New Year's Eve

 
Have a fun and safe one!

A New Year’s Tradition (Minus the Guilt). You’re Welcome.

I know making resolutions is part of almost everyone’s New Year’s celebration.  I’ve been known to resolve a thing or two myself. But like most people, three weeks into January I’m struggling with making those big and small changes and with the guilt of not making those big and small changes. 


So for the last dozen and a half years, my husband and I have made New Year’s predictions, in addition to our resolutions. 


Our predictions generally center around things like politics, sports, the financial markets and celebrities (okay, those are my predictions because my husband knows very little about the comings and goings in Hollywood). 


We like to predict the winners and the losers of: elections, sporting events; like the World Series (a tough one when the first pitch is still 4 months away- but the Yankees are always a safe bet), where the stock market will end up and whose “star” will rise and whose will fall. 


We make some of our own personal predictions too. e.g., a change of jobs, a new undertaking.  It’s a lot more fun and without the pangs of conscience.  When we were younger, we’d predict the gender of our pregnant friends’ unborn babies, who'd get engaged that year and things like that too. 


Your assignment, should you choose to accept it,  should include writing down your predictions.  Half the fun is taking out the previous year's list  on New Year’s Eve and assessing your prognosticating skills.

Creating Christmas Treasures

During my post-Christmas shopping adventure, I stumbled upon these adorable plaster Gingerbread House crafts.  Since they were 50% off, I purchased one for a reasonable $4.99 (okay, my daughter says not reasonable, but, yes not $10, which I never would have paid). 

For the record, the store also sold miniature plaster Nativities and, despite my affinity for those, I resisted. 

I am thinking this might be a good way to fill a few hours (the kids' hours, not mine) in the more than week until they return to school. 

It came with six little pot paints but paint pens might be easier to work with. 

If you have younger children, you could have your children paint one (or one of the Nativities -- I know, I'm shameless) and give it as a gift next year to grandparent(s),  a teacher (with every child in the class painting a portion), or anyone else else who adores your kid.

It's certain to be a treasure.

363 Shopping Days Left

When I wrote about my post Christmas shopping plans here, I wasn't expecting a snowfall of historic proportions that would keep not only me but retail workers everywhere home on December 26th.  My sister and I managed to venture out yesterday afternoon (the 27th) with a few hundred thousand of our closest friends (at least it seemed that way at Target -- hey, maybe they're reading this blog!). 

Anyway, as I'd hoped, we managed to find a few bargains, all at least 50% off.  Here's what we were able to purchase:

 
• 5 plastic shoeboxes (for Operation Christmas Child in 2011)
• 5 rolls of gift wrap
• 5 boxes of Christmas cards
• 4 Christmas ornaments
• 1 cookie sheet Advent calendar
• 1 package Christmas tissue paper
• 1 giant tree removal bag
• 1 gingerbread house craft (not pictured, but more on that tomorrow)

The price tag for all this loot was $64.30!

I feel better about Christmas 2011 already.

To Grandmother's House We Went

And May All Your Christmases Be White!

Merry Christmas!

Twas the Night Before Christmas

He sprang to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle,
And away they all flew like the down of a thistle.
But I heard him exclaim, ‘ere he drove out of sight,
"Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good-night!"

~ by Clement Moore

Feliz Navidad!

Ham or turkey? After Christmas, like me, you just might be ready for something a little bit different. How about margaritas and fajitas? No kidding.  After all, the Mexican flag is red, white and green.

Okay, maybe chips and salsa  aren’t traditional holiday fare but how about holding an after Christmas get-together or New Year’s celebration? Or  planning a  family-only soiree that could include make your own tacos and a pinata for the kids?

The really good news is that if you need a holiday hiatus from cooking there’s no shortage of Mexican restaurants that can cater all or some of your party.  And nowadays pre-made, ready to pour margaritas exist on most grocery store shelves (though I can't vouch for the quality). 

This may even give me a chance to break out the recipe for  those sugar-powder covered wedding cookies I learned to love in high school Spanish.

The Day After Christmas - Just 364 Shopping Days Left!

Not every year, but more often than not, I manage to do a little post-
holiday shopping on the 26th of December.  Because while Black Friday shopping has never tempted me,  I do love the real bargains that exist right after Christmas.

So while I know it's not yet Christmas 2010, it might be time to think a little bit about an after Christmas strategy.  Because if you’re a planner, you can purchase not just some of next year’s Christmas gifts, but a birthday gift or two for the year to come. 

I try not to be overly ambitious and I generally limit my shopping to two or three stores.  I usually include Target on my list simply because of the wide variety and quality of merchandise.  A couple of years ago I purchased adorable pink flannel sheets for my niece for $5. Christmas pajamas, slippers and robes can often be found at a great price too. 

Gift wrap and Christmas cards can also be a a terrific deal so I try to include a gift/stationery store.  There  I  can usually find inexpensive gifts for teachers and others. If you have a dollar limit for gifts this can be a great time to get something significant but well within your budget. 

Next Christmas is coming, so if you have the energy, a place to store things (where you won’t forget about them), time to plan  and a few extra dollars, a little after Christmas shopping can definitely be in order.

An Easy Christmas Salad

If you’re making Christmas dinner or heading to a relative’s house for a celebration, here’s a tasty, fail-proof and abundant side dish  that I make every year.   It’s  festive-looking (think Christmas confetti) and delicious.

Object in photo is more delicious than it appears

Perhaps best of all, because it’s technically a relish, it can be made days (up to a week) ahead, kept in the refrigerator and enjoyed later. And though I don’t have any empirical evidence, I am guessing it’s a fairly low-cal and low-fat (though perhaps high sodium -  because of the canned vegetables) recipe.

You will need:

1 15 oz. can white corn - whole kernel
1 15 oz. can French-style green beans
1 8.5 oz can Leseur very young small peas
1 chopped green pepper*
1 cup chopped celery
1 small red onion, chopped (the one in the photo is not small, so I used < 1/2)
1 small jar chopped pimentos (optional)*

*I don't use pimentos and instead use 1/2 chopped green and 1/2 chopped red pepper

Drain juice from canned vegetables, chop remaining and mix all vegetables together in large bowl.

For the dressing, in another bowl mix together

1/2 c. sugar (I substitute Splenda and use a little less)
1/2 c. vinegar
1/2 c. oil (I use vegetable oil)
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. pepper

Combine vegetable mixture and dressing and refrigerate overnight.

P.S.  This is not going to be a cooking blog but I couldn't resist sharing these fool proof recipes the last two days.

A White Christmas - Updated

Today at the grocery store I stumbled upon what some might call "a dream* in a pouch."  I'm calling it "instant Christmas atmosphere."  Yes, today I found Snow in Seconds on the end cap of the beverage aisle.  The one gallon package was on sale and it looked like this:

Though I have never before seen it, the package tells me that it is "As Seen on TV" and is "ultra realistic fake snow" that is non-toxic, safe for kids, stays cold and can be used for indoor and outdoor decoration. 

So despite the fact that it will be about 50s degrees where we are, we'll be having a White Christmas*!

** It wasn't 50 degrees where we were for Christmas and when 12 inches of snow fell on Christmas Day (the first time since 1948 - and then it was less than an inch), I put away the Snow in Seconds.  How fun will it be when I  break this out in July?

Christmas Candy

When I posted about Christmas cookies and the success of my shortbread, my husband objected.  He said incredulously, "What about the Nut Clusters?"  So here, without fanfare, is the recipe for a candy that is super easy and very tasty (just ask my husband).

You will need

a large, microwave safe measuring cup
white bark coating
chocolate bark coating
salted peanuts
small (mine are 1.25 inch) foil (paper wouldn't be sturdy enough) baking cups

Using the microwave, I melt equal parts chocolate and white bark coating in a measuring cup (I use 4 cubes each). I start with one minute and then continue melting thirty seconds each time until it looks like this:

Add peanuts (as few or many as you like) and stir thoroughly.  Spoon into baking cups and allow to harden.  For easier cleanup, you might want to place the empty cups on wax or parchment paper before you begin. Unless you want  your countertop to look like this when you are done.

There is no need to refrigerate your completed candy, though I sometimes do.  I have also made these a week or two ahead of time and placed them in the freezer until needed. Enjoy!

A Special Birthday Celebration

Without fail we begin our Christmas morning with a small birthday celebration for the Reason for the Season.   This little cake

and a rousing version of “Happy Birthday to You” often sung out of tune but with enthusiasm, precedes the opening of any gifts or other activity.

Our cake is nothing fancy, almost always from  a box mix and, dare I say, frosting from a can. One year when I was pressed for time, I even bought a little cake.  Now that my daughter is older she often bakes the cake. We use this small 6 inch pan 

or sometimes this 6 inch heart-shaped one

But this little baby in a manger, 

Doesn't he have the sweetest smile?

 he's always on the cake, along with a single star shaped candle (the one in the photo above is from a box of Disney princess candles).  Sometimes we write Happy Birthday on the cake - but my piping skills leave a lot to be desired, so I've spared you that.  Birthday cake for breakfast and the Reason for the Season, what could be better than that?

Alleluia
O how the angels sang!
Alleluia
How it rang!
And the sky was bright
With a Holy light
'Twas the birthday of a King.
    ~ from the song, Birthday of a King

Christmas Crackers

Crackers, sometimes called Christmas Poppers, are fun table decorations for the holiday season.  I’ve found them to be a hit with old and young.  A quick internet search tells me they originated in the United Kingdom many years ago.

My hastily made cracker, and why I generally buy mine

The nice thing is, you can create your own homemade version using paper towel or toilet paper rolls, gift wrap  and ribbon.  My grandmother’s women’s circle at church  created hundreds, perhaps thousands, of these over the years  to send to disadvantaged children. 

Creating Christmas crackers might  be a nice way to occupy older, crafty children in the long days after school is dismissed but before Christmas.

The good news is that if you’re not the crafty type or don’t have the time, nowadays you can purchase crackers almost anywhere.  I saw a package at CVS just last week.   You can even use a non-cracker for the same purpose.  This year, I bought these little treat boxes:

Okay, not really a cracker/popper but cute, right?


Last year, I used these. 

This one is also an ornament!

 Which opens, like this:

You can be really creative with the contents of your crackers.  I include slips of paper with a bit of Christmas trivia (which we all share aloud), but you can include a joke or Bible verse and don’t forget the holiday trinkets or toys, stickers and candy.  Exploring the contents inside is most of the fun.

Heirloom Ornaments

Like a lot of people, almost every year I purchase one ornament for each of my children.  An ornament that represents something significant that transpired for them that year.  

My hope is that this memento of the year gone by will some day jog their memory or remind them of a story  and allow them to walk ornament by ornament through portions of their childhood. 

I also  have a few treasured hand-me-down ornaments, including these which belonged to my great grandmother:

Pink and gold Christmas bells

My Brownie Troop leader helped me make this ornament when I was  6 using a photo taken in her front yard and a curtain ring:

This is a set of ornaments created from the Hey Diddle Diddle mobile hanging over my crib when I was a baby (and no, the Consumer Products Safety Commission didn’t exist then).

I love the homemade ornaments too - and am glad I had the forethought to place the date on the backs of  most of them.  These little wooden ornaments from my childhood were simple enough to recreate with my own children.

My own 3-D sheep painted in the 70s

Ornaments my children painted in 2000

I do love a Christmas tree with color coordinated lights, decorations and garland, the kind you see at the mall  or those beautiful monochromatic trees you see in magazines but for me the sentimental Christmas tree is incomparable.

The Christmas Letter

I know there’s a lot of ambivalence out there about Christmas letters, but I must admit, I love them.   I don’t enjoy finding that perfect photo or the time involved in crafting the letter, addressing, stamping, etc., and sure we all get those letters that make us say, "Really? Really?"   But I think Christmas letters have value, and not just for the recipient but for the sender as well. 

I couldn’t say it any better so I’ll just post what my husband wrote in our letter this year:

Perhaps in this era of Facebook, Twitter, blogs and texting, the annual Christmas letter is now irrelevant.  But on our living room coffee table is a  book containing a copy of  our annual Christmas photos and letters from the last 17 years. In a  quick flip of 17 pages, we can see our lives flash in front of us.  For our family, these letters to you serve as a permanent and written record of God’s faithfulness to us. The letters also remind us of a statement written in one of our first Christmas letters, “the days are long but the years are short."  While we have generally left out the “ugliness” of  life (because no one really wants to read about the disappointments, fears and challenges), it has been there.  And when we reread the letters, we are reminded of our many blessings through the years and the challenges that God has brought us through.  And we are further reminded of the fact that there are new blessings and challenges to come.

Our Christmas letter book

A peek inside: In 2002 each child created their own version of a card

Seeing Santa

Visits with the mall Santa, an adorable, charming one we saw annually for 15 years, were a big part of our family’s Christmas tradition.  I miss those days.  Even though the cumulative hours spent in line with restless children weren’t much  fun, I’d gladly turn back the clock.  

A fidgety 4 year old with her 11 month old brother waiting to see Santa

Remembering my son sharing his Christmas wish list with Santa, “I’d like some paints,”  he said, only to hear Santa reply, “Oh, that will make Mrs. Claus so happy.  She’s an artist too, you know” was priceless.   

I wish I had a videotape but I don’t (a lapse in judgement, I regret).  But I love all the photos and all for different reasons.  To me,  this one is irresistible.  

I miss smocked dresses and sweaters with Christmas bears!

I framed 14  years of  photos (I think only 1 year is missing) and every year in November, I take down the picture in our main floor powder room and replace it with this. 

Last year I left it up well into spring -- I couldn’t help myself.  Afterall, how could I resist this?

The Nutcracker Part Deux

Another of my Nutcracker books

Along with my love for the story of The Nutcracker and the Mouse King, I  have also come to love The Nutcracker Ballet and, in particular, the Atlanta’s Ballet’s Nutcracker. 

Ballet program from  2004

My daughter and I attended our first performance when she was 5.  We then attended every other year (tickets can be expensive and her attention span was short) for several years.

She took 4 or 5 years of ballet lessons with her objective  to be cast as a party child in the performance's opening scene. 

Here she is at age 5, practicing her dance moves

 

And then she was 10,  and also 11,  she was cast in one of those roles.  (I am sad to say I didn't do a particularly good job of  photographically preserving those memories).

However, even with weeks of Saturday and Sunday practices, dress rehearsals, drives downtown from our suburban home and eventually 5 - 7 shows (most of which I attended) spread over a few hectic holiday weeks (perhaps explaining the dearth of photos), my love for the story and its theatrics only intensified.

The kindness of the professional dancers to the children and beauty of the costumes and sets only enhanced my adoration for the story and performance. 

Granted the location for the production, Atlanta’s Fox Theatre is, in itself, magnificent. This setting  for The Nutcracker is truly magical.

I don’t think we’ve missed a show in the last five years.  If counted, we’ve probably seen it more than 25 times.  Still,  my daughter and I enjoy anticipating our date to the ballet. We never tire of  Tchaikovsky’s beautiful compositions, the tale which draws us in and the dancers’ artistry. 

A Nutcracker Nut

 I love The Nutcracker.  There, I’ve said it. A woman in her 40s with an unconstrained passion for a children's book.

E.T.A. Hoffman’s, The Nutcracker and the Mouse King, written almost 200 years ago, is a wonder.  It has fantasy and horror.  It has villains and heroes.  It is both scary and a love story.  It has all the elements of a good read.

I have a collection of these children’s books as well as themed ornaments (remember my post about not being a collector? Yeah, cancel that).   I now have an entire tree that is just The Nutcracker.

I try to add one or two ornaments each year.  Here are some of my favorites:

(l to r) Nutcracker book, a Christopher Radko Nutcracker and  godfather, toymaker, inventor  Drosselmeir.

This ornament has a battery-powered rotating mechanism that makes it turn.   Marya (sometimes called Marie or Clara) on the left, Mouse King on the right.

Now I know some people love the Nutcracker but, to my mind, there is an overabundance of nutcrackers out there.  Perhaps it's because I’m partial to the Mouse King and his antics.  

My lime green Mouse King tree-topper.  Even though (spoiler alert) he is  not victorious in the end, I love seeing him looking down on his tree kingdom

I want all the story’s characters represented on my tree, even the seemingly minor ones. That's why I bought this ornament, and several others like it, on eBay.

The Mother Ginger and her Polichinelles (little puppets)

If you haven't read The Nutcracker and the Mouse King to your children, you should. And don't be surprised if, like me, they love the Mouse King the most.

Past meets Present

 At Christmas (l to r) me with my special gift that year, Fluffy, my brother and my twin sister 

Flash forward 40+ years, our dog Brownie meets Fluffy for the first time.  As you can see, she is none to happy about it. But the resemblance is pretty remarkable, don't you think?

Christmas Cookies

Stars and trumpeting angel shortbread cookies

 

My Christmas cookie baking experiences have been innumerable. 

Over the years, I have baked multitudes of new and old cookie recipes and created countless assorted cookie trays (augmented by the occasional sleeve of saved and frozen/de-thawed Girl Scout Thin Mints - a pleasant surprise 9 months after they're delivered and often, to my chagrin, a crowd favorite).  

Girl Scout cookies in my freezer, just waiting to upstage my homemade cookies.

I’ve held neighborhood cookie exchanges or just attended one or two.

But regardless of my mood or the status of my dieting, I  make a least two or three different kinds of cookies every year. 

My good old standby, and what often seems to be a hit, is the shortbread cookie.  The simplest recipe ever:

2 sticks of (unsalted) butter, softened
10 tablespoons of sugar (I’m sure there is some measuring cup equivalent, but this is the way the recipe was shared with me and it keeps it easy to remember)
2.5 cups of flour (I use unbleached, all-purpose)

Mix together and then roll out, cut into shapes and bake in a 325 degree for just 6 to 8 minutes (but watch them carefully and just allow the edges to brown).  I often bake the cookies weeks in advance and keep them frozen between layers of parchment paper  in my freezer.

These cookies have such a simple and rich flavor that I never use a large cookie cutter to make them, almost always preferring a bite-size cookie, which is just sweet enough. 

My default cookie cutter is the star or some celestial-themed shape (more on that another day).  You can decorate or frost these cookies  (and I have) but I’ve come to prefer the simplicity of the pure, rich shortbread taste. 

I have these special cookie cutters (I have a heart-shaped one as well) that I use to create  cookies and place on the edge of the coffee or hot chocolate cup. 

How fun is that?!  This is just the right amount of sweet and a nice ending to a holiday dinner or just anytime.