Four Squares

We saw thirty movies in 2016, which means that for two out of every five Tuesdays we either watched a flick we’d already seen or (more likely) we just stayed home from the cinema. Several of these films were remakes of old favorites, like Ghostbusters, Pete’s Dragon or The Jungle Book. The overwhelming majority were sequels, such as Captain America Civil War, X-Men Apocalypse, Finding Dory, Star Trek Beyond, Alice through the Looking Glass, Independence Day Resurgence, Now You See Me 2, My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2, and Kung Fu Panda 3. We enjoyed them, but the films that really stood out this year were totally unique: Hail Caesar, Eddie the Eagle, Zootopia, The BFG, Queen of Katwe, The Light between Oceans, Miracles from Heaven, Sully, and especially Florence Foster Jenkins. It must take courage to back a movie you don’t KNOW will do well, but I’m so glad someone did.

Mother's Favourite

Anthropologist Margaret Mead was asked by a student one day in class for the earliest sign of civilization in a culture.  Is it a clay pot, a fishhook, an arrowhead, a stone for grinding grain?  Her answer was surprising: a healed femur.  She explained that healed femurs are never found among savages.  You find skulls crushed by clubs, temples pierced by arrows, but no healed femurs.  A healed femur means  that someone took pity; someone practiced compassion on the person with the broken leg while it healed. Someone hunted, brought him or her food while it healed.  So the practice of grace: a gift, like a cup of cold water, is the first sign of civilization. 

Hither and Yon

Damon Burton is a web developer in Layton, Utah. He’s also a husband, a father of two young boys, and a former recipient of subsidized school lunch programs. This Christmas season, he didn’t have to look very far to find a way to pay it forward. “I benefited from free and reduced lunch programs throughout the entirety of my schooling,” he reports, “and over the years I wanted to figure out some way to give back.” He called seventeen schools in the Davis district and asked if he could pay off their outstanding lunch balances. The bill came to $2,000. At Antelope Elementary School alone, his generosity gave 37 families one less thing to worry about. Damon had intended to make his donation anonymously, but one of his friends decided the story was too good to keep to himself. It’s true what Benjamin Franklin once said: “Three can keep a secret, if two of them are dead.”

Fanny's Favourite

“Here is a lesson in creative writing. First rule: Do not use semicolons. They represent absolutely nothing. All they do is show you've been to college. If you want to really hurt your parents and you don't have the nerve to be gay, the least you can do is go into the arts. I’m not kidding. The arts are not a way to make a living. They are a very human way of making life more bearable. Practicing an art, no matter how well or badly, is a way to make your soul grow, for heaven’s sake. Sing in the shower. Dance to the radio. Tell stories. Write a poem to a friend, even a lousy poem. Do it as well as you possibly can. You will get an enormous reward. You will have created something.” – Kurt Vonnegut

Bowl of Fruit

I can’t visit Bettys Café today. These will have to do:

Fat Rascals

1 cup flour

1 cup self-rising flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup sugar

Zest of 1 orange and 1 lemon

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1/4 cup each – currants, raisins and sultanas

1 egg, lightly beaten

4 to 5 tablespoons milk

1 egg yolk

1 tablespoon water

Glacé cherries and blanched almonds

Heat oven to 400F. Sift flours and baking powder together in large bowl. Cut in butter. Add sugar, zest, spices, and fruit; mix well. Add beaten egg and enough milk to make a soft dough. Form into 6 saucer-sized rounds, about 3/4″ thick. Mix egg yolk and water together to make a glaze and brush over tops. Decorate with the cherries and almonds. Transfer to non-stick baking tray and bake 15-20 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on wire rack.

Twenty T's

“Ultimately, the fullness of the story of Christmas culminates with the last three days of the Savior’s life. In that pivotal period, the Savior passed from the Garden of Gethsemane to the cross of Calvary to the Garden Tomb. As Elder Jeffrey R. Holland taught, the impact and efficacy of that moment would reach back to the beginning of time, and forward throughout all eternity. With the fate of every human soul hanging in the balance, Jesus entered the Garden of Gethsemane virtually alone. There followed interrogation, scourging, and finally an excruciating death on the cross. With the same humility and submissiveness in which He declared from the beginning, ‘Here am I, send me,’ he now said, ‘Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit.’” - Elder Craig C. Christensen