Getting Ready for the Holidays.

Some of us celebrate Christmas, other Hanukka, but most cultures have some sort of celebration around the winter solstice. What do you do to get ready?

I make a gingerbread house - which really is for eating- not just for looking
I make fruit cakes - good ones, with lots of pecans!
and I make Christmas plum pudding,
and mince tarts
and shortbread

so you can see my background is British.

This week we will start on the Christmas cards, and hopefully I will get ahead of the marking and we will actually get some shopping done. :-)

We are having the neighbourhood Christmas pot-luck dinner at our house, so we will have to be ready earlier than usual. We usually don't decorate until a week before Christmas.

Needless to say, I have clipped pictures of plants, and other items for gardens and pasted the images on sheets of paper so my husband knows (1) what I want, and (2) where to get it.

At some point, when I was a child, my Dad decided to start new traditions. We had a seafood Christmas. He would order fresh shrimp, lobster, oysters, scallops, crab, smoked salmon...etc. Mom would make all these yummy dishes from them...sigh...I miss my Dad.

Seafood is different! He sounds like an interesting man.

He was!!!

I've started decorating the house this weekend. Hopefully will be done by next weekend.

I like my tarts in one piece - especially the cuter ones.

Our Christmas in California was pretty much the traditional one, but when we moved back here to Cape Cod, we found that our new in-laws also practiced a "fishy Christmas": clam pie on Christmas Eve, and Lobster Newburgh on Christmas Day! Pretty darn good, too!

Christmas Eve is big a seafood event in both my family & my DW's. It's an Italian thing. Have 7 types of fish on Christmas eve and you have good luck in the new year.

When we got married, we had to solve the "where do we go for Christmas Eve" issue. Neither of us cared too much about where we spent Christmas day

And how was it resolved, Dave? We never did the big Italian Christmas eve thing. Good thing since I don't eat fish.

We've kinda turned it into shellfish.

We spend Christmas Eve with my wife's family and go to Vermont with my family for a long weekend at Thanksgiving. (This year was the first time we didn't go in 8 years)

My DH's family (mom was Silcilian, dad Calabrese) never did the fish thing on Xmas Eve, but when his dad remarried, his Sicilian stepmom did. Not a crowd pleaser here. We always have lasagna or something like that (I'm allergic to shellfish). Dave, I know you still think lasagna is something you eat before the rest of the meal, but we have split it off and made it a meal of it's own. Then we'll have ham for Christmas day and leftovers of both for days after.

We usually start decorating the Friday after T'giving. I have a TON of decorations. If any of you remember from last year...the 14 trees LOL. But my cleaning helper couldn't come until yesterday and I didn't want to start until after the house was cleaned. And DH got his wheelchair in October. Things have been rearranged so he can get around the house and I'll have to figure where I can put everything so he won't be knocking down my collectibles. I might have to scale down (horrors!)

Also very into cookie baking. My oldest DGD has a good friend who is taking Culinary Arts and they both want to come and help (hurray!). Here's some of last years.

edit for something that didn't make sense lol

This message was edited Nov 26, 2007 7:56 AM

I don't eat shell fish either! Not a seafood person at all - some Italian!

Looks yummy Jan!

Thanks, Victor...they were

My little home gets packed to the rafters with christmas. Although Paul and I are both non practicing PaganChristianCatholicEpiscopalianAgnosticGnosticBudhists...so we try to encompass a little bit of everything. Our good friends call us "dabblers." I collect Santas, Buddhas, and Buyers Choice Carolers, along with anything holiday themed in teddy bears, especially Boyds Bears, and Steiff. Paul collects Hallmark Keepsake Ornaments: Star Wars. This year we are putting up 3 trees, and all of my other holiday stuff...
Food wise: My family does the typical (for NE Pa) mix of Italian/Irish/English/anything else dinner fare. Fish, homemade Raviolis, Lobster (if I buy), Shrimp, Pagash, Pirioghi(sp?), Gnocchi, Shepherds Pie, I can't remember everything. Paul's stepmom makes about 40 different types of cookies...I believe she's starting to get the dough ready soon.
Up until we got Iris, I would go crazy with Amaryllis, and Ponsettias, but with them being a bit poisonous, not so much.
So, between decorating, baking, eating, shopping, watering, cleaning, rearranging furniture, etc...It's crazy here at the Thom-n-Paul house from about Turkey day, until the first week of december...lol.

Christmas concerts at each kid's school ...
Now, Christmas concerts at each grandkid's school.

Making cookies with each of the daughters ...
Now, making cookies with Taelar until Morgan is old enough.

A tangerine in the toe of each stocking to be eaten before the gifts are unwrapped.

The youngest ambulatory child passing out the gifts on Christmas morning.
Now, the youngest ambulatory grandchild passing out the gifts (this could be a job that would take all morning!!)

The year that my youngest daughter opened all of the gifts with a name on them and started with the letter "A". She had just begun to recognize letters. Her name began with "A". But then, so did her older sister! THAT was a memorable Christmas!!

Looking for the brightest star in the sky on Christmas morning.

So many great memories.

Thom!!! You live!!!!!

I've got 2 of my artificial trees up already - a 3 1/2 ft chrystal tree in the kitchen, and a 4 1/2 ft moose tree in the foyer that I just finished tonight. 1 more 3 ft tree (dogs) in the living room, and then the main live tree in a week or so. This year the theme will be birds. I rotate themes.

I make tons of cookies for 2 large office parties, friends and family. Making some for a wedding this weekend.

Last year we went to The City, and are going again this weekend, not sure if that will become a tradition. The Rockettes were outstanding!

Usually the Saturday before Christmas we get together with my family - 30 or so of us.

Christmas Eve dinner, after church, is an extremely rich filet mignon over garlic roasted potatoes, oh so good. But too good to have more than once a year. Then we open gifts, and go to bed aroung 2.

And Christmas Day is all relaxation.

Somewhere in there we also go out of town to see my father in law.

Wow - that's a full schedule! I'd like to see photos of those trees.

I got most of everything done - my shopping and even most of the wrapping. I did that tonight LOL. I have had my cards ready to mail out now for about a month. I just like to be on top of things because with 2 little ones there isn't much time to spare. The outside of the home is decorated......we are now waiting for my dh to get home from his business trip do decorate the inside of the house - that is the fun part....the kids love helping.

Things left to do - gingerbread houses for the girls
Visit Santa at the mall
Actually mail out the cards LOL
I may even attempt to make xmas cookies with the kids this year for the first time. I am not much of a baker so this should be fun and funny!!

I LOVE THIS TIME OF YEAR!!!! WAHOOOOOOOOOO!!!!

How do you really feel about it?

Wow Dawn!!! I can only imagine what you do on a stress-free year!

Thom, Glad your back!

Jan, I've missed you! We've been ships passing in the night. Holiday meals w/o a pasta course?? But, then again, what would I expect from someone who thinks Buffalo has the best apizza? ;^)
Hope you are doing well.

I enjoy collecting pieces for and displaying a Dept 56 Dicken's Village. My plants no longer allow space for a Christmas tree. But, at a moments notice, I could change my mind and pull it out as it is just a table top/3 footer. Someday, I will live in a slightly larger home and will have room for both. I also like making cookies with my SIL and nieces. I also let each niece make her own gingerbread house. I get the kits at Trader Joe's. This year I am doing a cookie swap at work. I am looking forward to it and dreading it at the same time. I have a small oven and will have to make around 4 dozen cookies. I also have every weekend booked up so I will have to do it after work during the week! Yikes!

I forgot about that...Paul also collects the Christmas villages/people/tree/landscape doodads. So a few of our bookshelves get unbooked, and villaged. LOL. 2 new verbs? lol. We should, if any are so inclined, just post pics of our holiday decor? yes/no...for all others to view/share with...not sure if this is/has been done in prior years, as this will be my first holiday season on DG. yeah!!!!!!

I agree. If it has not already begun. Let's start a Holiday Decor thread.

Sure - I'd like to see it.

Hokey is okey-dokey, Emily.....after all, it's the holidays and lots of sentimental favorites can border on tacky and still be fun this time of year. When my DH and I first got married, he was a colored lights on the tree guy (nostalgic) and I liked the simple white lights. My son sided with my DH and so I made a deal with them....colored tree lights that year because I was outnumbered, and white lights every other year to be fair. Well, it's now 19 years later and we've always had colored lights. I just go with the tradition now.

We'll be at my son's for Christmas, so we went on and decorated here so we'll have time to enjoy it before we come north. My favorite thing is decorating the tree with all the sentimental, special ornaments - many of which were gifts from students and law clerks over the years, as well as those cool ornaments made by our kids when they were little. Here's a shot of our tree, etc. You will notice that my wreath above our fireplace looks bizarre....I have to take it down and rework the lights. The greens over the fireplace look prettier in person. They didn't photograph well.

I am looking forward to seeing everyone's decorations.

This message was edited Nov 28, 2007 11:18 AM

Very nice Louise!

Thom, I like your new verbs. As long as you get "villaged" and not "pillaged" you'll do okay!

Louise ~ how beautiful!

Louise thats lovely!! Love the boughs above the fireplace!

And you just gotta have a football coach!

Holiday decor thread here:
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/793780/