MERRY CHRISTMAS, EVERYBODY!! Merry Christmas you beautiful old Ordinary, you! I hope everybody is making merry with their friends and family. Best, warmest, brightest wishes to everybody!

Your playlist assignment for this week is songs about peace. It could be world peace, peace of mind, a still and peaceful moment, or a song that sounds like peace to you in any way. I’ve made the playlist collaborative, so add what you like!

And as a bonus, here’s last year’s Christmas playlist, with some tracks added. It’s a doozy!!

And a recipe for yule cake. I found an old recipe in Mrs. Beeton’s cook book, and I adapted it somewhat. It’s a mild, yeasted cake, with dried cranberries, clementine zest and bittersweet chocolate chips. Not too sweet, and very Christmasy. Nice toasted with butter, actually!!

1 t yeast
1 t sugar
1 cup milk, warmed

3 cups flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 t salt
1 t cinnamon
1/2 t each, nutmeg, ginger and allspice
zest of one orange or two clementines
5 tablespoons cold unsalted butter
2 eggs
1 cup dried cranberries, chopped
1 cup bittersweet chocolate chips

2 T icing sugar, 2 T (+/-) milk – mixed to make a glaze

Combine the yeast, sugar and half a cup of the warmed milk in a small bowl and leave to get foamy, about half an hour.

Meanwhile, in a large bowl combine the flour, sugar, salt, spices and zest. Mix well. Cut the butter into small chunks and work it into the flour, till you have a coarse, crumbly consistency. Make a well in the center and add the yeast mixture, the rest of the milk, and the eggs. Beat everything thoroughly together. The batter should be too wet to knead with your hands, so you can mush it around with a spoon to make sure everything is well-incorporated.

Cover with a damp towel and leave to rise till double in bulk – about 1 1/2 hours. Work in the cranberries and chocolate chips.

Butter and flour and 8 or 9 inch cake pan, and pile the dough inside. Leave to proof for about 45 minutes, till it’s well risen in the pan.

Preheat the oven to 400. Bake for about half an hour, till the top is brown and crispy, and it feels hollow when you tap it. Turn the oven off, spread the glaze over, and return to the oven for about five minutes, till the glaze is melted. Let cool, then cut.

Good the next day toasted with butter!!