On the first (reading) day of Christmas

At Relief Society earlier this month, we were given a folder of handouts to help us find imaginative ways to celebrate the season. In 2005, the church published a list of readings in the scriptures, to correspond with the twelve days of Christmas. Some of these scriptures will be familiar to you, as they come from the KJV of the Bible. Others will be new to you, but harmonious with what you already know.

As this is a copyrighted article, I am not cutting-and-pasting each day’s reading into my blog posts. Instead, I will post the link and this notice, and you can just read that day’s portion if you choose. I would love to hear your thoughts and impressions.

Consider these my Christmas card(s) to you.

Middlest had this on her blog the other day. She wanted me to take it. So I did. She thought I might be a kumquat. I thought that wasn’t out of the realm of possibility.

You Are A: Pony!

Who doesn't love a pony? You are one of these miniature horses, renown for your beauty and desired by many. Full of grace, you are a beautiful and very special animal, full of strength and majesty.

You were almost a: Puppy or a Lamb
You are least like a: Chipmunk or a GroundhogThe Cute Animals Quiz

Nahhh, I’m a kumquat.

Rolling on [elliptically and eccentrically, as befits a proper kumquat] to a different topic. May I just state for the record how cool it is to be able to renew library books online? One of them was due back yesterday, and the nap I took ate a big bite out of the afternoon. So I logged on and renewed, and then I drove out after the library had closed for the day and dropped all three books down the chute.

The first Wollmeise sock is done. And the second is cast on. See?



As is an ornament for Trainman from the leftover Koigu. I am knitting a miniature stocking, because while he is nothing like unto a boyfriend, I do not wish to invoke the Curse of the Boyfriend Sweater. [Girl likes boy. Girl knits boy a sweater. Boy joins the French Foreign Legion.]

Very soon I will cast on a scarf for BittyBit, from the Louisa Harding that beguiled me so, two years ago. Lacy like her mom’s; that will give her holes to poke her fingers into when she’s bored and can’t figure out what cute and blogworthy thing to do next.

I ended up making neither spanakopita nor baklava, though I had most of the makings for either. That nap I mentioned? I woke up half an hour or so before I was supposed to be at church, put the spinach on to cook in my small pot and set a big pot boiling for some linguine. When the spinach was drained, and while the pasta cooked, I stirred 12 oz of mascarpone, a 16 oz bottle of four-cheese Alfredo sauce [I don’t know who Alfredo is or was, but when I meet the man in the hereafter, I am going to give him a great big hug], and somewhere between a teaspoon and a tablespoon of herbes de Provence into the spinach.

You know how there is always a bit of sauce left in the jar? I poured in a splash of the half and half, screwed the lid on tightly, and shook the jar vigorously, over the sink. And then repeated with another tablespoon or so of cream. This is seriously hedonistic pasta, folks! Then I drained a large-ish jar of diced pimiento and stirred that in as well. I have half a pot of sauce left, and maybe a third of the pasta leftover after sharing at church [and a late-night snack].

I love Tex-Mex, and I am so thankful to live in Texas, where you can get the real thing. But my first love was Italian food, and it’s probably still my favorite thing to fix. If the Savior were to knock on my door, I would make him a pan of my lasagna. [Which reminds me. Brother Sushi, your lasagna is waiting for you in the freezing compartment of my fridge. I am exercising enormous personal restraint...] If the Three Nephites showed up with the missionaries one night, I would hand them a plate of spaghetti.

I may have outdone myself this time.