Shepherds Dinner

 

Ok so sometimes we have a real shepherds dinner. With what the Shepherds would have really eaten, grapes, olives, pomegranates, fish and bread.

But I will be honest, my kids prefer our fake Shepherds dinner better, so we will have shepherds pie every Christmas Eve, and I do a Shepherds dinner sitting on the ground another night.

My Recipe for Shepherds Pie

 

1-1/2 lbs of cooked ground meat (we use ground beef )

1 Walla Walla onion chopped

1 cup beef broth (I use water and Beef Better than Bouillon)

3 tbls Worcestershire sauce

1 bag of frozen mixed veggies

5  medium potatoes

1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt

3 eggs

 

Cook and crumble meat until browned.  Rinse all fat from meat. Return to pan and cook with chopped onions until soft. add beef broth and Worcestershire Sauce.  if you would like a thicker sauce you can add a tablespoon of flour.  After this has cooked mix in a bag of frozen veggies.

 

Meanwhile:

chop potatoes (I leave the skin on because that is where all the nutrients are).  once they are soft drain water and mash mix in Greek yogurt and three eggs.

 

Spread the meat mixture to cover the bottom of a 9x13 casserole dish,  cover with the mashed potatoes.  Bake at 350 until the potatoes start to become golden.

 

mmm enjoy!

Candy Cane Cookies

 We make candy canes cookies every year when we talk about the Shepherds. We always discuss the symbolism of the candy cane and make these cookies.

Chocolate Candy Cane Cookies

3/4 cup butter

2 eggs

1-1/2 cup brown sugar packed

1 tsp vanilla

2 tsp peppermint flavoring

 

2 cup all-purpose flour

3/4 tsp baking soda

3/4 cup baking cocoa

1/2 bag of mini chocolate chips

6 candy canes crushed

 

preheat oven to 375 degrees. Cream first five ingredients together,  add dry ingredients, mix well. When dough is formed mix in chocolate chips and crushed candy canes.

 

form into 1-1/2" balls and place on cookie sheet (I like to use parchment paper). and bake for 12 to 14 minutes. mmm.

 

I just realized I don't have a picture of these amazing cookies, I will have to take one and add it later.

 



Shepherds Night

 Holidays and Traditions can either be a source of frustration or a source of heaven, often at the very same time.  This year I altered one of my favorite traditions to become even more splendid. I learned sometimes we try and do too much and try and make traditions too complicated and it makes it less fun. Simple is better.

Christmas Eve we always do a Shepherd's Night. We start off the night eating shepherd's pie, Have a game and read some books, scriptures, and traditionally make candy cane cookies.

Shepherd's Dinner

 

I realize that the shepherds really didn't eat shepherd's pie.  for the record most likely the shepherds ate fish, nuts, pomegranates, dates, figs, olives and other fruits that were easily dried, and pita bread.  we always set the table nice for our dinner but most likely shepherds ate on the ground with their fingers.  I thought about having a dinner with foods they ate and sitting on the ground. But my kids do not like fish, and are really not good about trying new foods like figs and dates, so I didn't want a battle on Christmas Eve, so we stick with our Shepherds Pie. But if you have more adventurous eaters it would be fun to have a real shepherds dinner.

 

Ye Shall Find the Babe

 

We then play a good game of Find baby Jesus. This is my kid's favorite Christmas tradition.  We swaddle a baby doll, and everyone dresses as a shepherd and then there is one Angel. My mom has a full set of nativity costumes, but on occasion I forget to borrow them and then we use towels and what ever we can find for ties around the head, and a pair of $1 store fairy wings, that works well too.

 

The Angel goes and hides baby Jesus somewhere in the house (while the shepherds are all waiting in a bedroom, or a bathroom or somewhere behind a closed door together).

 

And then the Angel comes and announces, "fear not, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, for unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord, ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes lying in a manger"  Go find him. (the Angel then typically starts giggling uncontrollably in anticipation for the wild hunt to come)

 

 

 

Then the Shepherds disperse and look for baby Jesus. 

 

 

Who ever finds Baby Jesus gets to be the next angel and they swap costumes with the Angel

This is the point when the mom starts giggling uncontrollably because dad is dressed in a tutu and fairy wings

 

 

Shepherd Stories

This normally takes us pretty close to bed time so we just jump right into bed time stories.

Our long time favorite is J is for Jesus: the Sweetest Story Ever Told.

 

It is the story of the candy cane. My kids have loved it since they were itty bitty, so we continue to read it.  Though I am thinking of buy a couple other shepherd stories to read for next year.

I'm struggling to find any that really grab my attention so I am going to have to search the libraries and book stores. One off of amazon that looks like it might be cute is

The Greatest Shepherd of All

 

The Amazon description says: On Christmas Eve, Grandpa Woolly shares with three excited youngsters the story of the birth of Baby Jesus, and how three young sheep, much like themselves, met this greatest of all shepherds.

I will keep you posted if I find one that is just amazing.

We will also then read the scripture story of the shepherds.

Bed time

In the past we have slept on the ground all in one room together, just like the shepherds would have. the kids love this.  However I HATE sleeping on the floor, or actually I can't sleep on the floor so I have given this up, but my kids do all have a slumber party together in one room in the house.

cookies

Growing up we always made Christmas cookies for Santa Claus. I tried to carry this Christmas tradition on in my family. To tie in with the shepherd theme we made Candy Cane cookies after we read the J is for Jesus book. They are most delicious.  However, this is exactly what I am talking about by trying to add too much in to our traditions, this was just too much and it stressed me out. So I cut this out, don't worry I will provide the Heavenly Recipe. But this year we simply bought Santa his favorite cookies, Oreos, and called it good.  It just occurred to me that maybe next year we will buy him candy cane Oreos.  Now for our divine Chocolate Candy Cane Cookies

 

Our Shepherd Tradition

As part of our seven weekly devotionals before Christmas, one is based on the shepherds. While we have a shepherds night typically on Christmas Eve, this is a separate devotional we do  three Sunday's before Christmas to help us focus all season long on Christ. We learn about the shepherds, put the shepherd in the nativity scene and do an activity that has to do with the Shepherds.

This year we focused in on how the shepherds didn't just keep the good news to themselves, they went and spread the good news all over. So we decided, (ok so really it was I decided) it would be a good idea to deliver neighborhood gifts on this night, and to make sure they too spread the good word. 

You can't really tell by this picture, but we got HUGE candy canes, and put the legend of the Candy Cane on it. We then took it around.

You can find many versions of the legend of the candy cane, some short, some long, some stories, some poems.  My favorite is J is for Jesus, a board book with a cute poem in it. My sister really likes The Legend of the Candy Cane, they read it every year too. I found a shorter version on the internet and just printed it up and tied it on to each Giant Candy Cane.

We came home and warmed up by drinking candy cane hot cocoa and reading J is for Jesus.  It was a splendid evening.

 

Grandma Martin's Fruit Salad

 Grandma Martin’s Fruit Salad

4-5 apples (different varieties) chopped
1-2 bananas sliced
Seeds of 1 pomegranate (optional)
Grapes cut in half
Any other fresh fruit you like (pears, strawberries, kiwi, etc.)
Chopped nuts (very optional)
1 can fruit cocktail (drain and reserve fluid)
1 can pineapple chunks or tidbits (drain and reserve fluid)
1 can mandarin oranges (drain and reserve fluid)
1/3 cup sugar (brown or white)
2 heaping Tablespoons corn starch
1 cup cream

Mix sugar and cornstarch in a pot, add fruit juices from canned fruit. Heat until thick and clear. Let cool.
Whip cream, fold in thickened fruit juice.
Gently fold into mixed fruits. Chill.