Watch the Original "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" Online

Click on the graphic to go to the website:

A Victorian Christmas, 1840

Outdoor Decorating with Garland

Amanda from Kansas asked for some ideas for outdoor decorating with something that the birds won't eat up right away (unlike cranberry-popcorn garland). Below are some links to various projects the whole family can help with, creating garlands to make the exterior of your abode as festive as the the inside.

• Outdoor Christmas Decorating with Garland: Some great ideas for creating a homemade, natural garland that can be used to frame windows, line railings, and more.


• Christmas Ribbon Garland or Chain:  The idea here is to create a "paper chain," but make it out of ribbon (red and green, for example) instead.


• Homemade Recycled Holiday Luminaries for Thanksgiving or Christmas: This version is made from ordinary used food cans. See video below, which illustrates the effect they create.


• This short instructional video outlines how to make luminaries to line  your driveway. These are strictly for outdoors in dry/non-windy weather, as they are made from paper bags and incorporate a votive candle in each bag. I had never seen them before (I live in the northwest U.S., where it is virtually guaranteed to be inclement in the month of December, which explains why luminaries are popular mostly in the south), but apparently they are made quite often, and give a very cheerful effect, as the photo below illustrates.

"The Common Welfare Was My Business." A Poem.

Elaine stood at the window with her tea,
and watched the man next door,
bearing an armload of groceries,
fumble on the doorstep for his key,
a shadow-man, in the December rain.

She spoke. "I wonder if our new neighbor has people."
"People?" John murmured, looking over her shoulder.
"Yes, people," said Elaine. "So he needn't be alone
at Christmas. I hope he has friends, just as
Providence blesses us;
It hurts my heart, to think of a soul in pain."

John said, "He likely has family, either here or there.
Maybe he's Jewish, his grocery bag overflowing
With chocolate Macabees, and Gefiltefish.
In any case, though, just because he lives alone,
doesn't mean, automatically, that he doesn't have people,
people of his own."

Elaine frowned. "I guess there's no way to know,
Unless one were to ask him, strike up a conversation
along the sidewalk, some day when it isn't raining."
John frowned, then, "So, now, shall we invite to Christmas
Each stray dog that happens in from the rain?
What business of ours is it, really, anyway?"

John was not a cruel man at heart, but Elaine took it cruelly,
and whispered, "The common welfare was my business...
So said the ghost of Jacob Marley, one Christmas Eve."
"Good God!" John exclaimed, "now you're quoting Dickens to me."
"This is real life, my dear. It isn't a fairy tale, a fantasy."

Her fingertip captured the tear on her cheek, before John could see.
"To be sure," she said, and falling silent
She closed the curtain; and in time,
The man outside the foggy window pane....
The shadow man in the December rain....
Was completely forgotten.

Bread Pudding with Whiskey Sauce or Creme Anglaise

I had an opportunity to sample both whiskey sauce and creme anglaise with bread pudding served at a Christmas buffet last year, and each was excellent in its own way. So, I dug up the most authentic recipes I could find, and include them  here.

Pudding ingredients:

• 3/4 c. raisins


• 2 tbsp. dark rum


• 1 lb. French bread, cut into 1 inch cubes


• 3 c. whole milk


• 1 c. half and half


• 3 eggs, beaten to blend


• 2 c. sugar


• 2 tbsp. unsalted butter, melted


• 1/2 tsp. cinnamon


• 2 tbsp. vanilla

Pudding preparation:

Place raisins in small bowl. Pour rum over. Let soak 20 minutes. Preheat oven to 325. Generously butter 9x13 inch pan. Place bread in large bowl. Pour milk and half and half over. Let soak 5 minutes. Whisk eggs with sugar, butter, vanilla and cinnamon in a medium bowl. Pour over bread. Add raisins and rum. Toss to coat. Transfer bread mixture to prepared pan. Bake about 1 hour.

Whiskey Sauce ingredients:

• 1/2 c. unsalted butter


• 1/2 c. golden brown sugar, packed


• 1/2 c. sugar


• 1 egg


• 3 tbsp. whiskey


• Whipped cream

Whiskey Sauce preparation:

Melt butter and both sugars in heavy saucepan over low heat stirring until sugars dissolve. Whisk egg in small bowl to blend. Gradually whisk in some of melted butter mixture. Return mixture to saucepan and whisk until smooth, 1 minute, do not boil. Whisk in whiskey. Spoon warm bread pudding onto plate. Spoon sauce over, top with whipped cream.

Creme Anglaise ingredients:


A versatile vanilla sauce, used with many different dishes. With the addition of chocolate and whipped cream, creme anglaise becomes chocolate mousse.

• 3 c. milk


• 8 egg yolks


• 1 c. sugar


• 1 tsp. vanilla extract


• 1/2 c. cold cream

Creme Anglaise preparation:

Boil the three cups of milk; rest. Beat yolks, sugar, and vanilla 3 minutes; it should fold like a ribbon.
Combine yolks and hot milk, then cold cream. When it reaches the correct consistency, strain; cool, refrigerate.

"A Christmas Carol - Marley's Ghost" (George C. Scott, 1984)

"The Holly and The Ivy"- George Winston