The Official "Merry Christmas" thread

[SoCal]

The season is upon us so, post away.

What are your favorite traditions, foods, drinks, etc.?

I'll start with something from my childhood. Enjoy:

[VelvetEars]

www.gocomics.com/matt-bors/2012/11/28

[KyleEl]

Until 1988, we almost always went to my grandparents' house. If Christmas was on Sunday, we went late. We had a separate celebration with my other grandmother at the nursing home until 1981, but it was just my parents and me.

One family came in the afternoon after having Christmas with the rest of their family (that's the family I celebrate with the next day now). By the 80s the grandchildren had mostly gotten married and few of us were there the whole time. Everyone was there for the opening of presents, particularly after my grandfather had made enough money to give out $100 bills not just to the children but also the grandchildren.

I remember coconut cake, mainly because after my grandmother got older we started bringing a cake someone at my church had made. I'm sure we had turkey too.

In 1989 my grandmother was in the hospital. We went to visit her and one of my aunts was there too. By this time my parents and I lived in the house next door.

Our last time with both grandparents was 1990, though my mother was sick and some of the people had to come over to my house to visit her. After that we put my grandmother in a nursing home because it was just the best thing, and we started celebrating there the day before. I insisted my father and I open presents (all of which I bought and had wrapped, but at least my father was surprised by the ones Santa gave me) that day because it would be such a letdown to do it the next day and not have anyplace to go. After my grandmother died in 1996 my father and I went to eat at a cafeteria after opening presents.

My aunt always invited me to her place the day after Christmas once I was alone, but she warned me it was a large group and it took years before I was able to overcome not wanting to be in a large group. Using my uncle's computer for the WB and CW sites and other sites gave me a way to be with them without really being "with" them. I always go in for the blessing when we hold hands in a circle, and when they open presents, even though I don't get one. Each grandchild gets two, each child gets one or two (I forget) and my aunt and uncle and the great-grandchildren are spoiled.

[spoonieluv247]

John McClane knows the true meaning of Christmas!!


avoid the terrorists, destory their weapons and by the final reel, kill them!! ;D

[Aeryn]

[Mistermoonlight]

[SoCal]

Bundt cake made with vanilla and a splash of bourbon.



Preparation Instructions:

Preheat oven to 325ºF. Butter and flour a 10-cup Bundt pan and grease with nonstick spray.

Combine bourbon and vanilla in a small bowl, stir and set aside.

In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, beat together the butter and both sugars until creamy. Add in the eggs and egg yolk, one by one, beating until well blended. Pour in the bourbon mixture and continue to mix until incorporated. Slowly add in the flour mixture. Pour in the milk and continue to mix until well incorporated and smooth.

Transfer the batter to the prepared bundt pan, and smooth the top. Bake for 55 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Cool in pan for 10 minutes, then invert onto a cooling rack. Cool completely. Dust with powdered sugar.

Inspired by Bon Appetit’s Vanilla Bean Bundt Cake with Vanilla Glaze and Strawberries.
Ingredients1 teaspoon Makers Mark Bourbon
1 Tablespoon Pure Vanilla Extract
1-½ cup All-purpose Flour
2 teaspoons Baking Powder
¼ teaspoons Salt
1-¾ stick Butter, Room Temperature
¾ cups Sugar
¼ cups Packed Light Brown Sugar
2 whole Eggs
1 Egg Yolk
½ cups Milk
Powdered Sugar, For Dusting

[Aeryn]

[SoCal]

Uh, Aeryn.....just taking a wild stab here....you don't like Christmas?

[Aeryn]

I just really like gangster rap and deathcore Christmas songs.

[melissa1978]

My family is Italian so we do a big Christmas Eve we do a lot of fish like baked clams,shrimp, seafood salad ect. We used to do a big Christmas Day but as my cousins, brother, myself got older it changed a little if we had a boyfriend or girlfriend than we spend Christmas Day with their family and they spend Christmas Eve with our family.


I do a lot of baking for Christmas Eve and day as always , this year I'm making ricotta cheesecake like every year, cake pops I have the cake pop pans and mix, and I make a Christmas tree cake every year I have a Christmas tree pan and than I buy white frosting put in green food coloring mix it and frost the cake.


I love Christmas music, and I love decorating for Christmas .When I was child a male family member would dress up as Santa Claus and visit us . This will be my niece/second cousin Samantha's first Christmas, she's 5 months today.

[gilmorefanalways]

Merry christmas to you guys.
As for me i decorate like crazy i watch xmas shows all year long and i do mean all year listen to christmas music as much as i can we decorate the tree this year we got a real one. We always make a ton of food and go to our relatives houses we exchange presentsand a ton more stuff too

[KyleEl]

I forgot to mention what I do at home.

If I can, I'll take a picture of my tree and post a link.

It's the artificial tree my grandparents used for years until the family started getting them real ones in mid-1980s.

I have satin balls my parents got for me when I was little. I counted 69 of the small red, gold and green ones back in the 1970s. Some came unraveled before we figured out a secure way to protect them from creatures. And I left some on the tree in 2010, finding them only after I had packed away the others. The decorations go in my father's old military green trunk. The tree goes in a Rubbermaid trash can that I didn't close correctly in 2010, so I found the satin had been made into a nest for something that made a mess on part of the tree. The tree is smaller now, but there are fewer balls anyway. There are also large red and gold satin balls, and other decorations that my parents accumulated over the years.

[SoCal]

Dec 10, 2012 0:03:05 GMT -5 melissa1978 said:

I do a lot of baking for Christmas Eve and day as always , this year I'm making ricotta cheesecake like every year, cake pops I have the cake pop pans and mix, and I make a Christmas tree cake every year I have a Christmas tree pan and than I buy white frosting put in green food coloring mix it and frost the cake.

Hey, Melissa, would you consider sharing your ricotta cheesecake recipie with us? I had a limoncello ricotta cheescake at an Italian restaurant on Saturday. It was delicious.

Interesting bit of info for anyone who has watched "Top Chef," the restaurant is Cafe Firenze, Fabio Viviani's restaurant in Moorpark, CA. I've seen him there once. Food is pretty good, but a little hit and miss. This cheesecake was wonderful, though

[SoCal]

My very favorite Christmas carole, sung by Perry Como. When I was little, on the first day of Christmas vacation, which was always Dec. 20, we would put up and decorate the Christmas tree.....and we would be playing this record. Lots of wonderful memories.

[melissa1978]

Dec 10, 2012 20:53:06 GMT -5 SoCal said:

Dec 10, 2012 0:03:05 GMT -5 melissa1978 said:

I do a lot of baking for Christmas Eve and day as always , this year I'm making ricotta cheesecake like every year, cake pops I have the cake pop pans and mix, and I make a Christmas tree cake every year I have a Christmas tree pan and than I buy white frosting put in green food coloring mix it and frost the cake.

Hey, Melissa, would you consider sharing your ricotta cheesecake recipie with us? I had a limoncello ricotta cheescake at an Italian restaurant on Saturday.

sure its honestly small and easy
1. 12 eggs
2. 1 cup of sugar or 2 depending on how sweet you want or like it
3.1 container of ricotta


You mix it with a mixer and put it in a glass baking dish and baking it on 350 I am honestly not sure how long we bake it for I check it evey 15 -20 minutes until I see it start to brown a little .




Its not a major thing my grandmother used to make it when she was alive her mother showed her,than my mom and two aunts were taught how to make it as kids and when I got older my mom showed me, I started baking it on my own at 12 years old thats when I started getting into baking.

[Aeryn]

[melissa1978]

Dec 10, 2012 21:26:35 GMT -5 SoCal said:

My very favorite Christmas carole, sung by Perry Como. When I was little, on the first day of Christmas vacation, which was always Dec. 20, we would put up and decorate the Christmas tree.....and we would be playing this record. Lots of wonderful memories.

that's what was always on in my house growing up perry como,burl Ives,Doris day,Brenda lee,nat king cole Ect.


That's what is also on my IPod as well , and what I listen too when decorating my own place now.

[melissa1978]

This Saturday if the weather is decent my mom, myself, and stepfather are planning on going to New York City to see the tree, and Macy's, saks,Bryant park ect all decorated for Christmas.


Its something we do every year, and sometimes other family members like aunts uncles and cousins come too if they have no plans.

[SoCal]

Isn't this cute? A mommy took her baby to have a picture taken with Santa and to keep the baby from crying, Santa laid down with the baby on his tummy.

[melissa1978]

That is cute, that exact picture was posted onto Facebook over last weekend by one of my friends and I shared it.

[Dislekseyuh]

Dec 8, 2012 22:03:23 GMT -5 Aeryn said:

I just really like gangster rap and deathcore Christmas songs.

[Mistermoonlight]

I miss Louisiana so much this time of the year, and the bonfires on the levee to light the way for Pere Noel.



I'm in Alabama, and it's not the same, but at least I'm in Dixie. Merry Christmas, y'all!

[SoCal]

"The Andy Williams Show" was required watching at my house.

His graceful presence is missed.

A wonderful, wonderful Christmas song, sung by the always melodious Andy Williams:

[SoCal]

Oh yes, and this instrumental version of "Sleigh Ride" is terrific:

[gilmorefanalways]

I always love the snow

[SoCal]

Delicious Santa-approved eggnog muffins!

Preparation Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350 F. In a small bowl, mix flour, baking powder, salt, nutmeg and cinnamon together. Set aside.

In a mixing bowl, mix Crisco with granulated sugar until blended. Add eggs and mix to combine. Slowly add in flour mixture and eggnog until combined.

Lightly spray two 36-count mini muffin pans with baking spray. Fill muffin cups 1/2 full and bake in a 350 F oven for 13-15 minutes. Remove from oven and allow muffins to cool completely before glazing.

In a medium-sized bowl whisk together eggnog, nutmeg and powdered sugar. Dip tops of muffins into glaze and allow to set (about 15 minutes). Enjoy!

Makes 72 mini muffins.
IngredientsFOR THE MUFFINS:
3 cups All-purpose Flour
1 Tablespoon Baking Powder
1 teaspoon Kosher Salt
3/4 teaspoons Ground Nutmeg
1/2 teaspoons Ground Cinnamon
2/3 cups Butter Flavored Crisco
1 cup Granulated Sugar
2 whole Eggs
1 cup Eggnog

FOR THE GLAZE:
1/2 cups Eggnog
1/4 teaspoons Ground Nutmeg
3 cups Powdered Sugar

[melissa1978]

Im doing baking today for a co worker at work to give to her as a Christmas gift, she, my mom, and myself are friends and we hang out a lot during lunch hour at work, I go upstairs to my mom's office from my classroom, and our friend joins us and we eat lunch, one Friday I just had a morning class , and there was nothing going on where they work.


So we left for a bit and did some shopping at lord and Taylor department store, lol on Fridays our non busy days and end of our work week, we can come and go as often as we want, I'm going to bake her peanut butter cookies,oatmeal raisin, raspberry bars.my mom and I will give it to her tomorrow .

[SoCal]

Melissa -

Hope you had a fun shopping trip and finished all the baking you wanted to do.

I finished my Christmas shopping two weeks ago, but I haven't wrapped anything yet. I have sorted out the gifts and have boxes for everything.

I haven't done my baking yet. My niece borrowed my Kitchen Aid stand mixer to try it out before Thanksgiving and I just got it back yesterday. Hope to do my baking during this week.

[melissa1978]

I wasn't shopping today , I had went shopping one day with mom and our friend Jen at work one Friday a couple of weeks ago. I wrapped gifts today, I bought for others, and straight from that I started baking. I didnt get the oatmeal cookies done Im doing them, Tuesday or Wednesday night.


We are giving the gift of baked goods to Jen Thursday .Im also doing some baking for family for Christmas Eve Saturday or Sunday night.