~Jessica Rath

Compared to Coyote, Abiquiu is a veritable hub of commerce and entertainment: several restaurants, several stores, a hotel, an elementary school, a gas station. Coyote has none of that. Not any more. It does have a post office, a clinic, and a volunteer fire station, plus the Coyote Ranger District – the northernmost district of the Santa Fe National Forest, covering 261,100 acres. If you love the outdoors, the diversity of the area around Coyote is pure delight: it  boasts lush, alpine woodlands, pastoral mesas, and dark-red colored canyons and cliffs that are the signature signs of the region. ​

This Japanese pumpkin has a firm texture and doesn’t have to be peeled. If you’re adventurous, you can clean and dry the seeds and roast them with some salt. I found one at Trader Joe’s, but Sprouts has them too – I just checked. Sprouts also sells miso, but the website only lists “mellow white”. If possible, use red or Hatcho miso.

A word about miso: it’s made with fermented soy beans, or barley, or rice, and there are other variations. Although traditional Japanese cuisine doesn’t include yogurt, miso has similar health benefits:  the fermentation process adds probiotics and enzymes which help with digestion, reduce toxins in the body, and strengthen the immune system.

If you’ve ever been to a Japanese restaurant, you’ve encountered miso, because absolutely every meal, including breakfast, includes miso soup. Here is a different kind of miso recipe, resulting in a thick stew.

​Ingredients:
1 T sesame oil
1 medium yellow onion, thinly sliced
1 Lb kabocha , cubed
1 c water
1//4 c red, barley, or Hatcho miso, thinned into 1/3 c of water

Preparation:
Heat the oil in a wok or skillet. Add the sliced onions and saute over medium heat for 5 to 7 minutes, stirring gently, until lightly browned. Add the kabocha and fry for another 3 minutes. Add the water and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce the heat, and simmer for 30 minutes. 

Stir in the thinned miso and simmer for another 5 minutes or until liquid has been absorbed.

My late husband and I built a log cabin on Mesa Poleo in the early 70s. We did not inhabit it too long, just over two years but that time is an indelible part of my existence all of these years later.

​Lynn Zotalis, Hippie at Heart

Cerro Pedernal, the infamous northern New Mexico landmark…
the mesa peak I always wanted to hike up
but in the years I lived so near, just a few miles away
past Youngsville between Coyote and Gallina,  I never attempted it     and now?
The peak requires a steep hike on very loose rock, a short, Class 3 wall,
and a narrow, exposed trail eight miles up and back.
 
I just may have missed this one
now bowing to my muscles that require continual preservation
or maybe it’s conservation, nonetheless,  definite constraints
undeniable but not ready to admit defeat.
Certainly limits that can be quite unforgiving at this stage of my life,
for instance, I’m resigned to no more cartwheels. Well, pretty much.
 
I’m forced to be reasonable, sensible,  oof, I do not like that moniker
but now I often have conversations with my peers about mindfulness
exhorting them  and me  to watch where we walk to avoid missteps, to stay upright.
DON’T FALL! especially when I consider the consequences,
how traumatic brain injury may result.
 
Aging is not for sissies. It is a shock, that gut check
noticing the changes now so blatantly undisguised.
Drooping lids, jowls, neck waddle following down, down, down
to these appaloosa legs, one might say roan. Mottled, spotted, splotchy,
red and purply stippled. Could be reshod?
Arms peppered, freckled brown spots like a connect-the-dots puzzle.
The gray streaked mane, tow head to platinum, even though gradual
it was notable the year it morphed.
 
Did you know that green chili synthesizes collagen,
reduces inflammation for healthier aging?
Now that’s the best reason for consuming vast amounts of my favorite stew.
I’m truly not that obsessed with the decade’s effects upon this body,
I continue to take notice, to appreciate the days,
the waning years as they take their toll, unescapable father time.
 
I reevaluate what’s treasured, and of course, family is paramount.
Precious photos in my faded albums, innocent, tender faces,
the imprints etched deeply upon my heart. Those old albums are stored
with easy access, staged for rescue from any disaster.
Possessions are one thing, I’d relinquish them all, save for those memories
stored in 3 x 3 images. I take some comfort in the fact that I live in the middle,
New Mexico, far from rising oceans,
oceans that possess too much melancholy for me personally.
 
I ponder all of the ones that have passed on,
try to make sense of loss and I must resign questions to fate,
a conscious effort to let go and release those to the other side
submitting to the seasons as trees shed their leaves
transmogrifying back to the earth.
 
What’s happened to my face, my body, tells the story of experience,
the love, the laughter, the tears   I speak gratefulness to the lumps and lines,
the hues and patterns that weave history and memory together
in one unique crazy quilt, blanketing my shoulders, wrapping it around
absolving       absorbing the imprint every single thread holds,
the elegantly designed material of life
resonant in wakening waves
of understanding.

By Abbot Christian
Christ in the Desert Monastery

The first thing that may surprise our families and friends about a Monastery Christmas is that we do not start decorating for the Solemnity until December 24th. No trees or decorations are visible in the church, refectory or corridors, inside or out, until the “Night Before Christmas.” Why is that? Christmastide technically begins, in the Catholic Liturgical Calendar, at First Vespers of Christmas, that is, the eventide of December 24th. By then, but not before, trees are decorated, lights are strewn, poinsettias are in place, and the festivities begin.

Our Christmas celebrations on December 24th include significant time in church, chanting the Divine Offices of Vespers, then a little later, Christmas Vigils and culminating in the celebration of Midnight Mass, as December 24th turns into December 25th. After Mass the monks as well as our resident guests and visitors are treated to a festive breakfast (yes, at 1:30 am!), including scrambled eggs, turkey bacon, muffins and more, then off to rest for the monks and guests, and the visitors typically return to their homes, presumably to rest as well.

On the morning of December 25th we pray the Office of Lauds and celebrate Mass of Christmas Day later in the morning, at 11:00 am. In the afternoon, after the Office of None (the Ninth Hour), we have our principal meal of the day, usually something quite special and delicious, though a surprise every year, and prepared by our monks, as are all our meals in the Monastery.

While many people start taking down Christmas decorations and lights within a day or so after Christmas, we monks maintain the mood of comfort and joy which the Christmas Season always brings, for the succeeding “Twelve Days of Christmas.” We cannot be stopped or even slowed down, as we rejoice in the reality and mystery of God-with-us, Emmanuel, who has come that we might have life and have it in abundance.

We suggest to all to consider the “monastery pattern” regarding the celebration of Christmas this year. It may take some adjusting to, but hopefully worth every minute of it, to celebrate with less commercialism, and place the emphasis on the true meaning and spirit of Christmas, when Christ entered time to bring us to eternity.

Some wonderful words from the Norwegian-Danish novelist Sigrid Undset, who lived from 1882 to 1949, come to mind here:

“And when we give each other Christmas gifts in His name, let us remember that He has given us the sun and the moon and the stars, and the earth with its forests and mountains and oceans—and all that lives and moves upon them. He has given us all green things and everything that blossoms and bears fruit and all that we quarrel about and all that we have misused—and to save us from our foolishness, from all our sins, He came down to earth and gave us Himself.”

~Hilda Joy
We reshare this recipe from 2020 
​
This recipe came to mind recently when a friend asked me if I remembered drinking gluhwein with her many years ago at Chicago’s annual December Christchild Market.  Indeed, I do remember.  I also remember enjoying salty warm pretzels and bratwurst.  For several years, I made gluhwein at home and drank it out of the souvenir mug in which I first enjoyed its warmth at the frosty outdoor market, the largest in the world outside of Germany.  Then one year, I dropped the mug, breaking it.  Oh well, I can still enjoy the glowing warmth of gluhwein.  Now in 2020, the Year of Covid-19, this wondrous fairytale market that has enchanted adults as well as children has gone virtual, like so many of the things we have perhaps taken for granted.

​Literally meaning ‘glowing wine,’ this German drink will give you a glow of warmth during the lengthening days leading to the Winter Solstice.  Traditionally served at every outdoor Kriskindlmarkt (Christchild Market) that springs up during Advent in German and Austrian cities and towns, it also hits the spot indoors, especially in front of a roaring or glowing fire.

Ingredients
1 bottle dry red wine, 750 ml and inexpensive
6 whole cloves
2 cinnamon sticks
Optionally:
   4 star anise pods
   2 juniper berries
   2 cardamom pods
1/4 cup sugar, brown or white
 1 orange, sliced

​Directions 
Empty wine into a medium-sized saucepan set on medium heat.
When wine is heated, add spices.
Add sugar and stir until dissolved.  Lower heat.
Slice orange and cut each slice in half.  Add slices to pot, simmering all for about 10 minutes​
At this point, gluhwein is ready to serve, but it could simmer for a longer period on very low heat to perfume one’s home with its sweet spicy aroma.
 
EnJoy

Hebe Garcia sends in this recipe of Holiday Cheer

Coquito is a popular Christmas coconut rum nog traditionally served in Puerto Rico. This is my mother’s egg-free recipe which has an ice cream twist. Sprinkle with ground cinnamon or nutmeg and serve.  Cheers!
​
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Additional Time: 8 hours

Ingredients
1 (15 oz) can cream of coconut
1 (14 oz) can sweetened condensed milk
1 (12 oz) can evaporated milk
1 cup coconut-flavored rum
¼ cup water
1 scoop vanilla bean ice cream
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cinnamon sticks
2 whole cloves
1 pinch ground cinnamon
1 pinch ground nutmeg

Directions

• Place cream of coconut, condensed milk, evaporated milk, coconut rum, water, ice cream and vanilla extract in a blender. Blend until smooth and well-combined, about 3 minutes.
• Pour coconut mixture into two 20 oz glass bottles or jars. Add 1 stick cinnamon and 1 clove to each container; shake well. Chill coquito 8 hours to overnight.
• Shake container before pouring coquito into shot glasses or small cups. Sprinkle cinnamon or nutmeg on top before serving.