Monthly Musings - It's the Holiday Season!

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Once again, I'm struggling to pay visits to my blogging friends when I participate in link-ups, because it's a busy time of year and it's so easy to fall behind in my good intentions! But of course, being busy is just part of the season, and sort of the subject of the Monthly Musings questions this month! I'm going to do my best to answer without taking too long, and then at some point over the next couple of days, I will visit my neighbors and others in the link-up! Holly at Pink Lady and Patty at Good Better Best co-host this monthly sharing of tips, tricks, and conversation starters. 

1. Favorite holiday traditions?

I have to think back on some favorites from the past, because not nearly all the things that were our family traditions still are or will be. We're still adjusting and making new traditions, I guess. 

For many years, I sang in a choir that put on a holiday concert right after Thanksgiving. My daughter liked to attend, and that was sort of the kickoff to the Christmas season. She sang in a Children's Chorus and that was another special event tradition for us. When we could manage it, we loved seeing Trans Siberian Orchestra's holiday show. Some years that was a family event that was also a family Christmas gift.

Writing a family newsletter to go with our Christmas cards, and convincing the kids that we needed a family photo. 

Watching Christmas movies and specials together as a family! It's A Wonderful Life and A Christmas Carol are staples for Christmas Eve or Christmas Day. My other favorite is White Christmas. A lot of the kids specials are included on the Must Watch List, along with Elf, The Santa Clause, and National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation, and others too.

One of our very goofy family traditions happens after all the presents have been opened on Christmas Day. We wad up all the wrapping paper into "snowballs" and have a little indoor snowball fight!

2. Favorite holiday fashion items or accessories?

I have some Christmas themed earrings but other than that I don't think I even have clothing or accessories that are specific to the holidays. I just purchased a glitzy Christmas sweater but haven't even tried it on yet so it's a bit premature to say whether it will wind up a favorite!

3. Share your favorite holiday recipes.

The first recipes that come to mind are for all the sweets and cookies. Some favorites for our family are Shortbread, Peanut Butter Cookies, and Nanaimo Bars. 

During the month of December we like to have Peppernuts, even though I don't take the time to bake them every year. 

These little cookies are called peppernuts, despite them not containing either pepper or nuts. Go figure. Our family recipe, which is actually quite "plain" compared to some that include spices, has never included pepper, and after doing a little research, it seems that just as many peppernut recipes include pepper as leave it out. (If you want to add it, try 1/4 tsp of black pepper.) Peppernuts are associated with the Christmas holidays in Germany, Denmark, Netherlands, and among Ethnic Mennonites in North America (that would be my family heritage). The recipe we use is very similar to a cookie called "Kruidnoten", which means "spice nuts". The ingredients are pretty much the same as those used for the Dutch cookie known as "speculoos". All three cookies have been part of St Nicholas Day traditions in Netherlands, Germany, and Belgium; and part of Christmas and Yuletide in Germany.

Peppernuts

3/4 cup margarine or butter

1-1/2 cups white sugar

1-1/2 cups brown sugar

3 eggs

2 tbsp water (if needed to make the dough manageable)

2 tbsp corn syrup

5 cups flour

3/4 tsp baking soda

3/4 tsp baking powder

Cream butter and sugars together; add eggs and syrup, then mix in dry ingredients to make a stiff dough. Roll the dough into long ropes about an inch thick. Freeze on cookie sheets until firm. Slice each rope into small coin-sized rounds (dime sized if you're patient, silver dollar sized if you're not). Bake on ungreased cookie sheets at 350* until set and starting to brown. Ours took about 10 minutes or so, but it will depend on the size of your cookies. Allow to cool for a minute before removing. Store these crunchy little cookies in tins.

See my post Holiday Sweets and Treats at Homeschool Coffee Break for the Nanaimo Bar recipe and a few others including Peppernuts.

4. How do you celebrate the holidays?

I kind of answered in Question 1, unless I misinterpreted that! We do Advent and Christmas, and try to spread the celebration throughout the entire season, all the way to Epiphany. We usually attend the Christmas Eve service, but to be honest, that's more because someone in our family has been asked to be part of the music. We would rather make Christmas Eve a family time at home, but none of us is willing to say "no" to the church service. We watch Christmas movies together and stay up late playing games on Christmas Eve and open presents on Christmas morning. Personally, I like to do a little something to mark Hanukkah as well, but that hasn't been a big part of our holiday season as a family.

5. Do you go to see holiday lights?

We sure do! Every December there are at least a couple of nights that we just drive around neighborhoods to see how people have decorated. We also visit parks that have holiday light displays - city parks, botanical gardens, and the zoo. Favorite spots for a few years have been Franklin Park Conservatory in Columbus and Sailing Through the Winter Solstice in Frederick.

6. How do you decorate your house for the holidays?

 Lights inside and outside, some wreaths and garland, some Christmas music boxes and figurines, extra candles, poinsettias . . . a Christmas tree, of course! It feels like a lot until I try to describe what it includes. I scaled back a LOT last year since we had just moved, and I won't have a lot more this year. I used to have two full size trees and five or six small ones back in the day. 

7. If you get a Christmas tree - is it real or fake?

We do have a Christmas tree, and have had a fake one for over twenty years. We like to have it up all through Advent season, and I don't take it down until Epiphany, and a real one gets a little brown by then! And a fake one is less trouble for our cats to get into as well. I loved the pre-lit tree that we had for many years, even though the lights stopped working right, so we had to add our own lights to it every year, which was a pain. So finally we decided it was time to buy a new one, and we waited for the after-Christmas sales in 2021 to get one we liked at a really good price. Last year was the first year we set it up . . . right after we moved . . . and when my husband started a new job at a greenhouse and Christmas tree farm where one of the perks is that he can have a fresh tree every year. Gah!! We got a fresh wreath and a planter instead. 

8. Favorite holiday treats?

You mean other than the cookies and sweets I already mentioned in Question 3? Seriously, give me all the sweet stuff around the holidays! I won't say no to any of it! I love the stuff we call Christmas Crack or Fools Toffee. It's crackers baked with a butter and brown sugar topping and then with chocolate melted on top of it. You know the one I mean. Definitely a favorite. Also Christmas chocolate oranges and boxes of chocolates. Almost anything seasonal and sugary, and I'm in!

9. If you have pets, do you pets get and give gifts?

I don't think I've ever given our cats gifts, but my mother-in-law used to, and my daughter does! 

10. Best tips to make the holidays less stressful?

Don't over-extend yourself. "No" is a really useful word during this extra busy time of year. The past several years I allowed myself to say "no" to the parties and events and obligations that I really didn't want to do. There will always be something that you kind of have to do even if it's not your favorite, but allow yourself to skip the things that stress you out and don't feel guilty about it. The holidays are supposed to be about joy and peace, not stress and exhaustion and debt.

Spread out the work. I always plan to start Christmas baking early in the season and do a batch of cookies every couple of days or so, rather than get stressed by having to make 42 dozen batches of cookies all on one day. I never get as much done as I'd like, but there's never been a shortage!

I'm linking up with Monthly Musings hosted by Holly at Pink Lady and Patty at Good Better Best.

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