Category Archives: holidays

Spring Flings

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Oh so pretty! I am in love with Target‘s new blue-and-white spring things. Just walking through the store makes me think of sunny days and ditching the boots and wool jackets and planning Easter dinner and those wonderful spring breaks. These blue-and-white prints seem so fresh and clean — as if a warm spring breeze wafted through and banished winter. And, believe me, here in the South we definitely had winter this year. You know we got so used to snow that we sort of shrugged our shoulders whenever it was forecast yet again — and the frantic grocery-store runs dropped dramatically. But it’s time to forget winter. And, you know, looking at these prints makes me realize that we have no blue-and-white in our house. At all. We’ve got black-and-white. And soft greens. And splashes of orange and red. But no blues-and-whites. But I love these so much that I’m thinking “home re-do.” So excuse me while I go tell my husband  we’re going to redecorate. He’ll be so pleased.

But It Was Only A Dozen Cupcakes! Or, The Perfect Holiday Meal

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I know that Christmas is over and we’re all enjoying a break from Forced Holiday Baking, but I can’t stop remembering all that great Christmas food — mainly because a lot of it’s still in our refrigerator. As we were talking over our first Christmas in our new house, my husband commented that all the meals were good except that on Christmas Eve afternoon, when we set up a buffet of holiday goodies, there simply was too much food. But I ask you: Is cheese (good cheese) and crackers and pistachio nuts and hummus and cheese straws and cocoa-ginger straws and toffee bites and Pepperidge Farms Ginger Man cookies and cupcakes and walnut-espresso brittle and white-chocolate/cranberry/pistachio bark and dark-chocolate/peppermint bark too much? Plus Chex mix. Plus the sugar cookies we made and decorated. Plus assorted pumpkin and cranberry breads. Plus a yummily delicious fudge pie with homemade sweetened vanilla whipped cream — although we had that for Christmas Eve-dinner dessert. On second thought, never mind. I think I know the answer my question. But it wasn’t all my fault. Everybody contributed: Younger Daughter brought the excellent cheese and made the whipped cream. Older Daughter perfected the bark and brittle recipes, which I hope she’ll make her signature holiday dishes. And what’s Christmas without Chex Mix and decorating sugar cookies? So there.

And speaking of food, here are some recipes from friends and family for some cozy and warming hot drinks. I’m always amazed at the great ideas people have. Look here for ways to use up leftover holiday ingredients and tips for jazzing up instant cocoa as well as a recipe for homemade coffee liqueur and some wonderful tea punches. Now all I need is a roaring fire and a soft fuzzy blanket …

Welcome, 2011 — Come On In and Stay A While

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Happy New Year’s Eve! Go forth and have fun tonight. With safety, please. And if you decide to stay home — whether you’re hosting a crowd or a romantic dinner for two — you’ll need something special and sparkly to drink. Several friends shared their favorite bubbly cocktail recipes in the food story I did this week for the TimesDaily. Check it out — it’s not too late to run to the store and stock up on beverage supplies. I did leave out one recipe from my friend Steve, who started off his list of ingredients with “Get some moonshine.” I love the South!

And then take a minute to read my weekly newspaper column for inspiration on making resolutions. Oh my goodness — I could fill pages and pages with promises to do things better. But then it would take me so long to sit down and write all my resolutions down that I wouldn’t have the time to actually, you know, do them. That’s my excuse, anyway. Like right now. I really should go out and walk before it starts raining. But it looks like it might rain any minute. And it’s windy. And cold, maybe. So I’ll just stay inside where it’s nice and warm and dry and THINK about going out to walk. I mean, that’s almost as good, right???

This past week I did get a headstart on one of my resolutions, which is to write more fiction. Of course, friends and family will argue that my newspaper columns already have touches of fiction but they’re all good sports and don’t mind that I might perhaps slightly edit things they say and/or do — for journalism’s sake, of course. Except for almost-3-year-old grandson Capt. Adorable, whose adorability is an absolute fact that needs no exaggeration whatsoever.

Oaty Bites and Robert Redford

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Here’s one of the things I like about Christmas: Friends and family giving you presents that you never ever would buy for yourself. And by “you,” I mean me. And by “friends and family,” I mean the wacky gift givers I hang out with. Such as my dad, whose sense of humor somehow takes a creative turn during the holidays and he picks out and wraps up items such as … a box of cereal. Specifically, a box of Nature’s Path Organic Oaty Bites cereal that he thought I might like. Because he likes it. And the thing is, I do like it. But how my dad knew I would is beyond me,  because whenever I visit my mom and dad, I usually have toast or muffins or cinnamon rolls or something equally warm and yummy. But this cereal is crunchy and slightly sweet and slightly nutty and good for you. Thanks, Dad. You still know best. Then my brother and sister-in-law who live in Chattanooga gave me something I’d been entirely ignorant of but which I now find out is something everybody in the whole world knew about except for me: Wine-bottle candelabras. You save your cool bottles and then put this candelabra in one and light the candles and you’ve got instant wine-bottle chic. Plus, my bro and sis-in-law ordered mine from Sundance – one of their favorite places to shop — and whenever I’m lucky enough get something from Sundance I always imagine that Robert Redford himself packed it. It could happen!

Best Wishes for the Season!

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Hope your holidays have gone from this ...

... to this! Merry Christmas!!!

Could I Have Those Green Peppers Chopped, Please?

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If these photos are any indication, it’ll be good times in our kitchen when it comes to making Christmas dinner this year. Grandson Capt. Adorable, who’ll be 3 next spring, is a whiz at cutting up green peppers — at least, the wooden peppers in his Captain-sized kitchen don’t stand a chance against the skillful wielding of his (not sharp at all) knife. He also cooks a mean pepperoni pizza, thanks to outstanding toymakers Melissa & Doug, who make all sorts of safe and imagination-stirring toys in case you’re still looking for a special something for the little ones on your list. You’ve got to watch the Captain, though — he’s just as liable to cook up a serving of cute little Beanie Babies as he is a yummy wooden vegetable stir-fry. You have been warned.

Christmas Dads

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You know, we almost always think of Christmas as a woman’s holiday, right? I mean, typically it’s the woman who shops and decorates and cooks and manages family logistics. It’s the woman of the house who remembers that Aunt Peggy likes chocolate-covered cherries and that we’ve sent the California cousins a balsam wreath three years in a row already. It’s the mom who gets everybody where they’re supposed to be on time, wearing the right clothes and bearing the appropriate gifts. And, let’s face it, motherhood pretty much has a starring role in the Christmas story. But let’s pause for a minute and celebrate the dads — those guys in the background who may grumble and grouse about all the holiday goings-on but who are alwrays always ALWAYS there when their family really needs them. Those of us who are lucky enough to have one or more of them with us this Christmas need to turn around RIGHT NOW and make sure they know how much we appreciate them. Go ahead. I’ll wait … … … … … There. Aren’t you glad you did that? Merry Christmas!

Ho, Ho, Ho!

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This wins the best-ever-Christmas-decoration-on-a-vehicle prize of all time -- although it took me a few seconds to figure it out! The genius punster who created this is one of my husband's co-workers at their newspaper in northeast Mississippi.

The Art of Christmas Shopping

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And now we pause for a commercial break from your local museum gift-shop: Go shopping there! These photos are from the art museum in my town (Full disclosure: I work there! But still.) but I bet your museum — big or small — has a gift shop that’s stocked full of goodies to make your Christmas shopping a one-stop breeze. And it’s win-win-win: You’ll be able to buy creative and imaginative gifts that I guarantee will be different from anything else under your tree, you’ll be helping out a worthy cause that needs you and you will not end up with the dreaded I’ve-been-in-the-mall-for-four-hours-and-I-still-can’t-find-anything headache. Plus, you’ll look really cool and smart when you’re asked “Where did you find this?” and you can shrug nonchalantly and say, “Oh, at the art museum.” And isn’t that what Christmas-gift-giving all about???!!!

Oh, Christmas Tree!

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This is why I love my job as marketing director at an art museum — during December, my workplace looks like this. Every year we host an annual exhibit of huge live trees that people in our community volunteer to decorate, and I have to say that this year is one of the best ever. A woman whose husband is a firefighter decorated the tree on the right to honor local fire departments. The tree on the left was decorated by a medical auxiliary to raise awareness of childhood cancer. We’ve got a tree celebrating books, one featuring “visions of sugarplums” and one called “Fleece Navidad” that’s full of every kind of stuffed and carved and sewn and decorated lamb you can imagine. I love hearing people walk through the exhibit and “ooh” and “ahh” in delight. Makes me think that I really should put our tree up … sometime soon.