Redartz: Merry Christmas to one and all! May you enjoy a day of rest, fun, peace, and fellowship with family and friends. Eat, drink and be merry; and if you have a moment to spare, share a thought or two. Unlike the grocery stores in our collective youth, we'll stay open Christmas Day...
24 comments:
Hey, MERRY CHRISTMAS, teammates!
Plus Happy Holidays, Joyous Yuletide, Happy Hanuka, Happy Kwanzaa, and all of the other traditional greetings that go along with the (what, like, 35-ish?) broad spectrum of holidays that so many religions and cultures mark the time around the Winter Solstice with.
Just about to get up and start our own busy-yet-laid-back day-- and the fact that I can do so does bring to mind a topic for discussion (later on, naturally--!) that may particularly apply to this group of largely-middle-agers:
Are there Christmas Family Traditions that have changed in your household- of perhaps even been surrendered entirely- now that the years have passed? Kids grow up, of course. Older relatives do pass on, or become less able to travel-- which changes the make-up of family gatherings. And this is natural, of course, as new "traditions" and activities take the place of old ones. We do seem to gravitate toward the comfort of ceremony (which is sort of what traditions are, I think-), don't we?
I ask this because a) this will be our second Vegan Christmas, with Vegan HBGirl doing ALL of the cooking to provide the feast. Which of course has meant abandoning a HUGE amount of traditional holiday fare in our house. But we're managing it (WONDERFUL shepherd's pie last night, I must say!). And b) this is the first Christmas in literally decades that the early part of the morning wasn't taken up by a HUGE annual writing project largely for the benefit of our (now adult!) kids: the Christmas Runaround. We were finally able to put that to bed, and my holiday season has been WONDERFULLY transformed! My wife and I were able to go visit our neighbors yesterday, delivering cookies! A NEW tradition!
Any thoughts on this topic, friends?
Off to feed the parrots, and have some Vegan muffins before we open our over-stuffed stockings by the fire--!
Again, wishing everyone here the best day ever---
HB
Season's Greetings and Holiday Hello's to you, HB! Thanks for stopping by on this Christmas morning and getting things started!
Vegan muffins? Intriguing; would blueberry muffins be considered apropos under such a category? Mmmmmmm, blueberries..... (to paraphrase Homer Simpson)…
As for your question, yes, traditions at our house have changed as well. As most of the family is more distant now, and our sons are both grown and on their own, Christmas morning is pretty much my wife and I and the animals. We did enjoy a 'new tradition' last night, a Christmas Eve drive around town looking at the lights and decorations (with the dog along and piloting from the driver's lap). This was followed by a viewing of an appropriate holiday movie; specifically "A Christmas Story". Set, of course, in northern Indiana (not too far from your old haunts, HB).
Today will be more leisurely than most Christmases I recall from childhood and our parenting years. And 'more leisurely' is fine with me.
Enjoy your day, all!
First of all, Merry Christmas!!
Secondly I must mention that the picture of the 1974 Giant Super-Hero Holiday Grab-Bag takes me back to the very dawn of my interest in Marvel comics. I've previously mentioned that my very first Marvel comic was Marvel UK's PLANET OF THE APES No.5 which I bought (...er, I mean my mother bought) on Saturday, November 16th 1974. On the back page of that issue (or possibly the next one) was an ad for that 1974 Holiday Grab-Bag. Because I was totally new to Marvel comics I didn't know who any of the characters were and I can vividly remember staring at the ad wondering who is the green man? is the stone creature a goodie or a baddie? who's the man on fire?
When I was a kid my parents didn't drink alcohol - not for any moral reasons, they just didn't seem very interested in alcohol. But the one exception was Christmas when we'd have beer and Babycham (a sort of wine in little 200ml bottles). The beer was mixed with lemonade to make shandy for me and my sister but we were also allowed to drink the Babycham despite it being 5% alcoholic. Anyway, the only Christmas "tradition" I still maintain is buying a pack of Babycham and making some home-made shandy from beer and lemonade.
I'm not married and my closest relatives are all now deceased so Christmas Day is a fairly quiet event for me but I still enjoy it. My Christmas "dinner" will be Turkey sandwiches with cranberry and mint sauce. For breakfast I had some mini pork-pies and a wedge of French brie cheese washed down with a glass of Pepsi - I found the Pepsi a few days ago, a perfectly good unopened can just abandoned in the street. I found it around 6am so I assumed the owner wasn't coming back for it :D
HB: Vegan muffins are good, but vegan shepherd's pie? How does that work?
Colin: I've never had Babycham, but it always makes me think of that line from "Saturday's Kids" by The Jam :)
Happy Holidays to all! Don't eat too much (I think I already have ...)
Heya guys--!
The Vegan muffins were actually vegan orange/cinnamon rolls w/ orange icing. Oh my lord those were tasty. . . !
Mike- the shepherd's pie was boosted w/ lots of vegetables, and some TVP (textured vegetable protein). It was quite good-! Hard to go wrong w/ a mashed potato-based dish w/ lots of garlic and onions. . . !
HB
Happy Christmas everyone! So lovely that the bronze age store is open today :)
Congratulations HB on your vegan shepherd's pie, sounds delicious!
Colin, like you I had a quiet Christmas, the third on my own.
Yesterday I put up the (artificial) tree listening to nine lessons and carols from King's College, Cambridge. Redartz, I think that might become a new tradition, finally getting me in the Christmas mood!
I hope you all continue to enjoy the holidays, and have a peaceful time :)
I hope you
Whoops, not sure what happened there! The wonders of technology!
Merry Christmas / Happy Holidays All.
We had non-vegan meats and sweets yesterday, lol.
My wife is generally vegan so I can appreciate all the wonderful vegan dishes out there! But the rest of my family is not. And, of course, eating veggies will ensure you celebrate many more Christmases, than not!
Probably the tastiest part of the meal to me was when I merged this French "Yule Log" which is chocolate cake shaped like a tree branch, with my sis-in-law's Italian cherry torte to create something akin to a German black-forest cherry cake! Yowza!!!
Blessings to all!
Anthony, I too listened to the festival of nine lessons & carols from King's College on Christmas Eve as I do every year. This year was the 100th anniversary of the event.
HB, I'm not a vegetarian but I recently bought a pack of vegetarian, meatless sausages. They were delicious but a bit expensive.
Mike, I've never heard "Saturday's Kids" but I intend to search it out on YouTube.
Redartz, did you know there's a town in Indiana called Santa Claus? I heard about it on the radio yesterday!
Charlie, we have chocolate Yule Logs in the UK too :)
Colin- yes, Santa Claus (the town) is not too far from where I live. They have an amusement park called Holiday World. The post office there stamps a lot of mail this time of year!
Bah Humbug... Soon as it's the 26th no more Xmas music on the radio! It's like the spirit of the season was forgotten???
Charlie, I agree - Christmas doesn't end on December 25th.
I was in my local supermarket this morning and it was like a graveyard - the store was almost empty (unlike Christmas Eve when it was already packed at 7am) and no Christmas music was being played any more. But at least all the Christmas lights were still on in the town centre :)
And when I was in the supermarket I discovered a box of Hostess Twinkies!!!
I've been waiting to taste those legendary cakes since I first saw the ads in Marvel comics back in the '70s. Now the day has come :D
CJ - THe station to which I referred you, WLIT, for xmas music last year did the following. They allegedly polled their audience as to how far past xmas they should play xmas music. According to the poll, they played xmas music until Jan 1.
This year, WLIT slammed the door shut on Dec 26. BUMMER!
Colin, did you get a big delight in every bite? :) Hostess Twinkies, Hershey bars and other US treats are increasingly popular in the UK. Looking forward to trying some myself. Hmm, could be another new tradition...
Some interesting sidebars here...
Colin- like Anthony said, how were the Twinkies? That golden sponge cake....although personally, I preferred Ding Dongs (chocoholic that I was/am).
Anthony- that snack crossover goes both ways. The elusive Aero bar, I found them on a trip to Canada. Wish they were available here in the states. Do they originate from the UK?
Charlie- You and my wife and son would get along fine. Afraid I'm guilty of the 12/26 cutoff, musically. Probably because my workplace plays holiday tunes 8 hours a day, every day throughout the season.
Charlie, nowadays Christmas seems to begin in mid-November and ends on December 25th. It should begin on Christmas Eve (or a few days before) and end in early January, bah!
Anthony, you're right about American food becoming more popular in the UK - as well as Twinkies I've recently tried Hershey Bars, Reese's Peanut Butter Cups and pretzels. But still no pumpkin pies :(
Red, the Twinkies were delicious - well worth the 42-year wait. I had them with a glass of Coca-Cola mixed with Jim Beam Bourbon whiskey. Twinkies, Coke and Bourbon - how American is that!!
Yes, Aero is British - there are different flavours like mint or orange...or just plain old chocolate of course :)
CJ - Those Hostess sweets were in my lunch box every day in grade school (K - 4). Pies, Ding Dongs, Ho Hos, Cupcakes, Twinkies.
To be perfectly honest, I preferred the pies b/c they were the biggest and most filling. The other items were gone in a few bites.
Oddly, in the 3rd or 4th grade, I had a big crush on a girl named Audrey Appleseece. Her brother was in 6th grade and somehow knew of my crush. He offered to let me speak to his sister if I would trade him my Hostess cake (I forget which kind it was).
I didn't trade... I guess that means I am NOT a hopeless romantic? And I never saw her fair visage again b/c I went to the Catholic School starting in 5th grade.
Red - Believe me I get tired of the Xmas songs but love a sampling throughout the Advent season, daily. I mean, the Church (well, Catholic and Orthodox) are just getting started! We have another 3 - 4 weeks of Xmas stories and homilies and decorum in the Church. The Orthodox haven't even celebrated Xmas yet, until like another week or two? It's time we show them equal love and AT LEAST play Xmas songs until they have their Holiday, no?
CJ - The only thing missing from your American fiesta is some maple-sugar-coated bacon on a stick, lol! You got it covered. Though I've never done bourbon, coke, and twinkies, I've sure had a hell of a lot of milk and twinkies!
I will not lie.
The Christmas Decoration Extravaganza at our scene shop often hangs around well into late January. . . usually because there's not a good chunk of available time to take it all down before then.
But we love it so much we don't mind at all.
(Red, I don't know if you'd be of a mind to pull a couple of those images off of FB for the folks here. . . but I certainly wouldn't object. . . ha!)
(I wonder if there's a way for us to indeed post images in our comments here--- anybody have an idea on that?)
Also-- Twinkies. Man, hard to imagine that those HAVEN'T always been around for so many folks here! One of the tiny pop-cultural differences that defines us, I suppose. I also wonder if they do still taste the same, since Hostess went bankrupt a few years ago and closed down completely. It was several months before another company "bought" Twinkies and started producing them again. . .
HB
HB - you bring up an interesting dynamic... All those "trademarks" from our youth: Hostess Twinkies to Pabst Blue Ribbon Beer to various candies... "Names" being sold to others who then manufacture the goods has been a real trend the past 20 years.
I about fell over dead some years back walking into a young-folks bar in Brookfield Illinois (home of the famous zoo AND the subdivision known as Hollywood, whose name got transplanted to Hollywood, California a hundred years ago!)
Anyhow, the young folks were drinking the revived Pabst Blue Ribbon beer. The bar tender said it was cause their dads drank it. He said it was soooo popular they had 3 kinds of PBR: cans, bottles, and draft!!! (Silly CH47 thought the lad was going to say, "Light, Lager, and Dark!" LOL.)
Charlie - good point about how other religions celebrate Christmas. On the music front I seem to have stopped playing festive tunes but am still happy to hear a song pop up on the radio. Also, happy to watch Christmas themed programmes until twelfth night. I guess that could be part of a discussion about new year traditions...
Redartz, just as Colin said, Aero is a British confection. Surprised it's not available in the states. Cadburys produced a similarly textured bar, Wispa.
HB and Charlie, I hadn't thought about ownership of brands. That might explain the change in distribution.
Yep... Hostess went bankrupt back in the early 2000s and got a new owner. That new owner went bankrupt too. Truth be told, tastes changed and folks became dis-interested in mass consumption of corn-syrup and hydrogenated-oil breads and cakes. I don't know if it's been relaunched en masse or more as a speciality good?
One product, which died in the early 1970s but still peeks its head out, is Quisp Cereal. My siblings found me some boxes (new!) for my 50th a few years back b/c I was well known for eating Quisp! Quisp and Quake... good times!
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