I have a great memory of an elderly bass- a retired physician- who prescribed me a hot toddy my first Christmas at this parish when I was run down with a bad cold. I went to the check out of my local (midwest) pharmacy on the old polish side of town where I lived to purchase whiskey, honey, tea, soup, and throat drops. The cashier took one look at me, one look at the items and said, "honey, I don't know what you got but something up here is gonna fix it." Best comment ever.

As for feeding and watering, I'm taking my choir and handbells out to eat on Thursday evening. Majority voted the local pizza joint that has karaoke that night. Ha! Nice bar as well. I made sure I'd have enough in my ministry budget for one night at the end of the year for this. I'm sure they'll order their favorite drinks but they'll be paying for those.

I keep a fairly simple budget, and my pastor has suggested I do more with "hospitality" so I bit the bullet at the head of the fiscal year and put a few hundred in the budget for this and shockingly it was approved. I took my small ensemble groups out around Christmas and it really went a long way with them. They do so much and it seemed to really impact them that I acknowledged it in this tangible way.

Anna- the first week of Advent we do a "music ministry potluck" (I'd prefer an epiphany potluck so as to not add to my work prior to Christmas, but I've been told to do it before). You're invited to our midwest gathering anytime. ;)

Our choir will get together twice a year for potlucks. The host will supply the main course (depending of what the theme is for the meal); all other members bring sides to pass.

We generally had Sunday "breakfasts" through the mornings in the parish hall twice per month. The choir enjoyed those but we did have a large Christmas party complete with various foods and Irish coffee. Being forbidden to drink alcohol with my blood pressure meds and also being a vegetarian, I didn't partake of any roast beasts or booze. But it was a good time for all. I felt that even those in the choir who hated each other left feeling at least a bit more charitable toward the other members.

We have a drink together after Mass on Sunday in the Parish club. We also have a meal with wine etc. after rehearsal on Thursday.

Thank you… IMVHO the other 52 minutes are even better.

@Anna_Bendiksen

Must try this

Oh, and pie? Does anyone here like pie?

I ditch the strawberries for blueberries in my blueberry-rhubarb pie.

On Easter Sunday and Pentecost Sunday, the choir and I have breakfast together. I order it from a local restaurant and have it delivered to the parish hall. We eat between masses. It turns out that they enjoy the time together and to be celebrated for all of the sacrifices that they make to provide music for the parish, especially during Holy Week and the Easter Season. They actually deserve more.

Gooseberry pie is sublime. I need to find an excuse to celebrate the feast of St. Hugh of Lincoln with Sung Mass and Picnic.

An occasional party or outing for the choir is commendable, if not imperative. Bonding over food is in near the same league as bonding over music.

As for the gooseberry pie, my grandfather loved it. Like snow, gooseberry pie is unheard of in Houston. I look forward to it when I go to Canada. The best was served up in an ancient restaurant in the old city of Quebec.

Just what the heck are gooseberries? I prefer a blackberry cobbler any day of the week.

BHCordova,

They're small tart green berries. Think of Granny Smith apples ,and reimagine them as small and juicy.

I think East Tennessee gets too hot for them.

We had a gooseberry bush in our back garden when I was growing up in Brookings, South Dakota (a region of winter, and acquainted with low temperatures). How my father loved preserves made from those gooseberries.

I'm also a huge fan of blackcurrants, which have similar cultural requirements. There was a ban on them for many years in many states because they spread white-pine blister rust, but I managed to grow them perfectly legally and successfully in Wheaton, Illinois. I wound up with way too many blackcurrants for us to eat as preserves and gave some away to a Russian friend, who was beyond thrilled. One cannot buy them fresh in this country.

I thought I would post my glogg recipe for those in need of a hot spiced drink, that is to say, all of us. It is at its best when begun a day ahead and can be made in a nonalcoholic version, too.

Anna's Glogg

Pour into a nonreactive pot:

Inexpensive Cabernet Sauvignon (or red grape juice or blackcurrant juice)

Add:

Fresh lemon peel (Meyer lemons are great in this recipe)
Fresh orange peel
Crushed cardamom pods, cinnamon sticks, whole nutmeg, allspice, and cloves (be sure to crush them fresh rather than using preground; otherwise the glogg will be bitter)
Slices of fresh ginger (washed but no need to peel)

Allow the mixture to stand at room temperature, preferably overnight but for at least four hours. Strain, discarding the aromatics, and gently heat the glogg to a simmer. Sweeten with sugar or honey to taste, which may be not at all. It is traditionally Norwegian to make the alcoholic version with aquavit, which my household despises, so I add some Grand Marnier---not traditionally Norwegian but utterly delicious.

The early conehead cabbages*just started appearing in my closest farmstand north of Boston. Best wishes.

I grew up with New Year's *DAY* midafternoon dinner of *fresh* ham (of course with crackling skin) with sauerkraut with onions, apples, white wine, and caraway seed.

* This of course is the archetype: https://territorialseed.com/products/filderkraut?variant=39580308603054

@Liam --- that looks perfect.

@francis --- your wish is my command.

Anna's Sauerkraut

In a nonreactive container which you have weighed in metric (I like to start with a large stainless-steel pan), mix the following washed and trimmed produce:

3 carrots, peeled and sliced thinly
1 12-oz. package fresh cranberries
2 unpeeled apples, sliced thinly
4 cloves garlic, peeled and slivered
1 red cabbage, cored and sliced thinly
1 green cabbage, cored sliced thinly (reserve a few leaves for the top of the ferment)
1 fennel bulb without stalks or fronds, sliced thinly
1 celery root, peeled and sliced
1 quince, sliced
1 T. each celery seed, fennel seed, dill seed, coriander seed, and juniper berries, ground as finely as possible in spice grinder

Mix in 1 t. coarse salt per pound of prepared vegetables and fruits---3% salt by weight. More than this will slow the fermentation too much and you don't want that. You want the fermentation to progress reliably at a low temperature. I calculate the amount of salt by weighing the pan first in kilos as noted above, then subtracting that weight from the weight of the pan with the vegetables in it. Multiply that number by .03 and you have the amount of salt to add in grams.

Rub the salt in with your hands, then squash the whole mixture down with a wooden sauerkraut stomper if you have one; if not, you can use a potato masher. If not enough liquid is exuded for the sauerkraut to be submerged in its own brine, add a bit of water and salt.

Pack the mixture into a container for fermentation. There are many such containers out there that work---I use a Korean kimchi jar, or you could also use a stoneware pickling jar. You need to weight the sauerkraut so that no part of the vegetables are exposed to air, but so that gases can escape from the fermenting brine. I do this by covering the mixture with clean cabbage leaves, then weighing them down with Ziploc bags filled with brine just in case of leakage, then covering the whole thing with a loosely fitting lid. Store at about 55 degrees F or so (the mixture needs to be below 60 degrees F) and watch the progression of fermentation. You can taste it at any point, skimming off any mold that develops. The real flavor begins to develop IMHO at about eight weeks, but of course it can go longer than that.

I am told that sauerkraut goes really well with roast goose too. This particular kraut has a bright pink color, cheerful for Christmas.

Pack the mixture into a container for fermentation. There are many such containers out there that work---I use a Korean kimchi jar, or you could also use a stoneware pickling jar.

My grandparents used giant outdoor garbage can sized stoneware crocks that had massive stone weights in them. They had five of them fermenting away in their basement every Thanksgiving. The aroma... Everyone got multiple jars of sauerkraut for Christmas. Lol!