The Girl Who Just Loved Christmas

Back in the mid - 70s, I read an unforgettable Christmas story called "The Girl Who Just Loved Christmas" about a romantic high school girl who is upset the first time that her older sister brings her fiance home for Christmas because some of the family customs, such as who gets to put the star on top of the tree, are about to change. Unfortunately, I can recall neither the source of this short story nor the author's name, only the title and the joy I felt at recognizing a kindred spirit in that "Girl Who Just Loved Christmas."

Every year at Christmastime, I long to read this old favorite once again! I have tried many library and internet searches but so far without any luck. Should I ever find a copy tucked inside my Christmas stocking, that will be one of the best presents ever!

Three Passions

Why do I just love Christmas? Previously I have relied on British philosopher Betrand Russell's "Three Passions" to answer that question; so briefly, I will repeat myself. A age 84, Russell, added a prologue entitled What I Have Lived For to his autobiography. He wrote:

Three passions, simple but overwhelmingly strong, have governed my life: the longing for love, the search for knowledge, and unbearable pity for the suffering of mankind. These passions, like great winds, have blown me hither and thither, in a wayward course, over a great ocean of anguish, reaching to the very verge of despair.

I have sought love, first, because it brings ecstasy . . . because it relieves loneliness . . . because in the union of love I have seen, in a mystic miniature, the prefiguring vision of heaven that saints and poets have imagined. . . .

With equal passion I have sought knowledge. I have wished to understand the hearts of men . . . to know why the stars shine . . . to apprehend the Pythagorean power by which number holds sway above the flux. A little of this, but not much, I have achieved.

Love and knowledge, so far as they were possible, led upward toward the heavens. But always pity brought me back to earth . . . the whole world of loneliness, poverty, and pain make a mockery of what human life should be. I long to alleviate this evil, but I cannot, and I too suffer.

This has been my life. I have found it worth living, and would gladly live it again if the chance were offered me. ~ Bertrand Russell (1872 - 1970)

Okay, here are mine, governed by these words of hope:

"For we know in part, and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away. When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a woman, I put away childish things. For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known. And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity."
~ 1 Corinthians 13: 9 - 13 (King James Version)
First is the hopeless one -- trying to create order out of chaos. I will never give up this losing battle! It has governed my child rearing, my housekeeping, my quest for information, my struggle against urban decay in West Philadelphia and neighborhood blight in West Lafayette, my hope for the afterlife that one day we really shall "know as we are known," that the whole confusing scheme of life will fall into place. One day my partial (i.e.,"imperfect") knowledge of this chaotic puzzling universe shall be made whole (i.e., "perfected") and that will be the reward of a passionate existence.

Second -- sometimes known as the I'm talking and I can't shut up syndrome! -- is participating in "The Great Conversation," contributing to the "Dialogue of Ideas." This passion governs my friendships, my correspondence, my teaching, my blogs, my understanding of history, my love of literature and movies -- and talking about them after I read / see them. It informs my quest for truth and beauty, my pursuit of knowledge. "Faith, Hope, and Love" have long been the popular favorites, but it is the "Knowledge" part that has always appealed to me.

My third and favorite passion is Christmas, the most comprehensive celebration of all celebrations! Every year, we hear the complaints about the relentless commercialization, the laments that Christmas is no longer a religious holiday but has become a religion in and of itself. Well, if you ask me, that's The Good News; that's something I can believe in!

As is so often the case, the third passion really draws on the best of the other two. I love reading about all of the old traditions -- even the ones that we don't specifically incorporate into our own 21st Century observances. Surely some of the best contributions to the Great Conversation were made on behalf of Christmas; and surely the light shining out of darkness symbolizes our best hope for order out of chaos. If there is ever a time when we are inclined to treat each other well, to acknowledge each other's humanity, surely it is Christmas. The embodiment of spirituality, the first principle on which all other passions are based -- that's Christmas!

Every Christmas, I look forward to watching Miracle on 34th Street and hearing skeptical little Susan / Natalie Wood mutter under her breath, "I believe, I believe, I know it's silly but I believe!" I've said the same thing myself a few times (and not just about Kris Kringle).

More than merely a childish sing-song, Susan's mantra offers the same perspective of near-belief as the half-doubting, faintly hoping father in the New Testament who cries out: "I believe. Help thou mine unbelief." Those who are fans of John Irving's novel, A Prayer for Owen Meany, will recognize this verse from Owen's funeral. Pastor Merrill reads aloud the entire passage (Mark 9:14-24), concluding in his grief: "Owen Meany helped my 'unbelief'" (566).

Believing in the face of your own unbelief, believing when it seems silly. I think I can believe in both of those things. And I can believe in Christmas!

As Kermit The Frog and John Denver sing on one of the best Christmas CDs ever, John Denver & The Muppets: A Christmas Together, 1979:

I don't know if you believe in Christmas
Or if you have presents underneath the Christmas tree
But if you believe in love, that will be more than enough
For you to come and celebrate with me . . .

For the truth that binds us all together
I would like to say a simple prayer
That at this special time you will have true peace of mind
And love to last throughout the coming year . . .

From “The Christmas Wish"
Music and lyrics by Dan Wheetman

A few other things that I can believe in:

Puttering as a Spiritual Practice (see Anne Lamott, Plan B, 149)
The Miracle of Oxygen
The Precession of the Equinoxes
The Lifelong Quest for Truth & Beauty
The Pursuit of Knowledge
The Great Conversation
The Origin and Destiny of Cats

I believe . . . I think I am; therefore, I think I am . . .

The Precious Firstlings

Vintage Card
“Christmas Cards from the Cremers” is a brief chapter from the book A Nursery in the Nineties, the autobiography of Eleanor Farjeon, who also wrote the lyrics to “Morning Has Broken,” way back before Cat Stevens made them famous, and the clever little poem “Cats Sleep Anywhere,” which has been illustrated as a children's book many times. Recalling the Christmas presents that she and her brothers received as children, Farjeon writes:

"Among our benefactors were . . . the Cremers. . . .

Mr. Cremer kept the best toy-shop in Regent Street. There had been a Mrs. Cremer; there were two Miss Cremers. As long as old Mr. Cremer continued in life, Christmas brought us cases full of the most fascinating toys. . . .

When Mr. Cremer died, the two Miss Cremers went to live in the Isle of Thanet [the name for the area just north of Dover, not really an island, and not very far at all from London]. At Christmas now "The Cremers" meant cards only. But they were always the first Christmas cards we received--dear little robins perched on babies' cradles, dear little girls in bonnets, with bunches of holly, "To dear little Harry, dear little Nellie [this was Eleanor], dear little Joe, dear little Bertie--with love from the Misses Cremer." They came like heralds, early in December, when Christmas was three endless weeks away. Mother's voice calling: "The Cremers' Cards have come!" brought us running. We looked, and knew that Christmas was coming too.

But posts are so uncertain, and Thanet and London not quite next door, you know, and it would be dreadful to a pair of fond, remembering spinsters should their cards ever arrive a trifle late. To make quite sure, they began to despatch their Christmas cards in November.

"Children! the Cremers' Christmas cards!"

"Already?"

Christmas is not yet due for a full month. We run to collect the precious firstlings (emphasis added).

And years pass, you grow older, the things to be done, the occasions to prepare for, press a little more irksomely each year on ladies who, if they cannot still send cases of toys to little Harry, Nellie, Joe, and Bertie, must never disappoint dear children of their Christmas Greetings.

"The Cremers' cards!" calls Mama, somewhere about Guy Fawkes' Day [November 5th].

We return, one September, from the summer holiday. The golden weeks beside the sea have waned, but London streets are sunny, it is weeks yet to the time of fog, and fires.

Laughing too much to speak, she appears waving the envelope. "No!" exclaims Harry. But there they are, the Cremers' cards have come. "To dear little Harry, dear little Nellie, dear little Joe and dear little Bertie." The robins, and the little girls in bonnets.

Two of us at least are over twenty, and tomorrow it will be October the First (emphasis added).

That was the last of the Cremers' Christmas cards. Then time went back on them" (313 - 17).


Time went back on them. Sigh. One day, it will happen. . . .

The First of Many Things

First Day of December, First Day of Hanukkah, First Snowfall
In 2010, they all occurred on one beautiful winter's day!
I have long been curious about all of Jostein Gaarder's titles (e.g., Sophie's World) but The Christmas Mystery is the only one I've read so far. Gerry's mom placed it beside my bed when we went to England for Christmas 2002, so I read it to myself that year, and then the next year to Ben and Sam as a read-aloud for Advent 2003. The cover is brightly illustrated to resemble an Advent Calender, with miniature pictures of angels, castles, ships, sheep. Each chapter begins with a similar illustration, opening the door to another place and time. We followed along on a world map to track the fascinating progress of the characters, as each day they crossed another threshold, disappearing into world history. We learned so much on this intriguing journey and could hardly wait to see how the mystery would resolve itself on Christmas Eve.



As you can see from Ben's cut and paste Menorah project (1994), Hanukkah was a very popular holiday in the Philadelphia Public School System. Another year we carved a menorah onto the face of a nice wide pumpkin; I wish I had taken a picture of that!

"Light one candle
for the wisdom to know 
when the peacemaker's time is at hand."
~~ Peter, Paul & Mary ~~

My beautiful Dancer's Menorah
antique brass by David Klass

. . . last Month's Turkey - o - Lantern

and our first ever O Christmas Tree O Lantern

First Sunday of Advent

First Week of Advent: The Hope of Prophecy
For the last fifteen years or so, I have had a little tradition of making a set of cards for my mother, one for each of the four Sundays in Advent. Each year the design is different, with a new theme of some kind.

As my transitional ritual from Thanksgiving into Christmas, I always devote a few hours of the long weekend to getting the Advent cards ready and (hopefully) getting the first one in the mail in time for Sunday. Some years I fall a bit behind on that optimistic deadline; but as long as the first one arrives somewhere within the first week of the season, it's not hard to keep mailing the others out in a timely, weekly fashion.

This year, I had the idea to design them as Valentines, using red lace doilies, ribbons, and a handful of fancy little gift tags that I found on amazon, featuring sentiments that lend themselves nicely to the symbolism behind each candle on the Advent Wreath.

Week One, the Candle of Hope
Dispelling the Darkness:

We must never be afraid to go too far, for truth lies beyond."

"The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes."

~ both passages by Marcel Proust ~

Second Sunday of Advent

Second Week of Advent: the Peace of Bethlehem
Each year, I hope for the peace and presence of mind to celebrate a true Advent, always searching for that calm at the center of the holiday storm. Yet, despite my best intentions, my guest room is currently a disaster area of half-begun Christmas projects! When will they ever be finished? Help! Well, at least Christmas music is playing in the background as I write these frantic words!

As my friend Cate, a charming gardener of the soul, wrote in this morning's e-mail: "Second Sunday already? Eeek! Must do, must do . . . Hope to finish the tree today (or close to it)."

We all know in our hearts that these should not be the watch words of the day; yet it seems so: Must do, must do . . .

Instead, how about: Let us find peace . . .

Week Two, the Candle of Peace
Leading the Way:

"We shall find peace. We shall hear the angels,
we shall see the sky sparkling with diamonds."
~Anton Chekhov~

"Let us be grateful to people who make us happy;
they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom."
~Marcel Proust~

Third Sunday of Advent

Third Week of Advent: The Love of Angels
My Uncle Gene (one of my dad's younger brothers) always had a lot of good Christmas stories that read just like the oft - anthologized Christmas chapters from Little House on the Prairie. For example, I like the one about the family friend by the name of George Rogers who dressed up as Santa and delivered a dishpan full of candy and toys using a wooden sled to imitate Santa’s sleigh. A few Christmases ago, Uncle Gene told my siblings and me a story we had never heard before about our dad Willard:

Dear Kids,

I’ll wax nostalgically with you for a bit. It would seem to be the season for such things. Old memories, taken out and polished up, become as jewels and this one is such. It concerns your dad, and took place many, many decades ago in the long ago days of the 1930’s.

As you know, we attended the small white frame church building located about half-way between Oilton and Drumright, Oklahoma. It was home to a fairly large number of “Saints” who came from oil lease communities and small towns within at least a 20 - mile radius. The leader of the little flock was a severe appearing gentleman named Benjamin Franklin Pollard, or as some called him, BF, shortened by the older smart alec kids like Robert [i.e., our eldest and much - admired uncle] to “Beef.”

At Christmas time there was always a program along with a tree, and Santa would come in at the end with a bag of small treats for the kids, there being a very large number of us. With the Bunch family (7,) the Carriker tribe (6), and the Rogers family (6,) it accounted for 19 young - uns. There were also some singles and smaller family groups, so all told there was a passel of kids.

On this particular Christmas the kids were putting on the program, as usual. Strangely, I have no recollection of what anyone else did for entertainment; but I well remember little old Willard’s contribution to the festivities:

"What shall I give Him.
As poor as I am?
If I were a shepherd
I would give a him a lamb,
If I were a Wise Man
I would do my part—
Yet, what I can I give Him,
I’ll give him my heart."

~~ With love from Uncle Gene
How touched we all were to imagine our dad as a little tyke memorizing his part for the pageant!

My sister's response summed it up for all of us:

It certainly makes Daddy
seem a little closer this season.
Love to all, Peg

***********

Week Three, the Candle of Love
Quickening the Pace:

"Christmas is the season for kindling the fire of hospitality in the hall, the genial flame of charity in the heart.
~ Washington Irving ~

Love is time and space measured by the heart.
~ Marcel Proust ~

Fourth Sunday of Advent

Fourth Week of Advent: The Joy of Shepherds
Week Four, the Candle of Joy
Waiting Almost Over:

"A joy shared is a joy doubled."
~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe ~

"There are two ways of spreading light:
to be the candle or the mirror that reflects it."
~ Edith Wharton ~
"Nearly all the best and most precious things in the universe you can get for a halfpenny. I make an exception, of course, of the sun, the moon, the earth, people, stars, thunderstorms, and such trifles. You can get them for nothing. Also I make an exception of another thing: The Spirit of Christmas!"

from "The Shop of Ghosts" (1909)
a Christmas story by G. K. Chesterton (1874 - 1936),
one of the most influential English writers of the 20th century

All the Year

Christmastime Is Here!

The Firm Resolve of Ebenezer Scrooge:

"I will honour Christmas in my heart,
and try to keep it all the year.
I will live in the Past, the Present, and the Future.
The Spirits of all Three shall strive within me.
I will not shut out the lessons that they teach."

from A Christmas Carol
by Charles Dickens

When it came to keeping Christmas all year long, my friend Marv was an expert. He wrote the most amazing Christmas letters, beginning one year with the best ode to Christmas that I've ever read anywhere:

"Still, as always, I look forward to anything 'Christmas,' be it sacred or profane. Quite frankly, I love it all: commercial or spiritual, mall or church, crass or sublime, jaded or sentimental, slow or frantic, sad or comic, regretful or nostalgic, adult or childish, wrapping up or ripping open, giving or spartan, on-line or in line, pine or palm, white or tropical green, it just does not matter; it's all moving and wonderful, magical and grand (and I wish it lasted all year)." ~Marvin Charles Hamilton III, 1955 - 2011

The Hap, Hap, Happiest Holidays

As Emily Dickinson writes:
“Hope is the things with feathers.”
One of my favorite anonymous essays, "The Bad and Worse Sides of Thanksgiving," appeared in The New Yorker, twenty - some years ago. I wish I knew who wrote it, but so far I have not been able to track down this information. The unnamed satirist declares that "At last it is time to speak the truth about Thanksgiving. The truth is this: it is not a really great holiday. Consider the imagery. . . . Consider the participants. . . . Consider also the nowhereness of the time of the year. . . . Consider for a moment the Thanksgiving meal itself. . . . What of the good side to Thanksgiving, you ask. There is always a good side to everything. Not to Thanksgiving. There is only a bad side and then a worse side."

Maybe, out of context, these words sound cynical, but no -- you must believe me -- reading this essay always lifts my spirits! Let's backtrack to the second consideration:

" . . . the participants, the merrymakers. Men and women (also children) who have survived passably well through the years, mainly as a result of living at considerable distances from their dear parents and beloved siblings, who on the feast of feasts must apparently forgather . . . usually by circuitous routes, through heavy traffic, at a common meeting pace, where the very moods, distempers, and obtrusive personal habits that have kept them happily apart since adulthood are encouraged to slowly ferment beneath the cornhusks, and gradually rise with the aid of the terrible wine, and finally burst forth out of control under the stimulus of the cranberry jelly!"

("Notes and Comments" section of The New Yorker, November 1978; reprinted in the 8th edition of Assignments in Exposition, 201 -2)

A humorously tender and well - acted version of this exact scenario plays itself out in my family's favorite Thanksgiving movie, Home for the Holidays (1989). The wacky, loving, conflicted and gratifyingly realistic clan (living in a gratifyingly realistic house) is so perfectly cast that I have to list almost everybody: Anne Bancroft, Geraldine Chaplin, Claire Danes, Robert Downey, Jr., Charles Durning, Steve Guttenburg, Holly Hunter, Dylan McDermott. When they "forgather" and drink the terrible wine and eat the terrible jelly, the result is precisely as described above, right down to the disastrous carving of the turkey and the final confrontation between the two feuding sisters: "Well, we don't have to like each other, Jo. We're family."



Garrison Keillor captures this same tension of home as where you live vs home as where you're from, in his sketch "Nine Lessons and Carols" (A Prairie Home Christmas). The "carols" are what you would expect: "I'll Be Home For Christmas," "No Christmas Like a Home Christmas," "There's No Place Like Home for the Holidays," and so forth. The "lessons" are about an extended family planning their annual get - together. Despite all the well - intentioned over - organizing, the center does not hold. As all the old conflicts re-surface, the "sensitive" youngest sister Jessica exclaims woefully, "I want to go home!" And stressed - out, edgy older sister Janice reminds her curtly, "Oh, you are home. Just make the best of it!"

Another holiday favorite, filled with a litany of family - centered wisdom, is Chevy Chase's Christmas Vacation. Yes, we know it's ridiculous, but it's a keeper! The mom, Ellen (Beverly D'Angelo) provides a role - model for how to live peaceably amidst a houseful of relatives: "I don't know what to say, except it's Christmas and we're all in misery" (i.e, "You are home, so make the best of it!").

The best lines come along when the holiday is crumbling apart, and the long - distance relatives decide to make an early departure. Clark / Chevy bars the way:

"Where do you think you're going? Nobody's leaving. Nobody's walking out on this fun, old-fashioned family Christmas. No, no. We're all in this together. This is a full-blown, four-alarm holiday emergency here. We're gonna press on, and we're gonna have the hap, hap, happiest Christmas since Bing Crosby tap-danced with Danny f-----g Kaye. . . . Hallelujah! Holy shit! Where's the Tylenol?"

When Ben and Sam were little, I had a moment of misgiving about letting them hear Clark's use of the "f" word; but, otherwise, it was so much fun to watch this movie with them, I just crossed my fingers and hoped for the best. As they got older, I admitted my shame to them, but they were quick to reassure me that, having never been exposed to such diction before, they didn't even know that they'd just heard a bad word: "We just thought it was Danny Kaye's middle name!" (Yes, they also knew who Danny Kaye was thanks to numerous viewings of White Christmas).



In all of these narratives, the "worse side" is the family "melt - down." The "better side" is the hope of detente, if not resolution. Even the anonymous "Bad and Worse Sides of Thanksgiving," after the downward spiral, ends hopefully:

" . . . the gods are merciful . . . there is a grandeur to the feelings of finality and doom which usually settle on a house after the Thanksgiving celebration is over, for with the completion of Thanksgiving Day the year itself has been properly terminated . . . But then, overnight life once again begins to stir, emerging, even by the next morning, in the form of . . . window displays and . . . Christmas lighting . . . Thus, a new year dawns . . . the phoenix of Christmas can be observed as it slowly rises, beating its drumsticks, once again goggle-eyed with hope and unrealistic expectations.”

I guess that explains why so many families have turkey for Christmas dinner, so soon after having it for Thanksgiving -- that roasted fowl piece de resistance is a symbolic Phoenix of Hope!



"Phoenix: mythical bird of great beauty,
the only one of its kind, fabled
to live 500 or 600 years in the
Arabian wilderness, to burn itself
on a funeral pyre and to rise in its
own ashes in the freshness of youth . . ."

Years ago I accompanied my mother to a local used book fair to see what we could find. As I picked up a well worn poetry anthology, the first page, featuring a simply drawn Phoenix, broke loose from the binding and fluttered out onto the dusty table. My mom proceeded to purchase the book for me because I was so drawn to this mystical frontispiece, which I stuck back inside the front cover for safekeeping.

When I got home, I placed it in the little frame that you can see above and kept it propped on my desk all through college and grad school. Since then, I've read many more elaborate descriptions and seen many more intricate paintings of the famed and noble Phoenix, but this is still the one -- always propped somewhere amongst my papers and notebooks -- that inspires me with the hope of eternal creativity. I can no longer say for sure what became of the poetry book or even what it looked like, but it was really the Phoenix -- still with me! -- that I was after.

Christmas Quiz

Fuqua's first Christmas. No breakables this year!

For me?
A couple of Christmases ago, I filled out this Christmas quiz with my siblings and cousins. I had fun with the answers and even got a few blog posts out of them (links provided).

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Both. I especially like printed tissue.

2. Real trees or artificial? Fake -- because they can hold more heavy ornaments.

3. When do you put up the tree? Usually Thanksgiving.

4. When do you take the tree down? As long as I can hold out (somewhere between mid - January & Palm Sunday).

5. Do you like eggnog? Yes, but not as much as Irish Cream (see below).

6. Favorite gift received as a child? A boy doll, when I was in 4th grade (age 9); I never gave him a name -- just called him Boy Doll and still have him. Little did I know that one day I'd have two little blond baby boys who looked just like that doll!

7. Do you have a Nativity scene? Yes, about a dozen!

8. Hardest person to buy for? I used to say Gerry; but lately I have more good ideas for him than I do for Ben and Sam. Gone are the days of Brio & Thomas the Tank.

9. Easiest person to buy for? Sister - in - law Tina.

10. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? Maybe it was the Carolans Irish Cream Gift Tin -- with no bottle of Irish Cream inside -- just the empty tin. Symbolic?

11. Mail or e-mail Christmas cards? Mostly snail - mail, with a few e-mail cards, photos, etc. thrown in for good measure.

12. Five Favorite Christmas Movies?

Starting at Thanksgiving with Home for the Holidays. Great cast including, Holly Hunter, Robert Downey, Jr., Anne Bancroft, Charles Durning, Geraldine Chaplain.

The House Without a Christmas Tree (Jason Robards)

The Bear Who Slept Through Christmas (1973 animation, narrated by Tommy Smothers, Barbara Feldon, Arte Johnson)

A Christmas Memory, written & narrated by Truman Capote, starring Geraldine Page

A Child's Christmas in Wales, starring / narrated by Denholm Elliott

and . . . one more . . . the musical version of Scrooge with Albert Finney.

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? I Christmas shop on a perpetual calendar basis! I have, in fact, already started for next year.

14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? Ask me no more questions, I'll tell you no more lies!

15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Tiny Mince Pies (my recipe).

16 Clear lights or colored on the tree? Colored.

17. Favorite Christmas song? "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day," "O LittleTown of Bethlehem," "Star of Bethlehem" (from the first Home Alone movie), and "Sweet Little Jesus Boy," especially the lines: "The world treats you mean Lord / Treats me mean too / But that's the way things are down here . . . "

One more: Stevie Wonder's "Someday at Christmas" -- best anti - war / protest song I know.

18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? You know that song, "I'll Be Home For Christmas"? I think it means staying at home, in your own home -- if only in your dreams . . .

19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer? Yup -- even to include Bambi! This is a little joke in our family joke because when I asked Gerry what ornaments he liked, he pointed to a little Rudolph and said, "Well, I don't think much of this Bambi." Bambi! Can you believe? Haha! We're not going to let him forget that one for a long time!

20. Angel on the tree top or a star? On top of our big tree is a tiny Nativity scene -- with it's own very even tinier star on top -- so I guess the answer is Star. We sometimes top the other tree with a St. Nicholas Bishop's Hat that Sam made for a school project a few years back. When growing up, we had a white plastic angel painted with gold details; a Christmas light fit right into her back & she was beautiful. Some years, my mom would let us keep her out as a night - light, even after we had put the tree away.

21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? Morning (delayed gratification).

22. Most annoying thing about this time of year? Rarely annoyed . . . just dismayed at how extremely fast away the old year passes, even as I'm trying to clean the house and hang the greens and write the cards.

23. Favorite ornament theme or color: Oh so many! Lots of kitty - cat ornaments; a couple of 12 - Days sets; a couple of Nutcracker Suite sets; a couple of Alice in Wonderland sets; the kings & queens of England. I love them all! Occasionally I've been tempted to try a "theme" tree, but in the end I just have to cram it all in. As one of my neighbors said last year, "Now, that's what I call a stuffed tree!" That's the way I like it!

Who wouldn't want to find a giant kitten in a bread basket under the tree? "Little" Fuqua (10 mos old; 10 lbs.)
24. Favorite Christmas dinner -- a big ol' repeat of Thanksgiving: turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, sweet potatoes and marshmallows, stuffing, peas, cranberry relish. And for dessert: Nutcracker Sweet Chocolate Pecan Pie. And our four British favorites: Christmas Cake, Figgy Pudding, Tiny Mince Pies, and Sherry Trifle.

25. What do I want for Christmas? Funny, the year my family did this quiz (2009), I had just ordered eight pair of boots, tried them all on, returned the five pairs, and kept my three favorites to wrap and put under the tree. What did I get this year? Three pairs of boots -- red, black, and brown! So, I guess I always want boots. I also like getting Christmas for Christmas: Christmas magazines, Christmas books, Christmas candles, Christmas stickers, Christmas tree ornaments.

26. Most likely to respond: We'll see!

27. Least likely: Bah, humbug!

Watching For Santa

Reindeer Paws

Some Say Paws, Others Say Pause
Wouldn't this make a great Christmas card: my friend Catherine's darling little MacDuff (i.e., Duffy) looking absolutely princely, prancing in the snow. Surely he is all ready to pull Santa's sleigh, with his beautiful red collar and perfect posture. I can hear it now, up on the rooftop ~ the prancing and pawing of each little paw!

And the way the photographer (i.e., Cate) captured those bright red berries in the foreground -- beautiful! Thanks for sharing, Cate!

My Cats, Pine and Beaumont, Waiting for Santa

A Little Christmas

Little Angels on Gerry's Shoulder!
Christmas 2000

"For we need a little Christmas
Right this very minute
Candles in the window,
Carols at the spinet . . .
For I've grown a little leaner,
Grown a little colder,
Grown a little sadder,
Grown a little older,
And I need a little angel,
Sitting on my shoulder,
Need a little Christmas now."

from "We Need a Little Christmas"
As sung by Johnny Mathis

******************

Ben said,
"I always thought it was 'grown a little meaner, grown a little colder.'
Learn something knew every day."
Well, now that I think about it, maybe "meaner" is the Scrooge version! Though in a way, perhaps the two words -- mean, lean -- suggest the same thing; remember when Caesar says "Yond Cassius has a lean and hungry look." Of course, Cassius is thin but he's also mean, and that's what Caesar is really getting at. Lean as in heartless.

Another discrepancy: If you listen you'll carefully, you can surely hear Johnny Mathis singing "spice up the fruit cake," but I've noticed that in the Glee version -- and a few others -- they are definitely singing "slice" (and it says "slice" in the printed lyrics as well -- so I' know I'm not just mis-hearing). "Slice" just seems so bland (e.g. sliced bread) compared to "spice."

Still and all, a favorite song for beginning the season!

Spice up the Christmas Cake

In England at Christmas time, there is a Christmas cake in every house and one in every bakery window, and they all have the most wonderful snow scenes on top. Many of the little figures that Gerry's mom puts on her Christmas cake are things that she has saved from her childhood (little children riding on tiny sleds, a miniature cottage, some little plastic deer). The cake itself is really no different than a conventional American fruitcake, sweetened up by the layer of marzipan, than covered entirely by snowy Royal icing.

Gerry and Sam made ours this year, creating a Santa's Wonderland on top, with little deer, snowy trees, and a set of miniature Santas, each playing a different musical instrument -- they were the charms out of our Christmas crackers one year.

If you're too full for a piece of cake on Christmas Day -- as is often the case after the Figgy Pudding and the Mince Pies -- you can save it 'til the next day, and it will make a pefect Boxing Day dessert. This year, we're saving ours for New Year's Eve. It will also keep until the 6th of January, when it becomes known as Twelfth Night Cake. Or wait for Mardi Gras and call it King's Cake!

TRADITIONAL BRITISH CHRISTMAS CAKE
1 cup butter (8 oz)
1 cup soft brown sugar (8 oz)
4 eggs
2 tsp Allspice
grated rind of a lemon
grated rind of an orange
2 Tbsp sherry

3½ cups all purpose white or whole meal flour
¾ tsp salt
5¼ tsp baking powder

½ cup glace cherries (4 oz)
1 cup chopped pecans or English walnuts (4 oz)
2 cups regular raisins (3/4 lb)
2 cups golden raisins (3/4 lb)

Beat the butter and sugar together in a large mixing bowl (8-cup size or larger) until pale and creamy. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, adding a tablespoon of the flour with each egg. Beat in the allspice, orange and lemon rinds. Fold in the remaining flour (plus salt and baking powder) along with the cherries, nuts, and raisins, and stir in the sherry to give a smooth dropping consistency.

Spoon the mixture into a greased and lined 8-inch round cake tin or medium sized spring-form pan with 2½ inch sides, lined with brown paper and rubbed with butter. Level the top of the cake with a smooth spatula. Bake for 2 - 3 hours at 300 F until golden brown and firm to touch. Leave to cool in the tin before turning out. Ice with Royal Icing.

Another option is to make the cake a week or two in advance, soak it with sherry or whiskey, store in an air - tight container, checking every few days to re-saturate. Making the icing and decorating the top can be a fun family activity for Christmas Eve Day, Christmas Day, or New Year's Eve.

ROYAL ICING
First, spread a thin layer of any brand of apricot jam on the top and around the sides of the fruit cake. Second, roll out some ready made marzipan (approx. two 7 oz. Tubes) into a circle the size of the top of the cake and into a strip the height of the cake (I have to do this part in two or three sections). Third, stick the marzipan onto the cake, using the apricot jam as "glue."

In the food processor, beat 6 cups powdered sugar (1 1/2 lbs)
3 egg whites
3/4 tsp lemon juice
2 drop of glycerine or mineral oil.

Now, spread the frosting on top of the marzipan, using a smooth, rounded butter knife to create the effect of snow drifts, paths, etc. Finally, when the frosting is nearly set (not too long -- maybe 30 minutes), decorate with your favorite Christmas miniatures to create the snow scene of your own design. It’s also nice to stick a row of plastic holly or little red poinsettias around the sides. This cake keeps very well without being covered, so you can admire your work for several days! Then, slowly but surely cut around the decorations until nothing is left but a few crumbs!

Merry Christmas! Happy Boxing Day!
Sam Explains How It's Done, New Year's Day 2000
An Expert From Way Back, Christmas 1995

Tiny Mince Pies

British Store - bought: Mr. Kipling's
"Exceedingly Good Cakes"

American Home - made:
EASY ALL - FRUIT MINCEMEAT
The following recipe is similar to the Frugal Gourmet's recipe, but only half the amount, and without any meat or suet. It might seem labor intensive, but these are really fast, fun, and yummy!

5 or 6 apples, core them but leave the skin on & chop up in food processor (into little bitty squares)

2 1/4 cups (3/4 lb) dark raisins
1 1/2 cups (1/2 lb) currants or golden raisins
3/4 cup (1/4 lb) mixed, candied peel
1 1/2 - 2 cups brown sugar
1/2 cup distilled vinegar
1/4 cup molasses
1/2 cup apple juice
3/4 teaspoon each: allspice, cinnamon, ground cloves, nutmeg

MIX ALL TOGETHER, SIMMER ONE HOUR, COOL, and SPIKE with a bit of brandy or whiskey, as desired.

Cover and leave at room temperature overnight. Make pies the next day, or store the mincemeat for weeks in the refrigerator and use as needed. Makes about 8 dozen small pies or 2 regular-sized pies.

EASY MINIATURE PIE CRUSTS
This recipe makes 24 crusts; the food processor can easily handle a doubled batch if you want to make 48 at one time.

Cream all together in the food processor, just until a big dough ball starts to form:

1 stick of butter
3 oz cream cheese
1 cup flour

Divide big dough ball into 24 little balls, and place them into a miniature muffin pan. I have two pans that make 24 each, so I usually make a batch of 48. You do not need to grease each opening. The dough is buttery enough that the finished pies will slip out easily.

With your finger tips or thumb, or with a round - shaped teaspoon dipped in flour each time, make an indentation in each ball and press the dough to fit the muffin cup in the shape of a little pie crust. No fancy edging is required, and don't spread the dough out too thin -- keep the bottom & the sides a bit thick for easier removal and handling!

Then with a small spoon, fill each indentation with mincemeat, and bake at 350 degrees for 20 - 30 minutes.

It's hard not to fill the crusts to overflowing, but this is the only thing that makes the finished pies hard to remove -- if the juice has bubbled out and cooked around the edges. If this happens, loosen the syrupy, crusty overflow with a little plastic knife; let the pies cool a bit and then remove with a rounded butter knife. They should slip right out and be nice and sturdy enough to eat by hand.

For Ben, Sam, and Gerry, a typical serving is 5 or 6 pies at once; so even 4 dozen can disappear quickly! Gerry likes to douse his with room temperature whiskey or sherry. I like to have mine one or two at time with a cup of tea. Then an hour or so later, one or two more with another cup of tea, and so on and so forth throughout the Twelve Days of Christmas! Enjoy!

Figgy Pudding

STEAMED CHRISTMAS PUDDING
1 egg
¾ cup of eggnog or Half & Half
3 slices of white bread, torn into pieces

2/3 cup packed brown sugar
½ cup margarine or butter, cut up
2 Tbsp rum or brandy
½ cup chopped walnuts
2 cups of regular or golden raisins
(or a mixture of both; can also include part figs or dates)

¾ cup all-purpose flour
¾ tsp baking soda
½ tsp ground nutmeg

Beat the egg, add eggnog; then add bread and let stand until softened (about 3 minutes). Stir in sugar, margarine, and rum; then raisins and nuts. Finally, sift in the dry ingredients and stir until combined.

Lightly grease a 6-cup mold or heat-safe mixing bowl and pour in the pudding mixture. Cover with foil, pressing tightly against the rim of the mold or bowl to create a firm, leak-proof seal. Place the pudding, foil side up, on a rack inside a deep soup kettle or spaghetti pot. Add boiling water, up to 1 inch from the top of the pudding. Cover the kettle and bring the water to a gentle boil. Continue to steam the pudding for 2 ½ hours or until a toothpick comes out clean. Add more boiling water occasionally during steaming.

After cooking, cool the pudding on a wire rack for 10 minutes; then invert the pudding and remove the mold. You might want to stick a sprig a holly on the top, but this festive touch makes the pudding difficult to ignite!

If you want a flaming pudding, heat 3 tablespoons of rum or brandy until hot, pour it over the pudding, and quickly ignite. Then, command your entire family to sing "Oh, bring us some figgy pudding, and bring it right here!" while you carry your flaming creation to the table! We usually like to ignite ours several times to get the full effect! When the applause dies down, serve the pudding with rum butter.

RUM BUTTER
1 cup sifted powdered sugar
¼ cup margarine or butter, softened
1 Tbsp rum or brandy

Beat sugar and butter together in the food processor for 3 minutes; then add the rum and beat for another minute. Spoon the butter into a small serving bowl; cover and chill for 3 hours before serving.

Comfort & Joy Food

Cookies for Santa: British Hobnobs,
Frosted to resemble Christmas Puddings!

What do we all want for Christmas? Comfort & Joy Food! Not just regular ol' Comfort Food -- but sweets and tea! First Gerry organizes all the British must haves: Christmas Cake and Sherry Trifle (his specialties); Figgy Pudding and Tiny Mince Pies (we have evolved our own British - American versions of these two).

And, lastly, for the boys-- the one and only Celestial Seasonings Nutcracker Sweet Pie. We always make a couple of these holiday favorites at Thanksgiving and -- though we don't really need it -- yet another one at Christmas!

Celestial Seasonings used to print this recipe on the inside of every box of Nutcracker Sweet Tea, but I haven't seen it there in awhile. Luckily, I have it written down; and the tea is still available. If you don't see it in your store, try amazon -- you may have to order six boxes at one time, but that's okay because a box of Nutcracker Sweet Tea makes a good Christmas present, so you can give some away!

Here are the easy instructions:

Make yourself a cup (or an entire pot!) of Nutcracker Sweet Tea

Now, boil one cup of water in medium saucepan; take two additional tea bags from the box, add them to the boiled water, and turn off the heat; steep for 4 minutes

After 4 minutes, remove tea bags, turn heat back on to "simmer"

Stir in

1/3 cup butter
2 oz. of unsweetened chocolate (I use two 1 - oz squares)

Stir until melted, remove from heat, cool for 10 minutes

Then add

1 1/2 cups white sugar (or less according to your taste for dark chocolate)

2 beaten eggs

1/2 teas. salt

Pour into an unbaked pie shell and cover with 1 1/2 cups of pecan halves (or smaller pieces, if you like)

Bake at 375 F, for 45 minutes.

I hope everyone will try it and love it! After my nephew Dan and I started making this 10 years ago or so, I gave up all other pecan pie and chocolate pie recipes. This is it for us!

Thanksgiving Rendition, Flanked by Large Mince Pies**Tradition at our house requires
large mince pies for Thanksgiving / tiny mince pies for Christmas

Three Soups & Thirteen Desserts

Christmas Cake and Village
Yesterday was the Twelfth Day of Christmas and last night, everyone's favorite Shakespearean festival: Twelfth Night. That makes today the Epiphany, otherwise known as the Feast of the Three Kings.

If the Epiphany happens to fall on the weekend (not the case this year), it can be the perfect occasion for inviting your friends and neighbors over for an end - of - season soup fest -- The Feast of the Three Soups! -- any three you like, e.g., good old Football Chili, New Year's Good Luck Soup (with black-eyed peas for vision & spinach greens for prosperity), and Giblet Soup (a Christmas Eve tradition in Gerry's family).

************

GIBLET SOUP
for CHRISTMAS EVE, NEW YEAR'S EVE,
TWELFTH NIGHT or EPIPHANY
BRING TO BOILING:

about 6 cups of chicken broth (can be canned, bouillon cubes, or home made)

ADD TO BROTH:

2 onions, chopped up

5 carrots, sliced round or diagonal

5 celery stalks with leaves, sliced medium thickness

1 lb. pkg. of chicken livers, cut in bite - sized pieces

1 lb. pkg. of chicken gizzards, cut in bite - sized pieces (I try to cut away the gristle, but it's not always easy & it doesn't really hurt to leave it in)

any other giblets, hearts, or necks that came with the turkey (I randomly use turkey & / or chicken, whatever happens to be in the freezer)

FOR SEASONING:

1 teasp. of pepper (I like a lot of pepper; you can use less)

2 teasp. of salt (can be regular, garlic salt, seasoning salt, chicken seasoning mix -- whatever you like)

plus any other spices that you like with chicken (I sometimes use dried basil from our garden, but not always)

IF YOU WANT TO SHARE WITH CHILDREN OR JUST HAVE MORE REGULAR MEAT:

add 6 - 12 chicken drumsticks (and more broth if needed)

LET EVERYTHING COOK

on a low simmer, 1 - 6 hours, depending on your schedule

ABOUT AN HOUR BEFORE EATING

add barley or rice (1/2 cup if you want it to float loosely in the broth; 1 cup if you want to thicken up the soup to a stew like consistency).

I think that's about it! It's okay if it turns out a little bit different every time. This year's soup was made with 6 bouillon cubes, 8 cups water, 2 cartons of chicken livers (no gizzards because I couldn't find any at the store that day, and no other giblets or necks because I had used them all up on Christmas Eve), 2 teaspoons of "CVS Chicken & Meat Seasoning" and 1 teaspoon of regular ground black pepper (no other spices), all the usual vegetables (carrots, celery, onions), and one cup of barley.

************
You may also be familiar with the French custom of serving thirteen symbolic desserts on Christmas EveIf you ask me, this is another celebration / menu idea that works just as well on Epiphany. After all, it is the Thirteenth Day of Christmas!

Feasts and Seasons

Christmas Cake and Village
The Frugal Gourmet Celebrates Christmas (1991) by Jeff Smith (1939 - 2004) is the best holiday cookbook I know of. Both my latkes and my mincemeat are from this source. One of my sisters gave me this book for Christmas back in 1996, and I gave a copy to one of my brothers a couple of Christmases after that.It's that good. Once you've read it, you'll want to give it as a present to someone else!

More than a collection of recipes, it is also a fascinating narrative of cultural history and seasonal tradition, ingeniously illustrated and creatively organized. Each chapter presents a dish for a different character from the traditional manger scene: angel hair pasta for the angels, green olive soup for the shepherds (I tried this recipe one year -- odd), lamb chops for the tax collector, Persian meatballs for the Magi, right down to milk and honey for the Baby Jesus.

Then there's The Frugal Gourmet Keeps the Feast: Past, Present, and Future (1995), a book about food as sacrament and celebration. Smith was an ordained minister as well as a chef, and the first half is a collection of articles about theology and feasting. The second half is organized into chapters such as "Old World Soups," "Salads from the Ancient World," and "Eggs on the Biblical Table." All things are ready! Come to the feast!

RED DINING ROOM, PHILADELPHIA, 2003
Which brings us to another favorite, The Feast of Christmas: Origins, Traditions, and Recipes (1992) by Paul Levy (b 1941). Filled with beautiful food photography, vintage illustrations, and lots of narrative, this book asks: "What is it that distinguishes the attitude of the feaster from that of the ordinary eater?" Answer: Sensory expectation, social pleasure, and intellectual reward. Levy says that "Instinctively we know the importance of feasting," but only rarely do we practice the art of eating reflectively: "Once a year [Christmas!] our dismal diet disappears, and . . . we are given a glimpse of what food can mean" (7).

In the same vein is The Supper of the Lamb: A Culinary Reflection (1967) by The Rev. Robert Farrar Capon (b 1925), an ordained Episcopal minister who combines theology, food, and digression. How so? "It is easier than you think" says Capon, "the road from temple to kitchen is quite plain. It lies through the subject of knives. . . . The oldest fingerprints in the world are those on tools: and of all tools, the knife remains supreme. . . . the one tool used by more people, more of the time, than any other. All the kitchens . . . are filled with knives. With your permission I shall" . . . digress! (53 - 54). You get the idea.

O CHRISTMAS TREE, O CHRISTMAS TREE!
Along with these books I must mention the culinary goddess Laurie Colwin (1944 - 1992). How we miss her! What a gift she had for keeping the feast! Whether or not you like her fiction, you just have to read her two narrative cookbooks Home Cooking (1988) and More Home Cooking: A Writer Returns to the Kitchen (1993). The recipes are great, but even better is her sister - to - sister commentary. Totally engaging! Recommended by Jes. I have been touched and inspired by the honor Colwin ascribes to the custom and ceremony of food preparation:

"These two delicacies ["Spiced Beef" and "Country Christmas Cake"] have that profound, original, home-made taste that cannot be replicated, no matter what you spend. They make the person who made them feel ennobled. After all, it is holiday time. Aren't we meant to draw together and express our good feelings for one another? What could be better than to offer something so elementally, so wholesomely down-home and yet elegant? And both go a long way: You can feed a lot of loved ones with them. . . . If I did nothing else, I would still make this cake and spiced beef and fill my head with visions of candles and pine boughs. The sun goes down at four o'clock, the air is damp and chill, but in the pantry my cake is mellowing, and soon I will spice my beef as centuries of people have done before me" (More H C, 209 - 210)

CHRISTMAS 2001

Christmas Tea for One, Two, Three

Lovely Past Times Holiday Teapots (above & below),
presents over the years from my British Sister - in - law, Tina McFadyen

Strange how a teapot
Can represent at the same time
The comforts of solitude
And the pleasures of company

~ Zen Haiku Quotes ~

"I had three chairs in my house; one for solitude,
two for friendship, three for society."

~ Henry David Thoreau ~
American author and naturalist, 1814 - 1862
~ from Walden ~

Close - Up with David Winter Houses, on Platter by Gien

“Outside of the chair,
the teapot is the most ubiquitous and important
design element in the domestic environment
and almost everyone who has tackled the world of design
has ended up designing one.”

~ David McFadden ~
Canadian poet and novelist, b. 1949

"Bread and water can so easily be toast and tea."
~ Author Unknown ~

Making Gingerbread for Christmas

Lily's Gingerbread People, Christmas 2008 ". . . the baker with his white cap and big spoon . . . the Princess in a pink dress and golden crown, the old woman and her apples, gingerbread men, gingerbread ladies, and gingerbread cats all danced through their dreams!"

from Snipp, Snapp, Snurr and The Gingerbread (Sweden, 1932)
by Maj Lindman (1886 - 1972)
"Mama and I are gathering fir twigs for the advent wreath. Behind a ridge of cloud the setting sun flames blood red. It is the red-hot glow of the heavenly baking oven. The angels are very busy just now, mixing and rolling and baking the spiced honey Lebkuchen for Christmas. Anxiously I gaze at the fiery glow. They might get their lovely wings singed. As the glow fades, I breathe a sigh of relief, the danger is past for today."

Christmas, early 1930s
as described by Gerda Erika Baker
in Shadow of War

Gingerbread: A Short, Happy Photo History
~
DELECTABLE SUMMER PALACE
CREATED BY BEN, KAREN & ZOE
AS HALLOWEEN APPROACHES,
GLORY DAYS GIVE WAY TO RUIN

A THANKSGIVING TREAT
FOR THE YARD DWELLERS
IF YOU BUILD IT,
THEY WILL COME, THEY WILL DEVOUR ( ~ DEC 3rd ~ )
A SNOWY TREAT
FOR A COLD LITTLE FRIEND ( ~ DEC 4th ~ )
From the squirrel's perspective,
this story has a very happy ending!