food, crochet, merriment
January, the month of new beginnings and cherished memories, beckons. Come, let winter weave her wondrous spell: cold, crisp, woolen-muffler days, long dark evenings of savory suppers, lively conversations, or solitary joys. Outside the temperature drops as the snow falls softly. All of nature is at peace. We should be too. Draw hearthside. This is the month to dream, to look forward to the year ahead and the journey within.
Sarah Ban Breathnach
Wishing you all a healthy, happy
creative and comfortable New Year.
And a little cheese ball never hurts.
hee hee
All the rage–these days, and for good reason. Incredibly simple. Dang yummy. Perfect for your New Year celebration.
Nibble until 2010…and beyond.
White Chocolate Popcorn
Ingredients:
4 c. popped popcorn
1 Tbsp. Crisco Shortening
1 11 oz. bag Ghirardelli Chocolate Classic White Chocolate Baking Chips
1 cup dry roasted peanuts, M&Ms, raisins, pecans, pretzels –or any combination you’d like
Directions:
Important Note:
You can pop the corn yourself or buy the bagged kind–either way is fine. However–please, please pour the popped corn in a large bowl and shake it around–to get the un-popped kernels and the “Old Maids” to sink to the bottom. Then, lift the whole, popped corn out and set in another big bowl. Throw away all the nasty little tooth breakers. Seriously, they don’t get to be part of our adventure. Now, then–with that said…
Melt the Crisco and white chocolate together. Pour the mixture over the popped corn mixture and thoroughly coat all the pieces. Spread on waxed papered cookie sheets to set. Store in tightly covered container.
Loving the holidays like we do, it’s always been hard to buckle down and put the Christmas stuff away. We just never felt quite ready to let it go. Then, a few years back, a good friend began this wonderful tradition of throwing a party that she called Twelfth Night. I had no idea what it was suppose to mean, but hey…I’m not so complicated that I over-think the purpose of a party. As an added benefit, this turned out to be a great incentive to let the decorations slip back into the tubs without the usual resistance because we still had a great event to look forward to…until…
…this friend moved away…far away.
Oh, we still hear from her now and then, which is wonderful. Even so, it left the “party junkies” at a negative – 1 in the celebration department.
Not acceptable.
So, with no other choice but to do the event ourselves, we felt that perhaps a tad more research was in order.
Turns out that Twelfth Night, also called Epiphany, or Three Kings Day, is a festival marking the biblical arrival of the Magi to worship baby Jesus. Typically recognized on either the 5th or 6th of January, many people celebrate by drinking, feasting, gift giving and general “merrymaking.” I really like the word merrymaking.
That, I get.
So, since people all over the world celebrate this day in dozens of ways, there seems to be a bit of latitude here. I like that too.
Our approach is to use the evening of January 6th to:
1- Celebrate the closing of the holiday season. That is suppose to mean putting away all the Christmas stuff and setting up January decorations. We’re working on it.
2- Make and share *character goals–You know, the kind that help you be a better person, like–being more positive, or being less judgmental of others—that sort of thing.
3- Open Party Crackers–which you can buy at party stores or online, but that are also incredibly fun and easy to make. I’ll show you how in the post below. They are full of candy, games, toys and always…always a tissue paper crown. Very important element. We made our own.
4- Drink a gallon of Wassail. No explanation needed.
5- Eat “King’s Cake.” Traditionally, this was more of a sweet bread with filling, but of course, it can actually be whatever you want it to be. More in the post below. Ours is a Glazed Holiday Eggnog Cake from Lehi Roller Mills.
6- Play games until it’s time to put somebody to bed—usually…me.
After all this, believe me–we are ready to take on the New Year, and the world…
or sleep for a week…
I will take my own advice and “be nice or be quiet” while mingling with the other drivers on the road. No matter how amazingly everyone else drives, I will keep my mouth shut and not say, “The nuts are loose!” Not even once.
Party Crackers:
These are the tissue wrapped paper tubes stuffed with treats and little random prizes and always a paper crown. In several of the Harry Potter movies where there is a Christmas celebration–you’ll see a “Christmas Cracker” sitting by each dinner plate. You can buy them if you like, but they are simple to make so don’t be afraid.
Supplies needed:
Empty paper towel or tissue rolls
Colored tissue
Glue Stick
Small prizes like puzzles, stickers, tiny toys
Small treats like suckers, taffy or gum
Tissue paper crown–rolled and folded up
Curly Ribbon
Instructions
Wrap the prizes and treats if you want. Stuff them carefully in the cardboard tube.
Roll the tube in colored wrapping tissue. I used two different colors and left 3 or 4 inches on both ends. When you get to the end of the rolling, use a streak from a glue stick to keep it in place.
Tie each end with curly ribbon. Decorate the tube with more ribbon or stickers–or strips of tissue.
That’s it!
