BROOM Breaking News

Roaring Reindeer Sleigh
(The North Pole) Each year, eight valiant racing reindeer draw Santa’s sleigh through snow and sleet and ice. But they, just as their magnificent master, get on in years. So this year, a simple solution was introduced.
This year, Santa’s sweet helpers do not have to work quite so hard – in fact, they hardly have to work at all! For the venerable old saint said that he was going to get a roaring reindeer sleigh, working with a mean motor. So he did, and now the reindeer are still there, so to please all the people on earth waiting to see the magical sight of Santa in the sky, but they do not actually draw the sleigh. Ho ho ho, all of you! (BC)

A True Story

(The World) A husband and wife have to leave their home. They do not do it out of their own free will but because they have to. The man is old and his young wife is pregnant. newBROOM accompanied them on their way.
The man is a simple man. He is a carpenter. His wife is young and has not learned any profession but is skilful with the needle and is a good wife to her husband. Both believe in God and lead a life which is guided by the love for their neighbours.
The couple set off in the Near East. All they still had fit in a small bag. Still they were lucky because they had a donkey that helped them carry their possessions and it was possible for the wife to ride on it as the long way for a pregnant woman on foot would have been too hard.
And so they walked and only took very little rest. The baby in the womb of the mother moved and it would soon be born. Hopes and fears accompanied them on their way. The husband was quiet. He did not share his worries with his wife but only the hope he felt in his heart.
They had travelled for a long time and as it was about to get dark they tried to find a place to stay overnight. Nine months pregnant the husband did not want his wife to sleep outside. They have a bit of money and hope to be allowed to sleep in one of the small B&Bs on the way.
Unfortunately, they are sent away wherever they go. The journey has left marks on their clothes and faces. They are dirty and do not look like the respectable people they were in their home town. But the husband does not give up and finally they find a farmer whose heart is not as cold as those of the other people. He allows the two to sleep in his stable.
And there they stay. The wife is tired and labour has set in. They share the stable with their donkey and the farmer’s ox. It is warmer than outside and dry. The straw gives them a bit of comfort. The husband helps his wife give birth to their child. It is a baby boy.
Although they do not have much they feel as if they have everything. Happiness is filling their hearts. It is the middle of the night but outside there is a light that shines as bright as the sun. Soon shepherds from the fields nearby have gathered and look at the baby.
The parents call their son Jesus.
Does this story sound familiar to you? Well, it does ring a bell with us. Does history repeat itself? You decide for yourself and you decide whether you want to be the farmer or the landlord as for those who have to leave their homes, they cannot decide for themselves, so consider yourself to be blessed that you can decide who you want to be.

Sammy the Snowman

(Hogsmeade) It’s nearly Christmas, and we have written each and every interview we could think of, from Santa to the angel on top of the Christmas tree. So it becomes ever more difficult to find a suitably Christmassy interviewee. But, thanks to the Dicket-children, we found someone new: Sammy the Snowman! Since he was freezing so much, Emerald Dicket answered on his behalf.
BC: So, Sammy, you’ve been standing in the Dickets’ frontyard for a couple of hours now. How do you like it?
ED: Sammy says he likes it just fine. He just wishes Jacob had been gentler when he pushed the carrot nose into his head.
BC: You’re sporting a nice scarf, Sammy. Who chose it?
ED: Me. I think a Gryffindor scarf looks best on snowmen. Sammy says he supports Gryffindor anyway.
BC: Great! How long do you intent to stay around?
ED: Sammy says he wants to stay for the winter, but can’t say whether he has to melt away in between. Daddy said he would charm him to stay, but Daddy sometimes forgets, so we might have to build a new one.
BC: Hm. Would you call him Sammy again?
ED: Of course. It’s the only name for a snowman.
BC: Well, thank you, Emerald, and thank you, Sammy. Merry Christmas! (BC)

A Weekend Without Supplies

(The World, or at least part of it) Have you ever experienced this panic when there’s a holiday and virtually no chance to shop for – gasp! – four days in a row? No? Join us on a tour through chock-full supermarkets!
It is December 23rd, and only one and a half shopping days to go. In the early afternoon of Christmas Eve, shops will close – and will stay closed until the following Monday, December 28th. This means: three and a half days when people cannot go shopping. It’s terrible! You will need to go hungry because of course you could not even think of that happening. Christmas is always so surprising. So what do you do? Right, you set out for the supermarket in a blind frenzy to get as many long-lasting supplies as you can get.
The first hurdle comes in the parking lot. No space is to be found, people are aggressively sounding their horns, shouting all the while. You find a space, so what if this is the way for people pushing shopping carts? Your car fits in there, and that’s that.
Then you battle your way into the supermarket, using your trolley like a shield. The full boxes of perishables are better left out of your choice – they are, after all, not called perishables for nothing! What you need are conserves. And so you run to get the last can of sprouts – you don’t like them, but in need you would eat anything. You also buy some vegetable soup and lots of chocolate bars. And salami, and frozen pizza. That should do. You pay and find that people behind you are crying in anger because you bought the very last frozen pizza. Twenty frozen pizzas, to be precise. Triumphantly, you push your loaded trolley back, load up your car and drive home. Well, you would drive if you were able to get away quickly, but the congestion is really bad by now.
Back at home, you try to cram the stuff into your filled-to-bursting freezer and the pantry. But you are quite satisfied you can survive until the shops open again. You are quite happy and relaxed, until your eyes fall on the calendar and you see: Next week, you have got only half a day for shopping at the weekend… (MF & BC)

 

Christmassy Cookies!

Harriet Kettle-Stove kindly supplied us with two divine recipes for Christmas delicacies. This year, she focused on baking. Since Christmas is the time to share activities with children, one recipe is for sugar cookies children can easily make themselves. The other, though, involves far more complicated action – and some liqueur.
Easy Sugar Cookies
These cookies are fun to do, can be tasted raw without fearing salmonella, and are great to be cut into various shapes.
You need: 250 g flour, 6 tsp icing sugar, 1 packet vanilla sugar, 150 g butter, 50 g crème fraiche.
Mix flour, icing sugar and vanilla sugar. Dice the butter and mix with the dry ingredients. Add the crème fraiche. Knead everything into a smooth dough and put into the fridge for two hours.
Preheat the oven to 160 degrees Celsius. Knead the dough again, then roll thinly and cut into whichever shapes you like. Bake for about 10 minutes. After cooling, you can decorate the cookies to your fancy!
Dominos
These are not as easy to make, and you need two days to prepare them. So get started bright and early.
You need: 40 g butter, 150 g sugar, 150 g honey, 2 egg yolks, 350 g flour, 1 teaspoon gingerbread spices, 75 g ground almonds, 1 tablespoon salts of hartshorn, a tiny bit of potash.
Melt butter, honey and sugar in a pot. Put the mix into a bowl and add the egg yolks with 50 ml water. Add flower, spices and almonds. Knead everything into a smooth non-sticky dough. Roll out into a 20x20 square and bake at 160 degrees for about 30 minutes.
Let the cake cool down, then cut in half vertically. Now add marmalade thinly, then add a layer of marzipan kneaded with rum and icing sugar. Add another thin layer of marmalade and put the top of the cake back on. Rest overnight.
The next day, cut into small squares. Melt semi-sweet couverture and cover the dominos completely. Let dry. If you want to, you can add white chocolate dots to make them look like dice, or any kind of sugar decoration you like.