Koziar's Christmas Village Bernville, PA Enlightening the Spirit of a Childhood Christmas

From our home we traveled west on route I-78, we took Exit 19, route 183 south, and just a little south of the village of Bernville we made a right onto Robesonia Road, bearing right onto Christmas Village Road . Soon we found ourselves wondering if we were going in the right direction while driving through the darkened countryside. Then just as we came over the last hill, suddenly we found ourselves in a magical, sparkling valley aglow with more twinkling lights than we had ever seen before.
( I truly can't express how breath taking this site is the first time you suddenly come upon this lit up spectacle out in the middle of no where on a dark country road! You really must experience it for yourself, however expect to be in a traffic jam on certain evenings)
Koziar's Christmas Village began sixty-one years ago when William Koziar and his wife Grace began decorating their home and property in the rural area of northern Berks County, PA. Along with their four children, they did such a marvelous job in decorating that soon it became known to the locals as the "Christmas House".

Each year they added more, and more decorations, light displays, along the fences, walk ways, out buildings, barn, trees, and the lake. The word spread, and soon people were driving by, and eventually began to stop in to get a closer look.

This magnificent spectacle now attracts thousands of tourists each year from all over, to view the more than one-half million Christmas lights adorning the rural Berks countryside, and is now known as Koziar's Christmas Village.

My youngest daughter Jamiann, her husband Mike, and their three adorable children, along with my younger sister Ruth Ann, her husband Tom, my husband Roger, and myself visited Koziar's  Thanksgiving  2008 after stuffing ourselves with a fantastic Thanksgiving dinner at The Blue Mountain Family Restaurant in Shartlesville, PA, just about twelve miles north of Koziar's. The village is quite compact, and there are places to sit and rest along the way.

My sister Ruth Ann enjoyed this so much that she requested we go there again this year after our Thanksgiving Dinner. 


Here is a video slide of our trip:








Please Check Out Their Site...It is Fantastic!!!!Oh and don't skip the Flash Intro...it's Great!




Click here to check out their website, it is just as magical!

Thankful

"Thankful"

Carole Bayer Sager and David Foster

Somedays we forget

To look around us

Somedays we can't see

The joy that surrounds us

So caught up inside ourselves

We take when we should give.

So for tonight we pray for

What we know can be.

And on this day we hope for

What we still can't see.

It's up to us to be the change

And even though we all can still do more

There's so much to be thankful for.

Look beyond ourselves

There's so much sorrow

It's way too late to say

I'll cry tomorrow

Each of us must find our truth

It's so long overdue

So for tonight we pray for

What we know can be

And every day we hope for

What we still can't see

It's up to us to be the change

And even though we all can still do more

There's so much to be thankful for.

Even with our differences

There is a place we're all connected

Each of us can find each other's light

So for tonight we pray for

What we know can be

And on this day we hope for

What we still can't see

It's up to us to be the change

And even though this world needs so much more

There's so much to be thankful for

To purchase products that include this song: 
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Re-Post From Dec. 2009 My Favorite Christmas Cookie Recipes

Traditionally the Christmas Cookie was the cut out sugar cookie in shapes that resemble items that remind us of Christmas. Ever since the nine-teen thirties children in the USA have been leaving cookies out for Santa on Christmas Eve.

However, baking Christmas Cookies is not necessarily a female tradition, it is a predominately female tradition. In keeping with that idea it is easy to understand how we ended up with a huge variety of recipes for cookies that are baked for Christmas. Since the United States is the melting pot of many nationalities, it is inevitable that recipes from other nations were added to the mix.

Somewhere along the time line of baking cookies for Christmas, someone decided that they would make a great Christmas gift to be enjoyed by the whole family. Many attractively decorated tins popped up in the super markets, some may even had been sold containing mass produced commercialized versions of our favorite home baked cookies.  I love to re-use tins that I have either bought or had given to me.  Recently, I received a huge box of tins that were loving used by one of Alpha's best bakers, Yolanda Savary. 

My Uncle Dick's wife our Aunt Jenny is of Hungarian decent and was known for her Kieflies. She called them Kieflies, but many Germans call them Kiffels. In her recipe she used yeast and sour cream, and this was the recipe our mother used for many years.

Then in 1978, we were introduced to our neighbor Andy "Gumps" Penyak's sister Anna "Anky" Moyer who was of Russian decent. She gave us the recipe for Kiffels made with cream cheese, which is much more simple than the one with yeast and sour cream.

One Christmas I gave a tin of my cookies to Aunt Jenny and Uncle Dick, and she asked for my recipe for the Kiffel with cream cheese. It was my understanding that from that time onward she used the cream cheese recipe. I think that the cookie comes lighter, more flaky, and richer with cream cheese.

I had previously been known in my circle of friends as the person who made wedding cakes. My dear friend Georgia called me to make her brother Jimmy's wedding cake. At their wedding reception I was introduced to Mrs. Georgia Kustopias Crouse's delicious, melt in your mouth Greek Crescent Cookies.  Later that year while I was giving the dear late Mrs. Crouse a perm, she wrote the recipe down for me.  These cookies are so very good!

When I was about eighteen my cousin Paula Jessamine "DiRisio" made tons, and tons of Christmas cookies for her family on their farm in Karrville, NJ. One of my favorites of Paula's cookies were her powdered sugared pecan sandy balls, that looked like a snow ball. They too would just melt in your mouth. The recipes was quite similar to the Greek Crescent Cookies so I incorporated the two. I separate the Greek cookie dough into two parts, and add pecans to one part for the "snow balls".

Three years ago my daughter Jennifer gave me a Christmas Cookie book. In the book was a recipe for "Mice Cookies", they were so adorable looking and so easy to make that my grandchildren helped me make them. They are now an whimsical addition to the many cookies our family enjoys each Christmas season.

There was a day many years ago when I made thousands of cookies and gave them as gifts. Well, those days have hit the skids for me. Physically I am not able to bake so many cookies, and the cost of ingredients have sky rocketed since the seventies and eighties.

I now wrangle the help of the granddaughters and even the grandson's if they would like to learn how to bake. My father was an excellent baker and candy maker. His cream puffs, danish, and bread were scrumptious. My friend Georgia would take them to her Aunt's former restaurant in Easton to be sold at the counter. He also tried his hand at making homemade sauerkraut, horse radish, and pickles. So as to not leave the gentlemen out of this tradition of baking Christmas cookies, I think that I should see if Jacob and Gabriel would like to try their hand at baking.

As to not make this blog any longer, I will now add my first Christmas cookie recipe, and will post the rest of them next week.

I think if I took a poll in our family the Kiffel would win the first choice of the cookies I bake. Therefore it will be my first recipe:


CREAM CHEESE KIFFELS

4 c. flour "You may need more if dough seems too wet."

1 lb. butter

1 lb. cream cheese

Mix well. Divide into about 4 large round balls. Refrigerate overnight; however, if there is not enough time to refrigerate overnight, the dough may be worked immediately after mixing. Roll dough in powdered sugar/flour mixture into a large round circle to about 1/4 inch in thickness. or on parcment paper. Cut 5 inch squares with a pizza cutter or crimper. Fill with apricot, lekvar, etc. (many fillings can be store bought at the deli section). Don't be afraid to fill. You may make them smaller if you want. I have also used a pastry bag to put the filling on the dough. Fold sides inward to pinch and seal in the filling. Bake at 350 degrees starting at 13 minutes and watching until kiffels are golden on the surface. (This time will vary on the size of the kiffels. 5 inch kiffels with filling will turn out somewhat large.) Use unbuttered cookie tray. Remove when hot. 1 batch makes about 5 1/2 dozen kiffels. These freeze very well.

NUT FILLING: 2 c. ground walnuts 12 tbsp.condensed milk 8 tbsp. sugar My mother added black walnut flavoring, which is hard to find, but really enhances the flavor.*

LEKVAR FILLING: Lekvar is sold in the jelly section of the grocery store, it is prune filling, and my personal favorite. Back in the day I would purchase Lekvar in a white paper dish, wrapped in the white meat wrapping paper, at the meat counter in Alpha's well known, Central Super Market, which also sold black walnut flavoring, and the little silver balls that Mom used for the eyes on her Mirror Cookie Press Peanut Butter Camels. Everyone in Alpha sure miss the Pados family and their Central Super Market.

APRICOT FILLING: I use Apricot Jam that I get at Aldis, and would also be found in the jelly section at any grocery store.

*After the nut filled kiffels are cool, I place them in a zip lock bag with some powdered sugar, lightly shake, and remove from bag.

If you happen to be too busy to bake and live in the Lehigh Valley, you may want to take a trip to the Kiffel Kitchen on Route 512 in Moore Township north of Bath, south of Wind Gap. They also ship! Here is a link to their website: The Kiffel Kitchen http://www.kifflekitchen.com/

I have had their kiffels, nut cups, and cream cheese brownie cups and they are delicious. The store is really nice too, and they sell country craft gift items, and play Jimmy Durante background music, definitely worth the trip.

Mrs. Crouse's Greek Crescent Cookies & More

Georgia Kustopias Crouse's Greek Crescent Cookies

This is the recipe that I received from the mother of a life long friend, Georgia Kustopias Crouse. Like my own dear mother, Georgia passed on several years ago. I am very grateful that she gave me this recipe so many years ago. These cookies melt in your mouth, and they add a pretty touch to a tray of cookies for their shape and snowy appearance.

325 degrees 15 minutes

1 lb. butter

6 egg yolks beaten

3/4 cup of confectioners sugar

1 tsp. vanilla 1 tsp. baking powder

5 cups flour (may need a little more)

whole cloves

confectioner sugar to dust after cool


Mix butter, sugar, egg, and vanilla together thoroughly. Blend in flour. Divide dough in half. Shape dough by rounded teaspoon into crescents. Press whole clove into center of each. Bake on ungreased baking sheet 12-15 minutes or until set but not brown. Cool. Dust with confectioner's sugar.

Pecan Snowballs

Should you choose to divide in half and use this dough for the pecan snowballs, add 2/3 cup of ground pecans to the dough and roll them into balls. Bake on ungreased baking sheet 12-15 minutes or until set but not brown. Cool. Dust with confectioner's sugar.



Scottish Shortbread

1 cup butter

1 cup sugar

3 cups flour
Thoroughly cream butter and sugar, add 1 1/2 cups flour and mix thoroughly. Turn onto board floured with remaining 1/2 cup of flour. Knead in flour until dough cracks on surface. Roll out to a thickness of 1/4 inch, use 2 inch glass or round cookie cutter to cut into circles. Stamp the centers with Scottish Shortbread Cookie Stamp. I have a Father Christmas and a "Clement Moore" type Santa design on my stamps. *If you don't have a stamp you can just make them circles or cut into squares or shapes.
Bake at 275 degrees on ungreased baking sheet 25-30 minutes or until lightly golden brown.

We The People~ Must Occupy

The nation has debt, the 99% have debt, do you think the 1% have debt?

If you ever get the opportunity to visit Jim Thorpe aka Mauch Chunk, PA please do yourself a favor and tour the Old Jail Museum.  I have toured it several times, and would do the tour again, and again just to be reminded of just how a large corporation can seal the fate of its lowly laborers.

The guides of the museum spoke of the injustice served on the Irish Immigrants of the mid to late 1800s who mined the coal in the Pennsylvania coal mines of the region.  You will hear of how the coal miners worked long arduous hours in the mines; and did not get to spend the money they earned as it was always owed to the Company Store and the Company Landlord.   If the coal miner died whether from black lung or in a mining accident his widow and children were evicted immediately and left for homeless unless they had a son to take over the father's job.  They had boys as young as nine or ten mining in the coal mines.   If there was a threat of an accident, the miners were instructed to save the mules first and that every miner had to save themselves.

In the town there were signs in the windows of the shops; No Irish Allowed.  There would be no justice for the hard working laborers in the mines.  The irony of it all was that Franklin B. Gowan was a first generation Irish Protestant and President of both the PA & Reading Railroad, and the PA & Reading Coal & Iron Company yet had no respect for those who worked hard so he could enjoy the fruits of their labor.

When the coal miners assembled and tried to negotiate with the company for better work conditions and a decent wage they were threatened and murdered.  Franklin Gowan hired the Pinkertons, a Philadelphia Detective Agency to investigate those who were organizing unions.  History has conflicting stories, just as our media today who report the activities of Occupy.

If one was to hear the stories handed down from generation to generation of the coal miners you will hear as I have heard from my own mother whose grandparents were from Mauch Chunk/Jim Thorpe. The story I was told was that the miners were innocent of the Pinkerton's accusations of murder, and the company run government condemned them to death by hanging.  The handed down stories state that the Pinkertons themselves were the murderers and framed the lowly miners who had no means of defending themselves against the Dystopian Society of the day.

They were in an Oligarchy structured society where the elite 1 % ruled the government and the 99% of coal miners and their families were bound to servitude to the coal company that controlled all aspects of their day to day activities.  When they stood up for themselves they were "railroaded" by the 1% that controlled the media and government.  In the end there was a public hanging to send the message to anyone who had ideas of standing up to the 1% of the elite who ruled.

At the present time the conditions of our daily lives as the 99% are much better than that of the coal miners during the mid to late 1800s.  However, we must stand up of our rights now before it quickly deteriorates to that of our ancestors here in the coal region of Pennsylvania.  We should not allow the 1% of our country to dictate policy such as the latest campaign finance laws that will only give the 1% more power to control who we vote for in our elections.

During the past decade or so the 1% have gotten their ducks in a row, and are on a roll toward a Oligarchy structured society; the actual literal translation from the Greek is "rule of the few". They have organized to take away the blue collar worker jobs through outsourcing/NAFTA, the carefully placed corporate pawns in government have passed bills to deconstruct our Labor Unions, the home and land ownership of the former middle class sunk into foreclosures through the Subprime Mortgage Crisis, the big corp. insurance companies dictating the health care of the former middle class, the big "Pharma Companies" courting the doctors to spread their control of the public through controlled substances, the massive dependence on foreign fossil fuels without regard for employing the unemployed to develop alternative energy sources,  and the lack of government funding for all forms of education for the former middle class and the lies perpetrated by the government to wage war on the Iraqi people. Make no mistake; the 1% dictatorship ruled Iraq, but it was the 99% who go on suffering from the "Shock and Awe" of the Bush Administration. 

It is much easier to control a beaten down, unemployed, uneducated, drugged up, group of people that have lost all sense of contribution, pride of ownership, and wisdom.  So when you see or hear of the media condemning Occupy, think of the Irish Miners of Mauch Chunk who were labeled Molly Maguires by the Coal Company pawns, and the media of the their day who spread the word that they were criminals. The 1% Wealthy Hierachy were responsible for the public opinion of their day, let us not allow history to repeat itself.

When Occupy demonstrators are in an urban setting they should not be labeled the criminals.  There are and always have been crimes committed in these urban settings on a daily basis.  The police and media have attributed these crimes to the demonstrators.  I also would not find it very hard to believe that like the Pinkertons of the mid to late 1800s there is some instigated or provoked violence that has been attributed to the demonstrators in order to give Occupy bad publicity.

I have also seen where the Conservative media has promoted the idea that Occupy is a predominately Liberal/Socialistic endeavor, even eluding to racial overtones of a black influence because of the current seated President's ethnicity.  I have seen several links to Conservative Tea Party enthusiasts who have condemned Occupy. 

We need to unite in order to stop the 1% while there is still a chance to do so.  WE THE PEOPLE were regular laborers and farmers. Abraham Lincoln said it best when he said, "our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal."

Related links:


 Irish Coal Miners Of Pennsylvania/Molly Maguires

 Mauch Chunk Jail HIstory

Allison Kilkenny Occupy

Jamie Kilstein Occupy

Occupy Wall Street The Official Website

Working America

Big Brother Is Watching You-George Orwell's 1984

A Memorable 60th Birthday Bash!

The Best Birthday Party ever! A very special thank you to my daughter Jamiann and her husband Michael for making it happen!  Also a very special thank you to my daughter Jen, and granddaughter Emily for their help, my sister Ruth Ann, cousin Paula, cousin Kathy, friends Erin, Cynthia, Heather, and Kathy for bringing their delicious contributions to the food, and helping in the preparation back in the kitchen!

With a grateful heart my 60th birthday bash was such a wonderful experience because of all of the great family and friends that showed up to make it so very special. Getting to see all six grandchildren having such a great time, and knowing that 7 year old Jacob just took over in the clean up duties, sweeping floors and taking out the trash.  I also have been so blessed to have family and friends who were not able to make it, but sent me cards, gifts, and sentimental wishes!

One of the greatest gifts of being able to have made it through life to celebrate such a landmark birthday is knowing that my life has been blessed by so many!  

Elizabethan Masquerade Party Centerpiece

My favorite scene in the movie Labyrinth is the elegant Elizabethan Masquerade Ball.  I so love the mysterious opulence of the Elizabethan era.

My daughter Jennifer and I have created centerpieces for just one such occasion and on a shoestring. 

 Terracotta flower pots from Walmart $1.59 each, 40lb Sacrete/Quickcrete $2.99 Lowes, Branches

/free from my trees, Spray Paint four cans from Lowes  .99 cents each, 2 lg containers of glitter Walmart $2.29 each, Elmer's clear glue $1.69, black feather raven $1.00 from the Dollar Tree. Black tulle, was purchased online, however
A.C. Moore $4.72 for 25 yards six inches wide or Michaels would have this.


Mix Sakrete per directions with water, we wedged some Styrofoam broken apart from packaging we had on hand to hold in place, or have someone help you to hold the branch centered in the pot while you pour the Sakrete into the pot.  The weight of the Sakrete kept the branch in place.

Allow to dry overnight. In the morning take them outside to spray paint as in the photo.  I used black and white, however you may make them whatever color you want.  You may pay more for other colors of spray paint.

By late afternoon they were dry, and I brought them in to begin the glittering.  Glittering is optional, but it adds some elegant glitz to the finished piece.  Glittering was the most tedious of the tasks.  I painted each branch with Elmers clear glue, and sprinkled the glitter on them, also mixed some glitter with glue and painted them too.  There is spray paint that has glitter in it, and that may be easier, but I am not sure if the affect will be the same. Allow them to dry overnight.

I took black tulle and made bows as if I were making Pew Bows for a wedding and added them to the base of the tree, on top of the pot.  I also painted some mini pumpkins with glue and sprinkled them with gold glitter and added one to the top of pot tucked into the bow on several of the centerpieces.  These pieces were for a Halloween Elzabethan Masquerade Party(Which turned out to be my 60th Birthday Party-Surprise).


Here are directions for Tuille Bows.

The first one has the raven on it, the others without raven.

"The raven himself is hoarse
That croaks the fatal entrance of Duncan
Under my battlements. Come, you spirits
That tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here,
And fill me from the crown to the toe top-full
Of direst cruelty!" Lady Macbeth   William Shakespeare