Since we still haven't fixed the dining room light yet, and I'm trying to cut back on unnecessary laundry before we put the house on the market, I set the table in the kitchen. I used the Magi from the children's nativity set and spread left over St. Nicholas Day gold coins. This may not have been the best idea to have chocolate visible before the soup was consumed! I also burned frankincense and myrrh incense. I love the smell , although this brand is very smokey. 
I decide to try out a new recipe this year. I needed to find something that did not call for powdered milk, I found this Rosca de Reyes recipe, saw that it called for rum and figured I'd found a winner. Surprisingly I was able to locate the anise extract at Freddy's. I think I have finally figured out yeast, that is to say I have finally learned that I must measure the temperature so I don't kill the yeast. I still haven't gone out to get a muneca, or baby Jesus doll, to go inside the cake. One day!We topped it with a little bit of icing and halved cherries. My Little Helper was very serious and meticulous with this task.
I also bought some candied ginger becasue I thought it would make nice jewels for our crown; however, the anise is strong enough that ginger was not a good combination with it. This is not to say that the anise was overwhelming, but I don't care for the flavor if black licorice and really don't care for it with ginger. I think I'd only use 1 TBSP of the anise extract next time. It did look like a pretty crown though!
Now I'll confess that between baking a dessert bread, making a stew, and dealing with two destructive children underfoot I was at the end of my rope by the time Mr. W returned home. As a reward for all my hard work he decided to invent a drink for me. He called it the Epiphany, you know so you could say, "I had an Epiphany!" He used Goldschlagger and Hot Damn! It was too strong for me, but I appreciated the thought. He thinks net time he'd cut out the Hot Damn! so there is only one cinnamon flavor. But how cute is he to make a drink with gold flecks in it?!
After dinner Our Little Helper got to open his last Christmas gift (we didn't get one for the baby since he doesn't know what is going on.) It was the Robot Pterodactyl that he had been missing. As you can see he was VERY happy!
I read from the book of Matthew, somewhat successfully. It is hard to compete with Robot Dinosaurs, but the baby was paying attention to me. We did not chalk the door this year because we are moving...I hope that we will not be the opposite of blessed because of it.
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