musing minds

Adeste Fideles (O Come All Ye Faithful)

O Come All Ye Faithful
Joyful and triumphant,
O come ye, O come ye to Bethlehem.

Come and behold Him,
Born the King of Angels;

O come, let us adore Him,
O come, let us adore Him,
O come, let us adore Him,
Christ the Lord.

O Sing, choirs of angels,
Sing in exultation,

Sing all that hear in heaven God’s holy word.
Give to our Father glory in the Highest;

O come, let us adore Him,
O come, let us adore Him,
O come, let us adore Him,
Christ the Lord.

All Hail! Lord, we greet Thee,
Born this happy morning,

O Jesus! for evermore be Thy name adored.
Word of the Father, now in flesh appearing;

O come, let us adore Him,
O come, let us adore Him,
O come, let us adore Him,
Christ the Lord.

Adeste fideles,
laeti triumphantes,
Venite, venite in Bethlehem!

Natum videte,
Regem angelorum

Venite adoremus,
Venite adoremus,
Venite adoremus
Dominum.

Previous: I Saw Three Ships, The Holly and The Ivy

Via Kate!

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Update: I don’t think it’s working properly, but I’ll leave it up in case it starts to.

Update 2: It does work and it also seems to be working with WP 2.5 RC1! Yay!

I Saw Three Ships Come Sailing In

I saw three ships come sailing in
On Christmas Day, on Christmas Day;
I saw three ships come sailing in
On Christmas Day in the morning.

And what was in those ships all three,
On Christmas Day, on Christmas Day?
And what was in those ships all three,
On Christmas Day in the morning?

The Virgin Mary and Christ were there,
On Christmas Day, on Christmas Day;
The Virgin Mary and Christ were there,
On Christmas Day in the morning.

Pray, wither sailed those ships all three,
On Christmas Day, on Christmas Day;
Pray, wither sailed those ships all three,
On Christmas Day in the morning?

O they sailed into Bethlehem,
On Christmas Day, on Christmas Day;
O they sailed into Bethlehem,
On Christmas Day in the morning.

And all the bells on earth shall ring,
On Christmas Day, on Christmas Day;
And all the bells on earth shall ring,
On Christmas Day in the morning.

And all the Angels in Heaven shall sing,
On Christmas Day, on Christmas Day;
And all the Angels in Heaven shall sing,
On Christmas Day in the morning.

And all the souls on earth shall sing,
On Christmas Day, on Christmas Day;
And all the souls on earth shall sing,
On Christmas Day in the morning.

Then let us all rejoice again,
On Christmas Day, on Christmas Day;
Then let us all rejoice again,
On Christmas Day in the morning.

Previous: The Holly and the Ivy

The Holly and the Ivy

The holly and the ivy,
When they are both full grown
Of all the trees that are in the wood
The holly bears the crown
O the rising of the sun
And the running of the deer
The playing of the merry organ
Sweet singing of the choir

The holly bears a blossom
As white as lily flower
And Mary bore sweet Jesus Christ
To be our sweet Saviour
O the rising of the sun
And the running of the deer
The playing of the merry organ
Sweet singing of the choir

The holly bears a berry
As red as any blood
And Mary bore sweet Jesus Christ
To do poor sinners good
O the rising of the sun
And the running of the deer
The playing of the merry organ
Sweet singing of the choir

The holly bears a prickle
As sharp as any thorn;
And Mary bore sweet Jesus Christ
On Christmas Day in the morn.
O the rising of the sun
And the running of the deer
The playing of the merry organ
Sweet singing of the choir

The holly bears a bark
As bitter as any gall;
And Mary bore sweet Jesus Christ
For to redeem us all.
O the rising of the sun
And the running of the deer
The playing of the merry organ
Sweet singing of the choir

The holly and the ivy
Now both are full well grown,
Of all the trees that are in the wood,
The holly bears the crown.
O the rising of the sun
And the running of the deer
The playing of the merry organ
Sweet singing of the choir

Don’t let your cat get into the dental floss.

Duncan had two “tails” this morning…

Related tip: if you have cats, buy paper Easter grass for the baskets.

This portrait of Hillary up at Drudge:

Copy below the jump in case it goes away….

Continue reading →

Beauty…

If you want to decorate cookies but don’t have the time or inclination to roll and shape and bake the cookies, buy plain store bought cookies like Salerno Butter Cookies, Ginger Snaps or Nilla Wafers and decorate those.

Here’s a Salerno Butter Cookie dressed up as a wreath using Royal Icing.

Update: I had mentioned this to Kate in an email, but should post it here too. You don’t have to be afraid of Royal Icing anymore! (Raw egg whites) Better’n’Eggs (and other brands including store brands) have pasteurized egg whites in a milk carton. 1/3 cup = 2 large egg whites. You can make as much Royal Icing as you like, and use what’s left over for healthy egg white omelettes. The nice thing about this is that there is no yolk waste.

Royal Icing

1 pound powdered sugar
1/3 cup egg whites (or two egg whites)
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar (helps to bind the egg whites)
2 teaspoons of water

Mix it all in a mixer. You can make different consistencies. add some more powdered sugar to make it a bit firmer (good for the green on the above cookies, for using a star tip for Santa’s beard, the fur on his coat and hat, etc.) If you want to cover a cookie in icing, use a round tip and draw a line around the outside, then use slightly more watery icing to fill in. The icing will spread out, but won’t go over the side because of the icing dam. A toothpick dipped into food coloring can be used to “draw” features in newly poured icing (works well with white).

Try to use gel coloring if possible (Wilton makes this) but you can use the liquid drops from the supermarket. If you do, it will thin the icing so be prepared to add a little more powdered sugar if you want firmer icing.

Royal icing can be kept in sealed plastic containers at room temperature for days. Mix different colors in different containers. If you don’t have cake decorating tools, you can still pipe icing dams using a plastic sandwich bag with a low corner just nipped off.