How Many Days?

Life is a bit too crazy right now for a real post (that's the downer of a blog about holidays), so I thought I'd post an article about the history of Christmas in the state of Massachusetts, which is where I live.

Also, Happy Solstice!  From my living room window I can see the sun setting.  I am infinitely blessed to be in the warmth of my house, sleeping dog at my hip, and free to observe the frigid winter landscape outside.  Although that "frigid winter landscape" is something of a joke after failing to receive any of the 8" of snow the meteorologists predicted this weekend!

And...Charo!  I used to watch the Pee-Wee Christmas special every year.

Aaaaand...John Denver and the Muppets singing the 12 Days of Christmas.  As the YouTube poster commented, this is just about the only version of the carol that doesn't bore you to tears.  I used to have this album on vinyl, too.  In the album version, Beaker gets to "sing" one of the 12 days, and his "meep meeping" was always my favorite part!

Snowflakes!

My friend Danna found this amazing link of snowflake flickr photos. 

It almost makes me feel bad that they melt away on contact with my skin!  I guess the consolation is that they keep coming, and coming.

Tree's Up!

Close-ups of some of my favorite ornaments:

This bird was a gift from my partner's mother last year.

This glittery fish was a gift from my step-mother.  I didn't realize she knew about my love of glitter until she gave me this!

I pick out a new ornament every year, and this superbly fluffy owl was this year's pick!

Decorations up, too:

I found this rotund lady at an awesome gift shop in Baltimore, Maryland.  I have no idea why she's wearing a leotard/bathing suit at Christmas, but it works for me.  I swear I know what good taste is; I just happen to like tacky, too.

I put the new LED string lights on the tree, and the second I plugged them in, I was startled to see that they were a hideous cool blue shade, and very, very bright.  I promptly took them down and strung up the old lights.  My partner joked that I picked aesthetics over energy efficiency, and I couldn't deny it...in this case, anyway.  Who wants a blue-tinted tree, unless you're rocking a tinsel tree?  The old-fashioned lights are much warmer and more in keeping with the holiday spirit.  Sorry, folks.

Happy Hanukkah!

I never celebrated it until I met my partner, and, to be honest, I think I inspired her to celebrate it simply because my love of holidays is contagious.  This evening we went out to eat with her mother, then came home to cuddle with the dog and exchange our first night of Hanukkah gifts.  Our relatively new tradition is to exchange 8 tiny things, then one or two larger things on Christmas.  We both unintentionally picked Etsy-purchased items to give tonight, which was a funny coincidence.  I gave her a scrabble-tile necklace she'd been eyeballing, and she picked out a most fabulous magnet for me!  The magnet is the best because not only is it a mermaid, but it's a fat mermaid.  And not only is it a fat mermaid, but it's a fat mermaid reading a book!  It took me a while to wonder how reading a book underwater would work, or if it would work.

Last night I baked some Hanukkah cookies to bring to tonight's gathering.  My partner had a set of Hanukkah-related-shaped cookie cutters (which she swears I got her, but I don't remember it), so I made dozens of little six-sided stars using a butter cookie recipe from the New Best Recipe Cook's Illustrated Cookbook.  I had a few minutes of panic when it came time to knead the dough into a ball, and all I could do was push bits of crumb into tiny, temporary clumps.  I added a tablespoon or so of cold water, mixed that in, and tried again.  Still no good.  I thought maybe the butter hadn't been softened enough when I started, which might affect the liquid to solids ratio, so I let it sit for 20 minutes, and when I came back I was able to form it into a relatively firm ball.  After that things when well, and the cookies came out incredibly buttery.  I don't know if that's because of the recipe or because I used organic butter for the first time.  If it was the organic butter, than I can say with certainty that the extra 50 cents or dollar to purchase it is well worth it, especially for gift-giving, when flavor counts most.  Our local Stop and Shop carries organic butter in its organic/specialty food section.  I wanted to decorate them with yellow and blue royal icing, but I ran out of time.  The story of my life.

 

Recycling Turkeys

That is one of my stranger titles, for sure.  This is quite belated; posting about Turkey Day on Hanukkah is almost unfair (for Hanukkah, not the turkeys).  I thought it was still worth mentioning the ways in which a ten dollar 20+ lb turkey--purchased the day after the holiday--can be cooked and boiled and turned into lots of different things.  It might seem silly to buy a turkey that big for two people.  We certainly can't finish all of it before it'd go bad, so we have to be creative.  *Warning: vegetarians, vegans, and wimpy meat-eaters may want to skip the rest of this paragraph.*  The first thing I did after baking and carving the bird was to dismember the carcass and split it between the roasting pan and a stock pot.  I added an onion and a large garlic clove to each,  and filled the containers up with water.  I sprinkled liberal amounts of bouquet garni seasonings and pepper on top.  Then I let them boil for a very, very long time until the turkey remants were a jumbled mess and the liquid had reduced substantially.  Finally, I added salt to taste, strained the stock, and poured it into containers to freeze.

I used some of the stock to make a turkey soup with the leftover meat.  I worked with a very simple Martha Stewart recipe and revised it to work for what I had in the kitchen.  I simply let the stock simmer, and added chopped cooked turkey, egg noodles, and diced carrots.  It made a satisfying and turkey-rich soup, perfect for warming cold hands and fogging up glasses!  (I admit, that warm hands and foggy glasses thing is not completely accurate.  If I recall, the day after Turkey Day was perfectly nice.  It's right now, December 12th, that's so darn cold!)

These are my confessions

I have a confession to make:  I like Mariah Carey.  I also like Christmas carols, but the latter should come as no surprise.  So, what do you get when you have Mariah Carey sing a Christmas carol, then make a video of it that has apparently been directed by John Waters?  This:  All I Want For Christmas Is You

I'll make a second confession.  When I sing in the shower or the car, my mind's eye has me looking like Mariah in this video, except for without the diva hand thing.  Do you think it's unhealthy to have your inner sense of self about 150 lbs lighter and wearing ratted hair?

Things you want...

...but don't actually need.  Also, things your friends and family might like.  It's not too late to order online.

Bicycle chain ornaments
Recycled computer keyboard bracelets
Dish scrubber made from recycled corn (they also have one made from recycled peach pits)
Mustache key chain
A keychain universal remote control that can turn off any television
Astronaut ice cream (I loved this stuff as a kid)
Owl pellets (for disection; much cooler than it sounds)
Scented colored pencils (remember Mr. Sketch markers?)

I Love NPR

You know why I love them today?  This story featuring Nigella Lawson.  You can listen to it or read it, although why you'd miss a chance to hear a British accent is beyond me.  Have I mentioned my grandparents had/have British accents?  I'm talking toe-mah-toe, gar-baj, al-oo-min-ee-um British accents.  Nigella has one absolutely hilarious moment at 4min 50sec., in which she explains why sometimes a simpler approach to the holidays is better for you and your guests.

World AIDS Day...

...not sure it's a holiday, exactly, but it is a day of remembrance, recognition, and action.  Youtube is filled with bad videos for the occasion, but I found one that is frank, thoughtful, informative, and doesn't make you bawl your eyes out over photos of emaciated babies.  Here it is:

Timmell20's World AIDS Day video