They were terrified. The angel said, “Don’t be afraid. I’m here to announce a great and joyful event that is meant for everybody, worldwide: A Savior has just been born in David’s town, a Savior who is Messiah and Master. This is what you’re to look for: a baby wrapped in a blanket and lying in a manger.”

At once the angel was joined by a huge angelic choir singing God’s praises:

   Glory to God in the heavenly heights,
   Peace to all men and women on earth who please him.

As the angel choir withdrew into heaven, the sheepherders talked it over. “Let’s get over to Bethlehem as fast as we can and see for ourselves what God has revealed to us.” They left, running, and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in the manger. Seeing was believing. They told everyone they met what the angels had said about this child. All who heard the sheepherders were impressed.

Mary kept all these things to herself, holding them dear, deep within herself. The sheepherders returned and let loose, glorifying and praising God for everything they had heard and seen. It turned out exactly the way they’d been told!

Luke 2: 1 – 20

Oh, that I had every one of your addresses to send you each a Christmas card, but since we do not, I hope you’ll pretend this came in a lovely, crisp envelope with a nutcracker stamp and your address handwritten right on the front.

Our Christmas Card, sent out to friends and family this year... among friends, y'all SIT readers are some of the dearest!

Wishing you the merriest of Southern Christmases and a very bright New Year!

On the merry menu at the homeland this Christmas::

Homemade pasta with scallops

Roasted pork belly on corn with cranberry sauce

Pita pizza with spinach and mixed mushrooms

Butternut squash with bacon and asparagus

Oxtail stew in Guinness Stout

Mango cheesecake with grapefruit

***

Roasted pork belly on corn (‘Porkcorn’ the huddy says!). The huddy modified this from a Jamie Oliver recipe, using our existing spices. Oh-so-crackling-awesome. It’s his first attempt, and it wowed us. I made a cranberry sauce to go with it, and it was surprisingly so refreshing we ate it with our dessert too.

Butternut squash balls with asparagus and bacon, served in the butternut gourd. Flavourful and probably required the least toiling, save for the balling of the squash.

Mango cheesecake topped with grapefruit slices. I baked a similar one last year, and my father-in-law adored it, so it makes its appearance again this year, with slight variations, and thankfully, just as well-received.

Another year going by, another year coming on. This season hasn’t brought on the best of news for many around me, and I can’t help but feel a twinge of low somehow too.

Let’s be kind to all. Let’s forgive more. Let’s be thankful for all we’ve got. And for those we’ve lost, let’s always keep them in our thoughts.

Have a blessed Christmas, my friends.

Family fun, marshmallow roasting, horseback riding, bull roping and a live nativity setting. All that plus a wonderful Grilled chicken dinner with plenty of sides and live production of the true meaning of keeping Christ in Christmas.

Andy Rotz is truly one of a kind with God given gifts when it comes to roping, knife throwing and using the bull whip. This show is a must see for the holiday season!

Demi tugasan

Bab 1: ‘Super’ intro

Hampir dua tahun aku telah terbabit dengan krisis itu. Dan selama itu juga aku mengenali mu. Jika bukan kerna kebaikan yang ada padamu, tidak mungkin aku akan terus – terusan membabitkan diri lagi. Aku terperangkap…. diantara pertalian dan situasi ini melawan dengan etika diri ini. Drama apakah yang sedang aku lalui ini, aku pun tidak mengerti. Tapi apa yang aku pasti, aku semakin ketagih apabila semakin banyak rahsia yang aku ketahui. Ini telah membuatkan, aku, diantara boleh dan tidak untuk memperkatakannya. Perlu ku kaji dahulu dengan siapa aku berbual, dengan siapa aku berjalan atau dengan siapa perlu aku percaya.

Dari segi perkerjaan aku, aku cuba sedaya-upaya supaya sesiapa di pejabat dari terhidu rahsia ku itu

Tetapi apabila berkaitan dengan mu aku sentiasa terasa selamat, berkeyakinan (dan kau sering menyakinkan aku), cuma apa yang aku terkilan apabila bersama…. keadaan sekeliling, umpama perlu lebih berhati-hati dari biasa, seperti ada mata memerhatikan…. menantikan kesilapan atau kealpaan berlaku. Mungkin kerana terlalu sayang dengan perkenalan kita, aku tidak mahu memperjudikan keselamatan mu semasa kita bersama. kerana aku tahu perjalanan yang aku lalui ini amat sukar, terlalu banyak pengorbanan. Aku tahu seseorang sesuci mu tidak mungkin dapat melaluinya. Cuma aku berharap kau akan terima yang terbaik, dan berharap kau dapat melakonkan watak mu sebaik mungkin…. dan semoga seseorang tidak perlu dipersalahkan lagi, seperti… aku lah orang itu.

Ya, demi tugas aku juga melakonkan bahawa aku ini seseorang yang jauh dibawah paras negetif, apabila disebut perkataan “baik” kepadanya. Dan aku selesa didalam suasana itu, kerana….. dua tahun sudah aku melakukannya, tidak seorang pun yang benar mengetahui apa yang ku lalui, atau apa yang telah ku lakukan, kerna semuanya adalah rahsia. Dengan rahsia tidak terbongkar ini, aku Berjaya meneruskannya.

Seminggu yang lepas secara rahsia, aku telah berjumpa dengan ‘nya’ disebuah kedai restoran “mamak” yang boleh dikatakan antara yang digemari oleh rakan sepejabatku. Tapi aku ke situ hanya untuk berjumpa dengan ‘nya’. Setelah perkabaran bertukar ganti, salam pun diberi lalu membuka buah perbualan kami. “tiga nama belum aku temui, tapi nama terutama telah kita ketahui… perlukah aku bertanya lagi siapa diri mu?”, “atau aku masih didalam permainan?”,”jika ia, bawalah aku menemui ‘ibu’ mu itu!!”, soal ku bertalu-talu. Sambil menghirup air teh yang separuh penuh, lalu tersenyum. “wahai peminatku, bukan lah angkara ibu aku kemari”, “tapi perbuatan mu telah diketahui oleh ‘Patah Alam’..!!”. “aku hanya diarahkan, mengiringmu kejalan yang lebih baik, itu sahaja… jangan lah terlalu risau, ya”.

aku berjalan pulang, sementara kepala masih lagi memikirkan apa yang berlaku tadi. “korban kan, tiga puluh orang sekali gus malam ini….. abang turun…. Baiklah”, panggillan dari seseorang telah membuat ‘nya’, tersentak dan meminta diri serta merta. Sehingga makan dan minum tadi pun terlupa, takpe lah aku yang bayar….. tak bayar karang, “haram” pula ye tak. Membelok keselekoh berhampiran rumah sewa ku, semenjak dua tiga hari, telah dihuni sekumpulan beliawan, yang tidak pernah ku lihat. Apakah tujuan mereka berkumpul disitu… memerhatikan seseorang kah. Aku menjadi sangsi.

Apa yang aku pasti mereka akan beredar hanya apabila, sebuah kereta Mecerdes E320 Elegant putih masuk keperkarangan apartment kami. “Apa perkaitan mereka?”. Dengan nisbah 2:3 kali mereka akan menaiki kereta itu apabila ia tiba entah dari mana. Meskipun tadi beliawan itu hanya melepak sambil bermain gitar, kemudian pula Mecerdes E320 Elegant datang menjemput mereka. Pelik. Diantara 19:45 hingga 00:30 mereka akan menghilang kan diri bersama kereta itu, dan kembali melepak selepas itu. Dan kereta mewah itu akan terus beredar selepas itu.

Dari segi perkerjaan aku, aku cuba sedaya-upaya supaya sesiapa di pejabat dari terhidu rahsia ku itu. Orang kata “pandai makan, pandai simpan”… aku memang seorang pemakan, tapi aku nak makan yang baik-baik sahaja. Dan dalam pekerjaan ku seharian pun aku akan sedaya upaya menyediakan yang terbaik sahaja untuk orang lain pula makan. Itu lah caranya aku menutupkan kegiatanku yang tidak lah berapa indah itu.

Terus terang aku katakan demi menutupkan nya, aku sanggup menggaburi mereka dengan pelbagai cara, dan ini adalah kemahiran yang aku perolehi, semasa kursus latihan dahulu. Dan aku praktiskan nya saban hari, agar pengaburan ku tidak terbongkar. Walau di tahap kritis sekali pun, aku masih berdaya melaksana tugas. Memang aku akui, aku sering menerima pujian dari ‘tuan’ku. Cuma aku takut lupa diri pabila dipuji selalu. Dengan itu aku akan men’negetif’kan diri ku semula, semoga aku masih dapat “memerhatikan diri sendiri” di dalam cermin lagi.

P/S: Please also read the other 3 chapters, and do please leave a comments.. SzHaM72

choking on snow: snow choke.

how do you know when Will Smith has been out in the snow?
Enemy of the State.

what do you call a snowman with three carrots?
Greedy.

what’s Santa’s favourite sports channel?
Sky Sports 3.

what do you call a reindeer without any eyes?
Unlucky.

where do Christmas Puddings come from?
The Shop.

all these and many more in: a christmas cracker near you, soon.

Historical Chocolate Company

I am crazy for chocolate. Literally, not a day goes by when I don’t have some.  

So when we came across this Virginia-based chocolate company, with original designs of historical landmarks, we couldn’t help but share with y’all. Think of their goodies like an educational easter basket!  

Chocolate, beautiful chocolate!

I had the chance to interview the owner, Barbara Post, about the company, how she got started, and some of her favorite treats! Enjoy!  

Barbara, the owner of Historical Chocolate Company

SIT: How did you get into the chocolate business and what drew you to work with this medium?  

HC: My entry into the chocolate business was really a product of chance and timing.  I wish I could claim credit for starting the Historical Chocolate Company, but it was started about twelve years ago by a couple who were looking to sell after the arrival of a third grandchild so they could spend more time with their family.  They had introduced a complimentary line of “Historical Soaps” based on their chocolate molds years ago and I had been making soap for them as a cottage industry, which is how I came to know them and the business.  They wanted to sell the business to someone they knew and who would take continue to grow it with the same spirit they had.  

After taking over the company in January 2009, I’ve worked hard to build upon the foundation I inherited.  We started with giving our brand a new look, with a new logo with a vintage look reminiscent of chocolate companies from the late 19^th and early 20^th centuries.  Our product line has expanded beyond Virginia and Washington DC with the introduction of our first South Carolina themed chocolate based on Charleston’s Middleton Place Plantation.  We hope to expand further into other Southern states in the upcoming year, in fact we’re currently talking with potential customers in the Savannah area regarding developing a mold which would bring us into Georgia.  

I jumped at the opportunity as I have always enjoyed creating and working with my hands, even though I had never made a career out of it.  I can spend eight hours at the shop and it doesn’t feel like “work” to me.  Ironically, at the time they asked, I had just started to take chocolatier classes after being inspired by a lecture I attended by John Scharffenberger of Scharffen Berger Chocolate.  

A little look inside Historical Chocolate.

Have you ever worked with other food mediums?  

While I love to bake, I can’t say that I’ve ever “worked with other food mediums” unless you count a high school job working as a waitress at Howard Johnson’s!  

Do you have formal culinary training? If so, from where?  

I have taken classes at L’Academie de Cuisine, a Washington DC area culinary school, where I learned the principles of tempering and molding the chocolate, and the unique differences in working with milk, dark and white chocolates.  

More peeks inside - where they make the magic!

Other than chocolate, what is your favorite food?  

Seafood is probably my favorite food other than chocolate, which is probably why I love Southern foods so much, given the wonderful oysters, shrimp and fish that come from the South.  When traveling in Charleston, Savannah, or New Orleans, seafood is usually my entrée of choice.  

We couldn’t help but notice most of your landmarks are Southern. Where are you from?  

Truth be told, while most of the chocolates the Historical Chocolate Company sells are based on Southern homes and landmarks, I’m a Pennsylvania carpetbagger.  I grew up in Middletown, which ironically is just a few miles away from Hershey, and moved to Virginia over thirteen years ago.  

Many people are baking at home this time of year. What are some good suggested pairings with chocolate — fruit, etc.  

In my opinion, chocolate tends to pair best with strawberries, raspberries, and cherries when it comes to fruits, but my favorite pairing for chocolate is with wine and spirits.  Many people don’t know that only California, New York, Oregon and Washington have more wineries than Virginia, and many wineries in Virginia, the Carolinas etc. are producing red wines was well as fruit wines and spirits that pair wonderfully with dark chocolate.  A quality dark chocolate with a Virginia-produced raspberry merlot is as good as it gets in my book.  

What is your favorite Christmas carol?  

My favorite Christmas carol is the Coventry Carol, which appropriately enough dates to the 16^th century.  Recently, I attended a concert at Colonial Williamsburg while in town to see their Grand Illumination and was delighted that it was included on the set list.  My less traditional pick would be Big Bad Voodoo Daddy’s cover of Mr. Heatmiser. If you ever get the opportunity to hear it live, I highly recommend it!  

Ok, the ultimate question, milk chocolate, or dark chocolate?  

When it comes to snacking on chocolate just by itself, I am a milk chocolate fan.  

Some of the treats available. This is a Southern location - Middleton Place in Charleston, SC.

What are you hoping for Christmas?  

I have a lot of things to be happy with this year, so I’m not hoping for anything in particular personally.  For the company though I am hoping to build on my first year of experience and continue to add more Southern historic homes and landmarks to our offerings in the upcoming year, as it gives me an excuse to delve further into the South’s rich heritage.  

Do you have a special recipe you’d like to share?  

While I love to bake, I have to admit that the recipe I get the most requests for this time of the year are sugar cookies made from a recipe by Alton Brown of Food Network’s Good Eats fame.  A couple of years ago, I got to meet Alton and told him that he’s made me very popular with his recipe, and he told me I was probably popular enough already!  I highly recommend it and it’s fun to decorate with royal icing.  The recipe is available online at: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/sugar-cookies-recipe/index.html  

Historical Chocolate Shop Front

Please do check out Historical Chocolate, and think of them as you plan treats and gifts for your friends and family. You can follow HC on Facebook and Twitter as well, so you can find out first what delicious new products they are “cooking” up (pun intended)!

Cotton seems to be popping up all over the place these days. I found this beautiful photo via one of my favorite blogs for pretty inspiration, A Life More Fabulous.

But it turns out it was taken years back by Craig Knowles for Elle Decor, so it’s an enduring style, ladies and gentlemen.

As those of us in the South have always known, cotton is king.

From Hollister Hovey

Y’all know I’m borderline obsessed with cotton. To wear, to smell like, to just see… so when these to beyond-too-cool-for-words sisters showcased a lot of cotton in their Christmas decor in their Manhattan apartment, I just had to show y’all.

Mark my words. The South is getting quite trendy. Just calling it now, folks.

I love Christmas. Don’t get me wrong. I love to hear Bing crooning in the background. I love the fact that it’s practically one long month of excuses to eat sweets. I love the shiny colors and bows and garland and especially twinkly lights.

And while I love getting dressed up and going to a fancy party, this year, we thought we’d try something different. Everyone is so busy dashing from here to there, that sometimes, parties seem like one more thing on the list to check off.

So we held a casual, come-and-go thing with a Mexican fiesta theme, complete with tacos, salsa, and Christmas mariachi music.

We wanted to show a few pictures of our day. Feel free to steal the idea (I did).

Oh, and a little secret you can use the next time you have tacos. We always get so chop happy with the tomatoes, olives, cheese, then move right on to the lettuce. Why? Keep that lettuce in full leaves to line the inside of the taco shell. Now, you can pile on the meat, salsa, sour cream, and toppings galore and feel safe with an extra layer of sturdiness between your taco shell, hard or soft.

Our own Becky, taking a crack at the pinata!

Feliz Navidad!

There’s so much going on around the South!

We here at SIT wish we could get to each and every one of our events, but alas, we have families and jobs and well, a normal-sized pocketbook. But we have friends in Southern places – you!

So each week (we’ll try and post these on Mondays, so you can plan your week), we’ll post a little sampling about what goes on around our parts of the world. Isn’t the South great? There’s always much to see and do.

Our only request is that you report back to us, okay? Send us pictures, other events you may know of, anything! We consider you far and wide our friends, so let’s have a little chat, ok.

Lexington, Kentucky

• Southern Lights 2009 in Lexington, KY from November 20- December 31. A dazzling array of lights through the Kentucky Horse Park complete with a petting zoo, pony and camel rides and craft vendors.
• Christmas in the Park in Elizabethtown, KY from November 26-Jan 1. More than 100 holiday light displays (over 1 million lights) on Freeman Lake.
• Winter Wonderland in Owensboro, KY from November 27-Jan 1. This really sounds like the best one around! They have tons of holiday happenings including the tri-state’s largest outdoor skating rink. Free ice skating on Mondays!
• Southern Living listed Louisville as one of the top five cities for a Southern Christmas! Light up Lake Forest: 1200 homeowners light up houses and lawns beginning the first week in December about 25 minutes from the city.

Many thanks to my friends, Laura and David, over at the Dawkins Narrative for many of the tips in my beloved Kentucky.

Hi folks (or folk if its just me), i just added some links and other cool stuff, but I’m having some troubles with my polls.

I suppose I’d better make a confession to y’all. You see, I don’t really like country music. Gasp! I know. A southern girl who doesn’t swoon for Kenny, George, or Garth – unthinkable.

Now don’t get me wrong. I like the classic stuff — Tanya Tucker, Johnny Cash, a little Dolly now and then. I mean, I spent a good part of my life in Nashville, but for some reason, most of it either just makes me laugh, or cry and I don’t really like all that much sap coming from my radio driving down the road.

But don’t get me wrong. I know a lot of folks love it, and I’m certainly not here to tell you it’s all bad (I can listen to Rascal Flatts croon all day long).

I will tell you there is something about Tim McGraw that makes me nostalgic, so I have a soft spot for him.

At home and sick not too long ago, I heard Mr. McGraw on the Today Show, and was actually impressed with the songs he performed from the new album. So, I downloaded it from iTunes, and I will say, it’s pretty good folks.

If you’re looking for a last minute Christmas present, or just a respite for yourself with all the Jingle Bells playing, this is just the ticket.

The title song, Southern Voice, is really fantastic, chronicling all those things we’ve all grown up with and love. My favorite line from the song is, “Jesus is my friend, America is my home, Sweet iced tea and Jerry Lee… that’s what gets to me.”

Great line, great song.

Most of the other songs are fantastic too. There’s a few little themes here and there that I’ll disagree with Mr. McGraw on (or his songwriters, rather), but for the most part, the album is a nice, mellow, but upbeat. Most of the numbers are a slower tempo, with only a couple songs to rock to. I tend to love a nice, slow ballad, especially as the weather is cool and I am more mellow this time of year, so you’ll find just-right ballads in several of the songs with themes concerning family, growing up, and love, of course.

I’ll highly recommend this to all you SIT readers out there, whether or not you usually turn the dial on your radio to country or classic, I was happily pleased, and think you would be too. Give it a try. Let me know what you think.

Any other great albums, country or not, recently released that we should try?

This is for all you single lady-fwends! Many more uselful dating tips (circa 1938) at Sad and Useless. I do all of the these things all the time. Whoops!

Dear Kentucky Fried Chicken,

The “F” in your newly branded KFC stands for “fried,” not grilled.

That being said, I just had your grilled chicken for lunch, complete with Southern (cooked limp to within an inch of their life, so all the nutrients get sucked out and replaced by salt, but oh so good) green beans and mashed potatoes, and…

It was actually pretty good.

So while the Colonel might not be proud of y’all, we appreciate what you’re doing to keep us all healthier and offer another choice for those picnics we’re already looking forward to next summer.

Your Kentucky friend,

Ginger

I don’t have a last name. Khan, the one I’m using is my middle name; it is my Mama’s maiden name. She married when I was seven, to a man who I now call Papa, I guess, and I’d love to say, he’s my father, I don’t have anyone else.

This blog entry’s about my name, my real father, and the fact that I don’t care who he is.

Saturday, December 5th, I found another copy of my Baptismal Certificate that has the name Robert B. Tan on the parents’ names line. That name is definitely not on my Birth Certificate, for in there, I was declared ‘father-less,’ or however it’s supposed to be put. I never cared about checking my Baptismal Certificate, until when I saw it accidetally for the first time in 22 years.

I grew up not knowing who my real father is, not even his name. I never cared about it anyway. Like, what for? I have a father whose name I don’t go by, but WHT, he’s my father. His name’s Christopher Lagman, and I love him. We love hating each other, but that’s part of how a parent-child relationship is supposed to be. The last thing I need is to ask my Mama about the person who impreganted her with me in 1986, and ran away. Such a douche, if you ask me, that Robert B. Tan is.



I must admit, it felt weird finding out about something you never wanted to be involved in. For me, it’s knowing who my real father is.

What’s awesome is that I have both Chinese and Pakistani blood in me, and I feel so gorgeous. I’m multi-racial. Pakistani (Khan), Chinese (Tan), and Spanish (Castillo). Thanks, Robert.

Here’s what’s funny:

My name’s Arden Joseph Khan Tan

You figured, KHAN – TO – TAN. If you’re Pinoy and a perv, you’d figure that out.

Sidebar: The Boy With No Name, one of the best albums of all time. 6th studio album by Travis, with the songs Closer, Selfish Jean, My Eyes, and Big Chair. AWESOME!

12-foot Christmas tree at A True Inn

Just had to show y’all this Christmas-y image of the 12-foot tree at A True Inn. Her secret to make it look so glowy? She wraps each branch (and branches of branches) individually in strands of lights, instead of just stringing the lights around the perimeter of the tree.

I hope one of those presents is for me!