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Holiday Memories - Our 2011 Open House!
Stop by and share the Holiday with all the good friends on Senior Learn
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We want to hear about your favorite Holiday memory. Hi, come on in, make yourself comfortable and share your memories with us - Welcome to our month long Open House on Dec.1 T'is the season to wax nostalgic about all the Holidays you celebrate this time of year..
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Every party needs MUSIC! Here is a Mix of Christmas songs.
"Best Christmas Songs" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=16OnAuU90RU&feature=related)
When you were young was there a Holiday play with music in your school?
Do you find yourself humming a particular tune when you are shopping or out walking?
Who is your favorite holiday singing artist?
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What's a party without GOODIES?
Let's fill this buffet table with your favorites!
What's your best ever Holiday recipe and tell us the story behind it?
What are you planning for a Holiday treat this year?
Are there special Cookbooks you pull out this time of year?
Tell us, do you set a special table or treat yourself to a special Tea or a bottle of Wine?
Did you ever send a package to a Service Man or Women for the Holidays or serve in a Soup Kitchen - tell us about it if you have. When you were young did you ever attend a Red Cross Holiday dance for servicemen? Did any of you help out at a hospital during the holidays?
What were some of the toys you received? Do you remember a special time with a family member during the holidays?
Was there an Open House you attended when you were young? How about when you were an adult...or was there an office party that you really looked forward to attending?
Does your town have a Community Christmas Tree?
Have you ever visited the tree in Rockefeller Center?
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A Child's Christmas in Wales - Dylan Thomas (http://www.classicshorts.com/stories/xmas.html)
And what's a gathering of BOOK LOVERS without Books? We all have our seasonal favorite STORIES and POEMS. What are yours?
What seasonal stories do you still plan to read for the first time? Do you remember the Holiday stories you read to your children?
Can you remember attending your first Holiday movie in a theater?
What about the Nutcracker, is that or singing with a group, Handel's Messiah on your calendar?
Did you look forward each year to a special Holiday movie or show on TV?
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The holiday memories from elementary school I recall was each grade making pictures of wreaths, snowmen, Christmas trees, etc. that were then put in the windows facing the street of the elementary school. There was also a Christmas tree in the entry way. I believe there was a musical program, but don't recall any plays, though there may have been.
There are Christmas lights and our lightpoles in the downtown area of the little town we now live in are wrapped in greenery and there are holiday wreaths and snowflakes that are lighted along the streets into town. The only lighted tree is at the hospital and it's for donations in memory of those who've died.
Food, of course, is a big part of my memories...my mom and now my sister make carmels, fudge, ChexMix, and very thin cut out sugar cookies(Santa Claus, trees, reindeer, etc.) sprinkled with those little sprinkly things in red and green. YUMMY!!
jane
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Jane I racked my brains trying to remember Christmas in the classroom - can remember so many things we did at home in preparation but not in school - then it hit me - of course - it was Advent and I attended a Catholic School.
Almost over night a day or so before Christmas the church was decorated with Fir trees and a Nativity with figures that were about 18 inches to two feet tall - I do remember we sang in Latin Gregorian Chant every day during Mass that was first thing and then we walked in line up the block to school afterwards. Usually we only sang on Sunday.
No matter where we lived when I was growing up we always lived among German people - interesting now that I think of it because both my parents spoke English with no accent - it was my grandparents who floated back and forth between the two languages - all that stopped with the onset of WWII but we still carried on our customs and preparation of food so that Christmas preparation and celebration is remembering home more than community.
I do remember there being a huge tree and neighborhood Open House celebration at the Swedish home and farm for the aged that was down the road from where I lived as a little kid - we were quite friendly with the one couple that took care of the farm which was a couple of acres and fed those in the home as well as they sometimes just left extra out for the neighbors. But then we all had gardens. Some even had fruit trees and several in the area had a pine tree in their front yard. No lights but lots of wreathes on doors and in windows.
Here, Austin goes all out as a community - in Zilker park there is a huge monster size tree created with lights, on a moonlight tower that is as high as a 3 or 4 story building. Congress ave leading up to the Capitol is decorated as is 6th street where all the live music clubs are located.
A new tradition started just a couple of years ago - there is a highway on the west side of town - loop 360 or the official Capitol of Texas Hwy - that north of the river is only a couple of miles till it dead ends into a highway going true north and south - the road goes through our limestone hills making lots of additional cliffs to the ones that were already there near the river - the soil is awful, caliche but the Ceder's love it - actually they are Mexican Juniper but we call them Ceder. Both sides of the highway are covered in thousands of Ceder - large ones and tiny small ones and every size inbetween. During the night families come and one by one the trees are decorated.
It only started about 3 years ago when the city budget was cutting out some of our traditional Holiday lights and decoration - this area was never decorated but now - I noticed on Thanksgiving already there were maybe 20 trees - Yesterday when I drove there are too many done than can be counted - In the dark cars pulled over and whole families with flashlights on the hillside and cliffs with their sacks and boxes of outdoor garlands, globes, tinsel and unique decoration. During the day the decorations catch the sun and sparkle back so they look for all the world as if they had lights.
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What I remember nostagically - and really miss now - the department stores's animated window displays. We lived in NJ across the Hudson from New York. New York had the best, but Newark had its day - until the department stores all moved out to the Malls! Same thing happened in Washington. I remember when Woodward Lothrop (Woodies) closed downtown - the big store stood empty for several years - but each Christmas, the windows were filled with the animated displays from years past. That's over now.
School - I remember making tree decorations and cards from construction paper too, Jane. Oooh, and I remember that white paste we used - it was yummy! :D Now that's going way back. I'd forgotten all about that until just now. I promise not to bring a jar of white paste to our holiday table! Really can't wait for everyone to get here.
I don't remember the Christmas decorations going out this early. Like Barbara, we celebrated Advent - advent candles, calendars with little doors to open each day until Christmas, etc. No, they didn't contain chocolate candy as those my grandchildren have now - ours had a little line from scripture behind each door.
Never saw a decorated tree in the house until Christmas morning either. I understood this was a French tradition.
Barbara, I like the idea of new traditions...
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What we really need is someone who will fill us in on what happens or how they celebrate Hanukkahs - I understand the holiday is coming very soon in early December -
The little I know is children play with a Dreidel and there are chocolate coins wrapped in gold foil and a Menorah with nine candles - one lite for nine days in a row - But please share with us how Hanukkah is celebrated in your house.
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Joan we also found a Christmas tree on Christmas morning all lite and decorated - we carried out the same tradition for our children and it was why their stocking was always hung on the foot of their bed.
The stocking always had a tangerine and a large cookie in it along with small hand games to keep them occupied so we could grab an hour's sleep - they were always up the crack of dawn which was only maybe if we were lucky an hour after we crawled into bed.
Growing up in one of the houses there was a summer room - un-heated, but that became the Christmas room - the door was closed the first day of advent with a sheet hung on the inside glass of the door and all the window shades were pulled - at night we could hear the ahum little men on the sewing machine or hammering away - Christmas morning our father lead us to the room where the tree in all its splendor and the gifts were arranged with shades back up allowing the sun to stream into the room again.
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Marking my place and will be back with some of my memories.
Tonight, I'll be "making a memory" by going to see my granddaughter in her first college musical production. She will be singing and dancing as a "Christmas Belle" in the traditional program titled "Yule Be Swinging".
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Tonight is our annual city Window Walk. The various merchants have special window displays tonight...many with people from various groups portraying various characters, depending on the theme for the year.
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I'm marking my place, too, Callie.
Sally
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I'm also marking my place,
But then, I started thinking about my school memories....
I went to a one-room country school for the first 4 years. At Christmas time we made gifts, quite elaborate gifts, for our parents. One year we used a tool to etch a design on a metal plate, then used steel wool to brush the surface. One year we made a basket out of popsickle sticks. I still have both - my mother saved them for me.
And we put on a Christmas program every year. We would practice in our school, and then a day or so before the program we would all walk the mile (yes, it really is a mile, I still travel in the area) to the general store and go upstairs to decorate and rehearse for the program, which was held up there at night, after farm chores were done. We sang, had skits and I remember one year memorizing a poem to recite in front of the audience of parents and neighbors, and I'm sure I mumbled it into my chest so that no one could hear it. Something like "one bright and shiny Christmas, long ages years ago....." I had to be all of 7 at the time.
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Greetings -
Had a wonderful new Christmas memory on Tuesday as my daughters and I attended the Boston Pops Christmas concert at a local performing arts center. For many years we viewed the concert on TV but this was the first time we were able to attend a live concert. Seldom does the Boston Pops Orchestra come to Wisconsin. We will treasure this night for years to come. Unbelievable experience.
Mary
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Oh marking and remembering.. My very very favorite carol when I was young.. WAS.. We, Three Kings of Orient Are.. I wanted to be a king so much when I was little. The church always had a Christmas pagent for Christmas Eve.. Being Blond and Blue eyed, i was always the Angel, but I coveted being a King.. Oh me.. The memories of that one.. When I was four, I had fallen off a bike the week before Christmas and when the angel turned around on Christmas eve, this little Angel had the biggest black eye, you ever saw.. The Congregation was ovecome with laughs and then the little angel glared at all.. Oh well, never said I was a good angel.
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Mary, where was the performance? That would have been wonderful to attend, I'm sure.
A few years ago I attended the Christmas performace of Trans-Siberian Orchestra in Madison. I loved it - would probably not go again, because it is loud and the light show would be difficult for some people - I'd have to go with some of my very younger friends.
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What a wonderful story, BARB, about the hillside decoration of the
junipers. I would love to see it. Do you think you could get a photo
for us?
Right now I can only think of one or two distinct Christmas memories. I'll
get around to them later, hopefully with some more. I think my favorite
Christmas song must be "Do You Hear What I Hear?". Close on that one is
"Mary's Boy Child".
We moved around so much when I was growing up; the Christmases tend to blur. The only consistent thing was the presence of family..aunts, uncles and cousins. As it happened, one family, living in the Valley, had six children.
The other three, living in the Houston area, had six between them, so the six
here and the six there drew names for Christmas presents. It worked out
beautifully.
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Hi, I'm marking my place also, Sally. Enjoyed reading all of the above and seeing some
familiar names! Fran :)
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I have some wonderful memories from Christmas during my growing up years. We always had Christmas Eve with my dad's parents which consisted of a big meal and then opening presents. Then on Christmas morning we couldn't wait to get up to see what Santa had brought us. The presents were laid out under the tree, one side for my sister and one for me. I pretended I believed in Santa long after I knew how those presents got there. We continued that practice with our children. We would have a stocking with a piece of fruit, usually an orange, and a few small other things. We usually got three to five different things.
I also remember our one room school putting on a Christmas program for our parents and it was a big community event.
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How much fun to come in to this party and read the posts - Steph precious, love it, shades of the book The Christmas Angles. Larry I can feel the excitment reminding us of our own Christmas under the tree, Babi now that is the stuff of movies - a house full of kids for Christmas, Fran so good to see your post, Oh my how fortunate both of you, nlhome and Mary - the Trans-Siberian Orchestra (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQdTT0s5lGQ&feature=related) Yep, Loud and folks use them for their outdoor home light show - close the windows, get the dog into the closet, put on the ear plugs :D :D ;) and then the Boston Pops (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=49qI0BwjXSY) oh oh oh, you have set off a spark, I will just have to stream into my house this YouTube of BP Christmas but nothing like hearing the live sound, wonderful. Sally see you later, Jane was the Window Walk fun? Did you see something that you must buy? Callie are you still aglow after seeing your grand-daughter in her FIRST college production? JoanP ah the windows - I often wish there was a TV special each year with a camera filming for us so we could all enjoy the action windows - or maybe they are no more - Three years ago my daughter took her two boys, then 15 and 18 to NY to see Christmas over a long weekend - they still are excited talking about the experience. Jane a bag of memories, a Tree at School, a special Tree at the hospital, Christmas made by students in the schoolhouse windows, cookies, candies ah just what we dream of for the holidays.
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After a dram or two of Bushmills or maybe you prefer a Jameson the tongue and imagination is loose enough for this bit of fun...
The Fairies
~ by William Allingham
Up the airy mountain
Down the rushy glen,
We dare n't go a-hunting,
For fear of little men;
Wee folk, good folk,
Trooping all together;
Green jacket, red cap,
And white owl's feather.
Down along the rocky shore
Some make their home,
They live on crispy pancakes
Of yellow tide-foam;
Some in the reeds
Of the black mountain-lake,
With frogs for their watch-dogs,
All night awake.
High on the hill-top
The old King sits;
He is now so old and gray
He's nigh lost his wits.
With a bridge of white mist
Columbkill he crosses,
On his stately journeys
From Slieveleague to Rosses;
Or going up with music,
On cold starry nights,
To sup with the Queen,
Of the gay Northern Lights.
They stole little Bridget
For seven years long;
When she came down again
Her friends were all gone.
They took her lightly back
Between the night and morrow;
They thought she was fast asleep,
But she was dead with sorrow.
They have kept her ever since
Deep within the lake,
On a bed of flag leaves,
Watching till she wake.
By the craggy hill-side,
Through the mosses bare,
They have planted thorn trees
For pleasure here and there.
Is any man so daring
As dig them up in spite?
He shall find the thornies set
In his bed at night.
Up the airy mountain
Down the rushy glen,
We dare n't go a-hunting,
For fear of little men;
Wee folk, good folk,
Trooping all together;
Green jacket, red cap,
And white owl's feather.
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The house I grew up in was a few miles outside the city limits of my small hometown. Our tree was always cut from the woods at the back of our property - as was fresh mistletoe to be hung over the doorways.
I don't remember a specific day or time for the tree to be put up - but I do remember that it was taken down the week after Christmas and cut into small pieces. Then, on New Year's Eve, my parents and I "sent it back to Santa" by burning the pieces in the fireplace
Christmas Eve began with Oyster Stew at my Grandmother's house "in town". Then, it was off to our small Presbyterian church that had been decorated with cuttings of evergreen and holly from various yards - plus a big lighted tree at the front. After a program given by the children, Santa appeared and distributed net socks containing an orange, some nuts and that red/green/white sticky Christmas candy plus a small gift for each child.
Two stories about children in the congregation came down through the years. One was about a boy who declared, "That's not Santa. That's Mr ...... I recognize his shoes."
The other involved me! The daughter of my mother's good friend and I had "met" in the church nursery when we were 3 months old. The Christmas we were a year old, our mothers let us toddle down after the church program to look at the Christmas tree . All of a sudden, Santa burst through the double swinging doors yelling, "MERRRRRY CHRISTMAS!" In unison, Barbara and I began to howl - and the story is that our mothers nearly knocked each other over getting down the aisle to pick us up and comfort us.
75 Christmases later, we are still good friends and still have a chuckle about our first "performance" at a church Christmas Eve service.
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Oh Callie, I loved the Santa story. It made me remember that my younger son did not enjoy Santa.. He regarded the big fat man in red with deep dark suspicion.. We tried to convince him that Santa would listen to your wishes, but he would have none of it.. Consequently I have zero pictures of him with Santa.. But I do remember that solemn little face scowling from afar..
The church I grew up in was very old fashioned German.. No Santa.. Treese only came up for Christmas eve service.. Red Ribbons, red apples and white candles.. Now the fire marshall would set up a howl, but that was our Christmas eve Service. It was very beautiful,, first the pageant and then carols.. Oh me, that was a lovely memory. Later in Viet nam, I parted with that church and became a quaker, but always remember the lovely Christmas eve.
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The posts about Christmas performances reminded me that as soon as
my elder daughter was old enough, I began taking her to see "The Nutcracker
Suite" annually for the holidays. Later, my younger daughter joined us.
It was a lovely time, and a custom that the eldest, Sally, took up with her
own daughter years later.
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Greetings -
One childhood memory that I was able to carry forward was having homemade cinnamon rolls for Christmas breakfast. It was one time of the year my mother made homemade bread & cinnamon rolls. I did the same for my family.
I have been able to build on the tradition with my grandsons. From the time Nathan was 6 months old & our daycare/work/school schedules allowed us the Friday & Saturday after Thanksgiving to make cinnamon rolls, decorate my house & put up the trees with the Nutcracker video playing in the background. Over the years he took over making of the cinnamon rolls & for the past 9 years has been teaching his cousin the processes while I now sit back and watch. They both take home cinnamon rolls to be kept in the freezer and heated up for their families Christmas morning. The boys also put up & decorate the family room tree. Nathan is now 22 and doesn’t think 10 year old Jarod is ready to be on his own yet so I guess I can plan him helping or another year.
Not to be left out, Jarod’s younger sister helps each year make pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving & decorate the living room & it’s tree.
nlhome - the Boston Pops were in Appleton. I live half an hour south, and my girls half an hour north so we were able to meet in the middle for the concert. I saw the Trans-Siberian orchestra in Green Bay a few years ago. Impressive, but the Boston Pops is more my style.
Mary
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I just love reading of Christmas's Past. Do you get the feeling that things were so much simpler back then - and BETTER?
Mary, would it be giving away a family secret to share the recipe for the cinnamon rolls with us? I love the idea of freezing ahead of time - there's never enough time as the days go by...
Steph, I was one of the tall ones in elementary school...never got one of the KINGS' role though - but did have a speaking part as one of the shepherds. I don't think you would have been happy with those costumes. You mentioned German and no Santa - I'm wondering if Father Christmas made an appearance?
Babi - last year my then 8 year old granddaughter danced in the Nutcracker with the Moscow Ballet. Not a big role of course, (she was a snowflake) - the competition for this opportunity was fierce. She will never ever forget the experience though. She tried to talk to the Russians, but they would not respond to her. Not sure if it was the language barrier, or if they didn't want to be bothered with the star-struck little girl.
Did any of you celebrate St. Nicholas on Dec. 6?
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JoanP, what a thrill for your granddaughter! That sort of experience can inspire a career!
I took my oldest granddaughter to "The Nutcracker" the Christmas before her third birthday. Her mother said she wouldn't stay for the entire thing - but Ellen sat still as a mouse on my lap through the entire performance. When the snow began falling onstage, she whispered, "Gammy, where are the ah- ah -ahs?" I had to think a minute before pointing out the live choral group at one side of the stage. We went every year until she began dancing various roles in her dance studio's production - eventually becoming The Dew Drop Fairy each year.
That granddaughter is now a Music Theater major and the one I saw in the college production a few nights ago. Of course, she's back at the beginning as a Freshman; it will be interesting to see how she progresses at this level.
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One of the significant changes of my lifetime is that we got oranges and walnuts in our stockings - something we didn't have year-round and was therefore special. I pointed this out to my students because that didn't make sense to them. Why would anyone want to get oranges and nuts in their stockings? That, having oranges all year round, changed so gradually that i almost didn't realize it myself until i was buying them for my kids.
My aunt made the best date/nut roll cookies only at Christmas. I've never had any as good as hers.
Our present family has the tradition of going to Christmas Eve Service, my DH has a wonderful baritone/bass voice and has sung in the choir for forty years and children and grandchildren have all listened to hear Daddy/Poppop's voice. We open presents at our house after service accompanied by finger foods like shrimp, cheeses, veggies and mulled cider.
However this year we decided that none of us need anything, so rather than just buying presents for the sake of buying, we're going to do no buying of presents, but we're going to go to the Poconos and spend a weekend together at a family resort, just enjoy each other. Everyone is so busy, we don't get to do that often.
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I'm just marking my place. I leave for a two-week vacation tomorrow morning. But when I return, I'll be happy to share my Chanukah traditions with all of you. Barb, it begins on the evening of December 20th (all Jewish holidays begin the evening before - at sundown.) And thank you so much for that beautiful menorah. Just breathtaking!
I'll be back around the 18th to read about all your cherished traditions and memories and I'll do the same with mine.
Nancy
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Mary, we'll be having our New Year's Eve in Oshkosh this year.
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Marcie, thanks for the e-mail inviting us to visit. I still miss the Greek class that we had in the old Senior Net before the teacher passed away unexpectedly.
I especially remember learning to sing alto to the Christmas carols in a sixth and seventh grade glee club in 1945 and '46. We would visit various places in the community and sing. I ended up teaching public school music in two elementary schools here in Myrtle Beach from 1959 to 1961 and the last Christmas program I did with my 6th and 7th grade chorus at Christmas in 1960 was a reading of the Christmas story interspersed with carols that corresponded to the verses. We would not even be able to do that these days.
My Chrismas decorating will be pared down some this year since I had back surgery for spinal stenosis and a fusion of two vertebrae in early October. I am recovering really well but am not allowed to bend over or climb up on things yet. Haven't been spending a lot of time on the computer because it puts stress on the lower vertebrae that were operated on if I sit more than about 30 minutes at a time.
I am the Power of Attorney for my 90 y/o sister who is in a nursing facility here so visiting her and paying her bills, etc. also limits the amount of time I have to spend in the forums but I remember so many of the people here.
Sending all of you warm wishes for a very Merry Christmas season and a blessed New Year! Shalom!
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Johann Mc so glad you stopped in and updated us to your life - sounds like it is a challenge just now but we are so glad to hear from you - You also had a childhood experience that led to your adult vocation - sounds like Callie's grand-daughter is having a similar experience that comes from sitting on Grandma Callie's lap while being swept away by a Nutcracker performance - and now Babi's daughter continues the tradition gifted to her by Babi when she was a child - the Nutcracker is in many of our memories - lovely lovely - something so special and wondrous about music and story telling this time of year.
Nancy have the best of times and we will be looking forward to your post later in the month - appears you may be our guru on celebrating Chanukah - thanks for the proper spelling. Mabel you remind us how different life was for us - the markets had seasonal food - amazing to me how few children know where food comes from - even my own Grands when they were little here in Austin were shocked to realize peaches GREW on a TREE - and in Grama's backyard. Your Family's decision for a Christmas holiday sound delightful - I am imagining the low chuckles and chatting during walks in the woods and the tinkle of glass around a table for dinner.
Homemade cinnamon rolls - ah I can smell them baking - what kind of bread did your mother make Mary? Did you follow the tradition and make holiday bread? I'm with JoanP on that one - the recipe please, pretty please?
OK everybody New Year's in OshKosh ;) :D :-* now that would be an unexpected Open House wouldn't it nlhome - but oh how much fun if were even possible...
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We are having the biggest gift of nature that any of us in Austin could imagine - it is raining and raining and raining and may rain all weekend - a nice soft soaking warm rain - ambrosia, pearls from the sky, diamonds on leaf stems, bubbles on purple sage, sparkly rhinestones on mounds of Rosemary, luster on banks or wild marjoram, silver fog surrounding grazing deer - any accolade you can imagine - the creeks all over town are actually running with tinkling water spilling over rocks and soaking the banks allowing frogs to come out that had buried themselves deep last Spring.
Glorious rain - not enough to make a difference in the lakes that are - get this - 45 feet below the lowest level that is marked on the dams and overpasses. For the lakes to begin to fill we really need a huge downpour in West Texas where the Colorado starts its journey to the Gulf. But Santa, Father Christmas, St. Nikolos, St.Nickolas, Nisse's, Tomte's, Claus, Black Peter, Père Fouettard, Kris Kringle, Sinterklaas, Yule Goat, Jack Frost, Saint Basil, la Befana, Our Lady of Guadalupe, Father Frost all put together could not be more welcome than Mother Nature blessing us with Rain falling from the sky.
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Hahaha here we go - remember I shared how folks just decorate the Ceder trees on Loop 360 and someone asked for a photo - well better yet - the whole story is here on YouTube a repeat from our local news with a reporter on the scene...
http://www.bing.com/videos/watch/video/austin-holiday-tradition-returns-to-loop-360/1v7qtryyh
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Prior to Christmas the place to go was down the wide staircase into the basement of the hardware store. Toys were displayed along the walls and in the center was a large train set. I was always led to the girl’s side where the dolls were displayed. I always moved to the other side attracted by the erector sets and Lincoln logs. Of course on Christmas day it was a Shirley Temple doll. By the end of January the hair had been ripped from her head and the clothes removed. I have a picture of my cousin Bonny and I in front of a doll carriage stripped down to its frame.
The best present was given to me by a next door neighbor when I was seven years old. It took me about a week to read “Little Women.” Jo was my favorite!
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aha I see your not sleeping either Callie - one of those nights - thank goodness tomorrow is Sunday although, I have tons to do - need to start packing so I can send everything Fed Ex rather than take it on the plane with me.
You too entranced by Lincoln Logs and Erecter sets - even the trains were fun - the dolls were OK but not like building something -
I too got a large Shirley Temple doll - but Callie frankly she was so beautiful I could not stop looking at her - I really hardly played with her but kept her just so - I really thought she was that beautiful with her tightly pleated dress and ribbon around her wrist -
Oh my - Little Women - ah and of course it had to be Jo didn't it - she was the active one and not so goody two shoes. - sounds like you have a delicious memory of being a kid and reading a book that was a gift - back then we didn't get many books - I bet your gifts were inclined to be things you needed like a new tooth brush or new socks or undies or a new set of Pjs and then one or two toy type gifts.
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books.. yes a Christmas book was a family tradition for all of us and by late afternoon, we were all deep in our new book. It was a shock to have an eight year younger brother, who hated to read.. The whole family was not quite sure how to handle that one. To this day, my favorite presents are books or gift certificates for books.. Jo.. was my heroine and led my father on a trek to find all of Alcotts books for me.. Little men wasnt as good, but I loved it.The Professor seemed right for Jo..Oh,, a good many of my best memories hinge around reading and favorite books.
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When I was a child, I could not understand why the old people in the family seemed to get sad around Christmas time. Now I understand. It was such a time for family and the fireplace and the stockings hung there and being together. Now I look back and every single one of those faces is gone from this life and I feel a deep sadness.
My youngest Christmases were magical. I never saw the tree until Christmas morning. It was always a large one and full of a multitude of every color of light. The ornaments were from Germany and there were loads of them. Presents galore. What Santa brought was not wrapped. What came from family members was. I always thought Christmas morning was the most beautiful sight in this world.
My favorite was my stocking. It was a great joy. Yes, there was always a tangerine in there; I thought it was just tradition, as we had plenty of fruit all the time. In the toe of my stocking was my favorite thing in this whole wide world, and after I had children and grandchildren of my own, I used to make them for them. A "Surprise Ball." Do you remember surprise balls? Did you have them at Christmas? I stopped making them by the time my grandchildren were out of grade school.
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I cannot think of Christmas without thinking of books. They were always my favorite gift. When I was in second grade, Aunt MaryEula and Uncle Bill gave me my very own bookcase for Christmas. It is made of maple and has 4 shelves in it. Not very wide, it holds about 20 books per shelf. It comes up to my shoulders now, but seemed very tall when I was seven. It has gone EVERYwhere with me, all of these many long years. I have many more and much larger bookcases now, but this is the wonder of Christmas that has always been all mine and mine alone! And for all of these years I have blessed my aunt and uncle for their understanding of my need.
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Barb, I'm not the one who liked the erector sets and Lincoln Logs - but I still have the matched set of Louisa May Alcott's "Little Women", "Little Men" and "Jo's Boys" that I received when I was 7 or 8.
I also have the autographed copy of "Once On Esplanade", what would now be called a "Young Adult" novel, by Frances Parkinson Keys that my beloved Aunt gave me one year when she had been in New Orleans and FPK was doing a book signing. Later on, I loved FPK's "adult" books.
However, I've never quite forgiven my mother for giving away a lot of my childhood books when I went to college. Somehow, one of the Nancy Drew books "escaped" but, even though the entire set of Bobbsey Twin books went to a dear younger friend, I would have preferred the gift to have just been a 'permanent loan'. :)
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Oh, JOAN, how wonderful that your little granddaughter got to dance
with the Moscow ballet! What a wonderful memory for both of you.
My daughter loved dancing and took lessons for several years, but she
was not destined for a career there. She still enjoys watching dancing
of all kinds; follows all the competitive dancing shows on TV.
JEAN, my mother made a date-nut roll candy. So rich and delicious.
Once I had a home of my own, I made it each Christmas for a while. Not
everyone liked dates, tho', and I eventually dropped it from the menu.
After all, I certainly didn't need the calories.
BARB, your description of the rain is simply beautiful. You really
must save that; it's poetry in prose. And thank you for that video. I'm
the one who asked for a picture of the trees..and got a bonus. Wasn't
that little elf in red and green adorable?!
KIDSAL, I totally understand. I always found dolls boring. Happily,
I could always count on receiving a book on any gift-giving occasion.
MARYPAGE, what is a 'surprise ball', please. I haven't heard of that,
but there were so many ways you could play with a ball.
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If most of us liked Lincoln Logs and didn't spend much time playing w/dolls, how does the stereotype persist that those are the toys girls donot/do like? We can't be that unigue as a group. My dgt never played w/ dolls.
Barb - what a wonderful tribute to rain. I like rain for all the reasons you mention, a nice soft, tinkling rain is lovely to my way of thinking, even if i have to go out in it. We, who've seldom had serious droughts, take rain/water for granted.
We may have some snow in the middle of next week. Of course, in the Poconos there will be "people-made" snow and the children and grandchildren can go tubing. So we grandparents will get the joy of bundling them up and then unbundling and standing by w/ hot chocolate and hot soup, something we don't get to do when everyone is home in their own houses.
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Oh, a Surprise Ball is not a ball. Not one for playing with.
You take a package of RED crepe paper and a package of Green crepe paper and slice them into one to one and a half inch strips.
You buy lots and lots of appropriate tiny things. Small children, for instance, get a red Jacks size ball to begin the ball. For a teen ager, you might start with a pair of earrings in a cotton ball. A child with a doll house is the most fun to buy for.
With a bowl full of these small gifts you have purchased for the past year, you begin a ball. Much like a knitting wool ball. You wrap the crepe paper around until your gift is hidden, and then you plant one on the side of the ball and wrap that, then another gift on the other side of the ball, and you wrap that, and on and on and on until there are dozens of little gifts inside. You alternate the red and green crepe paper when you need a new strip. When the ball is about tennis ball size or a little smaller, you put a Christmas sticker on it to seal it and put it in the toe of the stocking it is meant for.
Unwinding your Surprise Ball is the greatest fun! You ooh and aah over each treasure as you unwind and it falls out. You have a mountain of red and green strips of crepe paper! You have had the Joy of another Christmas!
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Holiday Memories - Our 2011 Open House!
Stop by and share the Holiday with all the good friends on Senior Learn
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We want to hear about your favorite Holiday memory. Hi, come on in, make yourself comfortable and share your memories with us - Welcome to our month long Open House on Dec.1 T'is the season to wax nostalgic about all the Holidays you celebrate this time of year..
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Every party needs MUSIC! Here is a Mix of Christmas songs.
"4 AWESOME Christmas Songs" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ru-rUTM09jI&feature=related)
When you were young was there a Holiday play with music in your school?
Do you find yourself humming a particular tune when you are shopping or out walking?
Who is your favorite holiday singing artist?
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What's a party without GOODIES?
Let's fill this buffet table with your favorites!
What's your best ever Holiday recipe and tell us the story behind it?
What are you planning for a Holiday treat this year?
Are there special Cookbooks you pull out this time of year?
Tell us, do you set a special table or treat yourself to a special Tea or a bottle of Wine?
Did you ever send a package to a Service Man or Women for the Holidays or serve in a Soup Kitchen - tell us about it if you have. When you were young did you ever attend a Red Cross Holiday dance for servicemen? Did any of you help out at a hospital during the holidays?
What were some of the toys you received? Do you remember a special time with a family member during the holidays?
Was there an Open House you attended when you were young? How about when you were an adult...or was there an office party that you really looked forward to attending?
Does your town have a Community Christmas Tree?
Have you ever visited the tree in Rockefeller Center?
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A Child's Christmas in Wales - Dylan Thomas (http://www.classicshorts.com/stories/xmas.html)
And what's a gathering of BOOK LOVERS without Books? We all have our seasonal favorite STORIES and POEMS. What are yours?
What seasonal stories do you still plan to read for the first time? Do you remember the Holiday stories you read to your children?
Can you remember attending your first Holiday movie in a theater?
What about the Nutcracker, is that or singing with a group, Handel's Messiah on your calendar?
Did you look forward each year to a special Holiday movie or show on TV?
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I just read all of the posts that are here and found myself back in the olden golden days of recalled Christmases.
First off, in 2nd grade, I was one of the 3 Kings which meant that my mother had to come up with a costume. She took an old chenille bedspread and cut out a robe for me and dyed it purple or maroon. She was in such a hurry (as time was of the essence,I didn't tell her I needed it until 2 days before the play) that she just put it in a large grocery bag and sent me to school with it for the pageant. Can't remember what she used for a crown but I carried the myrrh. So I put the robe on and everyone realized that it was way too long! So, I bundled up one side over my arm and with my crown trying to leave my head and my myrrh spilling little grains of ??????myrrh or sand?? all across the desert, I followed my fellow kings onto the stage singing "We Three of Orient Are". That costume was the heaviest thing I've ever wore in my grade school career. Tee hee! ::)
My second appearance in the school Christmas pageant was, as the Angel Gabriel who visited Mary to tell her of her miraculous pregnancy. Have you read all that the angel announces? Its pretty long for a 3rd grader but I had no problem remembering it. It was in my genes! I don't remember how my mom dressed me that year but it was probably in one of her night gowns, bleached whiter than it was to begin with (she loved bleach!) and then a sash made from some golden leftover materiel (she was a seamstress in training). Did I have wings? I don't recall? Did I have sandals on my bare feet? Maybe! I just remember that I didn't make an error in my announcement to Mary or trip over my sash!
The girl who played Mary and I attended a reunion of our grade school last year. We have been friends since 1st grade. 70 years! My gosh, how time flies! ;D
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Barb,
Due to Amberlaine's vacation, it looks like we will be here 'til the 20th?
I couldn't open your link but found another story of Austin's decorating somewhere on the net (I didn't bookmark it) and enjoyed seeing 6 slides of the decorated trees. OOOOKAAAAY, I will search it out and place it here for anyone else who can't open your link.
http://paulak.hubpages.com/hub/Random-Tree-Decorating
Your description of the rain was just beautiful! And aren't you getting more rain later in the week? Maybe it will be a true downpour! I can't imagine Lakes Austin and Travis at 45 feet below their normal levels. Just too sad! Who is the God of Rain or water??? Looking it up! Here he is (not the guy at the top). Tlaloc is further down the page:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tlaloc
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I left here to read my mail at Yahoo and found this article: Hope you enjoy reading it. Its quite interesting.
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/6-holiday-traditions-fading-into-obscurity.html
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http://www.surpriseballs.com/
http://www.notmartha.org/tomake/surpriseballs/
http://www.notmartha.org/tomake/surpriseball/
http://www.etsy.com/listing/62079004/christmas-holiday-surprise-ball
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MaryPage, those look like fun! (love the link tiitle "notmartha.org"!)
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My cousins and I all remembered our surprise balls as being the most fun thing about Christmas. Now my children and grandchildren say the same. I am too old to make them any longer, so the grandchildren have to make them for my great grandchildren. As my children got older, I put more and more valuable things in them. By the time they were in college, a surprise ball could cost me as much as two hundred dollars!
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do you know the words to We three kings of orient are?
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BarbStAubre
thank you for The Fairies poem and the youtube Tran Siberian orchestra!
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MaryPage
I love the surprise balls!
Thank you:)
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We three kings of Orient are
Bearing gifts we traverse afar
Field and fountain, moor and mountain
Following yonder star
O Star of wonder, star of night
Star with royal beauty bright
Westward leading, still proceeding
Guide us to thy Perfect Light
Born a King on Bethlehem's plain
Gold I bring to crown Him again
King forever, ceasing never
Over us all to rein
O Star of wonder, star of night
Star with royal beauty bright
Westward leading, still proceeding
Guide us to Thy perfect light
Frankincense to offer have I
Incense owns a Deity nigh
Pray'r and praising, all men raising
Worship Him, God most high
O Star of wonder, star of night
Star with royal beauty bright
Westward leading, still proceeding
Guide us to Thy perfect light
Myrrh is mine, its bitter perfume
Breathes of life of gathering gloom
Sorrowing, sighing, bleeding, dying
Sealed in the stone-cold tomb
O Star of wonder, star of night
Star with royal beauty bright
Westward leading, still proceeding
Guide us to Thy perfect light
Glorious now behold Him arise
King and God and Sacrifice
Alleluia, Alleluia
Earth to heav'n replies
O Star of wonder, star of night
Star with royal beauty bright
Westward leading, still proceeding
Guide us to Thy perfect light
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When I was a child, I could not understand why the old people in the family seemed to get sad around Christmas time. Mary Page
I know the feeling, Mary Page. We remember those dear faces from our childhood more than ever at this time of year. Hard to believe they are gone. And then there are the faces of our own children and the excitement in the house during the entire season. We can't sit and mope that those days are gone, that those children are grown - and gone. We need to fill our lives with new traditions, or at least with new activities.
Today my youngest phoned from London to say that he wasn't coming home until the days AFTER Christmas as planned. Instead will spend Christmas with a young lady he met in London - and her family. (!)
He'll be home before New Year's though - and is planning a big family celebration on New Year's Eve with the entire family - Bruce and myself, his three brothers and their families too.
Rosemary, he wants to celebrate Hogmanay - did I spell that right? He's named after his Scottish grandmother and there are a number of the young ones in the family also bearing the McGregor name. Have you ever heard of Hogmanay? As far as I understand, it is celebrated on New Year's Eve in Edinburgh. I thought you'd be just the person to ask.
If I get my act together, I may put together some of those surprise balls for the little ones.
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MaryPage you have my brain going - I think a surprise ball is in order this year for my stocking stuffer's - now to figure out what to put in them - coins are an easy answer but guys - oh and your bookcase - what a wonderful gift - do you have the backstory on how they decided this gift for you - did your parents know?
There was something magical about our trees when we were young wasn't there - yes, the German made ornaments, some decorated with fine human hair and the light bulbs were not the tiny dots of the past few years.
I remember with visiting cousins and even just my sister laying on our tummies under the tree and playing when we shouldn't with the manger being sure to put it all back just right with the color lights making it a separate world - and we played such simple games like choosing an ornament and 20 questions others ask to figure out which ornament we chose - some times it was so easy because we knew which ornament was that person's favorite and inevitably that was the one they chose.
Good for you - I bet you knew Three Kings by heart and did not have to cut and paste it from some outside site.
Bluebird so glad to see your posts - thanks glad you enjoyed some of the links - are you planning something special for yourself during the next few holiday weeks? Do you put up a tree? Few of us do any longer but the memories as Ann says are part of who we are.
Ann an Angle - and a King - oh my - you hit the Jackpot didn't you - and yes our drought is something - when you realize most of us live in houses with 8 foot ceilings and then another foot or so between floors if it is a two story house you can better realize what 45 feet means to a river that usually is a full lake. One of our concerns now is we are loosing so many trees and if a wind continues to come out of West Texas as it does every Spring how many power lines will be toppled. It is not quite but getting to look more like El Paso around here with everyone putting gravel down where there used to be front lawn.
Sorry you could not access the YouTube -your photos are fun but a drop in the bucket with 1000s of trees decorated and many with unique creative decorations recycling roadside trash. There is no electricity on these hillsides so any tree that may have lights is using some sort of battery powered lighting.
Well I just broke down and made an unplanned for purchase - all and I mean all my Christmas CDs are gone - I have searched every nook and cranny - even called my daughter thinking I brought some with me and left them there - and so I find a few of my favorites as resale on Amazon and a few that they still had new - they won't be here till Tuesday but that is OK because I still celebrate the Feast of St. Nickolas by bringing out all the Christmas books and the decorations -
Picked up a pre-made wreathe last night that I will tie to the mailbox on Tuesday. Now I really need to get with it and start organizing around here - it is just too tempting though to stand with coffee in hand and stare out the window at the rain falling and the deer scattered all over the yard - there are 9 of them back there now including a buck with a nice rack -
Till later...
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I suggest those who want to do Surprise Balls do this:
Figure out who you want to give them to.
Set up a box for the tiny gifts. In the box, put a zip loc bag for each person with their name on their baggie. A stick on label will do the trick.
Shop for a Whole Year: looking everywhere you go. As I stated, a little girl who has a doll house is the most fun to buy for.
Look for miniatures of all sorts for the older children. Those tiny little china and/or glass animals in Hallmark stores and other gift stores are very popular as keepsakes. College kids like stamps and money. Things that come in those little aluminum and/or plastic envelopes are easy to add to the balls, as well. These come with everything from face creams to instant drinks in them.
Barbara, I have no idea about the bookcase. I was an only child of divorce and living with my dad and a housekeeper/nanny. We were stationed at West Point that year, where my dad had graduated in 1925, and he was teaching Physics. This was 1936. The bookcase would have been purchased in Manhattan, where my aunt and uncle lived at that time, and shipped up to West Point. I would not have had a clue if I saw the box prior to Christmas. I imagine they forewarned my dad to expect it. I doubt he was consulted, as this particular aunt, his younger sister, had a mind of her own, bless her. The reason for the bookcase? I lived for my books, even then.
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Bluebird, it's good to see you here. What's the best part of Christmas for you?
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Wow, I wish I had read about the surprise balls before going shopping today. What a neat idea. May have to wait until next year, though.
Shopping today was sad - I could not get in the mood. Too many other things going on, maybe? Couldn't even find anyting in Barnes & Noble!
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With all this talk of oranges in stockings it reminded me of this lovely from John Henry Faulk
OK I hope this is a treat - it is for me - John Henry Faulk is from Austin - born and raised in a house South of the River that the family turned into a marvelous upscale restaurant called Green Pastures (http://greenpasturesrestaurant.com/)
In the next post is a Christmas Story written by Flaulk in the colloquial southern vowel-heavy storytelling that was typically heard up through the 1970s before the Chamber of Commerce helped the world find and kick a wide door to prosperity by setting up shop here in Central Texas the chosen town for the Capitol of Texas back before we attached ourselves to the US when Texas was its own nation.
John Henry Faulk, as American as they come had his career cut off by the nitwits in Congress who accused him of being a Commie during the rush to judgment by the House on Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) (1938–1975)
Our main public library building is named after John Henry and here is a delicious bit of history - at the time in Austin there were three influential men - Roy Bedicheck, a naturalist, J. Frank Dobie, a folklorist, and Walter Prescott Webb, a historian - they would often gather near a big rock in Zilker Park near the diving board over the natural creek fed swimming hole. There is a statue commemorating their almost daily philosophizing. John Henry often participated when he was back in Austin from his work in New York and Hollywood - Although he is not included in the statue we all know his spirit is there.
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This Christmas story has a similar ring to the way all these men wrote as they tried to give us a window to early Texas and its people
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'Christmas Story'
by John Henry Faulk
The day after Christmas a number of years ago, I was driving down a country road in Texas. And it was a bitter cold, cold morning. And walking ahead of me on the gravel road was a little bare-footed boy with non-descript ragged overalls and a makeshift sleeved sweater tied around his little ears. I stopped and picked him up. Looked like he was about 12 years old and his little feet were blue with the cold. He was carrying an orange.
And he got in and had the brightest blue eyes one ever saw. And he turned a bright smile on my face and says, "I'm-a going down the road about two miles to my cousins. I want to show him my orange old Santa Claus brought me." But I wasn't going to mention Christmas to him because I figured he came from a family — the kind that don't have Christmas. But he brought it up himself. He said, "Did old Santa Claus come to see you, Mister?" And I said, "Yes. We had a real nice Christmas at our house and I hope you had the same."
He paused for a moment, looked at me. And then with all the sincerity in the world said, "Mister, we had the wonderfulest Christmas in the United States down to our place. Lordy, it was the first one we ever had had there. See, we never do have them out there much. Don't notice when Christmastime comes. We heared about it, but never did have one 'cause — well, you know, it's just papa says that old Santa Claus — papa hoorahs a lot and said old Santa Claus was scared to bring his reindeer down into our section of the county because folks down there so hard up that they liable to catch one of his reindeer and butcher him for meat. But just several days before Christmas, a lady come out from town and she told all the families through there, our family, too, that they was — old Santa Claus was come in town to leave some things for us and if papa'd go in town, he could get some Christmastime for all of us. And papa hooked up the mule and wagon. He went in town. But he told us children, said, "Now don't ya'll get all worked up and excited because there might not be nothing to this yarn that lady told."
And—but, shucks, she hadn't got out of sight up the lane there till we was done a-watching for him to come back. We couldn't get our minds on nothing else, you know. And mama, she'd come to the door once in a while and say, "Now ya'll quit that looking up the lane because papa told you there might not be nothing." And — but long about the middle of the afternoon, well, we heared the team a-jangling harness a-coming and we ran out in the front yard, and Ernie, my little brother, called out and said, "Yonder come papa." And here come them mules just in a big trot, you know, and papa standing upright in the bed of that wagon holding two big old chickens, all the feathers picked off. And he was just yelling, "Merry Christmas. Merry Christmas." And the team stopped right in front of the gate. And all us children just went a-swarming out there like a flock of chichis, you know, and just a-crawling over that wagon and a-looking in.
And, Mister, I wish you could have seen what was in that wagon. It's bags of stripety candy and apples and oranges and sacks of flour and some real coffee, you know, and just all tinselly and pretty and we couldn't say nothing. Just kind of held our breath and looked at it, you know. And papa standing there just waving them two chickens, a-yelling, "Merry Christmas to you. Merry Christmas to you," and a-laughing that big old grin on his face. And mama, she come a-hurrying out with the baby in her arms, you know. And when she looked in that wagon, she just stopped, and then papa, he dropped them two chickens and reached and caught the baby out of her arms, you know, and held him up and said, "Merry Christmas to you, Santa Claus." And baby, little old Alvie Lee, he just laughed like he knowed it was Christmas, too, you know. And mama, she started telling us the name of all of them nuts. They wasn't just peanuts. They was — she had names for all of them. She — mama knows a heap of things like that. She'd seen that stuff before, you know? And we was, all of us, just a-chattering and a-going on at the same time, us young'uns, a-looking in there.
And all of a sudden, we heared papa call out, "Merry Christmas to you, Sam Jackson." And we stopped and looked. And here comes Sam Jackson a-leading that old cripple-legged mule of his up the lane. And papa said, "Sam Jackson, did you get in town to get some Christmas this year?" Sam Jackson, you know, he sharecrops over there across the creek from our place. And he shook his head and said, "Well, no, sir, Mister. Well, I didn't go in town. I heared about that, but I didn't know it was for colored folks, too. I thought it was just for you white families." All of a sudden, none of us children were saying nothing. Papa, he looked down at mama and mama looked up at him and they didn't say nothing, like they don't a heap of times, but they know what the other one's a-thinking. They're like that, you know. And all of a sudden, papa, he broke out in a big grin again. He said, "Dad-blame-it, Sam Jackson, it's a sure a good thing you come by here. Lord have mercy, I liked to forgot. Old Santa Claus would have me in court if he heared about this. The last thing he asked me if I lived out here near you. Said he hadn't seen you around and said he wanted me to bring part of this out here to you and your family, your woman and your children."
Well, sir, Sam Jackson, he broke out in a big grin. Papa says, "I'll tell you what to do. You get your wife and children and you come down here tomorrow morning. It's going to be Christmastime all day long. Come early and stay late." Sam Jackson said, "You reckon?" And mama called out to him and said, "Yes, and you tell your wife to be sure and bring some pots and pans because we're going to have a heap of cookin' to do and I ain't sure I've got enough to take care of all of it." Well, sir, old Sam Jackson, he started off a-leading that mule up the lane in a full trot, you know, and he was a-heading home to get the word to his folks and his children, you know.
And next morning, it just — you remember how it was yesterday morning, just rosy red and looked like Christmastime. It was cold, but you didn't notice the cold, you know, when the sun just come up, just all rosy red. And us young'uns were all out of bed before daylight seemed like, just running in the kitchen and smelling and looking. And it was all there sure enough. And here come Sam Jackson and his team and his wife and his five young'uns in there. And they's all lookin' over the edge. And we run out and yelled, "Merry Christmas. Merry Christmas." And papa said, "Christmas gift to you, Sam Jackson. Ya'll come on in." And they come in and mama and Sister Jackson, they got in the kitchen and they started a-cooking things up. And us young'uns started playing Christmastime. And it's a lot of fun, you know. We'd just play Christmas Gift with one another and run around and around the house and just roll in the dirt, you know, and then we started playing Go Up To The Kitchen Door And Smell. And we'd run up and smell inside that kitchen door where mama and Sister Jackson was a-cooking at, and then we'd just die laughing and roll in the dirt, you know, and go chasing around and playing Christmas Gift.
And we played Christmastime till we just wore ourselves out. And papa and Sam Jackson—they put a table up and put some sheets over it, some boards up over some sawhorses. And everybody had a place, even the baby. And mama and Sister Jackson said, "Well, now it's ready to come on in. We're going to have Christmas dinner." And I sit right next to Willy Jackson, you know, and he just rolled his eyes at me and I'd roll mine at him. And we'd just die laughing, you know, and there was an apple and an orange and some stripety candy at everybody's place. And that was just dessert, see. That wasn't the real Christmas dinner. Mama and them had done cooked that up. And they just had it spread up and down the table.
And so papa and Sam Jackson, they'd been sitting on the front porch and they come in. Papa, he sit at one end of the table, Sam Jackson sit at the other. And it was just a beautiful table like you never had seen. And I didn't know nothing could ever look like that and smell that good, you know. And Sam Jackson, you know, he's real black and he had on that white clean shirt of his and then them overalls. Everything had been washed and was real clean. Papa, he said, "Brother Jackson, I believe you're a deacon in the church. I ain't much of a church man myself, but I believe you're a deacon. Maybe you'd be willing to give grace." Well, Sam Jackson, he stood up there and his hands is real big and he kind of held onto the side of the table, you know. But he didn't bow his head like a heap of folks do when they're saying the blessing. He just looked up and smiled. And he said, "Lord, I hope you having as nice a Christmas up there with your angels as we're having down here because it sure is Christmastime down here. And I just wanted to say Merry Christmas to you, Lord.
Like I say, Mister, I believe that was the wonderfulest Christmas in the United States of America."'
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OH oH Oh here it is - NPR has a copy of John Henry reading his story - oh hearing him again, YES!
John Henry Faulk reading his Christmas Story (http://www.npr.org/player/v2/mediaPlayer.html?action=1&t=1&islist=false&id=877159&m=877229)
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I do agree that Christmas is somewhat bittersweet for us as we grow older and more and more leave us. I know that on Christmas Day, I will look at my granddaughter and wish that Grandpa could see the beautiful young lady who has appeared.
Costumes.. yes, as the head angel who sang, I had a white robe, wings ( they were a true pain) and a halo..(Hmm). Long blonde hair t hat was loose from my braids.. My cousin got to be Mary, She had a wonderful alto voice and the lullabye was gorgeous sung by her.
Books.. My Mom loved a stupid little series called "HOneybunch" and gave me a new one of those every year.. Ugh.. She was way too sweet, but I also got The Bobbsey Twins and Nancy Drew from an Aunt. I loved them..
I dont do surprise balls, but I do small handmade baskets ( I love to weave baskets) and fill them with small stuff.. Which I have collected all year.
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I had The Bobbsey Twins and Honey Bunch and The Five Little Peppers and Nancy Drew and The Dana Girls and all of the Uncle Wriggley, all of the Raggedy Anne & Andy, all of the Oz, The Hardy Boys, The Swallows and Amazons series, and a great set about boys on international adventures the name of which I forget. All of the fairy tales. All of James Fenimore Cooper and Gene Porter Stratton. Many, many others. I tried to save some for my children, and they loved them. My daughter Anne has an almost complete set going back to the nineteen thirties of The Bobbsey Twins, and you know what? She cannot give them to her granddaughter, my great granddaughter, to read because they are full of prejudices towards people. It is just amazing how our attitudes and casual conversation and comments reveal who we are, and even something you would think pure and sweet does this very thing! It has been a great revelation to me!
Great story, Barbara. Did you ever read any of Lella Warren's books? Whetstone Walls and Foundation Stone. Had a lot about southern (Alabama) Christmases in them. Beautiful books about the Old South. I knew her. She was my mother's dear friend.
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No I have not MaryPage read any of her books - for me it isn't the south especially it was how poverty was accepted and regardless of race in the twentieth century, around here for the most part the story would ring true - there was this concept of sharing that still holds us in spite of the hoards who have moved here and are taking Austin into the direction they understand.
The fires this past summer are a perfect example - the only full time non-volunteer fire departments in this state are in the large cities and so Bastrop and Smithville and Leander and Spicewood and Ceder Creek - all those areas where thousands of acres and nearly a 1000 homes burned were handled with very trained, but volunteer fire departments - when all is said and done families did not need that much help from Red Cross or FEMA because everyone is pitching in - folks without insurance are re-building with weekend volunteer help - trees standing but dangerous having been too far burned are taken down with volunteers - flood control, re-seeding - you name it folks are just doing it, even those who lost everything help their neighbor.
It is comforting during the holiday season to read stories that include that kind of sharing that seems more poignant when it would be easy to see the need among those who are needy enough to accept help in a way that does not take from their dignity. This story also reminds me of how we try to dazzle with gifts and to imagine we could see the beauty in and feel special having received an orange. Someone mentioned how grocery store foods are year round now so that we seldom look at our fresh foods and really stop long enough to savor the flavor, to revel in any of our food.
Here in the Austin area until the early 1980s we still saw in the fall of the year on our roads mule drawn wagons full of cotton - now all those cotton fields are subdivisions and I do not know of a Gin still operating in the area. In the early 80s is when there was another huge successful push by the Chamber to bring clean industry to Austin and with that change we gradually lost hearing folks talk as John Henry does in the NPR bit - you have to shop and socialize in certain areas of town to hear the sounds that were typical of Austin not so very long ago. As to levels of poverty and who suffered more and the differences in race - we all learn and grow - it is easy to tut tut our past understanding and, as you say MaryPage, it was so pervasive and common that we had to go deep to even understand -
When it comes to children's books that are not supportive of difference in race, unfortunately that is a legacy however, to realize that was our history and that some folks acted toward each other in spite of the culture of the time to me shows a heart that kids can learn that you share with everyone - this story shows how John Henry would have characterized those who will share today with our hard hit neighbors from south of the border on the other side of the Creek we call a river rather than, because of job scarcity and tight budgets bus them back regardless how long they have sharecropped in the US - worked without ownership -
OK, getting too political here and there are lots of issues folks have that I think can all be answered since, like our view of people 50 years ago, our views were often based on what we were told rather than facts - the same holds true today. I am thinking that John Henry can touch a nerve if we let him because few of us are as free with what we have to share with all races or folks who practice any religion and here is an example where without words the natural inclination is to treat everyone like a good neighbor which is to treat them as one of our own.
We do like our children to read stories like the one about Ann Frank but we do not hold the story as an embarrassment to bring up Germany's past - we know for the most part the change among people - and sure, even in Germany there are a few who think as if it were 70 and more years ago. The history of what made a Hitler successful is long and winding so that often we have even created a myth that includes our own version in order to accept the average German's behavior - today we recommend stories of heroism where in Europe folks acted to help their beleaguered neighbors -
I am thinking an orange that symbolizes love, fire, luxury happiness and often a symbol for the golden apples from the Garden at Hesperides; if we can share an orange with our family members maybe John Henry's story can urge us to share an orange with others, even those who some part of society has deemed less worthy.
Hmmm need to put my thinking cap on - we used to regularly for all the holidays bring a tray of goodies to the fire station and drop off token for the teachers - no they are not beleaguered but the habit of letting these folks know we care - hmmm maybe it is time - it is still rainy - thank goodness - but it has gotten cold and the heat is on - maybe I need to turn on my oven instead and get some Christmas going - I have two schools on the other side of the street - gotta think this through because I cannot have a bundle of cookies for every teacher - maybe a tray for the office - need to think on this.
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Loved the story Barbara. Thanks for sharing it...... Jean
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So glad you liked the story Jean - tried to find NPR today thinking maybe they had other authors reading their Holiday story but it wouldn't come in - there is a lot of interference with the TV tonight so maybe the airways are in flux.
Well I decided - when I called the school secretary and asked - it seems that with all the staff there are 65 of which a dozen or so are part time - I blanched - but then the more I calculated numbers it was OK - I have decided since I have tons of blue and yellow tissue I will get some silver ribbon - that narrow kind that you can curl with the side of your scissor - and I started my baking - I decided on small bundles of 6 cookies each bundle - One Ginger Bread Man each - I only need to do the recipe 3 times and the rest are recipes for 3 to 4 dozen at a time and so I only need 2 to 3 batches for each of the additional cookies - I have decided on a couple of snickerdoodles and a couple of raisin mixed fruit cookies and one pecan butterball added to the Ginger Bread man.
I have already finished the snickerdoodles - Tonight I will do the pecan butterballs, I have one batch of Gingerbread man done that rather than icing a decoration I used the old fashioned way with bits of cherry for the mouth, citron for the eyes and raisins for buttons before baking - they do really need a white line for a hat though and tomorrow when I pick up the ribbon I may get a can of that icing.
Then tomorrow I need to do the other two batches of Ginger Bread men and a batch of raisin mixed fruit cookies - I make it with apple sauce and throw in a bunch of dried citron and dried cherries - decided against the chocolate chip since I have no idea when these bundles would be picked up -
I have a large basket I need to get rid of and instead of getting a quarter for it at a garage sale I will use it with one note tied to the handle rather than any attempt to include a note in each bundle.
This is reminding me of when I was a kid my mother backed cookies - enough to fill up a bushel basket - a couple days before Christmas, always in blue paper with stickers holding it together we packaged cookie gifts for the neighbors, our teachers, always the firemen and the priests and scared stiff, since it was my task to deliver all these packages, I knocked on the big double door to the Swedish home to leave a package of cookies for the two older people that did their farming and who we regularly chatted with over the fence.
And then there were these special butter cookies that during the war Mom saved her stamps to get the ingredients. This was the gift for her older sister who always brought us a Stollen that together she and my grandmother made every year.
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Just heard from Sandy Davidson (Dapphne) - she made a Thanksgiving Holiday trip back to Maine to be with family and she has made a home for herself clear across the nation in Port Townsend Washington in a small vacation type community right on the waterfront. Her plan was to travel the nation living out of her vehicle that she retrofitted but her car become unreliable and so she settled in a dream community - she sounds really great and calmer than I can ever remember. From what I know about that part of the country their politics and Dapphne's politics match where they did not match in Maine.
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Our Christmas tree went up on Christmas eve.. I never saw it or helped with it until I was a teen.. My godparents had ten children and they would block off their formal parlor the week before Christmas and they did the tree and presents. Then at midnight on Christmas eve, they would throw open the doors and all of the children up to adults would be welcomed in to open presents. The tree was always filled with homemade ornaments. It was always a very special time. When I was young, I loved to go to their house, since they lived in town.. and it was so exciting to live in a house with all ages. even though the older girls ( who was in their 20's) were very very bossy..
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The same here, Steph - We had a "sunroom" with French doors - just as you did, Barbara. It was closed off before Christmas - we never saw that tree until Christmas morning. It was a breathtaking, unforgettable moment. My grandchildren will never experience that. Their trees are up - and decorated - have been for a week. By the time we get to see them, the week after Christmas, their tree is a fire hazard!
Rosemary K - I need help wth Hogmanay! The plan down in NC is to celebrate Hogmanay on New Year's Eve. Do you know it?
Nancy, said something in the Suggestion Box - about Christmas novels...being lighter somehow, even the mysteries. There's something in the air. Kidsal had suggested we read Christmas Carol - Is it just me, or does it seem to take on more significant meaning every year with a rereading?
Before I forget - we are taking nominations for February's Book Club Online discussion - and will vote in January. Now's the time to put in your two cents -
Dickens' 200th birthday - (200th!) - is coming up in February. We're planning to celebrate with a discussion of one of his many novels. To date, we've had three nominations - and will continue to add to the list until January. If you have any suggestions, please post in the SUGGESTION BOX (http://seniorlearn.org/forum/index.php?topic=309.msg140199#msg140199) and we'll enter it into the slate for consideration. We'd like as many as possible in this discussion - and that includes YOU!
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MARYPAGE, how delightful. I've never heard of that! I wonder where it
originated.
That seems to be so typical of kids, ANNIE. I'm sure there is not a
one of us who hasn't been informed by one of our darlings that we must
produce something by tomorrow, they forgot to tell us sooner. But Mom, you've got to!! I promised!!!
A wonderful story, BARB. And I really like that statuary group; thanks for capturing it for us.
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Greetings -
Last week Barb asked about the cinnamon roll recipe & my mother's bread recipe. I don't know for sure which bread recipe she used except that it was from her Betty Crocker Cookbook. I didn't make the bread because my husband preferred "store bought" and I knew if I made it I would sit and eat the whole loaf right out of the oven with melted butter.
The cinnamon rolls are in my Betty Crocker cookbook from the early 1960s. I think it has been revised out of the newer editions.
Sweet Roll Dough - Large recipe
2 packages active dry yeast
½ cup warm water (105 to 115°)
½ cup lukewarm milk (scalded then cooled)
½ cup sugar
2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1/2 cup shortening
7 to 7 ½ cups Gold Medal flour
Dissolve yeast in warm water.
Stir in milk, sugar, salt, eggs, shortening and ½ of the flour. Mix until smooth. Add enough remaining flour to make dough easy to handle.
Turn dough onto lightly floured board; knead until smooth (about 5 minutes). Place in greased bowl; turn greased side up. Cover; let rise in warm place until double, about 1½ hours.
Punch down dough. Let dough rise again until double, about 30 minutes.
Roll dough into oblong, 15 x 9”. Spread with 2 tbsp softened butter, sprinkle with ½ cup sugar (brown) and 2 tsp cinnamon. [these 3 ingredients are not measured by the boys - they are generous with the brown sugar]. Roll up tightly and cut roll in 1" slices. Place in greased 13x9 pan, cover and let rise until double 35-40 minutes.
Heat oven to 375 . Bake 25-30 minutes. Makes 3 dozen. Can be iced, if you choose.
(We each test at least one apiece as soon as we can right out of the oven to be we were successful.)
Mary
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Oh sounds slarping good - I am still baking and have to hustle and pack - the days are flying by - I have copied the recipe Mary and put it in the special folder I bring with me - asking my daughter to check her cabinets to see if she has the ingredients - this sounds like a great Sunday morning treat...
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Something that has disappeared. When I was little and even when my children were little, a very special Christmas treat was tissue thin ribbon candy. I loved it and my sons as well. You cannot find it any more, all they have is the fat ribbons..no flavor at all. I tried so many sources, butr they all end up with fat ribbons with no flavor. Darn..
To this day, I love tangerines and try to always have a few in season.They have such a short season, even in Florida.. The tissue thin skin type. There is a new type that has way too thick skin.
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I am enjoying reading these - I'm having trouble getting into the holiday spirit here, and these memories are really helpful.
We will get our tree this weekend, not because we are putting it up so soon (I hope) but because if we don't there will be none to pick from. We live in a state that produces a lot of trees, just not available right up to Christmas like they used to be.
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Sadly, we no longer put up a Christmas tree. For one, there isn't room for
it. And if there was, the prices are far too high for our budget. But I string
tinsel and small tree lights over the mantelpiece, add a few decorations, and
enjoy that almost as well. And the cats can't bat stuff off the mantel, as they
did the tree.
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Ah yes, Steph tangerines - they are lovely and for the last few years the growers in the Valley have been doing a small orange with thin skin.
Babi, you and nlhome remind us of the changes we make after our kids are grown - We put so much energy into the years with our children at home so that it is easy to compare what we did to the many more years of our lives after our children are adults and we set another course for living and celebrating holidays. Me too, for the last 12 years traveling to my daughter's the house is empty for Christmas however, I started to do something else for Christmas other than a Tree back when they were all still living in Austin - Seemed like putting up a large 8 foot tree was more than I could handle on my own plus all that for a one afternoon visit did not seem to add up - I even tried a trio of small 3 foot trees, undecorated with just a star on the top of each but naahhh. Plus as you say the cost for something that no longer brought joy.
And so tradition has become picking up a wreathe each year that brings that wonderful memory scent of Christmas and hang it with four large red ribbons under the light fixture at the Breakfast room table and then hang at various lengths using tiny thin red ribbon all the old family ornaments that were my mother's and those that were on my childhood tree.
One year I brought in a good size branch and spray painted it white and then wrapped it with those tiny lights. It was fine but too rah rah for me. This year I am forcing myself to play Christmas carols on the piano again. Sheesh it is hard but I guess a few tears are part of life. Keeping busy and doing new fun things is great for blocking but I really need to get back to what I valued.
Right now I need to hustle about and finish up all the loose ends before I leave - I leave this week for my daughter's for our annual December visit - flying this year as I did last year and so I still have to finish packing up these Fed Ex boxes and get what I need off - that way I only have a small carry on - last year I used my son's carry-on that has a long handle and wheels but even that I found too difficult to get up and down the stairs making that connection in Atlanta - so this year I am using a cloth bag that is like a large beach bag made of black nylon - actually from 'The Modern" the art museum in Fort Worth.
Each year I leave something more in the closet at my daughter's to cut down on what I have to bring with me. Problem I never took inventory and forget what is there and what isn't - for sure this year I am remembering I do have a pair of slippers there - it is so much colder than I am used to but then we do get a couple of weeks of cold weather in either January or February so I cannot simply leave all my warm things at their house - OK on with it - piano first so I am not melancholy before bed - then clean sheets - finish wrapping cookies and deliver - lay out what I am bringing and start to fill the boxes - and no, jolly holiday music - those sounds only hits me in all the wrong places - for liveliness today it is Patrick Fiori and Paolo Nutini -
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Here are a couple of treats that I thought I would leave before I am on my way -
This is a nice annual Yule site http://simnet.is/gardarj/index.html
And this is the department store Printemps Christmas window in Paris
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LykAmI0KU7k&feature=related
Wishing everyone a lovely December that will be warm memories in the future...
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I just deleted a post that took me 30 minutes to put together. Please forgive me if I swear here. >:( >:( >:( >:( ??? ??? ??? :'( :'( :'( :'( :'( :'(
I will come in later tonight and try to recall it. So sorry!
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Go for it Annie, i understand the frustration! Jean
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MDH and I bought a small fiberoptic tree maybe 7 years ago. I can put my treasured birds on it and around it on the small table. My granddaughter added Disney princesses the first year and so I still hang them on it as well.. It spins and lights of course and I use it each night. This year I got brave and put my little led lit christmas tree from the Rv in my front window and then sort of flung some small lights on the outside bushes. I knew that I needed to get back to at least some of our customs. The tree reminds me of our last Christmas.
we were at an RV park where the people mostly stayed all winter and wow.. do they decorate.. We felt sort of out of it and went to a little hardware store close to the park and then found a teeny little tree. It fit nicely into the front window of our RV and made us smile.. So it is up and I can think of how much we loved the RV and how much I miss him and it.
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I think the Vermont Country Store carries that ribbon candy. I have no idea whether it is the same or not. We, too, had it as a part of every Christmas when I was a child, and I remember the beauty of it fondly, but have never missed the taste as, well, truth to tell, I have never cared much for hard candies of any type all of my life. My huge sweet tooth yearns always for the taste of chocolate and the soft, gooey yumminess of caramels and creams. No matter the flavor, hard candies just do not deliver all of the required sensuality for my enjoyment!
http://www.vermontcountrystore.com/store/jump/productDetail/Food_&_Candy/Candy_&_Chocolate/Nostalgic_Treats/Old-Fashioned_Ribbon_Candy/60966
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Home made anise candy is great, and I remember the good quality ribbon candy from my Christmas bags at church when I was small. But I too prefer chocolate, although not the cream filled kind.
Came home last night briefly to see a tree in our living room, so husband and daughter were busy yesterday. They also drove down to put one up for our daughter-in-law and our grandchild. They were from Menard's, a building supply center here in the midwest, and must have cost less than $25 apiece, because my husband said his whole bill for two trees and a big sack of birdfood was $50. We had lights on, took them down because they weren't very pretty - and will put on some smalled white ones today. Actually, when I say "we" I mean "they" because other than finding the white lights, I didn't do anything. Had a dinner meeting last night and another one tonight.
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Holiday Memories - Our 2011 Open House!
Stop by and share the Holiday with all the good friends on Senior Learn
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We want to hear about your favorite Holiday memory. Hi, come on in, make yourself comfortable and share your memories with us - Welcome to our month long Open House on Dec.1 T'is the season to wax nostalgic about all the Holidays you celebrate this time of year..
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Every party needs MUSIC! Here is a Mix of Christmas songs.
"4 AWESOME Christmas Songs" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ru-rUTM09jI&feature=related)
When you were young was there a Holiday play with music in your school?
Do you find yourself humming a particular tune when you are shopping or out walking?
Who is your favorite holiday singing artist?
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What's a party without GOODIES?
Let's fill this buffet table with your favorites!
What's your best ever Holiday recipe and tell us the story behind it?
What are you planning for a Holiday treat this year?
Are there special Cookbooks you pull out this time of year?
Tell us, do you set a special table or treat yourself to a special Tea or a bottle of Wine?
Did you ever send a package to a Service Man or Women for the Holidays or serve in a Soup Kitchen - tell us about it if you have. When you were young did you ever attend a Red Cross Holiday dance for servicemen? Did any of you help out at a hospital during the holidays?
What were some of the toys you received? Do you remember a special time with a family member during the holidays?
Was there an Open House you attended when you were young? How about when you were an adult...or was there an office party that you really looked forward to attending?
Does your town have a Community Christmas Tree?
Have you ever visited the tree in Rockefeller Center?
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A Child's Christmas in Wales - Dylan Thomas (http://www.classicshorts.com/stories/xmas.html)
And what's a gathering of BOOK LOVERS without Books? We all have our seasonal favorite STORIES and POEMS. What are yours?
What seasonal stories do you still plan to read for the first time? Do you remember the Holiday stories you read to your children?
Can you remember attending your first Holiday movie in a theater?
What about the Nutcracker, is that or singing with a group, Handel's Messiah on your calendar?
Did you look forward each year to a special Holiday movie or show on TV?
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Me, too, MARYPAGE. Only I like my chocolates with nuts, crispies, and crunch
as well as caramel. Most creams I can skip. I make an exception, of course,
of the chocolate truffles.
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This has been a trying week, solved now, fortunately, so it’s been great fun to read about everyone’s traditions, past and present. And I love the picture of the statue in front of your library, Barbara. The story I will save for later, as I have much catching up to do.
Nice, CubFan, that your grandchildren have stepped up to the plate with the cinnamon rolls. That sounds like a tradition that will last forever.
Johann, I hope your recovery continues to go well. You do need to move around a lot, don’t you. I know someone whose dr. wouldn’t let her play bridge for six months after such surgery because “all you do is move around the table.”
MaryPage, what a neat idea – the Christmas ball. I’ve never seen one.
We never decorated early for Christmas – the tree was usually done on the Sunday before Christmas, I guess because everyone was home. Packages would come in the mail, and my mother would put them under the tree, but with the brown mail wrappings left on. Taking the mail wrappings off would come later, with the order – don’t touch. We were a family of Norwegian heritage, so Christmas Eve dinner was always Lutefisk (cod fish) and Lefse (made out of potatoes). The lutefisk had a butter sauce, but my aunt always made a mustard sauce for my uncle because he was Swedish. Lefse was one of my most favorite foods. Never touched the lutefisk. But oh, the cookies. Traditional American ones, but also rosettes and another favorite Norwegian cookie – futeman – poor man’s cookie. It was fried in oil. I haven’t had it since I was a kid, but was reminded of it while eating the German blatkuchen, that I can sometimes find here in the German areas of SE Missouri, if I’m lucky.
Now I think we've had many Christmas traditions in my family, some old, some new. All of them important and worth remembering.
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Pedln, my Beloved was half Norwegian and half English. He was from Minnesota.
CHRISTMAS RIBBON CANDY ALERT! I went to Rexall Drugs today and found they had a whiz of a special in Russell Stover chocolates: buy one box and get one FREE! So natch, I stopped and browsed (and yes, bought).
Lo! They have a special Christmas Box of beautiful ribbon candies. Look for them, Steph!
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We lived in the country and would always go with my Dad to pick out the tree; which he would then chop down. They were always cedar trees and my younger sister always wanted the biggest one she could see. It wasn't the beautiful shape that the spruce and pine trees are; but to us, it was lovely. Dad would cut the tree to fit the room and then make a wooden tree stand. The big multi-colored lights would go on; then lots of glass balls, and tinsel icicles. My poor mother was allergic to cedar and would spend the 5 or 6 days the tree was up sneezing. Sometimes we would make green and red chains out of construction paper to put on the tree. It always had a lit star on top. We celebrated on Christmas day. Santa's presents were never wrapped, but all the rest were. Santa's gifts were toys. The rest of the gifts were mostly practical and always new flannel gowns and slippers that Mother knitted. The knitted slippers would always have 5 silver dollars in the toe.
Sally
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Well, our Barb is off on her trip to visit her daughter and the grans in NC. Have a lovely and lively Christmas. Merry Christmas, dear friend.
I love the Christmas and with all those instructions from Mary Page, I think that I could make four small ones for my older grans with stuff that my husband and I found in a drugstore. Just simple ones with money at the end. Am I understanding it right, that you start with a small clear plastic ball? I am trying to decide whether to give them fake money and a note saying that their check was donated to the homeless fund or the food pantry which can buy $5 worth of groceries for $1. Something like that. They are all in middle or high school and have all the electronics that they need and love. Their parents are giving them ski club memberships for one of our close by slopes.
I have made lots of stuff for the grans over the years. Blankets, kits to make fleece pillow covers and spend the day with grandma making them, jean bags made from rag bag throw aways. With the legs cuts off about 3 or 4 inches down from the crocth and sew shut, they are quite neat to work with and the pockets are perfect for hiding lots of small things, like, kid scissors, crayons, puzzles, markers, dot to dot books, one book that they can read, just lots of things for making a child happy. I made the handles using the seamed pants legs. Our SL Ginny liked them so much that I gave her one for her expected grandson.
Our local NPR station was going to talk about Christmas food last week but the only one that I heard about was Tomato Pudding so I 'googled' it and found these:
http://www.npr.org/2011/12/02/143037931/tomato-pudding-taste-it-to-believe-it (http://www.npr.org/2011/12/02/143037931/tomato-pudding-taste-it-to-believe-it)
http://www.google.com/search?q=tomato+pudding&hl=en&client=safari&rls=en&prmd=imvnsue&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=P3ThTsPHGenr0gGWoYXIBQ&ved=0CFIQsAQ&biw=1012&bih=553 (http://www.google.com/search?q=tomato+pudding&hl=en&client=safari&rls=en&prmd=imvnsue&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=P3ThTsPHGenr0gGWoYXIBQ&ved=0CFIQsAQ&biw=1012&bih=553)
There certainly many ways to make the pudding and they all look quite tasty. Maybe I will put one out for our Christmas buffet.
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MAKING THE CHRISTMAS BALLS
No, no! It is NOT necessary to start with a ball of any kind. You MAY start with a ball, of course, but my advice is start with the money, so it will be the very last thing discovered. You can make a ball without beginning with a ball, just by being careful and clever about the way you wrap the strips of crepe paper to construct a ball.
By the way, if you do not want to purchase packages of red and green crepe paper and cut your own strips, which is what I prefer to do, you can buy those precut strips which are meant to make streamers in and on ceilings of rooms for PARTY decorations. You know the ones I mean? They come in circular bunches. Craft stores and party stores all carry them. Hobby stores usually, as well. They are a bit wide for my preferences, but they WILL perform the job!
You sort of weave back and forth and forth and back with your hands in making these balls. If you have EVER in your life made a ball of knitting yarn out of a hank of yarn stretched out in someone's hands or placed over the back of a straight chair, you already KNOW how to do it! I started doing that at about age 5, because the women in my family knit a lot.
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No, the Vermont Country Store ribbon candy is fat and tasteless.. I tried that several years ago. I dont like hard candy as a rule, but the whole family loved the delicacy and taste of the thin ribbon.
I used to make fudge for Christmas and divinity, bu since there is only me, I dont. My two daughter in laws make so many cookies, I generally dont make them either, although I saw a new recipe the other day that tempts me.. We will see. I am listening to Christmas music for the first time in the past two years. No opera though. He loved it so much and treasured all of the great tenors.
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Well, do look for the Russell Stover box of special Christmas ribbon candy. It comes in their regular size box. Sure looks delicious on the cover!
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No Rexall Drugs arund here, but surely a Russell Stover promotion would be
in other drugstores as well. Here's hoping!
How neat, SALLY. Your mother knew how to make the practical stuff exciting,
too. Five dollars would be a real bonanza for a child.
I had an aunt who made divinity every year, but no one makes it anymore.
So very sweet; I guess people are just too 'sugar' conscious these days.
Fudge has not dropped away, tho'...thank goodness!
I try to put up what decorations I can fairly early. If I'm going to do all that
work, I want to enjoy the results more than a few days! Mine stay up until
New Years Eve.
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We never made Divinity at our house; we were strictly fudge and taffy people, and only pulled taffy once a year. Jeepers, I make it sound as though we were strict in one religion and scorned all others! But howsomeever, we never made Divinity.
People used to give us gifts of it, though. None of us liked it much. I guess that is one good reason we never made it, huh? I never thought Divinity had much to recommend it in the looks department, AND it contained no chocolate.
I am feeling a warm and fuzzy nostalgia for Divinity at the moment. Why? I would not eat more than one bite of it. Guess I yearn a little bit for those long gone Christmases.
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That drug store I mentioned was NOT a Rexall. My Bad! I think Rexall is dead and gone, but I was not present at the burial, so am not certain of what I speak.
It was a RITE AID, and here that same premises used to be a Rexall and I am an old fuddy duddy about keeping up. But Heavens to Betsy! It has been a Rite Aid for eons now!
And I saw the same Christmas ribbon candies boxed by Russell Stover in our CVS drug store and in our Giant Grocery. So it can be found just about anywhere they sell Russell Stover, which is a lot of places.
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My mother made divinity, fudge, Martha Washington balls, and date loaf candy. My DDH loved divinity. I never cared for it. She made it especially for him. I did not like date loaf, either; but my mother did. Fudge, yummm! I am a chocolate lover. I tried to make divinity several times for my husband, but it never turned out. Mother always said that you had to make it when there was very little moisture in the air as it wouldn't set up otherwise. I used to make fudge and Martha Washington balls and turtles. However, I don't make candy anymore--mainly because my family only eats one or two pieces and guess who has to finish the rest??? I do make cookies and a delicious pumpkin/cranberry bread. I also make pumpkin and pecan pies for the holidays. I will probably start baking cookies and pumpkin bread next week. They freeze well.
Sally
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My father, a mechanic, used to make the best divinity - have not had any as good. He also made taffy and popcorn balls. We don't make candy here, and now rarely cookies, although my husband is known to make special sugar cookies and I have a pecan crescent recipe that my mother-in-law used to make. We make them now that she can't, but last year she didn't recognize them.
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Sally, I finished dipping about 150 Martha Washington candy balls in chocolate just before I read your post!
My recipe has chopped dates, chopped candied cherries and chopped pecans - no coconut.
Since you mentioned your mother liked date loaf, I wondered if your MW balls have dates in them.
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Oh my, I haven't had Divinity in years. Love it. My aunt made it often -- as long as the sun was shining, as it did not do well in rainy weather. We had fudge of all kinds all year long. My mother and aunt were great do-it-yourselfers -- paint, wall paper, you name it, they did it. BUT FIRST -- my aunt would make a batch of fudge or divinity or pinoche (kind of a butterscotchy fudge) -- and that gave them enough energy to last through whatever project they had.
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Thanks, Mary, for explaining how to wind crepe paper for the balls. One of your linked directions started by using an empty plastic ball with an eye at the top for hanging.
Like you, I helped wind many balls of yarn as my mother was an prolific knitter. We used to say, "Don't stand still too long or mom will knit you into one of her many creations!" We were the grateful receivers of afghans, slippers, sweaters, hats etc etc. Crochet is my bailiwick but I have made many things for my grans who live nearby. Same things that mom knitted, I crocheted. One of the very favorites were girls' hats with long braids. They were in a lovely purple color with other colors, like confetti, spread throughout. I also made boys' hats that year in the same yarn. We have a picture of the four kids wearing them.
When we lived in Austin, TX, our yard was full of pecan trees. After picking them, shelling them, I made divinity and wrapped it around the pecans. Worked pretty good and they were in 3 or 4 light colors. I shipped them in egg cartons also loaded with just unshelled pecans. I also made other Christmas candies to ship up north, using the egg cartons again. I wouldn't even think of using those egg cartons today but it worked in -53! :D
My MIL introduced me to date nut bread and I still use the same recipe. Sliced and spread with cream cheese, its just delicious, IMHO. :D My special thing for Christmas is Creme de Menthe bars. I make, at least, four pans of them every year and give them in pretty tins to my hairdresser and several other friends plus some family members. They depend on my doing this every year and are very vocal about it in early December.
On Saturday night, after pizza, salad and a birthday cake for their dad, our grans along with their parents, will help us put up our tree. Its artificial but a good one. And Granpa has to first do the bubble lights. I think we might play dominoes while he works away. Hahaha!
In Columbus, there was a delight filled candy store where they hand made the most delicious candy canes. They had butter in them and were hand pulled and twisted. One had to order them weeks ahead of Christmas. Hmmmmm, good!
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Do any of you play "Christmas Eve Gift!?"
I had read of this custom in one of the books by Lella Warren, I think it was her Foundation Stone, but it may have been Whetstone Walls. These books were set, as I recall, in Alabama. I may be mistaken about that, as it has been many, many years since I read them.
Anyway, apparently it is an old Southern custom in some families that goes back to the 19th century.
At any time on December 24th, you try to catch everyone else you meet or speak with on the phone or what have you by chirping out: "Christmas Eve Gift!" before they say it to you. The person caught has to give you a gift of some kind before the day is over or as soon as they next see you and can deliver the gift. The same goes for you: you have to give a gift to each person who catches you. This rule goes for the whole 24 hours of Christmas Eve, but any specific person you have already caught cannot be caught by you again until next year, and vice versa. There is only one chance per person.
My second husband was from Dallas, Texas, and he introduced this game into my family. We all play it AVIDLY. The present, again in our family tradition, does not have to be an expensive one, but it must be wrapped. Not necessarily wrapped well, and not necessarily tied; but wrapped.
The children often gave one another sticks of chewing gum. Wrapped. In Christmas paper. Did I say in Christmas paper? It must be in Christmas paper.
To give you an example, my mother-in-law stopped her car at a red light in Dallas one Christmas Eve. She was astonished to see one of her brothers stopped at the light in the lane right next to her. She rolled down her window and yelled "Christmas Eve Gift" to him. He was LIVID at being caught, and had quite a way to go to get to her house. Nevertheless, just before dark that evening he showed up at her door with a gift just barely wrapped in poinsettia tissue paper. It was the raw, bloody neck of the turkey his wife Laura, my husband's favorite aunt, was roasting the next day.
John Paul did everything right. That is how you play.
Actually, I have been known to surprise some kinfolk with fairly decent, even valuable presents! Not often, but it has been known to occur.
My daughter Debi did her Junior year at the Sorbonne, and we could not afford for her to come home for Christmas. So family friends who were stationed in Germany invited her there. My husband David carefully explained Christmas Eve Gift to them, and they were all ready for Debi! Even the German maid played it with zest. Who knows? Maybe there are some Germans playing it yet, and that was back in the Seventies!
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Aha, so that is where Christmas Gift came from. When I lived in Columbia,SC and was working,, that was a popular thing at the Bowling Center.. It baffled me and I am glad to hear where it came from. Not much fun when you are running into hundreds of people all day long.
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Mary Page, We play Christmas Eve Gift every year. I am from the south, but never heard of this game until I married. My husband's family has always played it. They have done it for generations. No gifts are given; the pleasure is in "catching" someone. I rather like the idea of gifts being presented.
Callie, my Martha Washington balls do not have dates. They have coconut, almonds and choc. They are rather like almond joys.
AdoAnnie, I like date loaf bread, but date nut candy. My mother would make the candy and roll in in a log, then roll it in powdered sugar. Then she would roll it up in wax paper and refrigerate it. She would take it out and slice it before serving.
Sally
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Ah, yes..the pecan crescent cookies. I had forgotten about those. I used to
make them occasionally. And of course, the pecan pie is traditional for our
holidays. Lord knows we have lots of pecans in Texas.
I must confess to envy of all of you who are still able to bake batches of
whatever. I am beginning to worry whether I'll find enough 'good days' to
finish my small Christmas shopping, and Valerie has had to take over most of
the cooking. What a drag! :P
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Oh, Pedl'n, Penuche fudge is my husband's very favorite fudge and I make penuche icing all the time for over chocolate cake. Hmmmm, good!
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So now we all know how to play Christmas Eve Gift so how many of you are going to try it? Sounds like great fun!
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Not I.. I will be at my sons and will not see anyone all day except them.. I used to love to go caroling. Where I grew up there were all sorts of youth groups who went caroling and one of the places we went , was the jail.. I am amzed now , but then,, We were allowed in the halls between the cells and sang our way through the small jail..There was a lot of applause. As kids it was our favorite place.. Scary and fun at the same time. We also went to the state hospital ( that no longer exists). Mostly quite old people, but some others who were sort of unnerving. Strange the things you remember. As an adult, we only caroled in neighborhoods..Easier, but not more fun.
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Not I, ANNIE. Don't want to be a Scrooge, but I've got enough problems
just trying to complete my Christmas shopping for family, never mind finding
a 'gift' for any passerby with a big grin and a 'gotcha'. :-\
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Oh, OH. OH! Watch This! Watch and listen CAREFULLY all the way through!
It will thrill your heart!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uH8FvERQHtM
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I still like the one overseas where the entire orchestra came to the train station.. How the heck they got the tympani and the harp in there was amazing.
Today starts Chrstimas parties for different groups.. Two in one day, lunch for a widows group and dinner for the friends of the library.. Wish it was spread out more.
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I'm afraid I've never been much for parties. (Excepting the childhood birthday parties, of course.)
Most of the adult parties seemed to consist of drinks and gossip, neither of which I cared for.
I do hope to make the Volunteer's Breakfast at the library at the end of the month. And any
family gathering is a pleasure and a comfort, even if I can't follow the conversations. It's a joy
just to sit back and watch them chatting and laughing together.
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MaryPage,
I love the choir singing! Very nice to have that happen in one's mall! No one's done it here that I know of. Thanks!
Here's one of my favoites by St Luke's Bottle Band: Enjoy!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pS0C2CizbFA (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pS0C2CizbFA)
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No one here has mentioned fruit cake. Do any of you eat/make it? My grandmother made fruit cakes every year. She always gave us one for the Christmas gathering of family. She put in lots of pecans and it was very moist. I liked her fruitcake. My little sister always picked the pecans off the top and ate them. She also did this to pecan pies--most aggravating (but then, aren't most "little" sister pests??). I don't care much for fruitcakes now. Most of them are too dry, and I'm not a fan of candied fruit.
I'm in a reading slump. I haven't read anything this month and have had to re-check my library books. I usually like light fluffy feel good Christmas books for December reading. I am having Christmas at my house this year; and have been busy decorating the house and tree. All presents are bought. Now I need to wrap them and put them under the tree. I give my daughter and her husband money; but I always buy them a gift to put under the tree.
Sally
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Oh, Annie! That was WONDERFUL! Thank you so much!
I love fruit cake, but no one makes it as good as my grandmother used to, so I don't eat it any longer. I sent to each of the fancy catalogs offering it, but no way was any of it as good as it looked in the photographs. I do not bake at all.
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I used to make a lovely fruit cake.. all pecans and candied cherries and lots and lots of bourbon to marinate it in cheescloth, but my children hated it and I simply do not do it any more.. I may make a few cookies, because I found a new recipe I would like to try.
Was listening at lunch to a description of a Chriistmas house tour.. Whew.. A house entirely crammed with Santas of every description, even the garage..
Another house entirely white,, walls, floors,s furniture.. and filled with the little villages.. Oh me, I guess I have never been a believer of Christmas decorations on that level. But irealized after reading a cousins email, that she is as well. Entire house, including bathrooms..Oh me..
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I don't care for most fruitcake, SALLY. As you said, too much candied fruit.
But there is a 'golden',or 'white' fruitcake that is really good. Unfortunately
they're not what you usually find available in the markets. I could order one,
but since I'm probably the only one in the family that would touch it, it
doesn't seem practical.
You remind me of a company dinner I once attended, STEPH. The dessert was
whiskey cake, something I'd never heard of. Well, the whiskey was quite
pronounced. I think everyone was a surprised,or maybe the silence was people busily gobbling it down. In any case, the head of the company stood up at the front of the banquet room and calmly announced, "There will be no seconds on the cake!"
Speaking of bad Christmas decor, there's a yard in our neighborhood that is a real
eyesore. The front yard is chock-full of blown up Santas, snow globes, snowmen,
...you name it. All so crowded together it looks like a jumble sale, and several of
the them knocked over and lying on the ground. I have to wince and look away
whenever I drive past.
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Steph, that is the way my grandmother made it! She made lots of them in the fall and put them in tins and put them on a shelf halfway down the stairs to the basement. That way, it was easy for her to go down the steps to that place and open each tin and pour more bourbon over the cheesecloth to keep the cakes moist. And to preserve them.
Oh My, but they were Good!
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Babi - I think you're describing my son's yard in North Carolina! :D I have to tell you something about those blown up Santas lying on the ground. I recently learned this. You plug them in and they fill with air. When not in use, you unplug them and they collapse into a pile on the ground until the next time you plug them in.
Every year I purchase a little package of Claxton Fruit Cake - That's a close as I get to the real thing. (No one else in the family understands what I see in fruitcake.) What you are describing is something I've never been fortunate enough to taste. So, I guess I don't really know what I'm missing, do I?
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salan
you can try reading a story online
http://www.gutenberg.org/
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I do remember inItaly being served some sort of whiskey cake. It packed a punch.. I think the frosting was pure liquor.. Limoncello of course. It was excellent, but one piece was quite enough.
Several of the local churches are into living nativity scenes.. Starting this weekend, some of hem will do it every single night. Granted it is Florida and not cold.. Oh well..
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I can't even offer you a recipe, JOANP. I only tasted that truly delicious fruitcake because a
neighbor made then and gave me one. I could have asked for the recipe, but as I recall there
was a delicate hint that it was one she did not share. :)
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We were lucky enough 30 yrs ago to be introduced to Texas Manor Fruit Cake by the high school band director. The members of the band were selling the fruit cakes to make money for appearing in a parade in Florida. I can't remember just where but I do remember the fruit cakes. I had never liked fruit cakes until I tasted these. I ordered about 10 of them as gifts and after Christmas received not only thank yous but questions as to where we found such delicious ones. At the April band boosters meeting, the band director said that he was still ordering those cakes for folks who liked them so much. Needless to say, the band made their trip and it was all paid for by the diligence and hard work of selling fruit cakes. Tee hee!
I actually found Texas Manor page:
http://www.yahoocake.com/Texas-Manor-Fruitcake-Stollens/products/3/ (http://www.yahoocake.com/Texas-Manor-Fruitcake-Stollens/products/3/)
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http://southernfood.about.com/cs/christmasfood/a/fruitcakes.htm
found with goodsearch.com
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http://www.chabad.org/holidays/chanukah/default_cdo/jewish/Hanukkah.htm
found with isearchigive.com
not jewish
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Holiday Memories - Our 2011 Open House!
Stop by and share the Holiday with all the good friends on Senior Learn
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We want to hear about your favorite Holiday memory. Hi, come on in, make yourself comfortable and share your memories with us - Welcome to our month long Open House on Dec.1 T'is the season to wax nostalgic about all the Holidays you celebrate this time of year..
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Every party needs MUSIC! Here is a Mix of Christmas songs.
"4 AWESOME Christmas Songs" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ru-rUTM09jI&feature=related)
When you were young was there a Holiday play with music in your school?
Do you find yourself humming a particular tune when you are shopping or out walking?
Who is your favorite holiday singing artist?
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What's a party without GOODIES?
Let's fill this buffet table with your favorites!
What's your best ever Holiday recipe and tell us the story behind it?
What are you planning for a Holiday treat this year?
Are there special Cookbooks you pull out this time of year?
Tell us, do you set a special table or treat yourself to a special Tea or a bottle of Wine?
Did you ever send a package to a Service Man or Women for the Holidays or serve in a Soup Kitchen - tell us about it if you have. When you were young did you ever attend a Red Cross Holiday dance for servicemen? Did any of you help out at a hospital during the holidays?
What were some of the toys you received? Do you remember a special time with a family member during the holidays?
Was there an Open House you attended when you were young? How about when you were an adult...or was there an office party that you really looked forward to attending?
Does your town have a Community Christmas Tree?
Have you ever visited the tree in Rockefeller Center?
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A Child's Christmas in Wales - Dylan Thomas (http://www.classicshorts.com/stories/xmas.html)
And what's a gathering of BOOK LOVERS without Books? We all have our seasonal favorite STORIES and POEMS. What are yours?
What seasonal stories do you still plan to read for the first time? Do you remember the Holiday stories you read to your children?
Can you remember attending your first Holiday movie in a theater?
What about the Nutcracker, is that or singing with a group, Handel's Messiah on your calendar?
Did you look forward each year to a special Holiday movie or show on TV?
Free download of Christmas stories from Learnoutloud.....
http://www.tantor.com/BookDetail.asp?Product=0916_ChristmasPastRevised |
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I had the strangest Christmas gift in the mail today from one of my daughters-in-law. It is an Apple ITunes Gift Card. I said to son Chip, "What in the World do I do with this?" He laughed and advised me to pass it on to one of my 13 granddaughters. Said they would no doubt know what to do with it.
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Thanks for all these links. So many things to learn, read and cook.
I like the one about Chanukah. There's so much info there. Its really quite informative and fun just to read. I thought I knew the story for Chanukah but its not the biblical tale that I connected with Chanukah. Every day is a new day! Right?
Mary, do you have any Apple products? iTunes sells books, apps, music. And the store is online. But I am sure your granddaughters will find a say to use the gift card.
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I thought I loved Christmas music, but went to a luncheon and the entertainer played nothing but the Christmas novelties.. I realized that I mostly love carols.. No idea why he did not play them. Oh Holy NIght to me is inspiring and makes my heart stop if sung by talent.
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That is the way I feel about Christmas music. I Heard The Bells On Christmas Day is one of my favorites. I have no objections to I'll Be Home For Christmas because it both reminds me of the World War II years, and it makes me extremely nostalgic to go home to my grandmother's house (a museum now, I can hardly "go home" to it!) and find my parents and aunts and uncles all gathered there. There is SUCH a yearning in me when I hear that song!
No, I own no IPod or IPad or any Apple products. I don't know from downloading and I don't know what "apps" are. Himself gave me a Bose for Christmas just before he passed, and I listen to our all classical station on that most of the time and play CDs on it the rest of the time. At the office I have an old "boom box" of mine, on which I do the same thing plus it will play tapes. Remember tapes?
I wish I could train everyone to just give me Barnes & Noble gift cards; but I cannot. One of my granddaughters will use this gift card.
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Thanks for the good word about Texas Manor fruitcakes, ANNIE. I'm going to check it out and
see if I can find the lighter golden cake I liked so well.
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Well, Mary, I am sure your granddaughter of choice for that iTunes gift card will benefit from it. These kids know so much more that we did at that age but I wouldn't trade my life at that age for anything. And, TAPES, yes I still use them for a little nighttime sleeping aid. And like you, most of my radio playing is the classical station. Do you listen to the music that Radioman(in S&F's Classical Corner) plays on Sunday from one the colleges?? Here's info on his radio show: Don Reid is a retired civil servant who joined the broadcast community here at Fanshawe on January 9th, 1983, and has been the host of Reid's Records ever since. REID'S RECORDS can be heard Sunday's from 1pm - 4pm (Eastern time) on 106.9, THE X on the FM dial or listen online!
Steph,
I prefer the carols of old too. Especially "O Holy NIght" which we sang so often in the high school choir. We attended a middle school (grades 6,7,8) concert last Monday where the songs about Christmas are no longer allowed. That's way too politically correct for me! But we must go with the times.
Babi,
Yes those were the lighter golden cakes that we sold so many of, to whomever wanted to buy. My family had me ordering more and more and they all had hated fruit cake before. I ordered a couple of these online and am hoping that they are the lighter ones. I'll let you know.
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MaryPage, you can use the ITunes card to download a movie, don't ask me how. My son did it on his TV when I was visiting at Thanksgiving, and we watched Water for Elephants. But it was weird because right in the middle it was going to take over 30 minutes to download. So we watched on two nights.
I love the carols, but also many other Christmas songs. Two of my favorites is The Birthday of a King and Panis Angelicus. And in a lighter vein, The Little Drummer Boy.
We lived in Puerto Rico for 10 years and learned to love the Christmas songs called aguinaldos. And all through the season (most of December into January 6, Three Kings Day) small groups of men would come knocking on your door, singing these songs. And of course we would reward them with either cash or drink. The children and I took piano lessons and our teacher had published some sheet music of simple piano versions of the songs. When the kids began their own households I made sure they had copies of the aguinaldos, and right now you'll find me singing "Pastores a Belen, vamos con alegria . . ."
Ginny has put up several songs in Latin for the Latin classes, and one I love is "Dona nobis, nobis pacem, dona nobis nobis pacem." It's easy to remember as there aren't many words -- Grant us peace -- sung in a round.
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We attended a middle school (grades 6,7,8) concert last Monday where the songs about Christmas are no longer allowed. That's way too politically correct for me! But we must go with the times.
I won't get on any soapbox, but I have a hard time ignoring culture. Hopefully, in the future we'll find our horizons expanded so we can all enjoy one another, and the over-reactors will see the error of their ways. But in the meantime, what do we do with Handel?
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Quote:I won't get on any soapbox, but I have a hard time ignoring culture. Hopefully, in the future we'll find our horizons expanded so we can all enjoy one another, and the over-reactors will see the error of their ways. But in the meantime, what do we do with Handel?
Posted on: December 15, 2011, 10:35:36 AM
Pedl'n,
I wish I knew the answer to that question! At least its still with us in our churches and church schools where choirs gather every season to sing Handel's Messiah.
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Bluebird, thanks for the links. It's good to see you back here, please keep on coming. You're right, we have to be aware of all the traditions.
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My happiest Christmas memories are from when I was 3-10 years when we had a gathering every Christmas morning with my NZ /Scottish extended family right down to second cousins. The Scots are big on family.
My Great Uncle would have the gathering at his house. He would have the biggest tree you ever saw. Beautifully decorated. There would be presents tied to and under the tree. We arrived at about 9.30am and left to go home to our own homes for Christmas dinner. We had Christmas mince pies, Christmas cakes and chocolates to snack on.
Uncle would make us wait til 11am before Santa arrived ( another Great Uncle) and he would very very slowly hand out the gifts. Gifts had to be unwrapped and exclaimed over before he handed out another. I my siblings and our two first cousins would be mad with excitement ( we were the youngest the other kids being at High School and later on Medical school.)
I loved books and I would go home with a cardboard carton literally overflowing with books. I was easy to buy for. I would sniff the new books with delight and would spend many happy hours in the summer in a wee tent pitched in our grandparents garden with a pile of fruit from grandads home orchard and my books. Grandpa always had a tent pitched in the garden for us to play in during the summer.
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Ah, KIWI, how well I remember the pleasure of sniffing a new book. I still enjoy it; I just don't
get my hands on many new ones. :)
Not exactly Christmas, but allow me to alert you. Tomorrow is Dec. 17th, so may I
bring to your attention: "The Lord of Misrule - December 17th. This is the first day of the Roman festival Saturnalia. It was a period of great feasting and festivity, with a lot of drinking and eating. Slaves would become masters for the festival, and everything was turned upside down. This part of the Roman festival survived into the 17th Century."- Customs and Folktales for December
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Saturnalia.. aha,, tomorrow.Will try to think up mischief..Everything is wrapped. Now to bring it down to the main floor, so that next week, I will have that done and wont have to go up and down for a long time the day I leave to go to my sons.
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Good grief, Babi!
December 17 honors the Lord of Mischief?? Does Saturnalia last many days? Well, lets see what else happened on December 17.
Oh yes, the Wright brothers made their first successful flight at Kitty Hawk, NC.
http://www.wright-house.com/wright-brothers/wrights/1903.html
(http://www.wright-house.com/wright-brothers/wrights/1903.html)
And La Posada, a Latin American celebration, starts on Dec. 17th.
http://sait.usc.edu/elcentro/programs/la-posada-celebrating-latin-american-holiday-traditions-givi.aspx (http://sait.usc.edu/elcentro/programs/la-posada-celebrating-latin-american-holiday-traditions-givi.aspx)
But the best celebration on December 17th is at our house where we will be celebrating our 59th wedding anniversary. Wish I had a link to those old pics. We plan on a little Christmas shopping and then dinner at the Longhorn Steak House, one of our favorites. Maybe we can think something mischievous for our day. Oh, I know, we will toast each other with glasses of white wine and forget that we aren't supposed to drink any alcohol due to our meds. ::)
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http://carols.christmas-presents-ideas.com/christmas-carols-online.html
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http://christmas.indied.org/
adoannie I like the dreidel.
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I have such a large family that almost every day is something for or about someone.
Today, December 16, is great grandson Max's sixth birthday. 6 Years Old!
Tomorrow is daughter Becky's 59th birthday! She doesn't want me to mention the years she is old!
Also tomorrow, granddaughter Helaine will come to visit with her three: my great granddaughter Courtney, who just, shudder, got her learner's permit to drive, great grandson Kyle who is most like my beloved husband, and great grandson Jack who is possibly my favorite. He is a red head, and I have a strong affinity for redheads. Jack will be 12 next month.
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I am the opposite Mary Page.. I only have two sons and two grandchildren . I have one nephew.. He is married.. So our celebrations are always so small. My nephew lives in Pennsylvania. I have a fair amount of cousins, but I live far far away.
I like the idea of mischief today.. Now to think what..
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We are having a large family gathering this year down at Matts place. Not only our family but Raelenes family too. Plus all the dogs. We are driving down Christmas morning ( early) and our Christmas dinner will be at about 1pm. Matt lives in a semi rural village about 80 miles from us. We will come back pretty much straight after dinner as Matt and his family leave for their summer holiday on Boxing day and they will have lots of last minute things to do. For the last 7 years Matt has gone on holiday before Christmas and usually Graham and his boys go with them.We have not been all together for about 7 or 8 years. I normally go to Nickys house ( she lives about 5 mins away from me). Each year I go up early in the morning for present opening and morning coffee etc then go home make my salads etc for the luncheon which is about 2pm. Ians brother and his family plus his one remaining older relative join us. I am the only living grandparent that Brooke and Grace have. They do have my mum but they dont see her very often.
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CONGRATULAIONS ON YOUR 59TH ANNIVERSARY!!!!
(Uh, do be careful about that wine/meds combo. Preserve a respectful time
lapse at the very least. Don't want you to have regrets the next day. :) )
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I hope yesterdays 59th was happy and healthy.. A little wine for the stomachs sake as someone famous used to say.
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Steph what kind of wine did you have; red, white, French, California, Portugal - what did you have with it?
Kiwi - my goodness all the dogs as well - what a full family Christmas you are looking forward to celebrating.
MaryPage - two in your family were December babies - takes the edge off Christmas doesn't it - no matter how special the Birthday celebration - my ex sister-in-law legally changed her birthday from Christmas Eve to St. Valentine's day when she was in her twenties - we all laughed with her together as she explained with a young family started no one would forget her birthday.
Great links Bluebird - thanks - they really make you feel like the holidays are in the air.
Lets see the celebration to Saturnalia lasts seven days so we are still at it - I guess OWS is today's celebration of abolishing class distinctions and sorry to get political but it is too good to pass up I think Congress is taking care of showing us how to do well The Feast of Fools - now if they would only stay foolish for seven days we would have it made in the shade.
Such upside down weather this year - here in the mountains where my daughter lives it gets really cold at night and then warms up to shirt sleeve or at lest sweat shirt weather during the day. Son-in-law out planting baby give away trees; redbirds, crepe myrtles, flowering cherry and a few others - they are so small so it will be a few years before they are more than bush size. And 17 year old has the first painful ear infection of his life - now he has experienced what his older brother experienced during his young years.
Well I am having the time of my life - I love to cook especially meals I remembered from childhood and new ones I learned along the way - problem once everyone had their own homes there was no one left to cook for but here I have two very hungry young men 17 and 21 as well as a son-in-law that you can never fill up he is so energetic he burns off food like an old fashioned vehicle with no gas conservations.
Last night I really had fun fixing an old Julia Child's recipe that I remembered of layers of very eggy crapes with various concoctions of cooked vegetables between - one layer modified with a combo of Polish and Andouille sausage cooked with strips of green peppers - another layer had mushrooms sliced, onions and halved baby sweet tomatos, another layer had potatoes sliced thin, onions and garlic, another was carrots and celery - this layering was 7 high in a baking dish and the whole mound surrounded with Crème Fraîche made with ratios of 1/3rd sour cream to 2/3rds heavy cream.
It was so good, so rich, and so satisfying that no one wanted anything more than grapes for desert.
The left over veggies along with more sausage was heated up this morning with a dozen eggs scrambled - and since they were introduced to the Crème Fraîche they all wanted it to daub on top of their egg plates.
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That sounds delicious, Barb, but complicated, too. Can you make the crepes ahead of time, or does everything have to be cooked at the last minute? Do y ou put it in the oven?
And this creme faiche I've heard so much about, but never tried -- do you make it yourself, with sour cream and whipping cream? Do you whip the cream first?
It sounds like there's a lot of happy eating going on in North Carolina.
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pedln the whole thing could be made in advaced - you cook up in separate - I use frypans - the various fillings that could be stored in covered bowls and then the crapes could be made separatly - the only problem I would have to work out is how the would naturally bend around the layer of foods because a mound does form and the top layers are rounded with the crapes sliding out the pan and blanketing the preceeding layer.
And yes the whole thing is heated in the oven at about 325 for 15 minutes I usually start at 350 and half way go down to 300 - it is heated with the Crème Fraîche surrounding the mound - I use a good amount to surround it - and yes, I make my own - no whipping involved -
Just pour some heavy cream into a bowl and then using a whip or a large fork although more work add the sour cream - I find that I add it in plops so that the first plop is slow to mix in and takes a lot of mashing and stirring and mixing but the next few plops mixes in very quickly. Let it sit a bit so that I prepare it first - let it sit at room temp and you have this wonderful nutty flavor thick mixture that is not sweet like heavy cream and not tart like sour cream - some folks add a bit of lemon zest but I don't - it is great mixed with berries for a desert - you can even eat some as it is.
OH yes back to the dish - before I heat it I generously sprinkle the top with shreded Parmesan or Gruyere - something decent from the deli not something in a prepacked American can or package.
It is so filling and rich that even these hunger buster guys in this house did not want a roll or an additional desert nor did we even start with a Salad - and so the dish is not that costly when you use all these great ingredients - there is more than enough extra veggies to make another meal either rolled in more crepes or if you have soft tacos or as we did add eggs to the mixture and have a breakfast egg dish plus you don't use up all the purchased veggies.
I only used 3 red potatoes, these tiny onions - not pearl, they are yellow - that I found and I used about 10 - I got real carrots with the good still in them because the green tops were not removed and only used two carrots with the celery - picked out separately not in a package 8 good closed mushrooms, a fresh garlic bulb that I used about 10 cloves that I mashed flat with the side of my knife - sliced a whole green pepper into the sausage that I squeezed out of the casing. Now I did get a package of those tiny red tomatoes that are plum shape rather than round like the cherry tomatoes used to be - they are nice and sweet and have the kind of flavor we remembered that big tomatoes had at one time and I used packaged celery - used up about 3/4ths of the box of tomatoes and only two stalks from the celery. Cut the Tomatoes in half and the celery I sliced in less then quarter inch slices. I forget now what else but it really doesn't matter - you can put as many mixtures of veggies that you can think of - I used so many of the mixtures that we associate with starting various stews, soups and Daube's.
Heck a mixture of frozen spinach with some finely sprinkled bread crumbs, and Parmesan cheese would be great - I would even add some minced onion to that - or another would be red onion finely sliced with flowerettes of broccoli and some chopped cashew nuts and throw in a few currents or golden raisins. - lots of possible laying mixtures.
Oh yes, those green carrot tops are great to put in the oven for less than 5 minutes - dried like that they are great to add to a soup or stew while it is cooking on the stove.
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Barb, could you just please email me the recipe sometime, when y ou get home?
when you take this out of the oven to serve. you cut it like you would if cutting into a layer cake?
It's been years since I've made crepes. I used to make them and role them up with vegetables. The kids would eat anything if it were in crepes.
When I was growing up we called them egg pancakes. And it was always a treat to have them if we had to stay home from school, sick in bed. (My mother wouldn't let anyone out of bed until their temperature had been normal for 24 hours.)
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Julia did a variant on that recipe in one of her cookbooks,, you cooked up apples, very gently, not applesauce, but sliced applies and brown sugar.. then added a nice custard and made layers with the crepes. A spectacular dessert indeed. A bit fussy about the mountain, but oh delightful..
Where in the North Carolina mountains. Having bought my teeny little summer house in Franklin, I am always anxious to hear about how cold it gets.
Birthday tomorrow. How could I possibly be 74.. Hmm..
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Steph, I also have a birthday tomorrow. We are birthday "sisters". I will be 69. This is the last year that I can claim that I am in my 60's!! Happy birthday to us. I always hated having a birthday so close to Christmas. Did you? We didn't receive toys, etc. year round like kids do today; and I would prefer to have stretched it out a bit...
Sally
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HAPPY BIRTHDAY STEPH!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY SALLY!
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Oh well; 6 attempts and I still could not get it all to come out right. Computer-challenged, that's me.
You both seem incredibly young to me. When I was 74, I married the third, last, and best of my husbands. What a happy surprise that was!
Wish you each a perfectly scrumptious day!
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Thanks for the good wishes. We had a lovely evening with very good food and a little white wine for toasts. We toasted our life together and then wished for another year!
I too like the dreidle and that link made it even more interesting.
We spent yesterday preparing Christmas gifts of beginning photo albums for each of the grans who live closeby. We have many fond memories of these children and want them to know what fun they add to our lives. These teen years aren't easy and we hope these memories will bless them as they grow up. So we started with the year 2000 for now.
Christmas Day will be dinner here but I'm not cooking. My DIL is doing the whole meal and bringing it to our house. We will be 8 or 10 here which is our usual number unless the family from Indy or NY decides to join us. We are getting a surprise visit from our oldest grandson as he drives from NY to TN to join his wife(who is in training for PT) and her huge family for the festivities in Nashville. They will both then come back here around New Years Day on their way home to Ithaca,NY.
I must get busy and finish up my Christmas cards and the albums. I know I am running really late but sometimes that happens.
Hope Amberlaine fulfils her promise to tell us a little more about Chanukuh on the 20th. That will be our last day for this discussion. We definitely had good links that that holiday from many of you.
Back later after I visit the ENT for my annual. Wish he had waited for the holidays to be over but he's leaving on a skiing trip tomorrow.
Welcome back, Barb. I just saw your post!
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STEPH, I think the famous person who urged a little wine for the stomach's
sake was St. Paul, writing to Timothy, who I always suspected had ulcers from
the stress of ministering to his congregation. ;D
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Ann just a bit of time now for more than family catching up with each other - Wednesday we are all here again so our days will be full again -
Yes, Babi I looked it up and sure enough - King James Bible (Cambridge Ed.) 1 Timothy 5:23
"Drink no longer water, but use a little wine for thy stomach's sake and thine often infirmities."
hmm I wonder why among some religious groups wine and other spirits are forbidden. I was also under the impression that before water was purified half and half wine to water was usual and why beer was consumed by so many.
Well Dickens sure let us in on how to celebrate Christmas with dance and partying - did he include some drinking in his story - I do not remember those kind of details.
Thinking how we associate turkey and goose and even roast beef with the holiday season I wondered when those particular choices became popular - they must have already been popular before they were included in the literature of the time - I remember them mentioned by Thackeray and then I tried to place the writing of Thackeray with the time of the Dickens novels -
Found this really nice site about both - they lived at the same time and were admirers of each others work - but more - I often wonder if there are ancestors to some of our great writers - Well here we have a current author, Lucinda Dickens Hawksley, who is the great, great, great granddaughter of Dickens
http://livingliteraturesociety.wordpress.com/2011/05/03/thackeray-vs-dickens-the-great-literary-dispute-of-1858/
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Absolutely true, Barbara. The History books tell us over and over and over that even children drank wine or beer morning, noon and night, as the water was unsafe.
I am strongly opposed to alcohol consumption as a daily thing, and too much of it. On my part, this is not religious but just that I hate what it does to individuals and families in so many, many ways. That being said, I am not opposed to the alcohol in and of itself, and on the rare occasion I am known to partake. I love fruit cake soaked in brandy, real rum cake, an egg nog at Christmas, a beer a year on a hot, hot summer day, the festive mimosa or pina colata or marguerita or bloody mary to toast a special occasion. I never, ever take a second drink on the same day. I would guess my intake is less than 1 drink in a month in any given year.
That being said, one must admit that fermented drink was the staple in most places on this planet for thousands of years. Tipsy toddlers all OVER the place! Not funny, yet still true.
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I just received this email and it is darling - advertisers can do some cute things at times.
http://www.brooksbrothers.com/aholidaymiracle/aholidaymiracle.tem?cmp=EMC-holidaycard&rid=440056733
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http://llerrah.com/carolofthebells.htm
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Happy Birthday Sally. Yes I hated my birthday when young. Always a combination present..never a party, since it was too close to Christmas. MDH knew this and he always made my birthday into a party of joy and surprises. One year , I actually woke and went into our bathroom, which was filled with balloons..All with messages. I laughed so hard, I woke the house..Another, every mirror in the house was written in loving messages. He had such funny ideas.. Oh well.
Mary Page.. Lucky you to be 74 and fall in love. I suspect this is not a possibility for me, but I did and do have some wonderful memories.
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Happy birthday, ladies.
It's my son's birthday today as well - a day for good people!
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Here is a video of our friend Radioman (Don) from Seniors and Friends doing his yearly Santa thing.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZpRjtCZzV7c&feature=youtu.be
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MARYPAGE, I have long believed that people tend to gravitate toward the
particular religion or denomination that meets their personal needs. Some
need to feel they are making greater sacrifices, or perhaps being a little
holier. Those with strong spiritual leanings want to find a church that will
foster spiritual growth. Others are of a more practical turn, and want a
church that is heavily involved in community service. It is a personal thing,
and therefore how can anyone say their choices are the only 'true' way and
anyone else is wrong? ???
The sheep were darling, BARB. What were they singing?
STEPH, the more I learn about your DH, the more I think what a very lucky
woman you are. It would have been a pleasure to know him.
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Holiday Memories - Our 2011 Open House!
Stop by and share the Holiday with all the good friends on Senior Learn
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We want to hear about your favorite Holiday memory. Hi, come on in, make yourself comfortable and share your memories with us - Welcome to our month long Open House on Dec.1 T'is the season to wax nostalgic about all the Holidays you celebrate this time of year..
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Every party needs MUSIC! Here is a Mix of Christmas songs.
"4 AWESOME Christmas Songs" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ru-rUTM09jI&feature=related)
When you were young was there a Holiday play with music in your school?
Do you find yourself humming a particular tune when you are shopping or out walking?
Who is your favorite holiday singing artist?
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What's a party without GOODIES?
Let's fill this buffet table with your favorites!
What's your best ever Holiday recipe and tell us the story behind it?
What are you planning for a Holiday treat this year?
Are there special Cookbooks you pull out this time of year?
Did you ever send a package to a Service Man or Women for the Holidays or serve in a Soup Kitchen - tell us about it if you have. When you were young did you ever attend a Red Cross Holiday dance for servicemen?
What were some of the toys you received? Do you remember a special time with a family member during the holidays?
Was there an Open House you attended when you were young? How about when you were an adult... was there an party that you really looked forward to attending?
Have you ever visited the tree in Rockefeller Center?
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A Child's Christmas in Wales - Dylan Thomas (http://www.classicshorts.com/stories/xmas.html)
More stories from Christmas stories from Learnoutloud..... (http://www.tantor.com/BookDetail.asp?Product=0916_ChristmasPastRevised)
And what's a gathering of BOOK LOVERS without Books? We all have our seasonal favorite STORIES and POEMS. What are yours?
What seasonal stories do you still plan to read for the first time? Do you remember the Holiday stories you read to your children?
Can you remember attending your first Holiday movie in a theater? What about the Nutcracker, is that or singing with a group, Handel's Messiah on your calendar? Did you look forward each year to a special Holiday movie or show on TV?
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Babi what a great way to describe the various needs we have that are satisfied by attending services at various religious communities. Never looked at it that way because there are few in the world that have choice but it could be within each religious organization there are communities that meet the needs of those in that small part of the world.
Frybabe thanks for the photo of Don - nice...!
nlhome your son's birthday as well - was he your first or did you have Christmas to prepare for children at home just days after he was born?
H A P P Y B I R TH D A Y to both Steph and Sally
Steph what wonderful memories your Mom created for you and what wonderful ideas to borrow for our own families regardless the time of year. Love it...!
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Was there an Open House you attended when you were young? How about when you were an adult
My parents were "t-totalers" and, as a youngster, I assumed their friends were, too. So, as a teenager, it was a shock to discover liquor bottles on the kitchen counter of the homes in which I baby-sat.
Of course, when I went to college, I learned that :o people my age imbibed! That year, I went to a Holiday Open House with my parents. When my Dad saw me going back for a second cup of "that" punch, he sidled up and said softly, "DO you know what's in that?" I smilingly replied, "Yes, Sir, I do."...and kept on sipping.
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Good on you!
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you find so much interesting information on the internet - I did not know how recent Decorating tree ornaments were - I should put it together since we heard how it was Albert who brought the Christmas tree tradition with him when he and Victoria had their huge brood of children.
Seems Christmas Trees Become "Mainstream" - In the mid-1800s, and for several decades, folks, even the wealthy made their own Christmas tree decorations, from paper or from recycled ribbons, pie pans, cookies, human hair, berries and cones.
Christmas Decorations Become an Industry when German-speaking craftsmen sent to North Americans a steady stream of hand made products, including nutcrackers, nativity figurines and blown-glass Christmas tree ornaments. Craftsmen in other European countries, such as France, Italy, and Poland, also began making decorations to sell abroad.
I read that it was in 1880, when Woolworth stores began importing these decorations, demand for them exploded. For some reason 1880 does not seem that long ago and I did not realize Woolworth's five and dime was in business that long.
I still have some of the ornaments that were on my mother's childhood tree and on mine as well and I remember we used to make cloth cones, called toots, they had a ribbon across the top opening that we used to hang on the branch and the toot was filled with tiny very hot red Cinnamon candy.
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I thought I was through with my "make ahead and freeze" baking. I had decided to forego making my Pumpkin-Cranberry Bread this year; but my daughter told me today that she heard my 10 year old grandson telling his friends that his Grandmama made the best pumpkin bread in the world. So.....We are suckers for our grandchildren, aren't we?
Sally
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Grandchildren are always amazing. You look at them and marvel that your child grew up and produced another..
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Wedding gowns never "had to be" white, either, until Victoria wore a white one and everyone in the World wanted to copy her!
We all tend to believe our traditions are timeless. We grow up thinking the way we and our community do things is the way it has always been done. When you get to be my age, you can look back and see the slow moving, always altering and changing, river of history.
I am sure the majority of our citizens believe Santa and his reindeer have been around for thousands of years. Not so! They were invented by our own Clement C. Moore, who wrote A Visit From St. Nicholas in 1822. His Santa was a small elf, who could indeed get up and down chimneys. Coca-Cola ads in my own lifetime gave us the large, fat, jolly Santa we all now know!
Not that Moore totally invented Santa Claus. The Brits had a quite different sort of Father Christmas and some Europeans had Saint Nicholas. The Dutch originally brought Sinterklaas to New York. Apparently the name Santa Claus first appeared in print around 1773. A long time ago, true: but not forever and ever ago!
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And don't forget stringing popcorn or cranberries for the tree, BARB.
I don't remember doing that, but it was a family custom for many, esp. where
you couldn't buy tinsel and ornaments.
STEPH, I remember once my Father saying, "You don't know how good a job you've
done raising your kids until you see how they raise theirs."
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Heard a nice story yesterday of a lettercarrier who takes the "Santa" letters the children on his route write. He answers each one w/ a caligraphy letter rolled as a scroll, tied w/ a red ribbon and delivered back to the child.........so much for those terrible federal employees!
Jean
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Good grief, Babi, I'm still not sure if we raised our kids well. But, I look at my grans and think, "We sure tried!"
I loved the Toot, Barb, as our granddaughter-in-law might have made us one last year. I will ask her when she is here in January if that is what is hanging on our tree. Also, last year, she spun wool, knitted a hat and scarf for me and finished it up with felting! She also sent homemade jams and homemade soap. That young lady is just a fantastic edition to our family! Such a generous soul.
Our granddaughter also sent us homemade jams and apple butter plus a bar of soap covered in fabric with a felted design. I am afraid to use it, its so pretty! And her oldest boy, 5, sent us a card with caterpillars and gems glued to it and an "I love you" message. Aren't great grans just as delightful as grans? Tee hee! Yes, they are.
Did you all hear the news of a kind rich man who paid off all the layaways in one of the K-Mart?And that there are many people doing the same thing across the U.S.?
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Barb, my son born on the 20th was our first. He came home from the hospital in a Christmas stocking. He was born the day before our 13th wedding anniversary. Our holidays have always been crowded with celebrations.
Tonight we went out to dinner to celebrate our anniversary. I can remember years past, when the week before Christmas was busy with office Christmas parties and the bars were full - seems now that people just don't have those big parties. Tonight the restaurant was only quietly busy, the bar quiet. It was pleasant.
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Here in Florida, the restaurants are really really busy. The roads are horrid.. Traffic beyond belief..Stores the same.. Much much busier than the last two years. So even thought unemployment and housing are still awful, you get the feeling that things are slowly turning themselves around.
We made paper chains in school and hung them on our Christmas trees in the various classrooms. I suspect that is no longer allowed.
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It absolutely depends upon where you are. Different states, different counties, different school boards: all have different rules.
One of my daughters teaches First Grade in Kansas City, and they have all of the Christmas stuff: carols, decorations, pageant; the whole ten yards. Another teaches High School French, Latin and Spanish here in Annapolis. Same thing: they go all out over Christmas.
They also acknowledge holidays of other religious groups. But Christmas goes on as usual, no holds barred.
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I think we have become too "politically correct". We are so afraid of offending one group or another that we are losing some of our well loved traditions. It really upset me when mangers were banned from being displayed on the courthouse grounds. After all, that is what "Christmas" as we know it is all about. I am not offended when I see displays of other religions during these holidays. I think it is interesting to learn how others celebrate this time of the year. Why can't we all just respect one another's beliefs?
Sally
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We never had what is called a living nativity scene outside, where I grew up. For one thing, it is darned cold in the north.. But in Florida, they are incredibly popular..We did a Christmas Pagent,,in the church and it seems to me, we did a Christmas concert at the school..
Christmas where I grew up tended to be a family concern actually. We always went to church on both Christmas eve and Christmas Day of course.
I am leaving this am to go to my childrens for the holiday. Will have my ipad with me, so will try and keep in touch. Heard from some friends yesterday. They are giving each other an IPAD for Christmas. They decided they wanted their very own.. I did laugh.
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Great price for two trees! Where is Menard's?
I'm one of those rushing around like a mad hen - wish I knew how to do othewise. But, it looks as if things are coming together, just when I thought I'd never be ready.
CubFan - just about ready to begin your Cinnamon Rolls recipe for Christmas morning. You are just the person to ask - what do YOU use for "shrotening" in your sweet dough recipe? All butter? Or? I'll wait to hear from you before I start them. Plenty of other things to do.
Looks as if I've missed a few birthday parties~ Happy birthday everyone. I've two sons and a brother with late December birthdays - they say they are used to being overlooked, although I always tried to do it up for them when they were young.
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Having said we would close this most interesting conversation about our Christmas traditions of then and now. IMHO, its time to say goodbye while we still have time to make Cinnamon Buns and Creme de Menthe Bars. So I will ask Jane or Marcie to close this folder tomorrow at 11pm. Its really been a lot of fun and informative.
Babi,
Our Texas Manor fruit cake arrived today but I haven't opened yet. Don't know whether its what our high school band sold so long to pay for a trip to one of the many football bowls. I will let you know after our company leaves in January.
As I said earlier, our oldest grandson would be here briefly so after a long night's sleep, we shared a luscious breakfast at The Sunny Side Cafe up in New Albany, OH. He is joining his wife and her family in Tennesee for their festivities. They will return here for MDH's 78th birthday on Jan 3rd. We look forward to a longer visit so they can spent some time with his uncle (our son) and family.
Tomorrow will be a busy day as we get the house ready for the dinner here on Christmas afternoon plus I have a thing or two to pick up at grocery. Never fails, does it?
Here's wishing you all a happy holiday and many kind blessings from your creator. May peace and love fill us all and keep us close.
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What a day!!! We did enjoy ourselves though - we needed a few last minute things and the grocery shopping - well those last minute things were impossible - we should have just waited till this evening we spent so much time in crowds and in traffic where as we went grocery shopping - finished about 5:30 and while grocery shopping we solved our dilemmas by coming up with different choices - went back to the mall and it was empty - no traffic on the roads and we did in an hour what took us 4 hours earlier to try to accomplish.
The tree was decorated last night and tomorrow we just have some last minute cleaning up - and the wrapping - service is at 5: so we are in good shape. Gary is even taking off tomorrow and not working the day before Christmas - no rushing and last minute - we are pleasantly tired.
Ann great job and great idea with this Holiday Memory Open House - it really made the month seem festive and it flew by so quickly I cannot believe - we are so busy getting ready for a holiday that we forget the 4 weeks of Advent is 1/12th of the year that at this stage in our life is a chunk of time.
I did not read anything new this year but did read a few oldies - with all the boys grown - Cade our youngest grand is in his senior high school year so celebrating has changed. But there is a warmth and excitement that although different is very satisfying.
Sounds corny but meant from the heart - wishing all of you a warm and memorable holiday season.
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Joan -
Crisco.
Good luck.
Mary
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CHRISTMAS EVE GIFT!
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My Dallas, Texas father-in-law used to make "orange cakes" in time for Christmas every year. When David and I were first married (in Virginia, my home state. I never lived in Texas) our very first Christmas, here came this humongous heavy package with this cake inside. Too heavy for my taste. Not to my liking. I had the obligatory piece and happily sliced it up for anyone who came along.
The second year, I liked it a tad more. By the third year, I was hooked. We got those cakes every year for 25 years until Delmore died. They were really different, but really good; and I miss them (and him). Oh, and yes, they were soaked in real squeezed orange juice which was poured over them. An acquired taste, but yummy!
The ghosts of Christmases past, as it were.
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Time to wrap the presents, fill the stockings, bake the pies, ...and wish you all a Christmas
filled with warm memories for the future years....
MERRY CHRISTMAS!!
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Here is a Christmas gift - The Christmas Dinner (http://storyoftheweek.loa.org/2011/12/christmas-dinner.html) - from the Washington Irving Sketches.
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Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays, everyone!
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