Heavenly Springs

Holding Fast The Doctrines of Grace

Behold, I Bring You Good Tidings of Great Joy

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Behold I Bring You Good Tidings of Great Joy by Tom duBois

“And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with fear.

And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.”

And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!“

(Luke 2:10-14)

Let us join with the heavenly host and sing of our salvation, our peace, and the good will that was lavished upon us the night our Saviour was born!

Wishing you all a very blessed Christmas!

A Puerto Rican Christmas: La Parranda y Coquito

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Today I planned to post on a classic Puerto Rican Christmas desert, but it occurred to me that I should tell you about one of my all-time favorite Puerto Rican Christmas traditions instead.   La parranda. La parranda can be considered the Puerto Rican version of neighborhood Christmas caroling.

When I was a little girl, visiting extended family in Puerto Rico, this was always my favorite part of the trip!   In the parranda, neighbors, and friends gather late at night, usually after 10pm, and visit one house after another singing traditional Puerto Rican songs until dawn the next day. Although there is an element of surprise to the visit, the parranderas like to drop hints to the homeowners to let them know they are coming.  Since a parranda can be a pretty large affair it’s good not to startle the homeowners altogether. Also, they want to give the homeowners time to prepare to take good care of their guests! Coquito (Spanish egg nog) is one of the many traditional goodies that a homeowner will serve the parranderas! Although there are many variations, it is usually prepared as follows. Most recipes include rum but I have omitted that!

CoquitoCoquito
1 cup coconut milk
1 cup sweetened condensed milk
1 cup evaporated milk
1 cup water
3 cinnamon sticks
4 egg yolks, well beaten
ground cinnamon for garnish

 

Back to the parranda! The parranderas will stand outside of the front door, and on signal they will all sing and play their musical instruments, some of which include the guitar, the maracas (my favorite), and the tambourine. As you can imagine, the atmosphere is very loud and very festive! The parranderas spend approximately 2 hours at each house.  Then the homeowners join them as they move to the next house and the parranda gets bigger.

Now, as a Christian, when I reflect upon the parrandas that I have participated in, I believe the experience highlights the joy of community — the likes of which can only truly be known by believers in “the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” (Ephesians 4:3)

The last parranda I participated in was with my grandmother in Puerto Rico. Grandma and I had a favorite song that we loved to clap, dance, and sing along to.  The song is “Dame la Mano Paloma” which, when translated, means, “Give me your hand, Paloma.”

In addition to getting a sense of the sights and sounds of Christmas in Puerto Rico, you can listen to our favorite parranda song below!

A Puerto Rican Christmas: How to make arroz con gandules plus a testimony!

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Are you ready for the second installation of  a Puerto Rican Christmas? I hope so!

But first, I have to share a testimony with you! Last week I posted two videos from a cooking channel called Elbacooks4u. I sent Elba, the host of the channel, an email to tell her how much I loved her pernil, and that I shared her recipe on my blog. Well, to make a long story short — Elba and I are still reeling over this unexpected providence; it turns out that Elba is not just an amazing cook, but also a precious sister in the Lord!  Is God sovereign, or what? Elba loves the Word of God, loves to read John MacArthur, likes the Puritans and the Valley of Vision, and even cooks deviled eggs for her church fellowships!  Now that’s a blessed congregation, wouldn’t you say?

More and more I see that our lives simply are not ours to direct.  Jeremiah 10:23 says, “I know, O LORD, that the way of man is not in himself, that it is not in man who walks to direct his steps.” The knowledge that God is at work in this broken world, working all things out according to His divine will, is for me, a most comforting and blessed assurance. There is no such thing as chance or happenstance in the big things, or the seemingly inconsequential things in our lives.  God, He reigns!

Now, back to the arroz con gandules.  Arroz con gandules, or rice and green pigeon peas, is the signature dish of the Puerto Rican culture. Growing up in grandma’s house in Sunset Park, Brooklyn, this dish was a staple in our household. While there are many different variations of arroz con gandules, it is essentially a combination of rice, pigeon peas, pork, and sofrito all cooked together in the same pot.  The caldero is the pot of choice for most Puerto Rican cooking.  As Elba explains in her video, “All pots are not created equal.” I love that!

In the video below Elba will teach you how to make arroz con gandules.  Each time I watch her prepare this dish, I can practically smell the aroma from here!

As I mentioned earlier, there are many different variations. Elba likes long grain rice and my preference is medium grain.  Also, my grandmother used to put aluminum foil over the pot and then covered it with the lid.  I think she did this to not only the keep the flavor, but also to make sure the rice was not hard.  When she moved back to Puerto Rico she used banana leaves!

So, are you ready for Elba’s teach-in on how to make arroz con gandules?  You won’t be disappointed!

And before I forget, would you please take a moment to support Elba?  You can subscribe to her You Tube Channel, and also her blog.  I am here to tell you that her cooking is as authentic and creative as it gets!

Later this week I will post on how to make flan, a Spanish egg custard.  Then, your  Christmas meal will be complete!

Buen provecho!

A Puerto Rican Christmas:  How to cook pernil

A Puerto Rican Christmas: How to cook pernil

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So, I finally broke down and paid a little extra for the video upgrade.  That means you can expect to see a lot more videos on Heavenly Springs since I am determined to get my money’s worth!

With Christmas approaching, I thought I’d post on a few traditional Puerto Rican classics.  The first is pernil  (pronounced per-neel).  Pernil is a “pork shoulder picnic” that is slow roasted and seasoned to perfection with spices like garlic, oregano, sazon, adobo, olive oil and sofrito. Sofrito, by the way, is the base for most Puerto Rican dishes. It is very simple to make and it will mean the difference if you truly want to cook authentic Puerto Rican food.

One of the best things about the pernil is the crunchy skin that Puerto Ricans refer to as chicharrones.  Yes, I realize that this is terribly unhealthy but that’s really not a concern for most Puerto Ricans! As Elba, who I am about to introduce to you explains, family members in Puerto Rican households will literally fight over these crusty pieces!

Now, I’d like to introduce you to Elba.  I discovered her on You Tube. Not that she was waiting for me to discover her, but you understand what I mean.  At any rate, I think she is pretty wonderful!

In the first video, Elba will teach you how to make pernil.  But remember, you must make the sofrito first! The second video will teach you how to do that!

Buen provecho!  Next week I will post on arroz con gandules!