Building a Stronger Community to Fight Hostility

Interrupting your regularly scheduled posting ...

I am staring at the cursor blinking away on my screen as I am trying to piece my thoughts together. I had plans for this post … I wanted to wrap up my Christmas 2012 selection with a stunner of a soup. Then Friday happened and I am not sure how I want to go forth. 
Do I continue to post as I usually do?
Do I not post at all?
Do I share my thoughts, my pain, my worries?
Do I stay silent?

We Pray for You, We Love You, We Remember You ... In Silence

“When every hope is gone, when helpers fail and comforts flee, I find that help arrives somehow, from I know not where. Supplication, worship, prayer are no superstition; they are acts more real than the acts of eating, drinking, sitting or walking. It is no exaggeration to say that they alone are real, all else is unreal.”
― Mahatma Gandhi

Beef Wellington with Roast Pumpkin, Parsnip and Mushrooms in a Creamy Sage and Mustard Sauce

The Christmas verve is in full swing here in Weimar. To add to the spirit it has been snowing for the past 2 days covering Weimar in a blanket of soft, powder-white, pureness, making the city look postcard perfect. The annual Christmas market in the center of town has been spreading joys of spiced glühwein, roasted chestnuts, sticky cotton candy, fresh stollen or warm quark doughnuts, making it irresistible to walk through the cobbled streets without stopping and sampling a cupful here, a portion there or a morsel around the corner.

Christmas: An Orange Marmalade Date Fig and Quark Stollen

How much kitsch is allowed at Christmas? As I walked past the stalls of the Christmas market this weekend, I felt a surge of happiness as I saw the plethora of flashy ornaments and gaudy adornments. It seems Christmas is the season where anything goes and everything is allowed.
Tinsel, baubles, lametta, ribbons, fake snow, dancing Santa Claus, snow in cans - and we’re just getting started. I could not help filling my basket with a bit of each.