Panettone

Chiostro Panettone

Heard on a train to Milano…
Antonio: Maybe I’ll try making panettone this Christmas.
Ferruccio: Bravo! It can be tricky. There are secrets, you know.
Antonio: Secrets?
Ferruccio: The yeast is special. It's a closely guarded secret among bakers.
Antonio: I heard it’s not made with yeast but a sourdough starter.
Ferruccio: Which is a wild yeast. Gives panettone its unique texture and flavor. And the process is long and requires patience. You need to let the dough rise multiple times. And hang it upside down after baking.
Antonio: Sounds like a lot of work. But the taste, right? 
Ferruccio: Oh, it also helps to soak the fruit some days before baking, it plumps up the fruit. Use the best ingredients and don’t rush the rising.
Antonio: Maybe I’ll buy one this year and start earlier next year.
Ferruccio: Buona fortuna!
_________
Voice-over
The history dates back to the Roman Empire, is mentioned as being in Milan in the 15th century, but the modern Christmassy version comes from the 20th century.

Social Distancing Holy Communion

Changes…
Matthew: Did you go to the Christmas Eve service?

Luke: Sure. You know I go every year.
Matthew: For the songs. Were you pinned between two sopranos like last year?
Luke: No such luck. Something had changed this year. The communion...
Matthew: Let me guess. The priest carried it out on behalf of everyone.
Luke: Nope. We all were invited up. But the wine was given out in individual thimble-sized cups. 
________

Voice-over
What a year. Covid wrought changes in socialization and traditions in 2020. Meetings became Zoom sessions. Communal chalices became individual thimbles in this church. And instructions on how to administer Holy Communion run to a Church of England eight-page manual.

A lapsed Episcopalian relents

Christmas… 🍒🌲

.

Catherine: I’m going up to the church to hear carol singing.

.

Noëline: Carol who?

.

Catherine: Carol the song, not the singer. Carol singing. Come on.

.

Noëline: But I’m an Episcopalian, and a lapsed one at that.

.

Catherine: Just for once a year. Take bread and wine, the vicar won’t mind. He encourages multidenominationalism. He has to nowadays with a shrinking congregation. Numbers dwindling as they are.

Origins of uplift

.

Noëline: Hmm. Carols always struck me as rather dirge-like. But maybe seeing the inside of a church would uplift the spirit a bit.

_________

Voice-over

Perhaps the origin of carols as pagan songs sung while dancing around stones influence some people like Noëline to regard carols as a less exciting music genre. As this pagan music was adopted by Christians their fortunes waxed (Francis of Assisi’s Nativity Plays, 1223), waned and went underground under the Puritans in 1640, then were resurrected in the Victorian period when Sandys and Gilbert began collecting them.

...

Symbolism of bread and wine

Post Christmas...

.

Cathy: Did you attend a church service?

.

Angela: We did, at a small church on a hill, established in the 1850s. Elegant small wooden structure, not so many people, but a service led by a vicar who tries to make the comments contemporary, and provides meals for the needy.

.

Cathy: Do you go to church often?

.

Angela: At Christmas I try to reconnect with the attempts my mother made to instill piety in us. Father thought that was a worthy way for Sunday to be spent, but he wasn't as committed to the endeavor as my mother.

.

Cathy: Do you take communion?

.

Take, eat this wafer
as a symbol of my body

Angela: Where the priest gives out bread saying “Take, eat, this is my body.”

.

Cathy: Followed by “Drink, this is my blood.” Catholics believe the bread and wine become his body and blood. Do you?

.

Angela: Nominally, I suppose I am Anglican but unlike many, I regard it only as a metaphor, as a symbol.

.

Cathy: Pragmatism?

.

Angela: Linguistics in a scientific age.

___________

Voice-over

“Take, eat, this is My body” (Matthew 26:26). Then He passed the cup to them saying, “Drink from it, all of you, for this is My blood” (Matthew 26:27-28). Now, a wafer symbolizes the bread, and grape juice symbolizes the wine.

...

Magi Mistakes

After the gift giving…

Melchior: I thought she would have liked gold.

Balthazar: And I was sure she would prefer frankincense to Dior.

Gaspar: Likewise, I thought she’d prefer myrrh over chocolate.

__________

Voice-over

Gift-giving is a tricky business.

Some people want luxury, some want practical presents.
Like pampers.

...

LINE Sticker Sheep Manga

A new direction for LINE?

Myrrhy Christmas, Frank.

___________

Voice-over

Could LINE become an alternative coauthored interactive manga?

What are the possibilities for authorship?

What are the possibilities for readership?

Send your own designed LINE sticker greeting.

...