According to a Chinese proverb, “Happiness is having something to do, someone to love, and something to hope for in the future.” That sounds like Christmas to me. We all have much to do during the holiday season such as cooking, decorating, shopping, crafting, wrapping, entertaining, and baking. My sisters, my nieces, and I baked cookies for six hours on Friday. It is an annual tradition started by my mom. We use her recipes and her cookie cutters. We tell stories about her. It is oral family history at its finest. The house smells of vanilla, almond, powdered sugar and butter. None of us know much about the stock market but we know about stocking up on dozens of pounds of butter!
Hopefully just like my family, your family also has Christmas traditions. Hopefully all of us have family, friends, and neighbors to love all year long and not just during holidays. It does seem like love is in the air at Christmas. People demonstrate their love for total strangers. They walk around with smiles on their faces and see the world as kind and bright and merry. If only this spirit of generosity and good will could be bottled so it would last even in January and February and July.
Christmas is the season of hope. Hope for peace and prosperity. Hope for more time for the youngest and oldest family members. Hope for appreciation and gratitude for what we already have. Each of us need to recognize the blessings we don’t have to buy and wrap. Sometimes we all get so wrapped up in doing that we don’t take time for appreciating. So feel free to give yourself a “time out” to renew and refresh your batteries. Consider it a gift to yourself and others around you.
Quick Chicken Tortilla Bake
- 2 cans of cream of chicken soup
- 1 10 oz. can diced tomatoes with green chilies, undrained
- 12 6- or 7-inch corn tortillas cut into narrow bite-size strips
- 3 cups cubed cooked chicken
- 1 cup shredded taco cheese
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a medium bowl combine soup and undrained tomatoes and set aside. Sprinkle 1/3 of the tortilla strips in an ungreased 3-quart baking dish. Layer half of the chicken over the strips; evenly spoon half the soup mixture over the top. Repeat layers. Sprinkle with the remaining strips. Bake covered, about 40 minutes or until bubbly around the edges and center is hot. Uncover, sprinkle with cheese. Bake about 5 min. more or until cheese is melted. Makes 8 servings.
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