What are Christmas Traditions

I have been thinking this past couple of days about "Why am I hitting my head against the lack of Enthusiasm for Christmas traditions amongst my family and others??" only a few people are involved in Christmas, and other's are either expecting the Old Folks to Make Christmas, or are doing the commercial thing, of buying ready made products; to busy to be involved in the Real Spirit of Christmas

Some of it can be laid at the feet of Parents who have done everything, and not involved the kids; for others it is our fast paste lives, spread out from Family and Friends; while still more likely is the lack of any desire to get into a Seasonal Spirit of Past Traditions Handed Down, it's too much work and takes time, so not the quick fix that the Fast Food / Instant Gratification Society wants life to be;

My generation may be the last one to have grown up with and done for themselves the Christmas Traditions, at least as far as I know in my own immediate family; only one Daughter has any inclination to Make Christmas, and she married a man who is into that as well; regardless of his other faults, he is still someone that I am glad is in the family ;-)

This year we will have our first Christmas Dinner here at the house, with a Pot Luck, overly organized but still a start; then on New Years Day, we are planning another dinner Pot Luck, we will have more of the traditions of the family, with additions from my daughter's husband, mixing in; it will be a Made Celebration, not bought; home made beer, mead, punch, wines; puddings, cakes, and year old mincemeat I started last January; 4-5 traditional cookies, cinnamon buns, Christmas Tryfle and Jul log rolls; the nuts, cold cuts, cheeses, with home made sausage rolls, buns and breads; and of course The Real Music and Movies of Christmas !!

But Christmas Traditions are more than just food and partying; they are just a way of sharing and caring amongst the family; each one bringing what they do best, and making up the Celebration; for the religious or spiritual amongst us, it is a concrete way of sharing the Gift of the Messiah with the family and friends; by going amongst the houses and visiting, sharing a drink, cookies or cold lunches, along with chat and hugs, that is building relationships that epitomize the Spirit of the Season; whatever religion we belong to it is universal to people at this time of transition in the yearly calendar;

What to me are important traditions, won't be important to others, and while I won't do all their traditions, I will realize they are important to them and respect their doing and sharing; in the end we all grow and develop as people and friends; if I had not met the Wagners and other Northern and Eastern Europeans, I would not have the joy and pleasure of those traditions in my Christmas, added to my own families traditions; it is an evolving organic celebration that can and will change with each generation, but the core is always there; as my son said in November, Christmas to him now, would not be Christmas without the Weihnachten Lieder or German Christmas Songs to those who don't know the term;

Prettige Kerstdagen en een Gelukkig Nieuwjaar
Frohe Weihnachten und ein glückliches neues Jahr
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year
Noflike Krystdagen en in Lokkich Nijjier
Joyeux Noël et Bonne Année
Glædelig Jul og Godt Nytår
God Jul og Godt Nyttår
God jul och gott nytt år
Boas Festas e um feliz Ano Novo
Feliz Navidad y Próspero Año Nuevo
Buon Natale e felice anno nuovo
Mele Kalikimaka me ka Hau'oli Makahiki Hou
Veselé Vánoce a Šastný Nový Rok!
Hyvää Joulua Ja Onnellista Uutta Vuotta!
Nadolig Llawen a Blwyddyn Newydd Dda!
Wesolych swiat i szczesliwego nowego roku

More on Mulled Cider Recipes

Mulled Cider Recipes

First a definition - what is Mulled Cider or Wines, what does it mean;

Mull: 

To warm or heat up (perhaps that is why it is also used for reflective thinking ;)

Mulled:

Warmed up (a beverage, esp. wine, beer, or cider) and added spices and sweetening to a beverage

a tankard of mulled ale

shall we mull some apple (juice) cider with cranberries and cinnamon 

             So mulled cider seems to have been a drink that was a common man’s beverage; it was made from whatever was available to hand, similar to his versions of wine and mead; in this case a base of apple juice, with a cover of herbs and other flavours, which range from various other fruits to spices; it would have been an experiment carried over many years and perhaps generations, as recipes were refined and quality was improved; the Gingerbeer recipes of the later 17^th to 19^th century would have been just one that became a staple of commercial and home brewing life;

      Below are a few that I have found on the web, and some that I have worked out myself; I’ll leave it up to you to decide which is which LOL

         Dave

 

HOT MULLED CRANBERRY CIDER   

http://www.cooks.com/rec/search/0,1-00,hot_mulled_cider,FF.html       

1 (32 oz.) bottle cranberry juice cocktail (4 c.)

1 (32 oz.) bottle apple juice (4 c.)

6 cinnamon-apple herbal tea bags

6 (8 inch long) cinnamon sticks

 

1. In 3 quart saucepan over high heat, heat cranberry juice and apple juice to boiling. Remove from heat. Add tea bags. Cover and brew 5 minutes.

 

2. Remove tea bags. Serve in glass mugs and use cinnamon sticks as swizzle sticks.

 

This is a drink to sip by a warm fire on a cold autumn day.

Gingerbread Dough and Royal Icing

well, it is time to do a Gingerbread house and cookies; at least it was a few weeks ago, and now after much procrastination, here are the results ;-)

first the cookies; (not many left to photograph I am NOT sorry to say ;-)

it is the same batter / dough as for the house so we will dispense with a repeat post:

First you will want to get the ingredients out; 

1/2 cup Shortening, 1 Egg and 1/2 cup Molasses at room temperature, leave out over night if you keep it in the fridge; 2/3 cup white sugar (I use 1/3 white and 1/3 DARK brown) 

    now here they suggest that you creme' the sugar and the shortening together and add the other ingredients one at a time; I have just plopped the lot in a bowl and with a spoon mixed it up; it still worked out well, your choice;

but my advice, the molasses and the shortening MUST be room temperature if you are using a hand mixer, as this is really tough on the motor; but if at room temp, it is also easy to mix by hand and save electricity ;-) if you are taking the molasses and shortening out of the fridge and using cold, then my advice is to use a pastry cutter or sharp knife to cut into small pea size pieces before using the hand mixer; just a bit of experience of the past 3 weeks making 5 batches ;-) 

    hmmmmmmm at this point it calls for 1/4 cup of hot water to be blended in; perhaps it pays to read the recipe ;( ok, next time; but you use it; it might help out a bit LOL ;-) 

     it says to gradually stir in the dry ingredients; ok, that would be the 2 1/2 cups of cake and pastry flour (ummmmmm, I used All Purpose in the first two batches, just removed a Tbsp for each batch, and sifted 2 times) 1/2 tsp of salt, 1/2 tsp nutmeg ground, 1 1/2 tsp of ginger ground; stir it up or sift it once; would be a good idea to do this before doing the wet ingredients, then it is ready when needed; combine with the molasses mixture and beat the h... (ooooops keeping it PG ;-) batter well until it is mixed; 

if your really getting into it, and you find that you want a darker batch, you can add another 1/4 to 1/3 cup of molasses and hand mix; it is an experience LOL as you can see; 

This is half a batch, on the cutting board, lightly floured, otherwise it sticks to the board and to hands; I used my hands to press it out, flipping the batter twice, and re-coating my hands once; then cutting the first cookies, and placing on the greased cookie sheet; then refresh the flour on the board and press out again, flipping only once, and then cutting the rest of the cookies; the remainder I shaped by hand and put on the pan; 

for the log cabin, I cut the "logs" from the pressed dough and put on the pan for baking;

rolling does not retain the round shape in the oven, as the dough flattens on the bottom; 

did a batch of rounds, hoping to make snow men, but they would have made better bushes ;-) filled with a nugat or almond past they would have made an interesting cookie, coated with a white icing ;-) just a suggestion LOL or a reminder to myself, as I just thought of it hahaha; 

    cut the squared logs off at the ends to make a neat end, otherwise they will need to be cut immediately after bringing out of the oven; same goes for the cookies, as they can be rather hard, though keeping in an airtight container will soften them; 

these are rounds that I cut with a 2 inch spice bottle lid; they baked to 2 3/4 inch width ;-) I was going to use them for an advent calendar, but they got eaten first ;-) it has been that sort of season; 

    Bake at 350 F on the top shelf for about 10 to 12 minutes, best to keep an eye on them unless you are sure you haven't got a "hot" oven like mine ;-) the first batch I left for the 12 minutes and the bottoms were caramelized ;-( not bad for me, but not what I would serve to others ;-) 

     as this is a method that does not utilize cooking on a stove, it is great for a quick last minute house or batch of cookies ;-) below is the Icing recipe; 

Royal Icing for the Gingerbread either cookies or houses

I took out the ingredients for the Royal Icing, and am a bit shocked, 1 lb of icing sugar and 3 egg whites 1/2 tsp of cream of tarter; have a feeling after beating for the 10 minutes, it is going to be quite the bowl of snowy white ;-) going to have to figure a way of either keeping it moist afterwards or cut it down ;-) of course I could mix in some cocoa, mint flavouring and coconut, flatten in a pan, make cut marks, and leave to harden and see how it turns out; think I can count on it being verrrrrrrrrrrrrry sweet - maybe add raisins and nuts to thin out the sugar ;-) 

 

Mulled Cider / Wassail / Crockpot Punch

Ok, well, this is just something I cooked up myself, just a bit of a tip of the hat to the people who have put recipes for Crockpot Punch on the web; 

    2 ltr Ginger beer, home made (or 2 ltr Ginger Ale bought)

    2 cans of pure Apple juice, not concentrate (usually 1.04 to 1.2 Ltr ea)

    1 stick of cinnamon, not ground or broken up

    1 Tbsp or more to your taste, of crushed cloves

    1/2 a nutmeg seed (just be careful cutting it) 

     an Apple and an Orange (any kind will do) sliced for decoration mainly, though the apple does cook and is edible ;-) and that is it, put it on high to boil up, then turn down to warm to maintain heat; easy to refill when it gets low and it does feel good when the temps are chilly and the snow is blowing ;-)  

     one other point I should make, this does NOT need sugar; using a hydrometer, there is enough sugar to ferment to 5-6 % alc./vol, so it is quite sweet enough as it is; and that fermenting it has crossed my mind, obviously LOL

      BTW the stronger the ginger beer, the more bite it will have, I used a mild batch, and it turned out quite acceptable, suitable for children and for adults with acid reflex, who may find the stronger taste and fire of a full ginger beer too much, 

This is a bit off the wall ;-) but I just took the apple pieces from the batch I made last night, and put them in a cereal bowl, covered with a cup of quick cook rolled oats, and a couple of scoops of punch then stirred up;  put in the Microwave for 1 min 40 seconds; with a bit of eggnog instead of milk, and a cup of punch on the side, a Christmas brekkie treat  ;-) 

BTW regarding Eggnog, there are more uses for it than straight drinking; if you think of replacing it where you would ordinarily use milk, either in drinks, breakfasts, cooking, it adds a special flavour to the seasonal fare; 

Light Cheese Biscuits

Here are a couple of recipes that should be added to the Family Traditions, but would be worth while keeping around for every day use; the Sister in Law's mother made them using a mix from Bulk Barn, but I looked up a recipe on line and found this; will make some tomorrow (don't have any cheese so they will be plain, and not into garlic ;) to see how they work out; 

the first is a Cheese Biscuit that is very light and fluffy, not hard tack ;-) and the second is a recipe for Buttermilk that while a few don't think highly of it, a majority of reviewers did say saved there baking; 

RED LOBSTER GARLIC CHEESE BISCUITS (LIGHT)

*  Exported from  MasterCook  *

 Recipe By     : 

 Serving Size  : 12   Preparation Time :0:00

 Categories    : Breads                           Muffins

                 Low-Cal

   Amount  Measure       Ingredient -- Preparation Method

 --------  ------------  --------------------------------

    2       c            AP Flour, Minus 1 Tb flour (or 2 c Cake ‘n Pastry Flour)

    1       tb           Plus 2 tsp baking powder

    1/2     ts           Baking soda

    1                    Pinch salt

    3       tb           Stick (Parchment) margarine, chilled

    3/4     c            Low fat (1.5%) buttermilk (see Substitute below)

    1 1/2   oz           Sharp (Old) cheddar cheese, grated

    1/4     ts           Garlic powder (optional)

   1. Preheat oven to 450F. Line baking sheet with

   parchment or waxed paper; spray with nonstick cooking

   spray.

   2. In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking

   powder, soda and salt. Add 2 tablespoons of the

   margarine and blend with pastry cutter until mixture

   resembles coarse crumbs. Add buttermilk and cheese;

   combine with fork, handling dough as little as

   possible. Drop by spoonfuls onto prepared baking

   sheet; bake until lightly browned, about 8-10 minutes.

   3. While biscuits are baking, in a small microwavable

   bowl, add remaining tablespoon margarine; microwave on

   high until margarine is melted. Stir in garlic powder;

   set aside.

   4. When biscuits are done, remove from oven and brush

   margarine mixture evenly over the warm biscuits.

   Remove from baking sheet and serve immediately.

   Serving (1 biscuit) equals 3/4 fat, 1 1/4 bread, 15

   calories. Per serving 83 calories, 2 gm pro, 9 gm

   carb, 4 gm fat, 338 mg sodium, 4 mg chol, 0 gm fib.

   Source: Weight Watchers Magazine, December 1994 Typed

   for you by Linda Fields, Cyberealm BBS Watertown NY

   and home of Kook-Net 315-786-1120

Variations:

     Instead of Cheese, add raisins, currants, cranberries, mixed peel (w/ Christmas spices) or blue berries / strawberries; 

Buttermilk Substitute

User Rating 4 Star Rating (26 Reviews) Write a review

By Erin Huffstetler, About.com Guide

Making a recipe that calls for buttermilk? Use this simple substitute, and you won't need to buy any:

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Total Time: 5 minutes

Ingredients:

• Milk (just under one cup)
• 1 Tablespoon white vinegar or lemon juice

Preparation:

1. Place a Tablespoon of white vinegar or lemon juice in a liquid measuring cup.

2. Add enough milk to bring the liquid up to the one-cup line.

3. Let stand for five minute. Then, use as much as your recipe calls for.

35 days to Christmas

This weekend we have the Santa Claus Parade in Toronto and the Thanksgiving Parade in New York; Time is flying by; yesterday I went out and spent 53 dollars on basic ingredients for a BASIC Traditional Christmas;

      What I mean is, that with the Recession biting back, with the costs of products escalated with the cost of oil and other necessities of production, and our utilities going through the roof, we have had to scale back to the very Basic of Traditions; which for this blog is probably a good thing; otherwise it would be a chore to read through ;-) 

        To bring you up to date on the decorations outside and inside, Thomas has finished the trees (he got the last of the garland yesterday) and he has begun decorations inside; Fred, our stuffed relative in the coffin at Halloween, may yet become Santa, but we are not sure yet; 

         As far as the baking is concerned, we are fortunate to have the Cakes, Pudding and Mincemeat made; all that is needed there is the sauce/custard and the tart shells; I am thinking of making one batch of Brokenhill Christmas Pudding, mainly for myself, no one else seems to like it ;) 

          This is the Christmas Food List as it stands now; the extra baking we have pared down to the RED recipes, which I will blog individually later; 

Cathy's Cinnamon Buns 

Noel Cookies 

Unbaked Chocolate Cookies 

Ginger Bread – For cookies, decorations, house and sleigh 

Short Breads 

Ginger Beer 

Tryfle 

Hot Apple Cinnamon Punch 

Tarts, pies 

Nuts and Candies 

Fruit 

Fruit Cakes 

Puddings

Christmas Mincemeat

Back in January I decided that I would make a batch of Christmas Mincemeat for this year, but didn't think that 1 quantity of the recipe would be enough so I tripled it; not really a big mistake, but certainly more than we can use in one Christmas; it made 20 lbs of Mincemeat; here I will Chronicle the process up to this date;
The basic recipe you have seen if you looked at the previous blog post here ( http://ourchristmasyear.blogspot.com/2010/11/mincemeat-2010-basic-recipe.html ) what I did was to multiply everything by 3; sounds simple enough, and for most ingredients it was; so here is the recipe as I wrote it down at the time; for authenticity sake, I photographed the page ;-)



(Click on picture for larger image)
For those of you who can't read my writing ;) here is what the piece of paper on the left says (with notes):

Early Jan: Mixed Fruit

1 1/2 cups mixed peel
8 cups Blk Raisins, (Thompson Seedless Raisins)
8 cups Sultana Raisins
8 cups Currants (dried black, but probably red before ;)
8 cups Brn Sugar Drk, (that is Dark Brown Sugar, light will do in a pinch)
1 cup Grd Almonds (Ground Almonds)
2 cup Suet / Beef / Chopped (I didn't increase this quantity, as I am leery of too much fat {heart disease} but if you want more triple it to 6 cups)
1 1/2 tsp nutmeg, cinnamon, all spice, cloves
3/4 tsp mace
2 cups of Sherry (we used an almond sherry, but basically what your looking for is a high alcohol content liquid that will help marinate the mix; Brandy or Dark Rum would be my next choice; Ouzo if your into Licorice flavour, or Vodka if you want no flavour at all; not sure about Whiskey, your going to have to ask the Scots or the Irish ;)

What I haven't included here, is the 4 1/2 cups of ground apples;

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

ok this is how it was done in 2010 ;-) 

this is the table with the ingredients; 

Here are the apples prepared to be cut up: 

The apples crushed are in the front, the rest of the ingredients are spread around, except for the spices; 

Now for the fun part, literally we get our hands into it up to the elbows ;-) ok, a bit of an exaggeration, half way to the elbows; 

Ok in the above picture I have combined the raisins and mixed peel together, in one bowl and have the other ingredients ready to be combined in another bowl; in reality, there were 3 bowls, the raisins, mixed peel, in one, the crushed apples in the second, and the nuts, the suet and sugar in another; at this point I began to realize that I didn't have a container big enough to combine the lot; just a warning, before beginning, do realize that this recipe tripled as I did, produced a huge volume of MM ;-) so be prepared with a container that is about 12 x 18 x 5 inches in volume for easy mixing; the bowls I am using are actually meant for use on Milk Farms, I bought at Princess Auto; they make excellent mixing bowls; and in this case, were capable of containing the mixed ingredients; 

I divided up the raisins and mixed fruit after mixing, and added the dry ingredients to one part, mixed that and then combined the two into one; the method isn't important, the end product of thoroughly mixed ingredients is, so however you do, it is ok ;-) 

Now of course I couldn't leave the mix in the bowl for 11 months, so I found a container large enough to allow me to have access to mixing in the spices and the alcohol; yes, at this point I have not done that; this part took the better part of a day, from getting the places organized (cleaned up ;) and the ingredients out; then the grinding and the mixing; 

below it the mix in the container and then the fridge; 

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

Imagine that 11 days have passed and we are now preparing to do the spices, the fruit juice and zest, and the initial Alcohol; are you ready for this ;-) 

the ingredients laid out on the table, Note the Juicer in the background; it is not strictly necessary, but it does work, bit messy though, see last picture;

here we have the juicer in action, the oranges and lemons cut up, and the Zest and spices in the small bowl; 

see what I mean about a bit messy; well, as I said it works; I have already begun to add the juice and will then add the spices and hand mix the mash; adding the alcohol as I mix it; the amount of Alcohol can vary, but assuming a high alcohol content, 2 cups is sufficient for the first round; 

I checked the Mincemeat twice; April 22nd when I added a cup of Sherry and mixed it again; then again on July 13th when I added a cup of rum; then I checked again in October, and made some sample tarts, and decided that aside from the addition of a bit of apple juice, there was sufficient alcohol; we will use a large portion, but certainly not the whole 19 lbs remaining; what remains I will fortify in January again, and am considering doing another batch; not necessarily as large; I have also found a recipe for a Dark Jamaican Rum Christmas Cake that requires steeping the fruit in alcohol for an extended period; sounds interesting ;-) 

  

The Basic Recipes of Christmas

Ok we are going to get into the basics of Christmas baking; these are the recipes that are baked in November, December, depending on you temperament and will power LOL; around these recipes are added the extras recipes that can change as you build your own Christmas Traditions;
First we will list them and then I will post on each one individually as we make them here;

Ginger Bread Ornaments or Men
Noel Cookies aka Heroin Cookies (Mint Chocolate Chip and Glazed Fruit)
Unbaked Chocolate or Stove Top Cookies, by Betty Martyn
Cathy's Cinnamon Rolls
Christmas Day Trifle
Ginger Beer aka Bob Crachit
Short Bread Butter Cookies
Pudding Broken Hill, NSW, Australia
Crock Pot Hot Apple Spice Punch

I think that those would be enough to put 20 lbs on a person, without the Puddings, Cakes, and Mincemeat that has been marinating over the past 11 months ;-)

The Forest has come to the Narnia!!

OK, we now have a forest of 16 trees in front of the house, Santa's Sleigh and Reindeer. Won't be lit up for a while, Thomas is working on stringing the lights now; we shall need more rocks to weigh down the stands as well as more lights, preferably on sale and white ;-)it is a nice day outside, warm for this time of year, the sun is warming up the air and the ground;
not much has been done inside, except the Christmas clock, without the carol chimes on; a wreath on the door and the Christmas mugs and cups out (the Halloween mugs and cups put away for another year); I have put a string of Christmas lights at the entrance to my bed-sitter, and have the decorations out for sorting; but mostly I have been preparing by re-arranging the freezers, getting at the left over cooking supplies from last year, and organizing the recipes; one new recipe will be a banana, apple, carrot nut cake, with some having Christmas peel; will be based around a banana bread, so perhaps it should rightfully be called a Banana, apple, carrot, nut bread ;-)

Mincemeat 2010 Basic Recipe

January 18th I began a batch of mincemeat 3x the following recipe; this is the single batch recipe ingredients in case anyone wants to try a small batch; I made 20 lbs, this should make a third, or approximately 7 lbs of mincemeat; it suggests jars, but I put mine in a plastic container and treated it 3 times between start and finish, twice with Almond Sherry and the last time with Dark Rum (not the white rum):

2 cups ground suet
2 2/3 cups sultana raisins
2 2/3 cups currants
2 2/3 cups Thompson Seedless raisins
1 1/2 cup apple peeled and grated
2 2/3 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup chopped mixed peel
rind grated (zest, not the white pith) and juice of 1 orange and 2 lemons
5/8 cups sherry
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp allspice or cloves
1/4 tsp mace
1/3 cups ground almond
7 tbsp brandy

Combine all ingredients except for brandy. Spoon into jars, leaving 1 inch below lip.
Pour 1 tbsp brandy in each jar. Cover and store in cool dark place for at least 4 weeks

To make tarts or pies spoon into shells and place a top on them. pierce and brush
With milk and sprinkle with sugar after 20 minutes of baking at 400F.

NB I did not follow the directions per above ;-) see follow up blog for pictures and description; DJ

Candy Cane Lane Developments

Hi, November 7th and the Halloween decorations are all put away, finally, and the Christmas ones brought out of their hiding places ;-) it is becoming harder and harder to find places to put them in the off season; we now have more Candles and a Snowman, besides the 16 trees that I told you about last blog; as well as other wooden snowmen (posts) and some plastic decorations (Poinsettia and something else that I have forgotten what ;-) it really is a big production; was discussing with Thomas the plans for this year, on the stairs, going over the pros and cons of positioning of the sleigh, the snowman and the trees and lights; the sleigh will be moved back to the left side this year, and of course the wishing well, which is new, will stay where it is; the arbor from Halloween will remain up and be lit up and re-enforced for the winds ;-)

52 days to Christmas

November 1st, and Halloween is over for another year! It was again a very slow night, like the last 2 years previous; seems there are less and less children coming out, and fewer people decorating for Fall or Halloween. Whatever the reasons for it, and I believe they are multiple, the Season is dying out and no longer the precursor to Christmas that it used to be. Three weeks ago the first notice of Christmas displays showed up in our local shops, cards and some decorations, but last week Canadian Tire had most of it's display up and for sale; Home Hardware were selling lites at reduced prices to grab the market; Home Depot had half it's display in place but were not selling, while Wal-mart were also in process, but selling items. This I think reflects the mood of the country, that the recession is not over for the common folks and the stores are concerned about sales this Christmas.
Here in the Haven, we have our schedule for taking down the Halloween Decorations, starting today, and working through until the 5th of November (Guy Fawkes Day, and we are thinking of a small display, only because fireworks are illegal other than for specific holidays, and burning the guy would elicit a rather testy visit from the local constabulary ;-) and then begin the process of putting out the Christmas decorations to be completed to about 80% by November 28th, around the American Thanksgiving and hopefully before the weather becomes too frigid.
Last week I cooked two mincemeat pies to test this years batch, (20 lbs) which I began in January; and I will detail the making of, in another post. Thomas has been working on the Christmas Trees (16 this year), Santa's Sleigh, his Reindeer, and the Candy Canes for Candy Cane Lane, since early September, getting them ready, assessing the quality and needs for lights, even as he was preparing the Fall/Halloween decoration. The two seasons are the biggest in terms of preparation, though Christmas takes the most time and energy, and preparations have to be started early, to beat the cold and snow. It is no fun putting up decorations in a 40 kl wind with wind chills of -50c ;(
This month we will be getting in the mint flavoured chocolate chips and the mixed peel, and other supplies for baking. The puddings and cakes we made in January have been marinating all year, and should be in prime condition for the season ;-) only the cookies, trifle and short breads need to be made. Mark has begun a Mead, and I have some Apple wine on the go, and we have the recipes for Apple Punch and Wassail selected, along with the purchase of 11 gallons of apple juice. Enough not only for Christmas, but the Winter.
The Season is soon to be upon us and many things have to be prepared, and listed!! Come follow me on this years journey into Our Family Christmas Traditions!!