A Year of Grace and Blessing
It has been my tradition to write a Christmas letter every year to share with friends and family some of the highlights of the past 12 months. This year I thought I would use my blog since it will allow me to share pictures as well as reflections. Some will be new and others will be repeats from earlier posts. I encourage you to look over previous posts if you want more information on my experiences while on sabbatical in Leuven, Belgium. The New Year began with my annual New Year's Eve party. I try to take a different country or style of cooking each year. I enjoy researching recipes and trying new things. Since I was going on sabbatical I decided to do some Belgian specialties. I started with Mussels, continued with a Carbonade (a beef stew made with beer) and a chicken in beer. To accompany them I made Belgian Fries which are fried twice at different temperatures. The finale was Belgian cream puffs which I bought. Belgian beer was served. Everyone seemed to have a good time. The