Now that we're moving, a note on the new location--

Welcome to Simply Xmas' new home at Blogger!

After giving the matter some thought, I decided that I would, after 5+ years on the Wordpress platform,  move Simply Xmas over to Google's Blogger. Suffice it to say there are certain advantages to using Blogger that finally swayed me in this direction. The transfer went suprisingly well, but there were a few glitches that must be corrected.  Beyond that, there is a lot of  "dead wood" in the blog that I am going to cull over the next few days: dated material specific to one geographic region, etc. In the beginning this blog focused heavily on covering the various trappings of the Christmas season in the region where I live, but it has been drifting away from that, and more towards a "general" holiday blog. Henceforth, the focus will be the history of Christmas, Christmas recipes, old and new, Christmas games, stories, poetry, images, thoughts and reflections, and of course, ideas related to how you can simplify your Christmas, making it more joyful and less stressful.

This process of cleaning up should take a week or two, and I should be posting fresh content regularly by no later than Thanksgiving, and possibly even earlier than that. Meanwhile, there's a lot here to look through, if this is your first visit.

Some consider Halloween the traditional "kickoff" of the holiday season. Allow me, then, to say for the first time this year: Happy Holidays!

10 Festive Drinks for Christmas (alcohol)

Important note: Have a look at this page before you prepare any of these drinks!
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APPLE PIE SHOT

Ingredients:

• 1 oz vodka


• 1 oz apple cider


• 1 Tbs whipped cream


• 1 pinch cinnamon

Preparation:

In a 2 ounce shot glass, combine vodka and apple cider. Top with a dollop of whipped cream and a pinch of cinnamon.

HOT APPLE TODDY

Ingredients:

• 2 oz whiskey or apple brandy


• 1 tsp sugar


• hot apple cider


• lemon wedge for garnish


• cinnamon stick for garnish


• 2-3 whole cloves for garnish

169 Christmas Movies and Animated Features

Compiling this list was rather nostalgic for me, as I fondly remember some of the films from my childhood, as others doubtless will.

Some of these are available on DVD; some are not. Many of them will doubtless air on television this holiday season. I have tried to include both the old and the new in this little directory.

Each link opens in a separate window.

1. All I Want for Christmas (1991)


2. American Christmas Carol, An (TV) (1979)


3. Babes in Toyland (1934)


4. Babes in Toyland (1961)


5. Babes in Toyland (TV) (1986)


6. Bells of St. Mary's, The (1945)


7. Best Christmas Pageant Ever, The (1983) (TV)


8. Bishops Wife, The (1947)


9. Blackadder's Christmas Carol (1988) (TV)


10. Black Christmas (1974)

Speaking of "Home for the Holidays"

While Christmas movies are a dime a dozen, there are precious few movies that focus on that other venerable holiday here in the U.S.: Thanksgiving. There is one, however, which is very funny - and maybe a bit too "close to home"  if your family tends towards "dysfunctional."

"Valley Winter Song" - Fountains of Wayne

Whoppy and Streaker's 99 Christmas Music Videos

Click on Whoppy & Streaker's Christmas portrait to visit their
awesome list of 99 Christmas videos.

I recently received an e-mail from Artie Wayne, detailing how his fine, festive felines, Whoppy and Streaker (pictured above), have compiled an impressive list comprising 99 YouTube Christmas videos. Adding to this, we have Artie Wayne's personal commentary, springing from his clearly vast knowledge of popular music and the music industry. So get on over there and start boosting your Christmas spirit, right now!

Then, spread the joy! Share the link around. Not only does music soothe and civilize the savage beast  (as seen above) but it cheers. It can change your whole mood from dark to bright, if you let it.

Merry Christmas, Artie, Whoppy, and Streaker!

Easy Home Decorating Ideas for Christmas

Storm, over at 365 Days of Christmas, has put together a phenomenal list of suggestions for easy, inexpensive Christmas Decorating. Check it out!

Easy, Inexpensive Salmon Cheese Ball

This recipe has the advantage of utilizing canned salmon, which is cheaper than smoked salmon, contains no sharp bones, and is easier to work with than hard-smoked fish. The addition of liquid smoke is a must for this recipe.

Ingredients

- 1 eight ounce package of cream cheese, softened.
- 1 sixteen ounce can of salmon, well-drained and flaked
- 1 tablespoon finely chopped onion
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1/4 teaspoon liquid smoke
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/3 cup chopped mixed nuts
- 1/4 cup snipped parsley

Preparation:

Mix all ingredients except nuts and parsley; shape mixture into a ball. Cover and refrigerate at least 8 hours but no longer than 4 days. Mix nuts and parsley; coat ball with mixture.

Meatless Mincemeat

Chopped beef and beef suet have been a significant ingredient of mince pies since day one, hence the name mincemeat. A 17th century poem contains a verse which reads:

Drink now the strong beer,
Cut the white loaf here,
The while the meat is a-shredding;
For the rare mince pie
And the plums stand by
To fill the paste that's a-kneading.

Traditional Old English Mincemeat is well and good for some, but for those who don't eat meat, and for those who shudder at the dietary implications of introducing yet more fat into a holiday diet already high in fat and calories, here is a meatless alternative. In addition to being meat-free, the recipe is also much less involved than the traditional alternative.

Note: Not everyone will like mince pie. As a general rule, I would offer that if you don't like marmalade, fruitcake, or raisins, then there's a good chance you won't like mince pie. 

Ingredients:

This recipe is sufficient for 3 to 4 nine-inch pies, using 3-4 cups mincemeat per pie. Halving all ingredients should make enough mincemeat for two pies.

• 1 seeded orange


• 1 seeded lemon


• 1-1/2 cups golden raisins


• 1-1/2 cups dried currants


• 8 tart apples (Granny Smith are good)


• 3/4 cup mixed candied fruit peel, diced


• 1-3/4 cups apple cider


• 3-1/2 cups firmly packed dark brown sugar


• 1 tsp. salt


• 1-1/2 teaspoons each powdered: cinnamon, allspice, mace, nutmeg & cloves


• Optional: Brandy, rum, sherry, or whiskey to taste.

Preparation:

Get Organized: Your Holiday Calendar

A lot of holiday stress can be attributed to lack of organization. Possibly you have these amorphous thoughts floating around in your head about what needs to be done, but you never sit down and make out a list or a schedule. Perhaps you don't even evaluate how much you can--or how much you want to spend--this year. Then the 15th of December rolls around, and just like last year, you haven't made any preparations at all....

So you stress. And come New Year's Day, you're exhausted and you're glad it's over for another year.

Get yourself organized. Get a blank calendar, and start planning out every aspect of your holiday season. There is something about getting all the plans out on paper that is both stress-reducing and liberating. Not only that, but after you've finished filling out your calendar, you can ruminate over it for a few days and decide what you need or would like to hack out to make things easier on you and yours.

No excuses. Here is a link to a site where you can design and print out as many custom, full page blank calendars as you'd like, for free - no membership necessary, no leaving your e-mail address. 100% free, no strings attached. You can even personalize your calendar(s) with a photograph(s).

 

A reduced-size version of a blank calendar created for free at dayweekyear.com.

Do it NOW. Don't wait.

Lastly, here's a Christmas schedule that no one but Martha Stewart would attempt. ;)

"Atholl Brose" or "Hogmanay" (alcohol)*

Now it's time to begin with the really fun part of this blog. As with last year, I've been searching out all sorts of interesting holiday recipes for both food and drink, along with a host of other "Christmas arcana" - from poetry and fiction to Christmas trivia and factoids, from wallpaper and Victorian postcards to classic video and music clips - and more. This year I would like to make "Old Christmas" - the traditions from way back when - a major focus of the blog.

Here is a hearty brew from Athole, a mountainous region of Scotland, which may be served either warm or cold.

ATHOLL BROSE or HOGMANAY

Ingredients:

• 1 cup honey


• 1-1/2 to 2 cups heavy cream


• 2 cups Scotch whiskey

Preparation:

Heat honey, and when it thins slightly, stir in cream. Heat together, but do not boil. Remove from heat and slowly stir in whiskey. May be served hot, or thoroughly chilled overnight. If you have some comb honey on hand, a bit of the comb may be used as a garnish, as shown in the illustration. Makes 4-6 servings.

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Factoid: Today Atholl Brose is sold as a liquer, containing the traditional ingredients of oatmeal water, heather honey, and Scotch whiskey, but minus the cream. Often cream is added, particularly on festive occassions.

*Henceforth, all drink recipes will be clearly labeled either "alcohol" or "no alcohol."

"The Fire on the Hearth" (1864)

Bing Crosby and Marjorie Reynolds Sing "White Christmas"

From Paramount Pictures 1942 hit, Holiday Inn. This marked the motion picture debut of the now immortal "White Christmas."

 

CLICK IMAGE TO VIEW VIDEO

 

Don't Drink and Drive

Don't do it. Not on Christmas, not on New Year's, not EVER. You know better. If you don't know better, or if you think you can handle it, you're an idiot. Chain yourself to some heavy object and enjoy a bowl of wax fruit this Christmas.

The First day of Winter

I'm an outspoken person, so by all means, take the following with a grain of salt...

It will officially be winter in a few hours. I had to go out on this near-winter's day, because I needed a few groceries and a pair of pants. I expected it would be bad out there, and my expectations were, in fact, exceeded. It was horrible out there. The traffic was horrible, the stores were packed, and there seemed to be an inordinate number of cranky people around. My brother (who went with me) said, "I have a feeling it's going to be one of those days...."

People blowing through the roundabouts and cutting others off like the bold "yield" warning on the pavement had been erased. Others punching the accelerator to make it through the yellow light at intersections. Cutting others off, when perhaps on another day, they might have taken their foot off the gas and given someone an opening. A line of cars, stretching from Bakerview all the way to Bennett Road. Parking lots packed and the stores crowded with masses of complete strangers, shoulder to shoulder, each "safe" inside his/her insulated little world. Frowning. Yessir, I took an inventory. A lot of frowning and furrowed brows out there.

But maybe it's always that way. I'll have to do a post-Xmas comparison.

I'm glad I've backed off from this sort of thing, this"surfing the fray," for the most part. Because anyone who's out in that on a daily basis...well, I can understand why y'all feel like crap at Christmastime.

Not that I endorse simulated cheer*. But there's an old Vietnamese saying: "Ornament is for joy." Why are you doing it, if there's no joy in it? But more importantly, what is life for, if not to enjoy?

One thing is certain: I'll not go near a retail establishment, save maybe Starbucks for a cup of coffee, from now until Christmas is over. It's a jungle out there.

P.S. - You erratic drivers - take a chill pill. You're a danger to yourself and others.

*Actually, I do endorse simulated cheer, for its therapeutic value, but not when it's employed simply as a "veneer."

Christmas Greeting

Traditional

Sing hey! Sing hey!
For Christmas Day;
Twine mistletoe and holly,
For friendship glows
In winter snows,
And so let's all be jolly.

Jingle Bell ROCK: Aly & AJ

Here's a rather less "sedate" version of Jingle Bell rock than Brenda Lee, from teen pop duo Aly & AJ - who, incidentally, spent part of their childhood in Seattle--

Christmas Piano Medley

"The Holly and the Ivy" + "O' Christmas Tree," and "Carol of the Bells." Magnificent piano playing and ultra-big Beethoven hair from Paul Todd.

[youtube=http://youtube.com/watch?v=kLJYK97bp4w]

"Caroling," Reprise: Christmas Karaoke Online

On December 2nd, I wrote a post here making a case for renewing the tradition of home-caroling - that is, the singing of Christmas carols to celebrate the season. I realize that in many quarters, this has probably fallen on deaf ears; if so, c'est la vie. Nevertheless, I'm bringing it up again.

Sometimes there's a good reason for singing on Christmas Eve, or Christmas Day, just as there is for playing Christmas games. Because if you don't, it can be bloody boring. You eat, you open presents, you sit around and chat (and maybe you get pickled) but there are a lot of hours to pass, especially if folks are staying over.

But it's not only that. Singing is enormously useful in bringing a body out of its insular little world of needling concerns that continue to play in the back of the mind. Singing absorbs and occupies, and if you let it - if you put some enthusiasm into it - it cheers. That's why humans started doing it in the first place, umpteen millennia ago.

I can almost hear some of the grumbles out there. "Freakin' Pollyanna, going on about Christmas Carols..." If you're one of those, refer to the previous paragraph, first two sentences. Grinches. ;)

Well, I've said my piece. It's entirely up to you, as you well know. Just in case you decide to give it a try, but have no musician on hand, here's a list of links to Christmas Karaoke online. Instead of gathering around the harpsichord or the piano as in olden tymes, you may now gather around the computer.

SECULAR:

• Rudolph the Red-Nosed-Reindeer


• Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow


• O' Christmas Tree


• Deck The Halls (very fast)


• The Christmas Song


• Jingle Bells


• Blue Christmas


• White Christmas


• The Twelve Days of Christmas

RELIGIOUS:

• Good King Wenceslas


• Angels We Have Heard on High


• Go Tell it on the Mountain


• O' Come, All Ye Faithful


• Silent Night


• The First Noel


• God Rest Ye, Merry Gentlemen


• What Child is This


• We Three Kings of Orient Are


• It Came Upon a Midnight Clear


• Hark, the Herald Angels Sing


• Away in a Manger


• O' Holy Night


• O' Little Town of Bethlehem


• Here We Come a Wassailing

"The Night Before Christmas" (1905)

The Night Before Christmas is a 1905 American silent short film directed by Edwin S. Porter for the Charles Edison. It is based on Clement Clarke Moore's 1823 poem, "T'was the Night Before Christmas" (originally "A Visit from Saint Nicholas") and was the first film production of the poem(1903).