Christmas Crafting Everywhere

Creativity is all around! From one side of the Atlantic to the other, friends and family are getting into the holiday spirit.

In Prague, my niece Veronika and her friends made Advent wreaths to be used on the table. Four candles will be placed in the wreath and one will be burned every Sunday for the four weeks before Christmas Eve. In the photos the wreaths are without candles, but she says you can imagine how beautiful they will be with tall copper candles set next to the ribbon bows. The smell must be heavenly, too, with the fruit and fresh evergreens.

Here at the beach, the Girls Christmas and Craft party at Sherry's house was fun, festive and maybe just a little bit fattening. The eats were fantastic -- Sherry made a peppermint eggnog to die for. Everyone stayed until almost dark and the winter sunset was a gorgeous way to end a great afternoon with friends. Sherry's decorated mantle says it all, doesn't it?

Phyllis and Rooster's entire living room turns into a magical Christmas village each year. She said it takes her a good two weeks to get everything set up and I marvel she can do it that quickly. At the open house today, the grown-ups were as delighted and goggle-eyed as the little ones. Yummy munchies, hot apple cider and coffee put all of us in the holiday mood despite a thoroughly gray and dreary weather. I loved hearing the train chug around the town and the skaters on the ponds were my favorites of all.

Last and most assuredly least, here's my entry in the annual Gingerbread House Contest at the library. Following in the tradition of the collapsing Hurricane Ivan house, I created this Far Side-esqe display. Little Bob has been working hard to build his pretzel log cabin but danger is lurking in the Christmas tree forest.

I freely admit that I used caulking to stick everything together since I have no patience for making royal icing like you're supposed to.

Now, what shall I do for next year? Hmmm....

Whew!

The Thanksgiving cooking and cleaning up are finished for 2009. Now all we have to do is eat the leftover sweet potatoes, dressing, pole beans, ambrosia, apple pie and pumpkin pie. It's a tough job, but someone has to do it. This is the first time in 13 years I have cooked Thanksgiving dinner for the two of us. Well, actually, three of us if you count the Nervous Little Red Dog who used her secret weapon - the extremely powerful "Hypnotizer" - to con way too much chicken out of the Taller Half.

I wanted to get a couple of photos of the table and us before the chowing down began so I put the camera in the windowsill and set the self-timer. This was the first time I had tried this feature and wasn't sure what to expect. Well, actually, I expected it not to work at all. As my friends and family will attest - I don't need no stinkin' instructions. This time, though, I did read the manual first. You can flip the view screen around on my camera so aiming it was pretty easy. Ok, now, we're lined up...press the button...try not to trip over the chair leg getting back to the table (I'm still limping from the head-on collision of my toe and a chair leg 3 months ago). Beep...beep...beep...here we go...and the Nervous Little Red dog wakes up from her nap in time for her close-up. Ah, The best laid schemes o' Mice an' Men, Gang aft agley. You can add dogs to that equation now.

Happy Thanksgiving Ya'll!

Thanksgiving - the most family oriented of holidays, is upon us. All my life we made the trip to my uncle's home for the big feast. For years it was a short drive - only across town. Later the drive turned into a pleasant 90 minute jaunt. Since I moved to "LA" almost 20 years ago, it's been an overnight excursion because I'm too old to drive 10 hours in one day plus eat a massive home-cooked meal and clean up. (Yes, Aunt Tommie, I know the sterling doesn't go in the dishwasher and I'll dry it immediately so there aren't any water spots.) Actually, the spend-the-night deal is a public service I offer to the others drivers on I-65 - sleeping in the guest room and not behind the wheel of a Trailblazer loaded with the Nervous Little Red Dog and a dozen or so Tupperware containers full of leftovers.

The family is much smaller now. My brother and his family will be eating with his wife's parents and the Taller Half and I will be celebrating at home with more food than we can eat, football on TV and a long walk on the beach. After all the years of traveling, it's rather nice to stay put and nap on my own couch. Even though we are only two, family members who have passed are still with us in the funny stories we remember (with the details changing a wee bit year by year). My Grandmother's china and table linens are used on our table now and then there's the annual watching of the old home movies and never being able to identify some of the relatives (or were they neighbors?)

Mostly, though, the memories are still here in the recipes I use - some written, most just memorized with instructions only I understand. Three handsful of flour are about half a cup, the streak-o-lean in the pole beans is salt pork, and water cornbread doesn't have buttermilk in it. The "drunk sweet potatoes" have brandy in them and no matter what anyone tells you, you don't put the dressing in the turkey's butt - that's why it's called dressing not stuffing. The Taller Half really loves Stove Top but I just can't bring myself to serve it on Thanksgiving. He can have that anytime but good old cornbread dressing with plenty of sage is a once a year delicacy.

Here's the recipe for Uncle D's famous "drunk sweet potatoes. He served them to the kids too since the alcohol burns off during the cooking - or at least that's what he claimed. Maybe that's why the kids got so quiet...hmmm. Enjoy!

RD's Drunk Sweet Potatoes
☼ 4-5 medium size sweet potatoes
☼ 3/4 cup light brown sugar, firmly packed
☼ 1/3 cup water
☼ 2 tablespoons butter - use real butter!
☼ Orange zest - at least 1 tsp but more if you like it
☼ Brandy - it doesn't have to be the pricey stuff

Scrub the potatoes and boil them whole until they are tender. Cool for a bit then peel and cut in 1/2" slices. Melt butter in large saucepan and add water and brown sugar. Stir until sugar melts. Add zest. Add the potatoes and stir gently - try not to break them up. You can keep these covered on the back of the stove for now while everything else finishes up. Right before serving add a blurp (my mother's word) of brandy - 1/4 - 1/2 cup depending on your taste. Turn the burner up fairly high and bring the sauce to a good bubble. At this point I'd like to say if you are using a gas stove with an open flame, don't turn it on until after you pour in the brandy. Trust me, it's better this way. If you have any extra brandy you had better drink it before it goes bad!

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone. Enjoy your family and friends whether they are with you at the table or safely tucked into your heart.