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FReeper Canteen ~ Favorite Christmas Treats ~ 23 DEC 2008
Serving The Best Troops And Veterans In The World | The Canteen Crew

Posted on 12/22/2008 6:00:28 PM PST by laurenmarlowe

 
 

~The FReeper Canteen Presents~

Favorite Christmas Treats

11082007gingerbread

Gingerbread has been baked in Europe for centuries. In some places, it was a soft, delicately spiced cake; in others, a crisp, flat cookie, and in others, warm, thick, steamy-dark squares of "bread," sometimes served with a pitcher of lemon sauce or whipped cream. It was sometimes light, sometimes dark, sometimes sweet, sometimes spicy, but it was almost always cut into shapes such as men, women, stars or animals, and colorfully decorated or stamped with a mold and dusted with white sugar to make the impression visible.

During the nineteenth century, gingerbread was both modernized and romanticized. When the Grimm brothers collected volumes of German fairy tales they found one about Hansel and Gretel, two children who, abandoned in the woods by destitute parents, discovered a house made of bread, cake and candies. By the end of the century the composer Englebert Humperdink wrote an opera about the boy and the girl and the gingerbread house.

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Cookies appear to have their origins in 7th century AD Persia, shortly after the use of sugar became relatively common in the region. By the 14th century, they were common in all levels of society, throughout Europe, from royal cuisine to street vendors.

With global travel becoming widespread at that time, cookies made a natural travel companion, a modernized equivalent of the travel cakes used throughout history. One of the most popular early cookies, which travelled especially well and became known on every continent by similar names, was the jumble, a relatively hard cookie made largely from nuts, sweetener, and water.

Cookies came to America in the very first century of English settlement (the 1600s), although the name "koekje" arrived slightly later, with the Dutch. This became Anglicized to "cookie". Among the popular early American cookies were the macaroon, gingerbread cookies, and of course jumbles of various types.

The most common modern cookie, given its style by the creaming of butter and sugar, was not common until the 18th century.

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The earliest Fruitcake recipe from ancient Rome lists pomegranate seeds, pine nuts, and raisins that were mixed into barley mash.

In the Middle Ages, honey, spices, and preserved fruits were added and the name "fruitcake" was first used, from a combination of the words "fruit" (Latin: fructus, Old French: frui), and "cake" (Old Norse: kaka, Middle English: kechel).

Fruitcakes soon proliferated all over Europe, however recipes varied greatly in different countries and throughout the ages, depending on the available ingredients as well as in some instances on church regulations of the use of butter, regarding the observance of fast (e.g. "Butterbrief" or butter letter by Pope Innocent VIII). Pope Innocent VIII, (1432 – 1492), the Holy Father softened his attitude and in 1490, he sent a permision known as the “Butter Letter” to Saxony, stating that milk and butter could be used in the North German Stollen fruitcakes.

Starting in the 16th century, sugar from the American Colonies, and the discovery that high concentrations of sugar could preserve fruits, created an excess of candied fruit, thus making fruitcakes more affordable and popular.

In the 18th century in some areas in Europe, fruitcakes were made using nuts from the harvest for good luck in the following year. The cake was then saved and eaten before the harvest of the next year.

What is your favorite Christmas Treat?

Merry Christmas!

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FR CANTEEN MISSION STATEMENT~Showing support and boosting the morale of our military and our allies military and the family members of the above. Honoring those who have served before. 

Please remember: The Canteen is a place to honor and entertain our troops. The Canteen is family friendly. Let's have fun!

We pray for your continued strength, to be strong in the face of adversity.

We pray for your safety, that you will return to your families and friends soon.

We pray that your hope, courage, and dignity remain unbroken, so that you may show others the way.

God Bless You All ~ Today, Tomorrow and Always

 

 



TOPICS: Culture/Society; Extended News; Free Republic
KEYWORDS: canteen; troopsupport
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To: unique; Kathy in Alaska
You sweetie....you......

(p.s. don't tell mrs.U)

481 posted on 12/23/2008 11:34:05 AM PST by beachn4fun ("Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.")
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To: E.G.C.
Good afternoon! I had to run to Boston right after posting this morning and just got back.

Lotta maroons on the road today, probably wandering nomads seeking gifts, rare herbs and minerals.

How's by you?

Hey, look what I found! This is a couple years old, isn't it?


482 posted on 12/23/2008 11:54:34 AM PST by Lady Jag (DONATE NOW at https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate)
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To: beachn4fun

beachy....how are you fixed for water today? News reports are talking about broken water mains....and major issues.


483 posted on 12/23/2008 12:02:14 PM PST by Kathy in Alaska (~ RIP Brian...heaven's gain...the Coast Guard lost a good one.~)
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To: Allegra; Kathy in Alaska

I had a Lunch with Sheesha and a going away dinner with sheesha... 1.5 Hours to Liftoff!hahaha


484 posted on 12/23/2008 12:08:06 PM PST by philly-d-kidder (Q8 a Country like no other! 13 HOURS plus UNTIL LIFTOFF!)
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To: beachn4fun

485 posted on 12/23/2008 12:08:24 PM PST by unique
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To: beachn4fun

hello and Merry Christmas..


486 posted on 12/23/2008 12:10:22 PM PST by philly-d-kidder (Q8 a Country like no other! 1 HOUR plus UNTIL LIFTOFF! from K8)
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To: philly-d-kidder; Allegra

WooHoo!!! Almost on your way home! It’s almost Christmas Eve where you are....prayers for a safe and uneventful journey home. ((HUGS))


487 posted on 12/23/2008 12:14:56 PM PST by Kathy in Alaska (~ RIP Brian...heaven's gain...the Coast Guard lost a good one.~)
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To: Lady Jag
((LOL))

Well, I went to the barber and got a haricut. Braving the worst elements. Temps bdropping below freezing.

We had advisories for slcik roads throughout the day. They now have expired.

Getting the house reayd for my brother from Texas and his family. They'll be here on Christmas and stay through the weekend.

488 posted on 12/23/2008 12:16:26 PM PST by E.G.C. (Click on a freeper's screename and then "In Forum" to read his/her posts)
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To: Kathy in Alaska

Well, our one daughter is here until after Christmas. She and I just finished some last minute shopping.

We are headed to the inlaws on Christmas Day and to my dad the following Saturday to be with him and my younger sister.


489 posted on 12/23/2008 12:39:52 PM PST by Arrowhead1952 (The main stream media lied - America died.)
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To: SandRat
Merry Christmas, Sand!


490 posted on 12/23/2008 1:23:09 PM PST by Kathy in Alaska (~ RIP Brian...heaven's gain...the Coast Guard lost a good one.~)
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To: Arrowhead1952

Finishing shopping is a good thing. Have a wonderful Christmas day with family.


491 posted on 12/23/2008 1:24:21 PM PST by Kathy in Alaska (~ RIP Brian...heaven's gain...the Coast Guard lost a good one.~)
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To: Lady Jag

But, but, but....I don’t like peanut brittle. You want some?


492 posted on 12/23/2008 1:26:04 PM PST by Kathy in Alaska (~ RIP Brian...heaven's gain...the Coast Guard lost a good one.~)
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To: All

Thanks, unique, for the Christmas card.


Canadian Brass ~ The Angel Choir and The Trumpeter


493 posted on 12/23/2008 1:41:07 PM PST by Kathy in Alaska (~ RIP Brian...heaven's gain...the Coast Guard lost a good one.~)
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To: All

Thanks, unique, for the Christmas card.


Elvis ~ If Every Day Was Like Christmas


494 posted on 12/23/2008 1:52:42 PM PST by Kathy in Alaska (~ RIP Brian...heaven's gain...the Coast Guard lost a good one.~)
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To: All

Thanks, unique, for the Christmas card.


Louis Prima ~ Shake Hands With Santa Claus


495 posted on 12/23/2008 1:55:33 PM PST by Kathy in Alaska (~ RIP Brian...heaven's gain...the Coast Guard lost a good one.~)
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To: Kathy in Alaska
Sure, I'll take a few hundred cases.

You certain you can't use a Peanuts psychiatrist?


496 posted on 12/23/2008 1:57:23 PM PST by Lady Jag (DONATE NOW at https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate)
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To: E.G.C.
Sounds like a warm holiday. Enjoy!


497 posted on 12/23/2008 2:19:58 PM PST by Lady Jag (DONATE NOW at https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate)
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To: All

Thanks, unique, for the Christmas card.


Dolly Parton ~ Winter Wonderland/Sleigh Ride


498 posted on 12/23/2008 2:26:43 PM PST by Kathy in Alaska (~ RIP Brian...heaven's gain...the Coast Guard lost a good one.~)
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To: All

Thanks, unique, for the Christmas card.


The Big Band AllStars ~ All The Kings Horses and Kings Men


499 posted on 12/23/2008 2:54:54 PM PST by Kathy in Alaska (~ RIP Brian...heaven's gain...the Coast Guard lost a good one.~)
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To: All

Thanks, unique, for the Christmas card.


Wurlitzer Band Organ ~ I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus


500 posted on 12/23/2008 2:56:40 PM PST by Kathy in Alaska (~ RIP Brian...heaven's gain...the Coast Guard lost a good one.~)
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