All Things Holiday Thread!

[Medusa]

Well, Thanksgiving and the Christmas, Chanukah, Kwanzaa, Solstice and New Year's Holidays are upon us.

Do you celebrate? What are some of your favorite foods? Do you think this time of year is too commercialized? Care to share a favorite recipe? Plans for New Year's?

This thread is for all things Holidays! or "Holidaze" if you get especially chaotic!

[Gemme]

Soooooooo overly commercialized.

I celebrate anything with food and pressies and people taking 15 minutes out of their lives to not be dickwads.

I plan to decorate for Xmas. I have plans for New Year's. I'm set!

FRUITCAKE!!! I freakin' LOVE those lil buckeyes. OMG, I haven't had them in forever but they are super yummy as well as rumballs. Real rumballs. My Gran kept all the kids happy and quiet with those rumballs. Good times.

[Medusa]

I LOVE this time of year because it means that all things pumpkin-flavored are available in quantity!!!

Pumpkin pies! Pumpkin lattes! Pumpkin bread!! Pumpkin-scented candles!! Pumpkin-colored throws!

YAY!

[homoe]

Originally Posted by Medusa

I LOVE this time of year because it means that all things pumpkin-flavored are available in quantity!!!

Pumpkin pies! Pumpkin lattes! Pumpkin bread!! Pumpkin-scented candles!! Pumpkin-colored throws!

YAY!

It's only a matter of weeks until all things pumpkin will start to show up! I already saw pumpkin shaped Reese's peanut butter cups at Fred Meyers! Turkey, dressing, cranberry sauce, holiday goodies ..I can hardly wait for it all...

Sidebar: I've also gotten a few presents purchased already....

[homoe]

~~
I do realize sometimes holidays can be depressing for those without family or friends close by but as for myself, I enjoy the shopping for gifts that I know will bring joy to others. Besides gift I LOVE sending food goodies such as Seattle's Chocolate Truffle bars, See's Eggnog Truffles, Racine Kringle, oh the list goes on and on. Who doesn't love finding something delicious and tasty in a gift box around the holidays!

[ahk]

Thanksgiving is a big holiday for my wife and I-- we love to cook. Though we don't really have folks come over due to previous b.s. This year will be our first Paleo/Primal meal and I'm a bit anxious because we'll not have stuffing/or bread. lol.

I love my wife's cheese ball and deviled eggs-- I'll share one of the recipes later.

I have always felt that holidays are over commercialized-- we (family, both sides) buy 1 gift and then make all others or donate to others who need.

Christmas, not sure what's happening may be going to AZ -- and if not, then New Year's we'll travel somewhere, possibly Ruidoso-- we've been really talking about that. It'll be nice to get out of town for the holiday.

[Heavenleahangel]

I love this time of year, also because it means the holidays are upon us and I get to decorate for my son who is 6! I start with Halloween for him but get serious about things after the 1st of November getting ready for my Thanksgiving dinner. I am the cook for my entire family up here and any friends who want to come eat. Turkey and dressing of course with green bean casserole, rolls, etc.
I decorate my home and yard for Christmas and put apple/fruit pieces on my trees for the animals to have a treat. I also cook this meal for my family which will be a ham with southern trimmings. Mac n cheese, yams, corn on cob, etc. Always a red velvet cake and other goodies.
Sadly, the retailers make it too commercial and put pressure on us to spend, spend, spend. I do not get into hype of "If you love someone you will buy them..........!" It's more important for me to have family and close friends nearby and being able to celebrate another year.

[Ciaran]

I love Christmas.

Here in the UK, we (obviously) don't celebrate Thanksgiving and the other celebrations are fairly contained within the respective ethnic / religious communities.

Christmas is different. Unlike the US where many aspects still operate as normal, most things stop completely here on Christmas Day (and, often, Boxing Day too). No buses or other public transport. Very few, if any, shops open on Christmas Day etc.

During my younger adult life, I used the Christmas holidays as an opportunity to travel a lot. I think, between 1998 and 2007, I spent one Christmas back home. The others were spent in Rome, Manila, San Francisco et al.

I didn't regret it at the time - but, as I've been living the past 5 to 6 years in London away from my family, I do now.

These days, for me, Christmas is about family and my close, life-long friends back home. It's not about religion (well, it is but that's a 365 day a year thing), at least not in any meaningful sense. It's all about being back home.

After recent months, I'm very much looking forward to getting back home this year. Last year, Christmas was hectic and noisy - Tmbyfem was here, alongside my brother and his young family. This year, Tmbyfem won't arrive until post-Christmas and my brother will be celebrating Christmas with his young family in their new London home.

So there'll be fewer people which means less noise and more turkey for me. My family and friends will be around me. I'll eat and drink more than I should, probably go to mass 6 of the 7 days I'm there, reiterate to my parents and my friends how much I love them and return to London with a smile inside.

That's my Christmas.

[Jar]

I plan to decorate for Christmas. My favorite food for Christmas and thanksgiving is turkey, cranberry sauce, asparagus casserole AND my mom's dressing. My sister used to call it wet cornbread so my mom would make both dressing and stuffing. Good memories.....

[WingsOnFire]

Most definitely over commercialized...

I love love love Thanksgiving and a huge dinner with family and friends... Not sure yet this year what my plans will be but I am sure I will be partaking in several dinners with friends. I love the smell of Turkey baking in the oven, my favorite foods are stuffing, mashed potatoes and sweet potatoes.. mmmmm and all the fixings in between....

I want to decorate my house this year for Christmas. It will be my first year living on my own but I am sure I will be celebrating it with everyone who cares to share their time with me.

I am with Gemme... I ALWAYS participate in the angel tree service... my employer has always had that for their employees and I absolutely love participating.

[CA_BabyCakes]

I love the holidays!! Love having the whole family over and doing different holiday themed activities with my kids on the weekends! I especially love baking with my brother and helping my grandma make tamales, Mmmmmm....

[easygoingfemme]

Love the holidays! Over commercial or not, I don't have to buy into the hype but choose to celebrate my own way and have fun.

Halloween is a great kick off. My daughter usually plans a costume a year in advance and has been known to spend months and months sewing and creating. Then we usually have a party with our collective homeschooling families. When the kids were younger, they would go out treating, but now they hang out in their costumes and watch a semi-spooky movie and just be themselves. The parents hang out in another room with wine and snacks and relax. We're also taking the kids ice skating in the afternoon this year for "Halloween on ice"

Thanksgiving has changed a lot over the years. About 20 years ago my mother started making it really big after recovering from breast cancer treatment. For a while we'd have extended family travel and come and we'd have up to 30 people together for the meal. Then older generations started getting older and the party dwindled because it was too hard to travel. Last year my grandmother died a few days before Thanksgiving and that was hard. She loved Thanksgiving so much. This year, as I did last year, I will take over making the dishes my Grandmother made (Corn bread pudding, Indian pudding, chocolate cream pie, pumpkin pie, sweet potatoes...) and my mom will make an entree and we will get together for a nice big meal.

The day after Thanksgiving we stay home and play board games and avoid the crazy outside...

Someday between Thanksgiving and Christmas (which we celebrate) my daughter wakes up to find I've cancelled everything so that we can have an all out crafting blitz and we start playing holiday music and make wintery crafts all day.

Christmas eve we have dinner at my parents house, usually something simple like quiche and salad (My mom doesn't like to cook and my dad doesn't think to take over) and we just visit.

I host Christmas day at my house. Overnight I make steel cut oats in the crockpot, and then in the morning my daughter and I make a few quiche. Usually my daughter spends the week before baking sweet breads and muffins. I put all that out with a big bowl of fruit and a lot of coffee and family comes. It's sort of small, my parents, and by brother, his wife, and their son who will be 1 1/2 this year. Everyone eats a lot and there is an exchange of gifts, largely centered around the kids. My family is pretty practical and other than my brother, most of us are not too into tangible goods as gifts, so often gifts are things like registrations for a class someone wants to take, or tickets to a play, or a gift certificate to go somewhere special. I make a huge dinner with shellfish, some sort of poultry, loads of vegetables, etc. Then we bring out the pies and cocktails. We usually run well into the evening once we've gotten through it all.

The day after Christmas my daughter and I play whatever new games might have come into the house and eat leftovers and do not leave home.

My guy and his kids will get here a day or two after Christmas, so they can spend the actual holiday with family who lives right there near them. We will take a few (home based) vacation days to go snow tubing, have board game marathons, and relax. Don't tell, but my father is building all of the kids wooden stilts, because they experienced them at a festival over the summer and loved them. So I foresee a fair amount of time being spent watching the kids master the art of stilt walking. Depending on how much snow and ice we get, this could be very interesting, or scary.

New years, last year my guy and I went to dinner at an Irish pub, followed by an awesome stand up comedy night at a local theater. We're going to do that again this year. My daughter will visit with my parents while we're out and then we'll all be home probably an hour or so before midnight. I don't have a television so we might put on a computer to watch a ball drop somewhere, or not, not a big deal.

Fun to read everyone's holiday plans!

[Jar]

ahk... wanted to know what asparagus casserole was ..... My mom makes it (I've never attempted it yet). In a casserole dish she layers asparagus, sliced boiled eggs, mushroom soup and cheese. She makes 2 or 3 of these layers and tops it with crumbled crackers, then bakes it for about half hour or a little more. Good stuff!

[Gráinne]

The kids already "did" Halloween at Magic Screams, a sort of haunted amusement park (Magic Springs). It's a good thing, as there's supposed to be bad weather moving in by then.

For Thanksgiving, I'd hoped to work at the food bank or a serving before having dinner at home. With my family gone, it's all on me.

Christmas, the kids and I are going to Oregon for my brother.