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Gingerbread?!

By: Advent Devotional

Posted: December 22, 2018

Category: Daily Devotional

December 22

Psalm 104:27-28

When I was in elementary school a dessert that was often served was gingerbread. I never did like it! It was dense and very spicy! At that time in my life I was not particularly fond of ginger. It was also a dessert that my mother never prepared and so we did not eat any in my home.

Later in a visit to Williamsburg, Virginia, I ate some gingerbread from Raleigh Tavern. It was warm and more to my liking. I was beginning to acquire a taste for gingerbread.

Upon scouring my many cookbooks, I found a recipe for “Light as a Feather Gingerbread.” I baked some and served it warm with lemon sauce. A pan (8×8) of gingerbread came out of the oven one night as Dad came home and Mother, Dad, and I proceeded to eat the whole thing! It was that delicious!

By now I was becoming a fan of gingerbread, which tastes especially good in the fall and winter months! I was anxious to see the December issue of Good Housekeeping. For years the magazine ran a contest inviting readers to submit photographs of Gingerbread Houses they made and decorated for the Christmas holidays. The artistic bakers excelled in creating all kinds of objects and structures. I marveled at their talents. It takes time to create the Gingerbread Houses that appeared within Good Housekeeping’s pages for years, but I hope to construct one some Christmas in the future.

One of the most ornate Gingerbread Houses I have ever seen was when we went to the Biltmore Estate in Asheville, North Carolina, at the holidays. There we found a replica of that house made of gingerbread. Very impressive!

I think building an elaborate gingerbread house will have to wait until I retire. Rest assured though that my family and I do look forward to enjoying some “Light as a Feather Gingerbread” during the upcoming holiday season. You’ll be interested to know that we practice moderation in eating the gingerbread. It now provides dessert for us at least twice! I hope you enjoy some favorite holiday treats this Christmas!

~ Alan Harvey

Prayer

Gracious Provider, there are some foods like milk, for babies, which is readily accepted. There are other foods for which we must acquire the taste. All the earth’s foods just like all Your gifts are good. Help us always to appreciate the way You satisfy our needs and desires. In Jesus’ name, we pray.