A Thread To Share Holiday Cheer

[CM-BlueButterfly]

While the anticipation from when I was a child is gone and instead of too many days between Thanksgiving and Christmas, there never seem to be enough of them anymore, I still love the holiday season: the decorations, the traditions, the tree, the food, the time spent with family and friends.

But as much as it’s a season of joy, it can be a challenging time for others. During those weeks when the long nights in the Northern hemisphere might make us feel the most lonely, when the getting together of families and friends might make the empty chairs that were previously occupied the most obvious, when the bare trees and naked bushes might make things look bleak and devoid of color, what I love most then are the holiday lights.
To me, they bring light into darkness, warmth to those gathered inside, to those who might be hurrying by, color to where it may be missing, a moment of calm when we pause to enjoy their beauty. And when it snows, the fallen crystals sparkle in the light to sprinkle a little more magic into this most magical of seasons.

So, let’s be each other’s light this holiday season and bring warmth, color and a sprinkle of magic to anyone who might be in need of it this year.

Whether it’s your favorite tradition or recipe, a fun memory or what you love most about the holidays, a New Year’s resolution or something else entirely like a quote that you think may inspire or make one smile, share it below to help spread the beauty and cheer of the season.

[GHScorpiosRule]

I also love this season. I love putting up a tree, lights (I still struggle with finding battery operated lights to put on my balcony when I see so many of my neighbors with uber kewl ones and try not to be jealous!) and my plush snowmen outside my door, along with wreaths.

But I find I'm having to push myself to do those things this year. So I'll be late-I'll have everything up by the weekend. I have so many Hallmark collectibles, ranging from Loony Tunes ,Batman, Beauty & the Beast, Mickey and Friends, Tom & Jerry, and yes, even I Love Lucy, where she's calling Ricky to tell him she volunteered him to emcee, and you can hear Ricky going off in Spanish. I LOVE that ornament. It's lasted over 20 years.

I decorated my office cube this morning, with the Happy Holidays mini green and red garland, my fake table top tree with the fake snow and pine cones and holly. The cheap lights that only work for an hour need to be replaced. So I threw some silver tinsel over them.

I have my wee snowmen who light up and jiggle and my plush penguin with a wreath. I won't lie, it's making me smile.

[Dimity]

This has been a rough year in my family and world events certainly haven't helped but I am determined to enjoy Christmas even if it's not quite the same as it used to be!

I still remember my childhood Christmases (the year I got the whole Anne of Green Gables boxed set - wow) and of course nothing will ever compare to that.  But next week or maybe the week after we're putting up the tree and I've got the advent calendar going - the one I bought on a holiday trip to the UK with my late sister (which is another reason the holidays will never ever be the same again).

I'm interested in when most people do their holiday decorating.  In our family growing up we always waited until Dec 1 for the outdoor lights, wreath etc and the tree never went up until, at the earliest two weeks before Christmas.  I know though some people start in as soon as the Halloween decorations are down.

Edited 18 hours ago by Dimity

[GHScorpiosRule]

2 minutes ago, Dimity said:

I'm interested in when most people do their holiday decorating.  I

From what I understand and have seen, they usually go up after the Thanksgiving holiday/weekend. I'm behind this year!

But I ordered some new battery operated garland wreaths and lights for my balcony.

I remember one Christmas when my dad went all out. We lived in a garden apartment, with a small space for gardening and he had planted roses that bloomed every spring and summer. But, I digress.

He bought that fake snow foam and sprayed our front window with Merry X-Mas, got a tree, and we decorated it and Santa put the presents there (We were 7 and 4, okay?) I got a doctor's kit and played doctor checking in on my patient, who was my Dad. And that was the year of the 3-4 foot snow!!!

I was thinking about getting a real tree this year, but I just don't know that the branches would hold my collectibles-some are very heavy.  So it's back to pulling out my prelit fake tree.

[Spartan Girl]

This was a great idea for a thread!

I too am trying to enjoy the holidays. The Christmas tree farm opened a week before Thanksgiving, so we got it earlier this year. We also put up our "Snoopy" tree, which used to be the "kids tree," but over the years, I've gotten so many Peanuts ornaments from Hallmark that the kiddie ornaments were all phased lol.

Looking forward to starting our traditional driving around to look at Christmas lights. Unfortunately, last year some of the nicer houses that usually have their lights professionally done didn't participate last year, but there are still some big houses in Okemos (I live in Lansing, MI) that got all out.

[Turquoise]

2 hours ago, Dimity said:

I'm interested in when most people do their holiday decorating.  

I generally decorate around Thanksgiving (a holiday we celebrate with Mr. Turquoise's family out of state), but this year our tree and most of the decorations went up the weekend after the election. I needed something cheery to focus on. Then the following weekend the grands did their tree at our house, and the weekend before Thanksgiving I put up my parents'. Mom still loves the decorations but is not up to doing them herself. I enjoy the decorations and pretty lights, and like to have them up more than a few weeks. They will come down sometime after New Year's.

[Ohiopirate02]

2 hours ago, Dimity said:

I'm interested in when most people do their holiday decorating.  In our family growing up we always waited until Dec 1 for the outdoor lights, wreath etc and the tree never went up until, at the earliest two weeks before Christmas.  I know though some people start in as soon as the Halloween decorations are down.

I don't decorate until after Thanksgiving mostly because I live with my mom and she does Thanksgiving for the entire family. Our living room is not large enough to accommodate 7 adults and 2 kids (at a minimum) plus a Christmas tree. This year the decorations came down on Black Friday and the tree was up by Saturday. We are an artificial tree family due to living in an area where our only options for a live tree are to buy one that was cut in September or October at a lot or drive 10-12 hours round trip to cut down our own. Also, my dad grew up in an Ukrainian Catholic family where Christmas was celebrated on January 6th and we have always kept our tree up that whole time. Aint no way a live tree is going to last that long.

I do not do outdoor decorations. Did them once for the one Christmas when my niece and nephew were here, and will not do them again. I don't trust myself on a ladder for that long. We've had some inflatables for a few years until they died and now cost too much to replace.

[PRgal]

The first night of Chanukkah falls on Christmas night this year.  Can't wait to have spring rolls to celebrate the oil (we do takeout Chinese every Christmas and have Christmas dinner on the weekend before 12/25).  Yes, we will still have latkes.  Just not on the first night.  Unfortunately, we're not sure where we're going to get our latkes from this year.  The neighbourhood store that has what my husband and I think are one of the best latkes in the city closed that location back in March.

[Bastet]

I usually get my tree around the 10th, and decorate then, but I'm hoping to get the decorating done this week.  I'm not sure if I'm going to bother with outside lights this year; I didn't last year, and kind of missed it, but didn't miss all that ladder time.  We'll see. 

[EtheltoTillie]

4 hours ago, PRgal said:

The first night of Chanukkah falls on Christmas night this year.  Can't wait to have spring rolls to celebrate the oil (we do takeout Chinese every Christmas and have Christmas dinner on the weekend before 12/25).  Yes, we will still have latkes.  Just not on the first night.  Unfortunately, we're not sure where we're going to get our latkes from this year.  The neighbourhood store that has what my husband and I think are one of the best latkes in the city closed that location back in March.

Fear not, you can easily make your own latkes!  I encourage this. It's such an easy dish.  This has been discussed in the food thread.  Need a recipe, I will provide. 

[Absolom]

6 hours ago, PRgal said:

The neighbourhood store that has what my husband and I think are one of the best latkes in the city closed that location back in March.

They're easy.  Everyone I know who has them, makes their own.  Maybe a new family project?

[PRgal]

Just now, Absolom said:

They're easy.  Everyone I know who has them, makes their own.  Maybe a new family project?

Not a bad idea! :) I lack the patience to grate all those potatoes though.  LOL.....  Maybe I'll get my son to help. 

[EtheltoTillie]

 

14 minutes ago, PRgal said:

Not a bad idea! :) I lack the patience to grate all those potatoes though.  LOL.....  Maybe I'll get my son to help. 

We use the food processor!  Have been doing so for 40 years.  Stay tuned recipe coming up. 

So it really takes only minutes to get the batter ready.

Latke recipe:

3 regular potatoes (Idaho?  Russet).  One large onion or two small.    Essentially a three-to-one ratio.  Some matzoh meal.  One or two eggs. 

Oil for frying.

Peel potatoes.  Peel onions.  Cut into sizes that will fit through the feed tube.  Some people do not like latkes with onions.  If you are among them, I suppose you could just follow this recipe without the onions. 

Put potatoes and onions through the food processor on the shredding disk.  Some people like the latkes with shreds and stop there.  I like more of a ground mixture, so I then change to the regular blade and grind the mixture to a coarse grind.

Squeeze this mixture through cheesecloth and remove all liquid as best you can.  Let drain and spoon up any potato starch you see back into the mix.  Add salt and pepper to taste.

Add the eggs and add the matzoh meal in an amount that sort of makes sense to you.  Mix up.  Cover and chill for a while.

Then form into patties and fry in say a half inch of oil in your frying pan.  I like cast iron, but you don't have to.  Fry on one side till brown and turn over and fry the other side.  That's it!

Serve with your choice of apple sauce or sour cream. 

The delicious flavor is created by the frying/browning and the onions.  This is really a peasant recipe.  No refinement whatsoever. 

Edited 7 hours ago by EtheltoTillie

[PRgal]

6 minutes ago, EtheltoTillie said:

 

We use the food processor!  Have been doing so for 40 years.  Stay tuned recipe coming up. 

So it really takes only minutes to get the batter ready.

Latke recipe:

3 regular potatoes (Idaho?  Russet).  One large onion or two small.    Essentially a three-to-one ratio.  Some matzoh meal.  One or two eggs. 

Oil for frying.

Peel potatoes.  Peel onions.  Cut into sizes that will fit through the feed tube.  Some people do not like latkes with onions.  If you are among them, I suppose you could just follow this recipe without the onions. 

Put potatoes and onions through the food processor on the shredding disk.  Some people like the latkes with shreds and stop there.  I like more of a ground mixture, so I then change to the regular blade and grind the mixture to a coarse grind.

Squeeze this mixture through cheesecloth and remove all liquid as best you can.  Let drain and spoon up any potato starch you see back into the mix.  Add salt and pepper to taste.

Add the eggs and add the matzoh meal in an amount that sort of makes sense to you.  Mix up.  Cover and chill for a while.

Then form into patties and fry in say a half inch of oil in your frying pan.  I like cast iron, but you don't have to.  Fry on one side till brown and turn over and fry the other side.  That's it!

Serve with your choice of apple sauce or sour cream. 

The delicious flavor is created by the frying/browning and the onions.  This is really a peasant recipe.  No refinement whatsoever. 

Thank you!  I've never used my food processor with anything other than the chopper blade.  LOL.  I'm not even sure where I put the other parts! :D 

[Absolom]

5 minutes ago, EtheltoTillie said:

Squeeze this mixture through cheesecloth

We use a coffee filter.  We like them potatoey so shredded works for us and no or barely any onion.  We aren't even Jewish, but SIL is.  The one person who does not participate in making them.  :)  

[PRgal]

8 minutes ago, Absolom said:

We use a coffee filter.  We like them potatoey so shredded works for us and no or barely any onion.  We aren't even Jewish, but SIL is.  The one person who does not participate in making them.  :)  

Lack of patience like me or because it's not like her bubbe's?

[EtheltoTillie]

16 minutes ago, PRgal said:

Thank you!  I've never used my food processor with anything other than the chopper blade.  LOL.  I'm not even sure where I put the other parts! :D 

If you can’t find the shredding disk, then just cut the ingredients in smaller chunks and pulse with the regular blade

[Absolom]

If he can get his mama or his mama-in-law to do them, he'll gladly go outside and do the meat.   We do get after him if he isn't doing something.  One year he was stuck with all the shopping.  I think he makes sure he needs to fire up a grill or smoker now.

Since it will be Christmas evening this year, I expect daughter's MIL will do the shredding. 

[Blergh]

Speaking of food, one tradition Mama has always insisted upon (from at least my earliest childhood) is that we must eat breakfast before we open a single present on Christmas Day.

Does anyone have that in their families? I'm not sure where she got that from but then she also insists on not telling or being told of any dreams until after breakfast to prevent bad ones from coming true!

[Dimity]

6 minutes ago, Blergh said:

Speaking of food, one tradition Mama has always insisted upon (from at least my earliest childhood) is that we must eat breakfast before we open a single present on Christmas Day.

 

Our tradition with my own kids was that they could get up anytime after 6, ideally 7 or 8 (dare to dream) and they opened their stockings first, then we'd have cinnamon rolls and coffee for the grown ups and then they opened their presents. 

My husband's father was French Canadian so his family had   réveillon so he got his presents after Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve.  Luckily for me he was more than happy to embrace my family's tradition of sleep at night and presents in the morning!

[Bastet]

We open presents first, then have Bloody Marys.

[Mountainair]

We kind of had that tradition. My dad and Grandpa were (are) church organists and my grandparents lived an hour away. We would always pack up the car with Christmas presents in the morning and drive to them or have to wait for them to get to us before we could open anything. If Christmas was on a Sunday, well, that was even worse. We were only allowed our stocking until we got together, then we’d sit on the couch with breakfast and go one present at a time. And there were always plenty! It was a whole day thing which I kind of miss with my own kids but I took the opposite approach with my kids. No church, I make breakfast but I don’t expect them to eat it. They start with stockings and then have to wait for me and Dad to be coffee-d and bathroom-ed before they can start. They get to open a few gifts at a time but not a free for all. 
 

Late morning my in-laws come over for breakfast and my parents come over for dinner. 
We do a big Christmas Eve with my in-laws and family (14) of us where my mother in law makes her soup and we have a sandwich platter, decorate cookies, the kids open gifts and the adults play White Elephant. We lost my mother in law back in April so this is a season of firsts for all of us and we are trying to keep her traditions alive. 

[Annber03]

When I was a kid, our tradition was that we'd always go over to my grandma's house on Christmas Eve and spend time with her and our relatives, and we'd open all our presents we got from them and vice versa there. 

Then my family would go home, and my parents would let my sister and me each open one gift. And then we'd save he rest for Christmas morning - my sister and I would sit in our room and wait until our parents told us we could come out and then we'd all open presents and have breakfast. 

That is easily my most cherished Christmas memory. I was always so excited for Christmas/winter break to roll around when I was in school, both 'cause it meant I had a week and a half or so off from school :p, and also because it meant I'd get to go to my grandma's house. I very vividly remember standing in my kitchen with my little bag of stuff I would always take with me to my grandma's house (sure, I'd only be there for a few hours, but I still brought notebooks and pens and my favorite doll and a book or two to read, and stuff that my grandma and I could play with together). I also remember my school bus driver always giving us kids candy canes as we got off the bus for the holiday. 

(I also remember our teachers taking the afternoon of the last day before break and turning that into a fun movie afternoon, where all the kids would gather in someone's classroom or the gym or something and just watch a movie and have some snacks :p.)

Regarding decorations, my mom's been spending this past Thanksgiving putting up most of our Christmas decorations. We try to get that stuff set out over Thanksgiving break/the first week of December if we're able. I wish we still had our "Merry Christmas" banner from when I was a kid - the letters alternated red and green, and when my parents put that up and the movie Christmas Vacation was on TV, that was always the unofficial start of the holidays for me. 

We don't have a tree, 'cause our apartment is super tiny and we just don't really have the room for it. But my mom has a few mini tree decorative statues and such that she puts out that are kind of our makeshift "tree". 

12 hours ago, Turquoise said:

I enjoy the decorations and pretty lights, and like to have them up more than a few weeks. They will come down sometime after New Year's.

This reminds me of an episode of the original Roseanne where Dan's getting out the Christmas lights so he can hang them up, and they're all tangled up and he and Fred are trying to untangle them. Fred asks Dan why he doesn't take the time to just neatly organize the lights when putting them away so that they don't get all messed up, and Dan looks at him and goes, "Yeah, like that's how I want to spend my Easter Sunday!" :p. 

[kittykat]

We did the open one gift up on Christmas Eve as well.  Usually it was a movie to watch that night or a new pair of pajamas but I loved the sneak preview gift.

We only decorate the inside and oh my lord Mr. Kat and I had an ordeal getting lights up on the inside.  We don't really decorate the outside but we have a lot of homemade arts and crafts from myself and the 7yo we hang up.

Our tree is pretty much the centerpiece of the living room.  I just ordered a new rug for the front of the fireplace and now it's on to the Christmas cookie baking list.  I just stockpile eggs and butter from Costco so I'm good to go.