If the holidays are not your thing and you have no interest whatsoever in improving your experience then perhaps you might skip this week and catch me on the rebound next time... I'll be discussing the home and how we live... however...If you are alone and unhappy (as I have been once or twice) during the holiday season... go volunteer at a senior center or soup kitchen or hospital and you will quickly discover how blessed and lucky you are when you realize there are elderly people who are dying of desperation and loneliness and others of hunger or pain and sickness... your blighted holiday spirit no matter how shallow coupled with your selfless contribution to someone else's holiday happiness will be a priceless gift to them and to yourself... But don't just say you hate the holidays without doing something constructive to facilitate change for yourself or others... Or just go to Aruba and get a tan; but just don't whine about it.
I always start really getting geared up for the winter holidays about now, partially because to do anything right you should never wait until the last minute but mostly because the retailers of the world and some of the television stations start inundating us with decorations, music and holiday movies and commercials around the end of October... For years when I was more of a frequent flyer I used to pick up gifts starting in January and be finished with my shopping by early October and I often did my holiday cards on a flight to Japan or Australia (It's amazing how spending 6-8 hours writing and addressing cards can help kill time on a long overseas flight)... Also I think people were tickled to get them from far off places too... so do whatever works for you and makes your life easier but don't put everything off until the last days, hours and minutes or you really will not get to experience the best the season has to offer because you are too stressed out.
I think almost everyone has some horrible memories of the holidays or certain traditions they detest or perhaps for more personal reasons they think it's easier to ignore the holidays and not participate... I felt that way once or twice but I decided to start over with new traditions and festivities and in doing so it was a holiday turning point for me.... In my adult life I have spent the holidays in various locations around the world including Honolulu Hawaii, New York City, Megeve France, Venice Italy... each with it's own festivals, flavors and traditions and I've incorporated the ones I love into our holiday no matter where in the world we spend them.
I think one of the most important things to remember is that you should never expect them or you or your family and friends to be perfect; otherwise you are setting yourself up for more disappointment to reflect on in future unhappy holiday memories Do the best you can and make the best of everything that comes up and try to find the fun and festive side of everything that comes your way... along the way stop and enjoy the moment (one of my traditions is I go alone to a theatre matinee and out to a nice lunch afterwards)... and don't go deeply into debt financially or emotionally or you going to start the new year on a really bad note.
Part of the joy in creating your own traditions and memories is that you are not being held hostage by things you don't like or have outgrown... simply don't do them anymore or change them to fit you and your life now.... One of the new traditions I started this year and plan to include in every future holiday is baking and eating Ernst Kirchsteiger's Christmas Bread I found his book and baked it while watching holiday movie re-runs on Hallmark Channel.... (I did the opening and closing songs on two such movies... you get a piece of Ernst's bread if you can guess which ones) No...? Ok here is the recipe (If you like to bake this is one of my new favorite things (I've taken a couple liberties with it)....
Ernst's Delicious Christmas Bread 3 cups all purpose flour
1 1/4 cups pulverized graham cracker crumbs
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
2 tsp salt
2 tsp baking soda
4 1/4 cup plain yogurt
3/4 cup + 2 TBL treacle (or molasses if you live in North America)
3/4 cup dried cranberries or cherries (not candied) chopped
1 1/4 cups dried shredded apricots
3/4 cups hazelnuts finely chopped
butter two bread pans and sprinkle with sunflower, pumpkin and sesame seeds.
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and place the rack in the center, meanwhile in a mixer mix the dry ingredients and incorporate the wet ingredients and then mix in the fruit and nuts. The dough is very sticky so distribute it evenly into the two pans and sprinkle more of the seeds on top. Bake for 30 minutes and lower the oven temperature to 350 and bake for another 25-30 minutes depending on how fast your oven is. Turn the loaves onto a rack and cool. This bread is so yummy it's probably going to be gifts for friends this year!
Mr. Kirchsteiger has a lovely book called "Swedish Christmas Traditions" available on
Amazon... it's packed with great ideas and recipes.
From November on I start baking some of the goodies I've discovered around the world ,.. Danish butter cookies, and Rugelach, Julekaker, Gingerbread, Christmas Pudding, Chocolate Sponge, Pumpkin Pie, Pecan Pie, Pecan Tassies, Sufganiyot, Latkes, a german cookie (that I promised I would never share the recipe... and I never break promises so don't ask) and a Serbian sort of walnut bread cake that is out of this world... Our house is always full of wonderful things to eat and drink during the holidays... because our favorite tradition is spending time with friends and sharing the season and the conversations, laughter and music, songs while creating new memories.
The thing to remember is that the holidays are supposed to be fun and festive; it's not a competition... you will not win a prize for giving the best party and there is no holiday police to judge you if you don't do everything exactly in a certain manner. If I had my way I would give gifts of a Faberge Egg filled with a million dollars... but I don't have the means to do that so I hope that by doing the best I can and sharing my home, gifts, food and love with the people I care about most best reflect the spirit of the season.... all of this mixed up with the music and the decorations and lights to make the season magical... But remember if you want to experience the magic it only comes to those who believe so start by believing in yourself and the rest will follow... the things I've discarded helped me find my way to a better life and holiday season that include guilt, regret, denial and maybe most importantly never being inside department stores with crazed holiday shoppers anytime after mid October!
There are so many wonderful treasures of memories from our individual pasts and from our friends around the world so we always open your minds and hearts to reliving and re-discovering and finding new traditions to celebrate the season... Let me be the first to wish you...
Hau'oli la Ho'makika'i
Hau'oli hanukkah
Mele Kalikimaka
and of course
Ka H'au'oli makahiki hou
See you next week!
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