Mmmm.........

When the boys were young, we used a Countdown to Christmas calendar. It had a pocket for each day that held a strip of paper with an activity that would help us get ready for Christmas. Even though I haven't used that calendar for many years, I still like the concept of spreading out the holiday activities, and try to do one or two things every day to make the season less hectic

I made these rich, decadent cookies to take to a party tonight.  The recipe's from Martha Stewart.

DOUBLE CHOCOLATE CRANBERRY COOKIES

16 ounces bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped (I used Ghirardelli chips--no chopping required!)
1 cup all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed light-brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup dried cranberries

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Melt 10 ounces chocolate (Martha suggested using a double boiler, but I did mine in the microwave). Set aside. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt.

In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla; beat until combined. Beat in melted chocolate. With mixer on low, gradually add flour mixture; beat just until combined (do not overmix). Fold in 6 ounces chocolate and cranberries.

Drop dough by 1/4 cupfuls, 3 inches apart, onto parchment-lined baking sheets. In batches, bake cookies until edges are dry and tops are cracked, 15 to 17 minutes, rotating sheets halfway through. Let stand on sheets 3 minutes, then transfer to wire racks to cool.

(Note: I wanted smaller ones than the recipe called for, so I used a 2-teaspoon scoop and decreased the baking time proportionally.  I ended up with almost 7 dozen bite-sized cookies.)

Some Types of Stealing Are OK!

When the boys were young, we used a Countdown to Christmas calendar. It had a pocket for each day that held a strip of paper with an activity that would help us get ready for Christmas. Even though I haven't used that calendar for many years, I still like the concept of spreading out the holiday activities, and try to do one or two things every day to make the season less hectic.

Between now and Christmas Day I'm attending three different events where we'll play Rob Your Neighbor.

In case you're not familiar with the concept, the game of Rob Your Neighbor (which I've also heard called  Dirty Santa or a White Elephant exchange) involves trading gifts.  The hostess sets a price limit, and each person brings their gift wrapped.  There are infinite variations on the game rules, but basically each person gets to select a gift, unwrap it and then possibly lose it to someone else and have to select again. Being able to steal from someone else is what makes the game so much fun.

Each of my events has a different flavor.  At one we use dice to select our gifts.  With these rules, rolling a 6 will get you a present (or a chance to rob someone else for one). At the others, we use a number system.  Everyone picks a number out of a basket.  Whoever draws the number "1" gets to go first,  number two  is next, and so on. When it's your turn you get to pick a gift from the pile or you can steal someone else's. At the end, the first person gets one more chance to select a gift from all the now-opened options.

The details of my Robbing:

• Tomorrow night is my work party, and I was instructed to bring something to eat and a $15 gift.  Last year there was a large variety of items.  Some were seasonal, and some weren't.  It was my first year attending, but I quickly learned there are some things that come back every year to be re-gifted, and some inside jokes about the items other people bring.  I'm looking forward to being "in the know" this year.

• I've been going to next week's game, at the December meeting of a women's group at church, the longest.  Once again, I need to bring an appetizer or dessert to share, but the gift price limit for this one is only $5.  The gifts at this event are overwhelmingly holiday-themed.

• On Christmas Day the extended family will get together at our house for dinner and a wild game of Rob Your Neighbor.  This is the third year we've played, and the hardest one to buy for, since the group is so varied.  Both male and female, we range in age from 50-something to younger than 16. This time I have $10 to spend.

I hope someone will want the gifts I've bought for the games!

Tree

When the boys were young, we used a Countdown to Christmas calendar. It had a pocket for each day that held a strip of paper with an activity that would help us get ready for Christmas. Even though I haven't used that calendar for many years, I still like the concept of spreading out the holiday activities, and try to do one or two things every day to make the season less hectic.

Presenting our 2010 Christmas tree:

The ornaments aren't fancy or designer, but each one has a meaning.  They're a mix of old:

(All of these date back to our first Christmas together 30 years ago.  The "Noel" is simply a card front that I glued to a piece of felt, because we didn't have very many things to hang on the tree, and I marvel every year that it's survived.  Mrs. Santa is made from hexagon-shaped plastic beads and a wooden head, and was a gift from my mom.  I made the blue globe for Tony with rub-on letters.)

And new:

(Tony brought the shell back from his work training trip to California last fall.  I bought the gourd-shaped ornament while we were visiting Son Tony in Phoenix a couple of months ago, and the snowman was a gift from one of my students last year.)










There are still some ornaments to go on the tree. I save the boys' ornaments so they can hang them on the tree themselves.

The Gift of Giving

When the boys were young, we used a Countdown to Christmas calendar. It had a pocket for each day that held a strip of paper with an activity that would help us get ready for Christmas. Even though I haven't used that calendar for many years, I still like the concept of spreading out the holiday activities, and try to do one or two things every day to make the season less hectic.

For several years our parish has had a Christmas Outreach program for a church in rural Missouri.  They adopt families, and ask parishioners to buy the items that the family members request.  We bring the wrapped gifts back to the parish, who delivers them for distribution to the families.  On Sunday Tony and I selected a name, and today after work I purchased the gifts.

When we arrived for Mass on Sunday, there were trees in the church vestibule festooned with white and purple.  The white was the Christmas Outreach envelopes, which contained the name of a person, basic identifying information (name, age, sex) and what they'd like for Christmas. Inside each envelope there was a set of directions, a purple gift tag attached to a ornament hanger, and name stickers.  Following the directions, we signed our name on the gift tag and hung it back on the tree, so the church would know which people had been chosen.  By time we made our selection, half of the tree had changed over from white to purple!

The gift requests are always quite basic.  The 26 year old man we choose was looking for a shirt and socks.  Since that's Son Tony's age, I tried to imagine what styles he'd want.  I found some great sales today, and purchased a shirt, a hoodie, and a big pack of crew socks with my budgeted money.  

I hope my purchases help our person have a better Christmas this year.

Jolly Old Saint Nicholas

When the boys were young, we used a Countdown to Christmas calendar. It had a pocket for each day that held a strip of paper with an activity that would help us get ready for Christmas. Even though I haven't used that calendar for many years, I still like the concept of spreading out the holiday activities, and try to do one or two things every day to make the season less hectic.

Do you know the story of Saint Nicholas (whose feast day is today)?  The fourth century bishop was known to give secret presents, particularly to those in need.  The idea of Santa Claus partially came from him.

We've celebrated St. Nicholas Day in our house for many years.  If you're a parent, you know how kids constantly revise their Christmas lists, usually changing their mind right after you've bought their "must have" item. One day an older and wiser mom told me how she handled that situation in their house. She had everyone put their shoes by the front door before they went to bed on December 5th, with their lists tucked inside. During the night St. Nick (aka Mom) would pick up the lists to give to Santa, and leave some trinket in the shoes to show he'd been there.  After St. Nick took the lists, they couldn't be changed!

I loved the idea, implemented it that year, and have followed it ever since. Even though I put off my shopping until after December 6th, there was always plenty of time to get it done, and I was spared the grief of not getting the "right" things.

Although the family is now grown and spread out around the country, the custom continues.  (If anything, it's even more helpful now since I don't have daily contact with everyone and it's harder for me to figure out what they need.)  Last week I sent out an email, indicating that Christmas lists needed to be compiled and sent by today.  Over the weekend I got a flurry of responses.  They even copied each other in, so I don't have to be the list clearinghouse!

Now, with list in hand, I can hit the stores.

Deck The Halls

When the boys were young, we used a Countdown to Christmas calendar. It had a pocket for each day that held a strip of paper with an activity that would help us get ready for Christmas. Even though I haven't used that calendar for many years, I still like the concept of spreading out the holiday activities, and try to do one or two things every day to make the season less hectic.

Today we joined together to decorate the house.

Over the years I've collected more decorations than we could possibly use, but that means that we can pick and choose what to put out.  Every year the house looks a little bit different.  Many of the knick knacks on the family room shelves come down, and get replaced with a holiday item.  Same with the tops of the cabinets in the kitchen.  Each item back a memory--some of the things belonged to my parents, some the kids have made, and some were presents from friends.

I used to do the whole job by myself; it took the better part of a day.  A couple of years ago Hubby Tony started helping me, and we could knock it out in an evening. Today we had an additional helper-son Donald came for a visit, and we pressed him into service.

The first task was to get the boxes upstairs.  They're stored in the back of a closet underneath the basement stairs. It took a few minutes to remove everything to get to them.  After that it was an easy job to carry them to the living room.  Then, without discussing it, each of us gravitated to a different section of the house to work.

Without prompting Donald tackled what I think is the hardest job, the foyer.  It's two stories tall. The top section is bumped out, and includes a large window with a deep shelf under it, which usually holds a large silk plant.  During the Christmas season I change the plant out for a row of silk poinsettias (laying flat, flowers outward) with their stems covered with swaths of plaid material.  Even with a stepladder, I have trouble taking care of the project, but Donald is taller than me and did a great job

I took care of the kitchen, and Donald joined me when he finished his job.  In addition to decorating the area above the cabinets, there are a lot of things that go in them.  Everyday coffee mugs get replaced by Christmas ones, and some special snowflake plates added to the dinnerware cabinet.  Serving platters and bowls are stored in the correct places.

Tony quarterbacked the family room.  He got all the big ceramic items put on the shelves, then set out some winter-themed artwork.  After that was done, he added little pieces to fill in the gaps until everything was perfectly arranged.

With three sets of hands, the job got done in about 90 minutes!

Something Old, Something New

When the boys were young, we used a Countdown to Christmas calendar. It had a pocket for each day that held a strip of paper with an activity that would help us get ready for Christmas. Even though I haven't used that calendar for many years, I still like the concept of spreading out the holiday activities, and try to do one or two things every day to make the season less hectic.

Today Tony and I headed towards Cherokee Street in South St. Louis for holiday activities both old and new.

Cherokee Street runs from east to west south of downtown. The section east of Jefferson is known as Antique Row, which is six blocks of antique, collectible and specialty shops. For many years they've hosted a Cookie Walk the first weekend in December that became a must-do activity for our family.

When the boys were young they wanted to go in every store to see how many cookies they could accumulate, and while they were adding to their stash I'd shop.  Now they don't go with us, so Tony and I pick and choose which stores we want to browse in, and get to stay in each as long as we want.  We spent a lot of time today saying, "How can that be an antique? I had one of them when I was a kid."

When we started shopping on Cherokee Street decades ago, there wasn't any place to get a meal.  That's changed.  We stopped for lunch at The Stable, a brewpub and micro-distillery close to the eastern end of the street.  Tony and I both ordered their lunch special, which included soup or salad, pizza, and a non-alcoholic drink. I got a Muffaletta pizza with a house salad, and Tony chose Caesar salada  and Carbonara pizza.  The pizzas were quite large for one person; each of us ate half, and brought the other portion home for lunch tomorrow.

Our new activity was on the section of the street west of Jefferson, which I'm less familiar with.  I know there's a small Hispanic section and a couple of good restaurants there.  I didn't know before today that there's also a burgeoning print artist scene. This weekend they joined together for the Cherokee Print League Holiday Sale, which showcased more than 50 artists and businesses at a dozen different locations.

 If the weather had been nice we might have walked from venue to venue (from one end to another, a little more than a mile), but the cold, blustery wind kept us from doing that.  Instead, we parked the car, shopped, then drove down the street to hit the next cluster of storefronts.

I had a great time talking with the artists, some whose names I'd heard of and some I hadn't. All of them were friendly and ready to tell me about their work. There was a wide variety of printing styles available, but I came away empty-handed today except for a stack of business cards.  I couldn't find anything I wanted to buy for a Christmas present, but there were quite a few things I might be buying for myself later...

Tea, Anyone?

When the boys were young, we used a Countdown to Christmas calendar. It had a pocket for each day that held a strip of paper with an activity that would help us get ready for Christmas. Even though I haven't used that calendar for many years, I still like the concept of spreading out the holiday activities, and try to do one or two things every day to make the season less hectic.

One of my newest holiday traditions is attending Mr. Toast's virtual Christmas Tea.  Last year was his first one, and I met the nicest group of people there!  When he announced that this year's tea was being held on December 5th at Torosay Castle on the Isle of Mull in Scotland I quickly circled the date on my calendar.

After that came a flurry of decisions.  What to wear?  Who to bring?

If the weather in Scotland is anything like it is here, it will have turned brisk.  That's a good thing, but I find it limits my wardrobe choices.  The crowd was dressed pretty formally last year, and I wanted to make sure my outfit fit in.  After much deliberation, I decided on a silk chiffon gown with an empire waist and elbow length sleeves. No bare shoulders for me!

Who might my escort for this year's tea be?  I wanted someone with a hometown connection.  After a lot of thought, I chose Stan Musial, a St. Louis Cardinal baseball legend and one of the newest recipients of the Presidential Medal of Freedom (which he'll receive in a ceremony early next year).  At 90, Stan is in frail health, so I don't think we'll be doing a lot of moving around, but from all accounts he's a wonderful conversationalist, so we'll just take a seat by Mr. Toast's roaring fire.  Please stop by and say hello.

I'm sure if you'd like to pop in at Mr. Toast's for tea on Sunday it would be OK. It would be best, though, if you'd RSVP to make sure there's enough tea and scones for everyone.

What's the Hurry?

When the boys were young, we used a Countdown to Christmas calendar. It had a pocket for each day that held a strip of paper with an activity that would help us get ready for Christmas. Even though I haven't used that calendar for many years, I still like the concept of spreading out the holiday activities, and try to do one or two things every day to make the season less hectic.

Today I was planning on leaving work by 12:30.  However, I got pressed into service in the Extended Day classroom until 2:30, and the time I was going to spend on Christmas chores evaporated.  To make matters worse, when I got home everything I picked up took twice as long as it should to complete, and by dinnertime I felt frazzled and completely behind schedule.

What rubbish!  Today's only December 2nd;  there's plenty of time to get things done.  I decided a nice way to counteract my frustration would be to slow down.  For dinner I made a pot of chili, and some macaroni to turn it into chili mac.  Tony brewed some decaf, and after dinner we sat, drank coffee, and talked about what was going on.  From my seat at the table I was able to look out the kitchen window and see the lights I'd strung on the deck, which made me smile:

After the kitchen was cleaned I sat on the couch, browsed through a few catalogs that came in today's mail, and made mental notes of things that might make good presents.  I'm ready to jump back into the thick of things tomorrow.

The Countdown's Begun...

Happy December 1st!

I think turning the page on this last month of the year is always exciting, because December has so much going on.  Years ago, when the boys were young, I had a "Countdown to Christmas" calendar with 24 pockets-one for each day of the month through Christmas Eve.  It had a little mouse that you moved from pocket to pocket to count down the days until Santa came.

Every year in late November Hubby Tony and I would collaborate and figure out what things we wanted to do as a family in December.  I wrote them on strips of paper, then stuffed each pocket with an activity of the day that would help us get ready for Christmas.  Some things were crafty, some involved cooking, and some were special activities.  Each year we'd revisit our favorites, get rid of the ones that hadn't worked, and add a few new ones to the mix.  When the boys were young,  they took turns getting out the day's slip of paper. Woe to him who did it out of turn!  However, as they got older they lost interest.  It's been quite a few years since I've hung the calendar on the wall in the kitchen.

But I still like the concept of spreading out the holiday activities.  I started the month today by getting out my bag of Christmas clothes and jewelry.  I don't get carried away with the stuff, but I enjoy spicing my everyday wardrobe up with holiday touches.  I hung the two sweatshirts (one red with gingerbread houses and one green with a big stocking on the front) and a green tee shirt with beaded snowflakes in the closet, put several pairs of socks in the drawer, and put the jewelry where it will be easy to get to.  I'll need it soon; I have my first holiday engagement over the weekend!