Archive for the 'Holidays' Category

December 17th, 2008 - Christmas tree

We bought our Christmas tree last night at Schroeders Forevergreens up in Neenah. This post is mainly to serve as a reminder for next year! Although now that we’ve done it two years in a row, we’ll probably be able to remember next year. But I like tracking my local buying on here. In fact, I’m thinking about creating a page just of local businesses I like to use. The other day, I made a list of some places for a new faculty member here. How much easier if I hadn’t had to look up all the websites and write up descriptions. Something to during during the break perhaps.

Also a note to remind me that my favorite is the Fraser fir. Well, not really. My real favorite is the concolor fir, but they never have any (they had one last year, sold long before we showed up). So my favorite of those sold in this neck of the weeks is the Fraser.

We set it up last night, and the smell is already permeating the downstairs. It is lovely to have a tree. I could live without it, but it’s tops on Eric’s list of things to do for the winter holidays. And I can’t say I don’t enjoy it. Especially since he does much of the work, like hauling it around, cutting off the end, tightening the bolts, hanging the lights. I suspect now that Maggie’s old enough, she’ll help with putting on the ornaments and my job will mainly be mild assistance with all of the above and getting stuff up from storage in the basement.

We bought some outdoor LEDs and started putting them up inside the porch. However, it’s been bitterly cold. We got half the porch done on the one day it was above freezing (high of 37 and not much fun inside the porch regardless). Now it’s in the teens and single digits again. Eric hopes to finish the other half–we so don’t want to be one of those houses we laugh at when driving around looking at lights–but boy is it a cold prospect! Next year, we hope to have something set up in the fall so they are outside as well. (Perhaps this year, LEDs will still be left for the after Christmas sales. Have looked for the last few years to no avail. On the other hand, prices have been slashed so much lately we got these at 60% off.)

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December 11th, 2008 - Simplifying the holidays: Cookies

One of my treasured holiday traditions from growing up is cookie baking (and eating). I haven’t done it very much as an adult, however, because I’ve previously thought about doing it the same way. We baked dozens and dozens (probably a few hundred) cookies and bars. Each batch was huge and/or complicated. I adored the results, but didn’t have the time to duplicate these efforts or in some cases the equipment.

My three favorites: Spritz–we had a cookie press but it didn’t work for us so I gave it away. Aunt Chicks–need their recipe and cookie cutters (Michael: I want to inherit these! If I don’t buy my own set soon.). And painting them takes forever, even with two older kids helping. Ausukes: Lithuanian “little ears.” Which Dad always helped make because the dough has to be rolled thin enough to see through and took forever. Plus they are fried and I don’t have an electric frypan (my little fryer would only fit two at a time). And they make at least a hundred if not more. We’d store them in the canning kettle!

So what to do? Well, why not make fewer cookies for starters? Small batches take less time and can even be done between work and dinner. And why not try some other favorites as well as some new recipes? Right now is the perfect time to try new ones because if we don’t like them, there will be something else around. And that’s exactly what I’ve done. Here’s what I have so far (all sitting on the front porch, freezing till the Solstice comes ’round [nice side effect of celebrating the Solstice is we get holiday treats a few days early. We do also celebrate Christmas in this house.]):

pebbernodder: Different from every recipe I found online, this is my Danish uncle David’s family recipe that I loved as a kid (they often visited for New Year’s and he always brought these). Intimidated because the recipe makes 1000. So I made 1/4, got about 100, and plan to make lots more because they are little and yummy! I so should have made these before. They are easy. Oh, and I also make another similar kind from an online recipe, but they aren’t as good.
Mint snowcaps I adapted the recipe since I don’t like mocha and used mint flavoring oil instead. Yummy. May make more of these.
Chocolate shortbread: These were from a mix I bought after Christmas last year. The chocolate didn’t melt like it should have, the orange peel isn’t noticeable, pretty lame. But at least the box is out of my pantry.
my shortbread: I loved shortbread as a kid but figured it was difficult to make. Until I tried it here in Oshkosh back when we lived in the apartment. It’s my favorite dessert to make and is the EASIEST thing I made this year. I tried an oatmeal one and a regular one. These are Eric’s favorites, too. I cut them smaller than usual, to assist in the losing weight effort. But now I’m afraid I’ll eat more because “oh, but they are so small, I can have 4!”
cranberry slices: I’ve been going through all my printed and copied recipes trying to pare them down to things I’ll actually make or have made and really liked. I have a tendency to copy more than I’ll ever actually do. One of those was for a cranberry dessert bar, so I decided I had to try it now, or get rid of the recipe. (I have three bags of fresh WI cranberries in the fridge to use.) I halved the recipe to fit in an 8×8 pan. They are good and it’s a keeper!
Raspberry fudge Another recipe from LorAnn Oil (snowcaps from there, too). Very delish, but didn’t come out right. The raspberry layer didn’t cook up the first time (note: Add the powdered sugar slowly, not all at once, and use less). The second time, it was so dry it hardened before I could move it around the entire bottom layer (but yet was warm enough to melt some of that layer). And it’s hard and dry while the chocolate part is soft so they don’t stick together well. I don’t know how to solve it, but I’d love to make these again, despite the hassle. Because I love raspberry. You can make them in any flavor (if you figure out the favored layer’s cooking). So glad to have extras in the pantry, as I couldn’t have had a second chance at the middle layer if I didn’t have another can of sweetened condensed milk there. But now I have to make something with 12 ounces of SWC!
chocolate covered Chex mix: I’ve gotten some white chocolate chex mix in the past and loved it. Except I’m not a big fan of white chocolate (or almond bark or such) and I’d have to but it special just for this. So I decided to cover it in melted chocolate chips. I’ve tried two batches so far, one with semi-sweet and one with milk. The latter tastes better, but both of them melt quickly in your fingers. Glad I’ve tried 1/4 recipes. I found online recipes for dipping chocolate with chips that call for 1 Tbs of shortening per cup of chips. I’ll try a third batch soon. I also tried it with mint chocolate chips, which also didn’t go over well. They are larger than regular ones, so don’t go as far and are overpowering the rest of the flavor.
regular Chex mix: For whatever reasons, I only have this around the winter holidays. Family tradition, I guess! For the last two years, I purchased it (along with the white chocolate Chex and caramels at my church’s auction fundraiser. It wasn’t on the list this year plus I got sick and didn’t go. So have to make my own. Actually, Eric and Maggie made it. I fiddled the recipe since I don’t like wheat Chex so drop the amount of that, but I add in pretzels, Cheerios, and peanuts. I intentionally didn’t adjust the seasonings, since there’s a lot of butter. But it wasn’t enough; Eric says he thinks the butter is an okay amount, but the dry seasonings and Worcestershire sauce could be increased. Will likely make a second batch. Almost had him make a double batch–over 30 cups!–so glad I changed my mind. We have plenty of the cereals–bought 8 boxes for some store specials. Plan to also make a ranch cheese variety.

Sounds like a lot, doesn’t it? But each one–except the Chex–was a small batch. (One batch of shortbread only makes a 5×10 piece). Even the Chex fits in a 5 qt ice cream bucket. And having the variety also make it a snap when our neighbor blew out the of our drive and our sidewalks yesterday–the day our snowblower wouldn’t start. The same day we got 8″ of snow. (It’s the spark plugs and should be replaced for Eric to pick it up this morning.) I quickly fixed up a variety of desserts to take over to him as a thank you. (Now if only we could catch him at home!) And–with the exception of the boxed shortbread–everything on the list is something I really wanted to make!

I’ve been inspired, too, by simplfying. I could make Aunt Chicks, but make just a couple dozen. Or just wait until Maggie is a little older (like, say, next year!) and she does the painting! Similarly, if I get a new (to me) cookie press like Mom’s for spritz, just make a small batch so I’m not overwhelmed. Ausukes aren’t in the picture yet.

I wrote this post early this morning because I don’t get to eat breakfast and I needed to keep busy. Strange to write about all these goodies while avoiding food, but it kept me occupied and until now, I wasn’t even getting hungry for them! (I’m having the annual blood test to make sure everything’s fine, with a 12 hour fast.) Time to go read the paper and keep occupied until time to go to work.

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December 1st, 2008 - The holiday in review

I was still under the weather Thursday, so we cooked the turkey Saturday instead. Eric picked up some sliced turkey for sandwiches Thursday morning. And a special bread for me, which I am still enjoying. We cooked the turkey Saturday. At 20#, it required both of us for much of the work (mainly, Eric for lifting it). But thankfully, it was still small enough that I was able to lift it, as it finished nearly an hour before I expected it to, while Eric was gone to the gym!

We had just a little bit of it for lunch, along with my cranberry jelly. I’m not sure I mentioned it–Eric is a huge fan of jellied cranberries. I have never been able to eat the stuff, finding it absolutely horrid as a kid and not touching it since. But we always get fresh cranberries every winter (since the majority of cranberries grown in the US come from about 100-200 miles east of here). So I decided to try making my own jelled cranberries for him this winter. Unfortunately, some of the seeds remained after pressing it through the food mill, so he didn’t like the mouth feel. He did like the taste, however, so I will be making it again, this time employing the jelly bag. And, even better, Maggie and I like it. She adores it; I think it’s a bit sweet for a meal. I think it would be lovely on toast! And since I was having apple cider with the meal, it overpowered the sweetness of that and made the cider disappointing. But it was yummy with the turkey. Now I understand Eric’s great love of turkey + jellied cranberries sandwiches!

In the afternoon, we dissected the turkey and pressure cooked the carcass, fat, drippings, and skin for stock. We chopped up the bits and pieces and Eric saved slices for sandwiches. We were smart this year: The slices were bagged up in 2-sandwich allotments, instead of piled in a few boxes. (I know, quite a bit of wasted plastic bags, however. But they wouldn’t have worked in any of the plastic boxes we have. And take up a whole lot less room than a dozen boxes would.)

On Sunday, I pressure canned the broth–which is stock + the chopped up bits of meat. My first time time pressure canning went smoothly, except that I over-pressured it. Had trouble keeping it at exactly 11, and when I thought I was fine, I left the room, only to have to jump up. But that’s better than under-pressure. I bought the pressure canner specifically for soup, so I’m thrilled. It’s not quite soup yet–they don’t recommend including the veggies. Nor did I salt it. But it will still be pretty easy to heat up the broth plus some frozen veggies quickly. I’m so looking forward to deciding to have soup and opening a jar, instead of defrosting a box from the freezer. In fact, I plan to do so with one of the jars tomorrow for dinner. Have to try it right away to see how it came out, after all.

Oh! I almost forgot the best part of Thanksgiving: We made kugelis! That’s an old family recipe, on the Lithuanian side. Eric helped–he grated the potatoes and onions and squeezed the water out of the taters. It’s just as good as I remembered, especially reheated the second day. (I should have brought it for lunch today.) We baked it in two 1.5qt dishes, in the toaster oven. I put one in the freezer. In the future, we’ll just do a half recipe. Mom though the full recipe was about 8 servings. I was overfull with 1/12 and later tried 1/24th–and that was plenty! (With some sour cream, of course.) Maggie’s not too into it–probably because it’s a new food. But then again, she might be just like Moms: I couldn’t stand it as a kid. Didn’t like sour cream either. Then something changed as a teen and I fell in love with both!

We didn’t actually make it for Thanksgiving, as I learned from Mom, because we always had stuffing. But I prefer it to stuffing (and to mashed potatoes) so I believe we have a winner for a family favorite for holidays. This is delightful to me, as we haven’t had many family traditions and we’re still working on what we’ll do. I’m not into the big family meals, but Eric would like to do it. I realized this year that if we figure out the traditional foods we’d like to have, I’d be more interested. I was thrilled with the turkey/homemade jellied cranberry/kugelis meal, for instance. (Plus pumpkin pie from the store. Next year, I’ll make my own. If I’m not sick again.) And I have to get the cardamom bread recipe from Mom for a special breakfast.

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June 20th, 2008 - Simple summer solstice

Happy Solstice!

I spent the day trying (off and on) to figure out something to do to celebrate. I looked a bit online and found that bonfires are quite common. (Seems like they are for all turnings of the seasons.) So I decided to pull out the little fire bowl I bought two years ago. We enjoyed it last year, but didn’t use it very much and haven’t had it out this year.

When I got home, I switched to work clothes and Maggie and I headed outside. I finished bundling the branches, including cutting a few more from unwanted trees and a half-dead shrub. Then I realized I should just quit and do more work tomorrow and Sunday. Inside to change to less grubby clothes. Maggie headed back outside and I fixed a light dinner for us to eat outside.

I started up the fire–all on my own. I set it up and Eric checked on it before going out the movies. He made one little change in it. And I got it going all by myself. I believe this is the first time I’ve ever prepared and maintained a fire. Every 30 minutes or so, as it died down, I added a chunk of wood or some smaller pieces. I was worried that we wouldn’t have enough wood for more fires this summer without buying it (and was tempted to keep back some of those bundles…). Around 7 I discovered another entire box of wood pieces I’d cut up last summer. I think we’ll be fine this year.

We ate a light meal, including peas and onions from the garden with a fresh dip I made yesterday (also including garlic from the garden and items from the farmer’s market. And homemade yogurt), pretzel pieces, and local cheese. Later, we had some teddy bear cookies (from Gram and PopPop) and a piece of chocolate. I sat by the fire; Maggie sat at her table.

Maggie and I had a small Solstice dance, but neither of us really knew what exactly to do then she decided she was done after 15 seconds anyway.

I brought out a book, and moved it from my lap to the chair to Maggie’s chair to the table for most of the evening without every opening it up. I decided that I would simply enjoy the fire and chatting with Maggie. And so I did for about 3 hours. I never just sit and essentially do nothing for 3 hours. What a LOVELY evening it was. Quiet, relaxed, no stress, peaceful.

Around 7:30, I pulled out sparklers. Maggie was initially hesitant as she was afraid they would burn her. (We warned her a lot about the fire bowl and she was exceptionally careful about it.) When she quickly discovered they didn’t hurt, she had great fun. The only accident of the night: I burned myself. With a sparkler. On my toe. I don’t know what fell off, but I figured it was a little spark. Until my toe kept hurting! I burned a hole through the shoe and the sock and have a small blister.

The fire had died way down, and around 7:50 I put a bunch of twigs and bark on top to have a small quick blaze for the Solstice (at 7:59 CDT). I think I had it blazing a few minutes earlier, but who’s counting?

I loved the fire. I intend to have one at each Solstice and Equinox as long as the weather is appropriate (IE, not raining or snowing).

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January 10th, 2008 - Putting Christmas in the basement

First, a quick note that I’ve been really sick again. Came down with either another cold or an extension of the holiday one on Sunday. Have already taken off 2.5 days and it’s looking like another half day today.

Yesterday, we took down the Christmas tree. It had always been a bit on the dry side and Eric noticed that when he touched a branch the night before, needles showered down. So I took off the ornaments (all 5 of them) and the lights and he took the tree out to the curb. I also took down the two window figures (snowflake and Santa) and took them and the lights to the basement. Maggie’s insightful comment on the process, “MomMom put Christmas in the basement!”

We had intended to leave the tree up as long as possible; this was earlier than we’d hoped.

I also thought we’d throw the tree in the garden to decompose a bit, but had no desire to deal with it right now. So we put it on the curb–our city picks them up for composting so I’m okay with that. Maybe another year, with Maggie’s help, I’ll make ornaments for the birds and squirrels (like popcorn strings and peanut butter & seeds) and we’ll have fun watching it in the garden.

Oh! A tip for Christmas lights: Instead of coiling them up in a box or trying to put them back on the little plastic things they came on, I wrap them around a large piece of cardboard. Mine is about 20″ square, probably because I had that size handy when I thought this up a couple years ago. Two strands fit perfectly on it. I tape down one end of the strand, then simply wrap the rest of it round and round. The size is a bit large for easy holding but I managed to wrap up the lights as I took them off walking around the tree. It works better with two people, especially when putting up the lights (I held and unwrapped while Eric put up the lights last month). The lights have enough space that we could test them before putting them up to see if all worked.

And, in case you are interested, the mathematics of why lights get knotted in boxes. (The researcher actually put a piece of string in a box and tumbled it around then looked at what knots had formed.)

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January 3rd, 2008 - Savor yourself in winter

“There is a privacy about it which no other season gives you… In spring, summer and fall, people sort of have an open season on each other; only in winter can you hve longer, quiet stretches when you can savor belonging to yourself.”
Ruth Stout

From Meg Cox’s monthly newsletter about family traditions and rituals. To subscribe, send a blank e-mail to Subscribers-Join@megcox.com. Your address will never be shared or sold. Meg’s the author of The Book of New Family Traditions (and others). I LOVE her stuff.

I fit this quote a lot. I was just thinking about it last night, too. I started a new book over lunch and all I wanted to do when I got home was read. I said as much to Eric, but also indicated that it probably wasn’t a good idea (Maggie and all). And he encouraged me to go ahead and do so! He and Maggie went out on a couple errands, I curled up with the book and dinner. I read until MJ’s bedtime, then until mine, then after mine. And I’m not quite done with the book! The great thing about winter is that I feel so free to do this. I don’t have the garden or yard or food processing to work on instead. While I don’t get the desire completely out of my system in winter, it certainly helps when I feel overworked in the summer to know I can look forward to it.

I love the seasons. I wonder if folks in warmer climes have times off or not so much?

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December 28th, 2007 - Christmas report

I should first mention that I caught a bad cold for Solstice which I gave to Eric for Christmas. Maggie caught a lesser version of it than both of us. I spent most of Fri-Mon on the couch or in bed and Eric did the same Mon-Thursday. We actually intended to do a bit more than we did, but have not actually missed anything, I don’t think.

A) Holiday decor: Although we did buy a tree, against my recommendation, everything turned out fine. The cats never climbed it (as far as we know, at least), possibly because of the very close branches. Maggie and the pets quickly caught on that they weren’t supposed to play with it which was a relief. We put lights on it right away (the 15th), but never got around to putting on more decorations and realized we really liked it with just the lights! Which, by the way, are LEDs, so we haven’t turned them off in nearly 2 weeks! (2 strands were the perfect amount for the tree.) Maggie did hang the 5 ornaments received as gifts on Christmas day. The only problem is that the tree is quite dry and drops needles constantly.

On Christmas Eve or Christmas day, I finally put up the two window light things (Santa and a snowflake). Later, I put three candles on the piano, although we only lit two of them and only on two evenings. (Kept forgetting them.)

And we put the snowpeople Eagles wreath Eric got from his Mom last year on the front door.

B) Holiday food: Since I was sick, I didn’t make any more cookies. (We plan some for this weekend, however.) My bread paddle came on Saturday, and Monday I made banana bread for Christmas–unfortunately, I put in too much sugar (the amount the recipe calls for rather than the 50-75% I usually use) and it tasted funny. The bananas were a bit dry, too. We did make split pea soup on Xmas Eve and had it Xmas day for one meal. Maggie and I are still eating the olive spread from a couple weeks ago, too. Luckily, I had the auction-won Chex mix and Chex dessert plus a plate of cookies from Sean and Elissa to get us through as well.

C) Holiday gifts: Maggie received some lovely wooden toys this year, in particular, a handmade train from Gram and PopPop (my parents). She also loves the set of play food; we might bring her kitchen in from the porch to go along with them. Her other favorite toy is a kids digital camera from Grandma Johnson. We asked for this for her, but I didn’t realize it takes 5 batteries (one lithium it comes with plus 4 AAs. Aack. I finally got away from regular batteries for my digital camera and now I have to buy them for her. And I bet she uses them up faster than I did. It even says to not use rechargables in it.). We didn’t have 4 AAs in the house until last night, but she’s been pretending to take pictures all week anyway.

Grandma also gave her 5 other toys all requiring batteries. We aren’t going to put them in the puzzle and we put away the “karaoke” toy immediately. (It hooks up to the TV, too. So a 4x whammy–batteries, TV, kids music, noise. Not our cup of tea!) A musical snowglobe (except it’s a plastic thing and there’s air inside so it doesn’t work like a real snowglobe and the snow only flies when it’s turned on). And a singing Santa. I know MIL finds this stuff cute and has it around her house, but I don’t understand why she doesn’t get how much we can’t stand it. Oh well. We’ll donate one (she never sends along receipts, unfortunately), didn’t show Maggie how to run one (Santa), and will get rid of the snowglobe at the end of the season.

She also gave her a number of clothing items–a shirts/pants set, a sweater (although it looks long enough to be a dress so I might pair it with tights for church), and a frog towel/robe that she loves wearing around the living room. My parents also gave her some clothes–two PJs, summer pants, and 2 t-shirts. All the clothes are quite cute!

Eric got just what he wanted for Christmas: a slew of gift cards! (Also a book and some coffee.) I got a Boxer calendar, a lap quilt (possibly MIL made it?), and a box of food goodies–I had enjoyed some interesting spreads at my parents last Feb and indeed bought a few myself over the year but don’t tend to find much at the local groceries. Now I have plenty to last me all year, I just have to remember to use them! (I forgot to use most of those I bought this year. Partially because I didn’t like one so it’s still in the fridge and I hate to open something new. But I should! Since I won’t eat the one I don’t like anyway.)

So, overall, a pretty simple holiday. Mostly planned that way, although also forced due to illness. Once again, however, I’m glad that I didn’t have major plans since illness would have gotten in the way. It was nice to know I could just sleep away the days without worrying about things not getting done. (Oh, I did want to do some cleaning before the holidays, but I settled for doing it the last couple days instead. Our floors have been mopped!)

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December 17th, 2007 - Maggie’s first Christmas tree

On Saturday, we bought our Christmas tree, at Schroeder’s Forevergreens. They are a local tree farm! They even sell Concolor Firs, my absolute favorite tree, but they only had had 5 and they were all gone. I fell in love with this tree in PA when Mom and I picked one out ne of first years there, but have never had one of my own. Well, this is only the second tree we’ve ever had–the only other one was a Norfolk Island Pine Eric and I had our first year in Oshkosh (I do not recall whether that was our first year, or our first married year, to be honest). It died before we moved to the new house, however. (Schroeder’s won best tree in the state for a Concolor this year. They move on to a national competition, and the winner provides a tree for the White House.)

We got a balsam fir, about 7″ tall, for $40. Plus a $5 tip for the lady who assisted us. Can you believe they spend the entire day outside???

Eric chopped off the bottom and some branches and it’s up in the living room where the brown chair usually is (for those who have visited us). We put up the lights Saturday night, and plan to decorate it tonight or tomorrow. She adored the tree, but didn’t quite know what to make of it with the lights on. She said it was very pretty when she saw it Sunday morning, but wouldn’t go near it.

She loved playing with a couple bits of branches that came off. She spent an hour “cooking” with them. Then she tried to feed needles to Jedi which is a definite no-no! (Pets shouldn’t eat needles as they can puncture intestines. Hopefully that’s not true for humans because she also tried eating some of them.) So the branches went into the compost bin, although there are still plenty of needles lying around. Thankfully, the cats have not (yet) tried to climb it, although Pi tried to eat it and Sith tried to attack it (the branch moved and scared the hell out of him and he ran off LOL). The branches are quite close together horizontally and needles go almost to the trunk, so there isn’t really room for them to try to climb up. Cats climbing up and/or knocking it over was my biggest fear with the tree!

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December 17th, 2007 - Solstice

Yesterday was the PUC Solstice Celebration. There’s always a lovely raffle, and both last year and this I ended up with some goodies! The items are brought in by those attending and range from candles to books to bags to lightbulbs (compact fluorescent ones, that is). I brought a jar of homemade applebutter (since I couldn’t bring it to the church’s bake sale as originally intended) and a lavender wand. I also purchased $10 of tickets. I won a box of chocolates (unfortunately, individually wrapped, plus the large container with plenty of plastic), two candle holders (I tried using votives to hide the piano smell and it worked great except that I didn’t have votive holders and the candles spread quickly to fill the larger holders I used, making them last less long)–both from India, one with elephants on it!, and a brass candle snuffer (we don’t have one and I was thrilled to win it! Came with 6 candles which I don’t need and maybe return next year…. Disappointingly however, it had actually been used before and in cleaning it, they scratched badly the brass. May bring to Mom’s next spring as I’m sure she has special brass cleanser and maybe I can polish it up a bit.). I didn’t win the one item I wanted most–a garden fairy statue.

After the ritual, I ran into someone I thought was in my covenant group (a small spiritual group at the Fellowship) and said hello and then realized it wasn’t her after all. But we started chatting. Although she was there with her partner, they felt a bit lonely since they didn’t really know anyone else. I felt even more lonely as *I* didn’t know anyone else, either. So we chatted throughout the meal (potluck–I brought an apple crisp) and the raffles. It was lots of fun and I wish I’d exchanged emails. We’ve seen each other at services, so hopefully that will happen again. They are both students, but I believe are in their late 20s–they looked older than traditional college students at least. And I could picture doing something with them in the future. We’ll see! If nothing else, I look forward to having someone to hang out with next year!

The day included a workshop–I attended the one on dancing which was fun but way too short. And the Solstice ritual, which included gathering in a circle, invocations to the directions/elements, chanting/singing/drumming, reminders of community/family, and thoughts about the time of winter and the coming of the sun. We each received an ornament this year–I accidentally chose a star but traded it for a sun which I really wanted. It closed with sharing of “cakes and ale”–or tea or coffee and cookies. After the ritual, we share a potluck meal followed by the raffle drawing (it’s a fundraiser for Fox Valley Pagan Unity Council which puts on the celebration). I left at the end of that since it was after 8 already. I wish I could stay for the end–dancing, singing, and drumming (I shall do my own dancing Friday night to welcome back the sun, instead)! Each year, there are different workshops (previously, they’ve all been crafting something, like a little wish box) and the ritual is done differently each time as well.

I attend because I like being attuned to nature and the seasons, and celebrating that connection with others who feel the same. I am not actually pagan nor do I believe in spells. It’s simply a beautiful, calming ritual. I just wish they had one for each of the solstices, but this is the only one at the Fellowship. (They do a summer solstice, but it’s a camping weekend.)

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December 13th, 2007 - 3 gifts for Christmas

Janel writes in Christmas, out of the box about friends who give their kids 3 gifts each year: “One represents gold, another frankincense and a third for myrrh. Each gift has spiritual significance in the child’s life. They also limit spending to $50 per person.”

I assumed the gifts were directly matched to these three areas, but as I was about to write that, I realized it might just be that’s why 3 gifts, not necessary one that has something to do with the idea of gold. I hope she tells me! (I commented about this.)

(Does this official count as a collection now? And notice I now have a Winter holidays category.)

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December 10th, 2007 - Another update on the gifts

Rebecca chimed in with a rhyme she’s known for a long time: “Something to wear, something to read, something to play with, something you need, and something you’ve wished for for a long time indeed!”

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December 3rd, 2007 - a BIG Christmas

I can’t get this family out of my mind. Last year, Six they gave their kids 40-50 gifts EACH for Christmas. It’s really, really, really hard for me to reconcile that with being frugal. And oh yes, her personal description starts out “A frugal mom of four….”

But, every time I’m aghast, I remind myself of something very important: People are frugal for different reasons:

to have a stay at home parent
to be able to travel widely
to retire early
to have a job they love even if it doesn’t pay well
to live in the country or a particular home or a particular city
to have certain luxuries, whether that’s a big screen tv, new computers, or a big blow out Christmas!

We’re actually buying things for Maggie this year. It started with a lovely frog I bought this summer from Pleasant View Schoolhouse. I was just going to put it with her stocking. But then I bought a cat from Nepal at the fair trade fair here on campus. That’s going in the stocking. And we decided to buy a set of handmade in the USA wooden tools and toolbox for her. (To replace the Playskool plastic and painted wood ones I found at garage sales and am now scared to give her.)

Just because I can’t wrap my head around the idea of giving one person 40-50 gifts (much less four people), that doesn’t mean someone else is wrong for doing it. I still like the idea I heard long ago of 7 gifts for Christmas:

something for physical exercise, such as a ball or jumprope
something to play with others, such as a board game
a book
something to encourage artistic creativity such as paints, clay, etc.
???
???
???

The problem is that I can’t remember what they are anymore! I read about it in a book and it’s what the author and his/her spouse gave their children each year.

Posted in Kids, Holidays | 2 Comments »

December 28th, 2006 - ‘Tis a gift to be simple

Another reason I’m glad we had a simple holiday planned: Four days in the last week, we’ve had workers in the house (and they’ll probably be there tomorrow, too). It started last Thursday when the downstairs windows were replaced. Friday, the upstairs ones were done. This week, they are tackling the upstairs painting (all the wood trim and doors must be painted).

We ended up not getting a tree, and I hung lights and things around the living room. We all loved it and may indeed do the same thing next year! Since we bought LED lights, we’ve left them on 24 hours a day all week. It doesn’t hurt that it’s been really grey and cloudy the entire time, so the extra light has been nice. We’ve not turned on the regular lamps as much, either.

I can’t imagine most people willingly replacing all their windows 4 days before Christmas nor having half their house unavailable the four days after Christmas (except for sleeping). For us, just a minor inconvenience, even the day at the hotel wasn’t too much hassle! (The day of the downstairs windows, Eric, Maggie, the cats, and the dogs had to be gone.)

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December 23rd, 2005 - The best Christmas gift

My inlaws, the ones I was having trouble finding gifts for, came up with the BEST Christmas gift for me: They gave a donation to my favorite charity, The Elephant Sanctuary! I have forgotten the conversation, but apparently this summer I told my MIL that a donation to them would be a perfect gift for me. She remembered that 5 months later woohoo!!!

I have to admit: When their box of gifts came last week, I off-handedly said something to Eric about how they obviously loved him and Maggie more because I only had one gift that had all our names on it. He said something about how this wasn’t the only box coming. Whatever his exact words were, I took it to mean another box of gifts would come later. So I’ve faithfully checked the front porch when I come home every day (we only use the porch in the mornign to get the paper, so I check it each day in the afternoon if we’re expecting a package). A couple times, Eric has commented that their gift to me would be one I would absolutely positively adore. My MIL frequently buys me clothes with Winnie the Pooh characters on them (I adore Piglet), so I guessed it was another sweatshirt or such. To my regret, as I have too many clothes and since I prefer to wear only green, it was too much to hope they had found it in green. I did think Eric’s enthusiasm about the gift was a bit much for a Pooh item, however. But I couldn’t think of anything else they knew I’d adore (and I’d not mentioned wanting a Dyson any time recently!).

Yesterday, when I came home with the mail, he asked, “Anything special in the mail?” And I said, “No.” “Oh, my parents are getting worried because confirmation of your gift was supposed to arrive.” “Well, there’s a large envelope from The Elephant Sanctuary” a brief thought of a donation comes to mind “but I just sent a donation and it’s just a receipt for that.” His reply was something non-comittal but implied that indeed that wasn’t what he expected. But, my curiousity piqued, I opened it before going up to change my clothes. To my delight, it was indeed my Christmas gift! I was soooo surprised!!!! And utterly delighted. A perfect gift that I would adore, just as promised.

And nothing (except the thin sheet of paper acknowledging the gift) that I’ll have to store, wear, clean, dust, or do anything else with. A prefectly simple gift. I can even recycle the paper into my garden in the summer!

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December 7th, 2005 - Happier Holidays

Benevolent Planet has an excellent resource for simplifying your holidays, Humane Holidays eGuide. (A freewill donation is requested if you appreciate the content, but it is available for free.) It’s exactly what I was looking for! I’m been toying with the idea of leading a workshop at the Fellowship next year on this topic. This guide has a worksheet about figuring out which traditions are/aren’t important to you. Understanding whether or not they fit your beliefs. Dealing with events/gift exchanges at work. And more, but I’m only on page 6 and realized I liked it so much I had to tell others (also posted on two message boards), and make a donation.

Now I need to see if I could use this for a workshop.

Posted in Holidays | No Comments »

My Adventures in Simple Living

Archive for the 'Holidays' Category

December 17th, 2008 - Christmas tree

December 11th, 2008 - Simplifying the holidays: Cookies

December 1st, 2008 - The holiday in review

June 20th, 2008 - Simple summer solstice

January 10th, 2008 - Putting Christmas in the basement

January 3rd, 2008 - Savor yourself in winter

December 28th, 2007 - Christmas report

December 17th, 2007 - Maggie’s first Christmas tree

December 17th, 2007 - Solstice

December 13th, 2007 - 3 gifts for Christmas

December 10th, 2007 - Another update on the gifts

December 3rd, 2007 - a BIG Christmas

December 28th, 2006 - ‘Tis a gift to be simple

December 23rd, 2005 - The best Christmas gift

December 7th, 2005 - Happier Holidays

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