Bethlehem Dinner

Several years ago I wanted our Christmas Eve celebration to focus more on the birth of our Savior. After all the hustle and bustle of December, I craved a quiet, serene moment. I wanted our family to realize that Christmas wasn't about Santa, presents, holiday food, or the parties, but it was about the birth of our Savior. From the time our children were young, we had been reading from Luke 2 and acting out the nativity, but I wanted to extend that feeling for a longer period.

Ron, Christie, and Jennifer in one of our first Nativity Pageants.

That is when I heard about having a Bethlehem Dinner.

The first year, we dressed up in shepherd costumes and ate around the dining room table. However, our headpieces were not securely fastened and we had great difficulty in keeping the towels on our head and not on our dinner plates.

Bethlehem Dinner 2000

The following year, we gave up the semi-traditional Bethlehem garb and settled on a quilt on the living room floor. We turned off all the lights except for those on the Christmas tree. As we ate by firelight and Christmas tree light, there was a sweet, reverent feeling in our room as we dined on pita bread sandwiches, dried fruits, olives, crackers and various cheeses.

This is similar to the recipe I made. (Thanks Allrecipes.com)

Mediterranean Sandwiches

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 pound ground lamb
• 1/2 cup minced onion
• 1 teaspoon minced lemon zest
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• 1 cup water
• 1 (6 ounce) container plain yogurt
• 3 ounces crumbled feta cheese
• 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/4 teaspoon lemon zest
• salt and pepper to taste
• 6 pita bread rounds

Directions

1. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Stir in the lamb, and cook until it begins to crumble. Add the onions, and continue cooking until the lamb has browned and the onions have softened, about 5 minutes more. Drain off any excess fat, then reduce the heat to medium-low, and stir in 1 teaspoon lemon zest, 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano, 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon black pepper. Stir 1/4 cup lemon juice into the water, then pour 1/4 cup of this mixture into the lamb. Cook until the liquid has mostly evaporated, then stir in another 1/4 cup, and cook again until mostly evaporated. Continue adding the liquid 1/4 cup at a time until you have used all of it. This should take about 30 minutes in all. The meat should look moist, but not be sitting in liquid.
2. While the meat is cooking, make the feta sauce by placing the yogurt, feta cheese, 1 tablespoon lemon juice, 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano, 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder, and 1/4 teaspoon lemon zest into a blender. Puree until smooth, then season to taste with salt and pepper. Set aside.
3. Spoon the lamb mixture onto warmed pita bread. Top with the feta sauce to serve.
   

Most years I usually substitute the pita bread sandwiches for a stew--it's something I can put in the crockpot early in the morning and forget about it until dinner time. This is very helpful since Christmas Eve is usually filled with last minute tasks. But once it's time for dinner, the pace slows down and we enjoy the time reflecting upon the miraculous events that occurred nearly 2,000 years ago.