Is that Farenheit, Terri? That's cold! Love the stocking! Very Merry!
Love the chococlates, and the cashews, and the cashews covered with the chocolates! Love it all! MMMMMMMMM! Tasty!
Christmas in the tropics
Yes, and chocolate brazils are yummy!! mince pies with brandy butter and cream... and .shotbread...ummm
sending love to you all! and a christmas cracker..
We'll take the love and the cracker!!!!!! Never tried mince pie, brandy butter and cream sounds good! You are going to make me hungry...and it's bed time!!!!! LOL!
Isn't it strange, I've just woken up my daughter for school and you are going to bed!!! another world away.......
sweet dreams....
Never tried a mince tart ...that's sad. You do eat christmas cake in America don't you? and what about steamed Christmas pudding?
What about the tropical area ...do you folk eat those?
We do (silly in the heat ).I have noticed that a lot of people are now choosing the Italian Panatone ...once you had to search for it now there seems to be more of them for sale than Christmas cakes.
We have plenty of cake, but none that I know of that is strictly known as "The Christmas Cake".....what is it made of? I like cake! LOL!
Haven't seen a Christmas cracker in nearly 40 years Terri! Do they still have hats inside?
Here is a picture of the reindeer that are at my house.
Candy was having a bad antler day
Texasgal! never tried a mince pie, unbelieveable!!!! I can't remember a christmas without them.
Christmas cake, is like a mixed fruit and spice cake, usually with icing on the top.
I have been experimenting with the different mince pies on offer for about the last month!!! I needed to make sure we get the best ones for christmas!!!! The best are really my Mum's homemade ones, her pastry melts in your mouth.
I must dash to chase the squirrel that is helping himself to my holly berries outside the back door!!!!!!!!!
The cracker's still have hats, a silly toy and rubbish jokes, but we always have them at Christmas!!
How fun. The Danes are really great letting you dress them. I remember the Christmas crackers from my childhood. Don't know how or why we had them in Texas but there was usually one in my stocking. The kids of today I think expect an iPod or iPhone. I would guess that Christmas cake is the origin of the fruit cake. Many jokes here about it being passed one to another year after year. My mother and grandmother made them at home and there was never a piece left. Great memories.
Morning Christi!
Acually the dogs don't like being dresses up at all, we had to bribe Braveheart with food...Candy doesn't like the antlers either, but she likes to be dressed with a lei and loves to have her nails polished when my granddaughter comes to visit.
Have you all done your Christmas shopping yet? Frank and I don't exchange gifts, and all the younger members of the family get cash so they can go to the malls after Christmas to hit the sales, it's my granddaughter's idea of heaven! Lots of folks here fly over to Honolulu to do their shopping at this time of year as we are somewhat limited for stores compared to most cities.
All the jokes about fruit cake! Frank LOVES it!
This is Hannah, our 15 year old Westie in her younger days. She would wear those glasses and sunvisor for miles while sitting on the dash of the motorhome. Almost wrecked cars coming and going. She knew she was cute. Have a lot of other costumes she wore but will have to go through stacks of pictures to find them. She just wears her winter corduroy coat now. Not much Christmas shopping. Same here, as for gifts of money, gifts certificates, etc. Little to find that they don't already have. Mike and I also don't exchange gifts. We are just grateful to still have each other.
Oh Hannah is a little darling!
Yes cash instead of pressys work here too, and we still have Chrismas crackers and wear the silly paper crowns around the table after we pop the crackers it makes for lots of laughter as we all look so funny. We offer mince tarts(mince pies) nuts fruitcake and shortbread to visitors.
Those four legged people are so cute! do they get a voucher to go shopping too? :)
Wedding cakes in australia are usually that same fruitcake with marzipan icing,we love fruitcake here but I have heard that most Americans don't understand or like it.
Stay safe everyone
chrissy
My opinion is that they have never had the *homemade* variety. That in the retail stores is horrid. Mostly flour and hard as a brick. There is a company, that shall go unnamed, in our great state of Texas that is famous world-wide for fruitcake. I personally don't know why. I may just dig out my grandmother's recipe and make one. Now that would stop time. My entire family knows that the *want to cook* gene is totally missing from my DNA. My sister and daughter took up the mantle when we no longer had our mother. I'm the decorator/cleaner.
LouC Goosey
That sounds nasty LouC.
Now I understand why, some of the ones you buy in the shop here are awful too!
Home made is the best and you make it about three months ahead and sprinkle a little brandy ,sherry or rum on it every other day until christmas:)
Everyone brings out their homemade christmas cake when you visit at Christmas mmmmmm.
Enjoy the others cooking for you ...that is a real treat at Christmas.
Mom and I LOVE fruitcake! Always have! 'Know the company you are talking about Christi, we've bought them before! Once in awhiile you can find a good one in the store, but they are not cheap! We are the only ones in our family that like it!
Christmas is still a new celebration for me. The rest of my family remain Muslims. So, there wasn't any tradition that I can "claim". I remember some Eurasian neighbour's fruitcake in Singapore, topped with marzipan and doused with this warm elixir..brandy I think! That first slice was so delicious! I asked Mum to duplicate it, and she made it kosher!!! No marzipan, just plain icing and no nuts neither!!
Don't like fruitcake. Not even the soft homemade ones. Yuck!! LOL. Just one of those things that I just could not develop a taste for no matter how hard I tried.
Pepper, I promise not to send you one! Lol!!
LOL! I would just feed it to the birds. They would love me for it.
My families recipe was for at least 1/3 pecans. Lots and lots of dried fruits and I think, not sure, that one of the things that held it together was Eagle Brand Milk. It was neither hard nor soft. Did have to made well in advance so the spices and flavors could marry. Got to find that recipe.
Go look for it Christi!
Funny...I am making fruitcake as we speak!!! My kiwi friend gave me this recipe:
soak 1/2 lb. fruit in 2 C orangejuice (I added some fresh Passion Fruit Juice)
when soaked, add 2C flour (I use wholewheat) and 1T Baking Powder
Mix...add a splash of rum or brandy if you need it more moist. It should NOT be runny
Bake in a low oven until it is done.
The cake comes out rather dense, but DEEEElish and the good part is - NO fat, NO eggs!!!!
It is my little Tea goodie...for these cold days.
Carol
who's Olga?
good thing been too busy to deal with Christmas stuff....Olga is making her way this way I think...kind of late for tropical systems but then again, so many of you have been pounded recently and Cayman doesn't want to miss any fun....hanging shutters up instead of lights.....
Olga? Well...she used to make bras...... :>)
Take care John....
It IS late for a TS...but better a TS than a hurricane, right?
Carol
Carol, I file your recipe. Seems very easy..no spices..no added sugar. Thanks!
Oh my word! John, have you ever had this kind of weather in December? Ours is just terrible. Got the tree out but it is so hot I have no desire to mess with it.
Calling it 'fruit cake' is a stretch...but it IS a cake and there is fruit. Forgot to put in adding nuts.... I put sunflower seeds and walnuts and didn't have any rum so I used Port. It is a guiltless little treat when I crave something sweet!!!
Jenny...we are like you. WE don't exchange presents nor make a big hooopdedoooo. We send our kids something (mostly $$$ - what could be better?)and remind ourselves how blessed we are to live here. We both avoid downtown...especially Walmart (our Big store) and Home Depot and manage to survive just fine!!! Too many crazy drunks on the road~! Last week they arrested 37 for DUI - half of them didn't have driving permits and one was underage, drunk, with drugs and no license!!! This is NOT a First World Country!!!
Carol
sorry.....didn't know where to post the above....maybe i should have started another thread and not confused the recipe sharing.....i know better...sorry gang...i will stay on the u/w thread where i belong....happy christmas everyone....
Come back here John, you can come see us, eh, Jen? We love you! Sorry you are having to put up shutters instead of lights! Stay safe!
No worries John...we all just chatter about everything...Please don't go!!!
Aloha and Yokwe to everyone! I hope you all read this post, even though it is so much later than when you started it Jenny. I want you all to know - Christi and Jeanne especially - that I have an article that will come out on Christmas Day about just what you were discussing earlier. I did not write it in response to this thread, as a matter of fact, I just now read this thread, and I submitted the article on the 12th or thereabouts. My dearly beloved gets real riled about "Season's Greetings" and "Happy Holidays", and isn't religious in any way. On our vacation I came spak dab face to face with all the different holidays at this time of year, and that prompted the article. I want you all to know, that I am wishing for a beautiful Christmas, filled with warmth and love for each of you. But I also have many friends of other than Christian persuasions, and I wish wonderful days for them as well. Please, when you read my article, do not take offence that was not intended, rather take the love with which I wrote it, okay?
Jenny, here on Kwaj we have a Scuba Santa ceremony, and JB has been Scuba Santa twice (he loved it!). The divers take a tree decorated with glow sticks under the water down at the beach, and elvin divers help Santa get down there (its tough to navigate in Santa get-up). At sunset the kids all gather down at the beach, then as soon as it is dark we see colored lights coming up out of the water...pretty soon the tree is up and Look! its Santa! the kids all gather round and Santa passes out candy canes and glow sticks, and talks to the kids. When JB did it, he called each of the kids he knew by name, (and because he knows their folks) he talked about what they wanted. The eyes were huge, the mouths were big circles of astonishment, and on the way home we heard lots of "He knew! He really knew!! Gosh, how did he know my name?? and stuff like that. Usually the Parade of Boats is the same night, so after Santa we all watch the decorated boats making their way across the Lagoon, and inevitably the boats are playing carols, and pretty soon everyone on the beach is singing along. Not a bad way to spend a warm tropical Christmas Eve...
Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas...and more importantly....pass the cookies!!!!
Aloha Islandshari!
Thankyou for your Christmas wishes. It sounds wonderful for everyone on Kwaj at Christmas, so different, and lovely to hear about.
I am bringing an offering of shortbreads and mince pies for everyone, enjoy!
Yumm!!!! Thank you Terri! I will send some Spice Balls in my next post!
Terri, those look so neat!
Shari, can't wait to read your article!
Keep warm and happy, everyone. :-)
Post #4242085
I still wish I had not gone so overboard. How can I ever tell you how much a I love you all. That is the true meaning of Christmas.
Christi your passions are a part of you that help create the whole of you. Do NOT apologize, nor regret the feelings that are YOU. We know your intentions were not malicious in any way, and love you for the vehement loyalties that we benefit from as well as those we may not necessarily agree with. They are all you. And as Randy said so well - YOU are a gift!
Forgive me as I wipe the tears from my face. I do not deserve the sweet things that you give to me. Tomorrow is Winter Soltice. May we all be aware of what that means.
Thank you again and again.
A day of rebirth, rejuvenation, the return of the sun. A time of purification to enter the new year free of unhealthy negativity from the previous year. A time to rejoice in the successes and progress made in the year past, and to bring that positivity into the new year. A night to reflect on what your spirit has learned from experiences and relationships this past year, and to combine the gains and losses into lessons for the future. A time to say goodbye to souls who have left this plane, and to welcome the children who will teach us. See life though a child's eyes, and always live in wonder. Blessed be.
May the fires of Winter Solstice warm your hearts through the coming year.
Yokwe: Traditional : "Your beauty is as the rainbow"...may we all aspire to see beauty in all of its many aspects.
Yokwe my friends!