I just wanted to take this opportunity to wish you all a Merry Christmas, Happy New Year and happiness for whatever joyous, beautiful end-of-year holiday you may celebrate. This is one of my favorite times of year when we can take time to relax and look back of all that we’ve done and accomplished and make new plans for the coming year. Sometime during the last week of December, I urge you to undertake some sort of…
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Amish Friendship Bread has been around for decades, the recipe having made its first appearance on the internet in early 90’s and having been circulated via Xeroxed copy and in hand written form prior to that. Despite the name, this sweet, cake-like quick bread does not have its origins in Amish communities and perhaps derives its name from the similarities it bears with several coffee cakes and sweet breads that are typical of Amish cookery. The Friendship…
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Years ago, when I worked as a classroom assistant and tutor at an elementary school in Massachusetts, I had a colleague from Haiti and one day shortly before the holiday break we were discussing our plans for Christmas and New Years’ and she mentioned a traditional soup that Haitians both in Haiti and the diaspora eat on New Year’s Day: Soupe Joumou (in Creole) or Soupe au giraumon (in French). This is a fragrant, flavorful soup with…
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As the New Year approaches, we tend to pause and reflect of various goals we wish to accomplish which often involve drawing more luck, money and love into our lives. These are commonly called New Year’s resolutions. I would like to share with you a few simple spells, spiritual exercises and even foods you can prepare and eat to help drawn luck into your life. This year why not back up your resolutions with some strong spiritual…
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In various parts of Asia, most notably China, Taiwan and Singapore, it is a common practice to burn paper money and gold and silver colored paper as offerings for family members who have crossed over to the other side in order that they may have a comfortable afterlife. There are three main categories of spirit money the first is cash in the form of colorful bills usually issued in astronomically high denominations. These are meant for…
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