Holiday Bingo

(Click on photo to enlarge)


It's Christmas Eve!!

My family will gather soon for an evening filled with fun and games, lots of good food, presents to open and.....Holiday Bingo!

I wish for all my blogging friends, whether you celebrate Christmas or not, joy and peace during this holiday season!

More Decorations

Last week I posted about my angel band. Here are some more decorations that I originally shared on my Yahoo 360 blog. You can click on the photos to enlarge them for better viewing.


This first photo is my mantle full of Christmas "stuff". I've added quite a few items in recent years, but some of these things are 40 or 45 years old! We use to actually use the dog salt and pepper shakers on our dinner table. I like them best. And how about that little egg whisk!

I assume we got this Nativity set in 1963, the year stamped on the bottom of each piece, and it's been my responsibility to set up ever since. Well, maybe I had a little help those first few years. Only during my college years did it stay packed away during the holidays. There use to be a light bulb that nestled above the star painted in the background and I could sit forever in the darkness, viewing the scene by "starlight" and marveling at the miracle of Christmas.

iPod Roulette - 2010 Holiday Edition

This is the time of year I keep my car's satellite radio tuned to Christmas music. There are several holiday stations to choose from, but I prefer the one called "Holiday Traditions" which plays music from the 40s, 50s, and 60s. Think Frank Sinatra, Nat King Cole, Andrews Sisters, Glenn Miller, Bing Crosby and the like.

I have a much wider variety of Christmas music in my iTunes library. I didn't post an iPod Roulette entry in December of last year, but looking back at my entry from 2008 find it odd that with more than 300 songs to choose from I ended up with several repeats this year. I still question the "randomness" of the iPod shuffle feature. Oh well. I spent an entire evening listening to Christmas music, but here are the first 15 that came up.

1. We'll Sing You A Christmastime (American Boyschoir) - There's nothing quite like a good boyschoir.

2. God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen (various artists) - This instrumental album titled "Peaceful Christmas" features harp, flute, english horn, cello, and guitar.

3. Santa Claus is Coming to Town (Pointer Sisters) - A very 80s sound, but it's fun.

4. Silent Night (Phil Keaggy) - An instrumental album, one of my very favorites.

5. It Just Don't Feel Like Christmas (Rihanna) - I'm not sure how I ended up with this!

6. Silent Night (The Temptations) - I got this as a free download from iTunes.

7. Up On the Housetop (Pete Jacobs Orchestra) - Big Band music from the 40s.

8. I Believe in You (Sinead O'Connor) - From the "A Very Special Christmas 2" album.

9. Up On the Housetop (The Jackson 5) - Back when Michael was a child.

10. O Holy Night (Al Green) - I love to hear the Rev. Al sing.

11. The Little Drummer Boy (Peggy Lee) - This is my younger daughter's favorite version of "Little Drummer Boy". I like it, but I like Mandisa's version better.

12. White Christmas (Bing Crosby) - A classic. What more can I say?

13. Once in David's Royal City (The Chieftans) - From their "Bells of Dublin" album.

14. Mary's Little Boy Child (Harry Belafonte) - This is from the same album as the boyschoir from #1.

15. I Saw Three Ships (Bronn Journey) - Another instrumental album.

Angel Band

I do my share of grumbling when it comes to decorating for Christmas and if my younger daughter didn't always help me, it just might not get done.

This little band of angels is one of my favorite Christmas decorations. I don't recall where they came from, but I've set them out for as many years as I can remember! They're really nothing special... just little painted pieces of plastic. If you click to enlarge the photo, you'll notice one is even missing its stand. I don't remember when or how that happened, it may have always been that way. No matter, though, these angels are special to me and I look forward to setting them out each year.

A Christmas Shell

This is the purse I would always pull out of my closet to use all through the holiday season, sometimes even into January. I bought it in a craft booth at a music festival many years ago.

You may remember from an earlier post that I now have a new purse, a Miche Bag, which allows me to change the shell to match my outfit (or my mood).
Remember this photo?

As one of my birthday gifts this fall I picked out a holiday shell for my Miche Bag. They only had a few to choose from and several of those were a little too "glitzy" for everyday use. This one, though, seemed to be just right! Understated, yet still festive!

Deck the Halls

I couldn't resist sharing this clip I got in an e-mail from my sister-in-law. Enjoy!

January girlies

I wondered how we would make it through the holidays with our rambunctious Alice and Mabel. Somewhere around a year old, they still have all their puppy exuberance, but both weigh a good 35-40 pounds. Have we trained them any? Not much, so it's a struggle sometimes to keep them from jumping up and being obnoxious in general.

Thanksgiving was only immediate family this year and I kept them closed in their room (the sun porch) until we finished eating. At Christmas they were banished to the back yard a good part of the time. I knew better than to trust them with the Christmas tree (more fear of them knocking it over than anything else), so it was moved back to the piano room behind a baby gate, the same as when Esther and Betty (and JJ) were young. They were only set free once the gifts had been opened and the paper cleaned up.

Betty has suffered some health issues lately (I won't go into detail) and has lost quite a bit of weight. She seemed to be feeling the cold, so we bought her a coat. In the past she has despised any type of clothing we've forced her to wear, but I think she really likes the warmth her new coat provides. Check her out! (tail and mouth in motion)

I was in the right place at the right moment to capture this photo of Alice, Esther and Mabel looking out the window together. Alice (Miss Busybody) frequently looks out the window, but Mabel rarely does.... and especially not when Esther is standing there.

Hard to believe we were in the midst of our first puppy drama this time last year. I sure hope things are calmer on the "dog front" in 2010!

Favorite Five - Holiday Eating/Drinking

I'm sure all of you have certain snacks, dishes or drinks that you associate with specific holidays. You know... Grandma's plum pudding at Christmas or Aunt Sally's homemade peach ice cream on the 4th of July. Or maybe it's just the candy corn you always buy for Halloween.

My family does a lot of holiday eating. We often try new recipes, but there are a few staples that I always look forward to. Here are some of my favorite holiday treats:

1. Cornbread Dressing - I've been making dressing for Thanksgiving since my mother died when I was 17. My version might be a wee bit different from hers, but I still follow her advice for keeping it moist. "When you think it's sloppy enough, add a little more broth!"

2. Stuffed Eggs - Some folks call them deviled eggs. No matter what they're called, they're wonderful. In recent years my younger daughter has taken over the task of preparing them for our holiday celebrations.

3. Cadbury Eggs - This treat is only available in our area at Easter. Not only do I love them, so do my kids. I'll never forget the look on my son's face when he saw his first Cadbury vending machine in the London underground a few years ago.

4. Sun Dried Tomato & Pesto Torte - Cheese is one of my absolute favorite foods! I treat myself and my sister to this yummy snack each holiday season.

5. Sparkling Catawba Juice - There wasn't much alcohol in our household when I was growing up. My dad knew he couldn't drink, therefore we just didn't have it around. Instead, we toasted special occasions with non-alcoholic Catawba juice. Though I no longer drink, during my "partying" days I preferred Catawba to real Champagne. Welch's sells several varieties, but the sparkling white grape juice remains my favorite.

Have you got any favorite holiday treats?

The Day After

Looking around our house tonight you'd never know we just celebrated Christmas. I've never been one for keeping the decorations up after the fact, so the afternoon was spent UNdecorating.... not nearly as much fun as putting it out. Mission accomplished. Everything is back to normal in the house.

I wish I could say the same for everything outside. In yesterday's post I mentioned the large amount of rain we got in a short amount of time on Christmas Eve. Turns out the damage to our pond was much more extensive this time around. The gravel we had brought in for the repairs a month back is all gone, along with most of the road around it. Many of the items kept under our equipment shed are now somewhere out in the surrounding woods. The good news is that the pond is still holding for the moment. The bad news is that rain is in the forecast again for the coming week and it's too wet to try and make temporary repairs.

When I think of the horrible weather people across the US have been faced with the past few days I feel a little guilty moaning about our problems. They might seem trivial by comparison... but they matter to me.

Christmas 2009

What a wonderful Christmas we've had !! Things got off to an iffy start. The weather system working its way across the south decided to stop over us and dump more than 6 inches of rain in just a few hours. We seriously feared for our pond since the area we had just repaired from the flood this fall started washing again! So far, though, things are holding.

The bulk of our celebrating takes place on Christmas Eve and by mid-afternoon everyone had gathered at our house to begin the festivities. The afternoon and evening were filled with lots of laughter, game playing, gift opening, photo taking, and of course.... eating.

There were several new recipes on the menu, but my younger daughter's cookies were the hit of the holiday. I'll leave you with a photo and the recipe:

Gingerbread Sandwich Trees

contributed to Simple & Delicious by Steve Foy of Kirkwood, MO

3/4 cup butter, softened
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg
3/4 cup molasses
4 cups all-purpose flour
3 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
1-1/2 tsp. baking soda
1-1/4 tsp. ground ginger
1/4 tsp. salt
M&M's miniature baking bits
3/4 cup vanilla frosting
1/4 cup confectioners' sugar
Green food coloring, optional

In a large bowl, cream butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Add egg and molasses. Combine the flour, pumpkin pie spice, baking soda, ginger and salt; gradually add to creamed mixture and mix well. Cover and refrigerate for 2 hours or until easy to handle.

On a lightly floured surface, roll dough to 1/8-in. thickness. Cut with a floured 3-in. tree-shaped cookie cutter. Place 2 in. apart on ungreased baking sheets. Gently press baking bits into half of the cookies.

Bake at 325F for 8-10 minutes or until edges are firm. Remove to wire racks to cool completely.

In a small bowl, combine frosting and confectioners' sugar until smooth; tint green if desired. Spread over the bottoms of plain cookies; top with decorated cookies. Store in the refrigerator.

Favorite Five - Holiday Songs

I love Christmas music! I like to listen to it and I love to sing along. I have Christmas albums (the vinyl stuff) and Christmas CDs plus lots of Christmas music in my iTunes. I've been a satellite radio subscriber for a number of years. XM Radio (now Sirius/XM) switches the programming on several of its channels to holiday music this time of year. There's Hanukkah music, Country Christmas, Holiday Pops (Classical), Holly (Contemporary) and my personal favorite, Holiday Traditions (music from the 40s, 50s and 60s). Whether at home or in my car, I can surround myself with holiday music. It's a feast for the ears!

Considering I enjoy most all Christmas music, both sacred and secular, it's really tough to pick just five as favorites. Some songs I prefer specific versions, others I love no matter who is singing. I'll see if I can narrow it down...

1. Do You Hear What I Hear? - This is one I really like by anyone, but Whitney Houston does a nice version of it. I use to sing it year round when I was a little girl. I would ride my bicycle to my aunt's house then ride round and round the tree in the middle of her driveway, singing it at the top of my lungs!

2. White Christmas - Bing Crosby's is the best. Would you believe I've never seen the movie?

3. The Christmas Song - No one can really sing this one like Nat King Cole. I have several versions, but his tops them all.

4. Little Drummer Boy - This didn't become a favorite until I heard Mandisa's upbeat version in concert last year. The drum solo in it is awesome!!

5. Carol of the Bells - Another one that I enjoy by anyone. One of the segments from Claymation Christmas uses this piece.

I won't try to list any runners up. There would be too many!

So.... what are some of your faves?

Christmas Reading Challenge

Petty Witter had an entry recently about a Christmas Reading Challenge she was participating in. Normally I don't go for things like that since it can be a burden having to stick with a schedule or specific books. However, this challenge sounded fun and didn't seem too difficult. I already had two holiday books in my TBR stack and figured I could easily find a third. I completed the challenge last night, with time to spare! Here's what I read:

1. Home for the Holidays by Rebecca Kelly - Part of the "Tales From Grace Chapel Inn" series from Guideposts. I mentioned in an earlier post that I thought this book was probably the last one I would receive in the series. They are light reading, but always inspiring and uplifting with their Christian message.

2. The Christmas Dog by Melody Carlson - Ms. Carlson also wrote several of the "Grace Chapel Inn" books. This, however, is a stand-alone book about a widow, her granddaughter, an odd neighbor and a dog that comes into their lives. Again, light reading... but that's the best kind for this busy time of year.

3. The Gift by Lauraine Snelling - This thin little book was buried in my stack from a past holiday season. Another widow (a young one this time), a widower, a boy, and a horse. Oh... and a dog, too! More light reading that was enjoyable enough.

The Night Before Christmas

"Now Dasher! now Dancer!
Now Prancer! and Vixen!
On Comet! on Cupid!
On ______! and Blitzen!"



There was a letter to Dear Abby recently ranting about the use (or perhaps misuse) of the name that fills the above blank. The writer insisted it should be "Donder" instead of the more frequently heard "Donner".


My copy of The Night Before Christmas by Clement C. Moore is a 1935 edition published by The Platt & Munk Co., Inc. of New York. It's the version I read over and over while growing up and, therefore, the version I like best. Neither Donner nor Donder.




How do you fill in the blank?

I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day

The message in church this morning was entitled "Seeking Peace on Earth" with Luke 2:10-14 as the scripture focus. Our pastor spoke of the time in his life when he first came to the realization that Christmas was not a magical happy time for everyone. It was while singing the hymn "I heard the Bells on Christmas Day", the second to last verse in particular. I did a little research on the hymn when I got home and found that the lyrics were taken from a poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow written during the American Civil War.

As we continue in this Advent season, may we keep all those who serve in the armed forces in our thoughts and prayers.

Christmas Bells

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

I heard the bells on Christmas Day

Their old familiar carols play,

And wild and sweet

The words repeat

Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

And thought how, as the day had come,

The belfries of all Christendom

Had rolled along

The unbroken song

Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

Till, ringing, singing on its way,

The world revolved from night to day,

A voice, a chime

A chant sublime

Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

Then from each black accursed mouth

The cannon thundered in the South,

And with the sound

The carols drowned

Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

It was as if an earthquake rent

The heart-stones of a continent,

And made forlorn

The household born

Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

And in despair I bowed my head;

"There is no peace on earth," I said;

"For hate is strong,

And mocks the song

Of peace on earth, good-will to men!"

Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:

"God is not dead; nor doth he sleep!

The Wrong shall fail,

The Right prevail,

With peace on earth, good-will to men!

Favorite Five - Holiday Specials

I figure I'd better get in a couple of Favorite Five posts pertaining to the holiday season. I'll begin with an easy one.

I'll admit, there are lots of Christmas movies I've never seen. They air all through the holidays, but I rarely sit down and watch any of them. I prefer the shorter Christmas TV specials... the ones geared towards kids.

Here's my top five list. Bet you won't have any trouble telling me yours, either!

1. National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation - Naturally this tops my list. After all, it made the cut for my "Favorite Five - Movies" entry. I noticed A&E had it on several times this past week. I saw bits and pieces, but will wait and watch it from start to finish closer to Christmas. I replaced my old VHS copy with a DVD this past year.

2. A Garfield Christmas - Jon, Odie and Garfield go home to the farm for Christmas with the parents, Doc Boy and Grandma. Silly in places, but leaves you with a warm feeling at the end.

3. Will Vinton's Claymation Christmas - This show first aired in 1987. I don't think I've missed it a single year since then. We originally taped it on VHS, then found it on DVD several years ago. Each "claymation" segment revolves around a different song. I think my favorites are "Joy to the World" and "O Christmas Tree".

4. A Charlie Brown Christmas - This one's a favorite from my childhood. (original air date: 1965) I miss it most years, but saw it scheduled for this past week and set up the DVR. I'm looking forward to watching it a little closer to Christmas. Also love the music in the show from the Vince Guaraldi Trio.

5. It's a Wonderful Life - A wonderful movie, a wonderful cast, and a wonderful message. Everyone should see it at least once in their life. It's been awhile for me. I need to remedy that.

More decorations

While on the topic of decorations, here are the links (if they work right) to a couple of entries from my old 360 blog.

This entry about our mantel is from Christmas 2007.

I wrote this entry mentioning our creche in 2006.

How lazy is this.... recycling old blog entries!!

Decorating

I don't remember when or why I began decorating so early for Christmas. I draw the line at starting before Thanksgiving, but anytime after the dishes have been washed and the leftovers put away is fair game. This year my younger daughter and I spread the work out between Friday and Saturday.

I'm not much of a "pack rat", but there are some things I have a hard time parting with, Christmas decorations being one of them. My dad hand painted our names on glass ornaments when I was a little girl. I still have one survivor. My mother was quite "crafty" and I treasure the tablecloth she made representing the "Twelve Days of Christmas". It's starting to look worn in places. I have many of the decorations my kids made over the years, though some of them stay in the boxes and don't get displayed anymore. Any sort of decorative container that a gift arrived in has been packed away to set out in following years.

Earlier this month we got some new flooring in a few areas of our home. It required moving lots of stuff around, so I took the opportunity to clean out. As we pulled out the boxes of Christmas decorations this weekend I realized I was still in clean-out mode. I'd recently made a plea in the church bulletin on behalf of our craft group asking for old decorations no longer being used. It was easy to sort through my decorations with a critical eye and move a number of them to a box for the church.

Perhaps someday I'll be able to put into practice the words of my favorite architect.

"Less is more".

Christmas recipes

I’ve been taking Simple & Delicious magazine (formerly Quick Cooking) for a number of years. A part of Reiman Publications, it’s a great magazine filled with easy, yet tasty recipes. Seldom does an issue arrive that I don’t find at least one recipe that I want to try. Here are three I served on Christmas Eve… all of them “keepers”. I was out of milk, so I subbed light soy milk in the baked pancake, I omitted the hot pepper sauce in the dip, and I made the pie in a glass pan, so I dropped the temperature by five degrees and baked it for a full hour.


Baked Blueberry Pancake
Submitted by Norna Detig of Lindenwood, IL

2 cups pancake mix
1½ cups fat-free milk
1 egg
1 Tbsp. canola oil
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries
Butter and maple syrup

In a large bowl, combine the pancake mix, milk, egg, oil and cinnamon just until blended (batter will be lumpy). Fold in blueberries (if using frozen, do not thaw).
Spread into a greased 15-in. x 10-in. x 1-in. baking pan. Bake at 400° for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown. Serve with butter and syrup. Yield: 6 servings.


Sun-Dried Tomato Dip
Submitted by Andrea Reynolds of Rocky River, OH

1 pkg. (8 oz.) cream cheese, softened
½ cup sour cream
½ cup mayonnaise
¼ cup oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes, drained and patted dry
½ tsp. salt
¼ tsp. pepper
¼ tsp. hot pepper sauce
2 green onions, sliced
Assorted crackers and/or fresh vegetables

Place the first seven ingredients in a food processor; cover and process until blended. Add green onions; cover and pulse until finely chopped. Serve with crackers and/or vegetables. Yield: 2 cups.


Pear Custard Pie
Submitted by Barbara Rea of Glenshaw, PA

1 sheet refrigerated pie pastry
3 medium ripe pears, peeled and thinly sliced
1 cup sugar
¼ cup all-purpose flour
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Unroll pasty into a 9-in. pie plate; flute edges. Place pears in pastry. In a small bowl, combine sugar and flour. Stir in the eggs, cream and vanilla. Pour over pears. Bake at 375° for 45-50 minutes or until a knife inserted near the center comes out clean.
Cool on a wire rack. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours. Yield: 6 servings.

Christmas 2008

Our family gets together on Christmas Eve rather than Christmas Day. This tradition began one year when our children were small and Christmas fell on a Sunday. We knew it would be hard to get them up, do “Santa”, open gifts and still get to church on time. So… we opened gifts the night before and it was such a success, we decided to continue doing it that way every year. With the kids older now and some having to spread their time between more than one place, it works out quite well.

Another tradition we began several years ago is our annual game of “Holiday Bingo”. I like to be the “caller” and pick out the prizes, simple stuff like candy, fishing lures and fun lip balms. Last round is a cover-the-board game for the grand prize, a Wal-Mart gift card. After bingo we open gifts then spend the rest of the evening playing games, visiting, watching TV or whatever. This year Older Daughter, her new husband, Younger Daughter and I had some serious competition going with the Pictionary game!

Rather than trying to have a sit-down meal, we found it’s much easier to provide an array of snack items. Chip & dip, cheese & crackers, mini sandwiches (turkey, ham, beef, goose), boiled shrimp and lots of desserts. More than enough for everyone!

Things were quiet here on Christmas Day. My husband came in from checking the livestock and announced we had a new arrival, so I visited the pasture that afternoon with camera in hand in hopes for a glimpse of the “Christmas calf”. No luck, she had it hidden somewhere. I did get a few pictures of the donkeys, though. Here’s one of the baby Jenny had in October. He has on his fuzzy winter coat! I also couldn’t resist taking a picture of this cow (or maybe it’s Bully??) curled up in a ball. Cute!

2008 Holiday Edition of iPod Roulette

1. The Bells of Dublin/Christmas Eve (The Chieftains) – “Bells of Dublin”
2. Christmas Song (Dave Matthews & Tim Reynolds) – “A Very Special Christmas 3”
3. It Came Upon a Midnight Clear (various artists) – “Peaceful Christmas” This album is all instrumental featuring harp, flute, English horn, cello and guitar.
4. I Saw Three Ships (Bronn Journey) – “Christmas Rose”
5. Greensleeves (Vince Guaraldi Trio) – “A Very Special Charlie Brown Holiday Collection”
6. O Holy Night (Aaron Neville) – “Aaron Neville’s Soulful Christmas”
7. Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (David Benoit Trio) – Another selection (but different artist) from “A Very Special Charlie Brown Holiday Collection”
8. Good Christian Men Rejoice (Phil Keaggy) – “Majesty & Wonder: An Instrumental Christmas” This has always been one of my favorite Christmas albums. .
9. We Wish You A Merry Christmas (Pete Jacobs Orchestra) – “Big Band Christmas”
10. Tonet, Ihr Pauken Erschallet, Trompeten (Leipzig University Chorus) – “Classical Christmas”
11. O Come All Ye Faithful (Nat King Cole) – “Now That’s What I Call Christmas! 3” He has one of the smoothest voices ever!
12. I Believe in You (Sinead O’Connor) – “A Very Special Christmas 2”
13. It’s Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas (Johnny Mathis) – “Now That’s What I Call Christmas! 3”
14. O Holy Night (Faith Hill) – A recent “Single of the Week” on iTunes.
15. Just Like Me (Vanessa Williams) – Yet another from “A Very Special Charlie Brown Holiday Collection”.

For my special “holiday edition” of iPod Roulette, I decided to bend the rules just a bit. It amazed me that with 275 songs to choose from it “randomly” selected four from the same album (The Chieftains). So…. unless the song was by a different artist, I skipped to the next song when there was a repeat. There were so many good artists that didn’t get played in this round, but hey… there’s still plenty of time for holiday music!