The Feast of the Incarnation

We took a bit of a break there to travel, to shop, to wrap, to bake, to party, to sing, and to shovel the snow (and to grade the last papers, but those aren't worth mentioning).

But now we're in the midst of both the secular and liturgical feast, eating and laughing and eating and playing and eating and sleeping and eating a little bit more.

Our days leading up to the Christmas feast proper are always filled and hectic, with lots of joy--but also lots of schedules.  What this means when we're visiting is that sometimes the meals before the holiday itself can become a bit haphazard.

As our preparation, we have settled on a few accidental traditions in order to accommodate both the preparation and the feast.  One of the annual parties my parents host calls for Taco Soup--origin indeterminate--that's a casual but always anticipated meal to share.  And our Christmas Eve celebration settled years ago on Eggs Benedict after the late service, so our supper beforehand is usually a simple soup that calls for cleaning out the fridge of the last leftovers before we open up the ham on the day itself.

Along the way, the snacks roll in the door (we're visiting fruit country, so we have wonderful pears and apples aplenty along with my seasonal favorites, Satsuma oranges), and we fill in the cracks with fruit and cheese, Dorothy Carr's lefse, krumkakke, and other cookies.

---

Perhaps none of these meals is remarkable in itself, but the point of the feast is the preparation, anticipation, and the extension.  A feast is not a momentary celebration but goes on for days (liturgically, the twelve days of Christmas have only just begun; Easter goes on for fifty!): feasting is about dwelling in celebration for a length of time, not simply a day.  It's fitting that this first major feast of the church year is, in fact, the Feast of the Incarnation.  We celebrate, first of all, the divine entrance into human life that transforms the whole understanding of what it means to be human.  So we eat.

And we sing and we laugh and we give and we play and we sleep and we eat.  And as we dwell with one another in the best of our humanness, we think of the Word become flesh, who dwelt among us.

Merry Christmas!  Have something to eat.

---

Taco Soup

1 lb. ground beef, browned and drained
1 onion, diced and sauteed
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 can garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained
1 can corn, rinsed and drained (or about 1 C. frozen corn kernels)
1 can diced or crushed tomatoes
1 can diced green chiles (or repace tomatoes and chiles with a jar of salsa)
1 package taco seasoning
Enough water or chicken broth to cover
Salt and pepper to taste

Simmer on the stove or crock pot as long as you need.  Serve with grated cheese, sour cream, and tortilla chips.

---

Clean-Out-the-Fridge Christmas Eve Soup
(This year it was Chicken-Mushroom-Brown Rice)

6 C. cooking liquid (either all chicken broth or up to 2 cups of dry white wine with chicken broth)
1 C. leftover cooked chicken
3 C. sauteed mushrooms
1/2 onion, minced and sauteed
1 clove of garlic, minced and sauteed
1-2 tsp. poultry seasoning or Mural of Flavor
1 C. brown rice (pearl barley or wild rice or some combination would also be nice)
salt and pepper to taste

Simmer for 1-2 hours; finish with 4 oz. cream cheese, stirred in; serve with grated parmesan cheese.

(Last year it was Minestrone)

6 C. cooking liquid
1/2 onion, diced and sauteed
2 cloves garlic
2 carrots, chopped and sauteed
1 zucchini, diced and sauteed
1 can dark red kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1 can garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained
1 large can crushed tomatoes (or tomato sauce, in a pinch)
1 C. small pasta (elbow macaroni-sized)
2 tsp. dried basil
1 tsp. dried rosemary (crushed)
1 tsp. dried oregano
2 tsp. hot sauce (to taste)
salt and pepper to taste

Simmer all ingredients except pasta for 20 minutes; add pasta and cook until tender.  Serve with grated parmesan cheese.