I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day

The famous Longfellow brothers were born and raised in Portland, Maine, in the 1800’s. Henry Wadsworth was born in 1807, and younger brother Samuel arrived in 1819. Henry became a Harvard professor of literature and one of America’s greatest writers, and Samuel became a Unitarian minister and hymnist.

While Henry was publishing his books, however, dark clouds were gathering over his life and over all of America. In 1861, his wife tragically died when her dress caught fire in their home in Cambridge, Massachusetts. That same year, the Civil War broke out. Two years later, Henry’s son Charley, age seventeen, ran away from home and hopped aboard a train to join President Lincoln’s army.

Charley proved a brave and popular soldier. He saw action at the Battle of Chancellorsville in 1863, but in early June he contracted typhoid fever and malaria and was sent home to recover. He missed the Battle of Gettysburg, but by August Charley was well enough to return to the field. On November 27, during the Battle of New Hope Church in Virginia, he was shot through the left shoulder. The bullet nicked his spine and came close to paralyzing him. He was carried into the church and later taken to Washington to recuperate.

 Receiving the news on December 1, 1863, Henry immediately left for Washington. He found his son well enough to travel, and they headed back to Cambridge, arriving home on December 8. For weeks Henry sat by his son’s bedside, slowly nursing his boy back to health.

On Christmas day, December 25, 1863, Henry gave vent to his feelings in this plaintive carol that can only be understood against the backdrop of war. Two stanzas now omitted from most hymnals speak of the cannons thundering in the South and of hatred tearing apart “the hearth-stones of a continent.” The poet feels like dropping his head in despair, but then he hears the Christmas bells. Their triumphant pealing reminds him that “God is not dead, nor doth He sleep.”

 The Sunday school children of the Unitarian Church of the Disciples in Boston first sang the carol during that year’s Christmas celebration. How wonderful that such a song could emerge from the bloody clouds of the War Between the States.

From "Come Let Us Adore Him" by Robert J. Morgan

Coleslaw, Caramel Popcorn and a Christmas Movie

Yesterday evening my mom, Adam and I enjoyed a dinner of turkey coleslaw sandwiches, caramel popcorn and a really fun Christmas movie!

A sandwich favorite in our home all began with the movie “Remember the Night” staring Fred MacMurray and Barbara Stanwyck. In the movie the two main characters enjoy eating coleslaw sandwiches on their trip back home for Christmas. Being a fan of coleslaw already, the idea of adding coleslaw to a sandwich certainly appealed to me.

We always seem to make our coleslaw sandwiches with turkey. I will toast the sandwiches in the frying pan with the turkey, coleslaw and cheese. Then we add a little barbeque sauce.

Here is my favorite coleslaw recipe:

Coleslaw-

1 med. Head cabbage
1 lg. carrot
1 med. Onion
1 green pepper
2/3 cup vinegar
1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 tsp. salt
½ tsp. celery seed

Shred cabbage, carrot and onion in food processor. Chop green pepper. Combine vinegar, sugar, oil, salt and celery seed. Pour over vegetables. Chill.

So since we were watching "Remember the Night" I just had to make coleslaw sandwiches. : )

Mom and I have wanted to try our hand at making some delicious old-fashioned caramel popcorn. The recipe I used came from the “Better Homes and Gardens” cookbook.

Here is the recipe:

Caramel Popcorn-

 10 cups popped popcorn
1 cup pecans 
1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar
3/4 cup butter
1/3 cup light-colored corn syrup
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees F. Remove all unpopped kernels from popped popcorn. Put popcorn and, if desired, nuts into a 17x12x2-inch roasting pan. Keep popcorn warm in the oven while making the caramel mixture.
2. Butter a large piece of foil; set aside. For caramel, in a medium saucepan, combine brown sugar, butter, and corn syrup. Cook and stir over medium heat until mixture boils. Continue boiling at a moderate, steady rate, without stirring, for 5 minutes more.
3. Remove saucepan from heat. Stir in baking soda and vanilla. Pour caramel over popcorn; stir gently to coat. Bake for 15 minutes. Stir mixture; bake for 5 minutes more. Spread caramel corn on prepared foil; cool. Place caramel corn in gift container; cover with plastic wrap.

Also, I have added a couple more vintage cookbooks to my Etsy shop. You can see them here.