Something light

MarcieB

Gosh, there is so much going on! I really think we all have CTS (current traumatic stress syndrome!) with all the shut downs and failing business going on around us and it's the holidays, for darn sakes! I am heartbroken to miss seeing my grandchildren, they are growing every minute and we can't get this time back.
But it IS the holiday, nonetheless. Whether you celebrate because of faith or because of ethnic tradition, all of us probably have at least ONE special thing we make every year during this season?
What IS it?
For me it is sugar cookies - the kind you cut out and ice. Every Christmas my mom and I would make them. We had a cookie cutter shaped like Humpty Dumpty which we always included, even though he was not Christmassy and we could never get his feet to cut out right...I still use that cutter.
I also do tollhouse cookies on Christmas Eve to eat while opening gifts. And recently my husband and I have added a yearly tradition of making the classic Chex Mix together.

Bug

Good idea, MarcieB! I love how you said you could never get Humpty Dumpty's feet to cut out right. I can picture you and your mom trying to make them just right. Sweet image.

I don't make anything but as far back as I can remember my grandmother made the *best* toffee ever. Since she passed away one of my sisters has carried on the tradition.

Another sister has been making what we call "Christmas" (sugar) cookies also as far back as I can remember. She cuts the dough with Christmas-themed cutters, frosts them and adds colorful sprinkles. They are so good - but really sweet. One - or possibly two - at a time is plenty.

Both of these treats are comforting to have at the holidays. When we get the toffee and cookies it feels like, "Okay, it's Christmastime."

andreacha

Thanks MarcieB for starting this. And to Bug for sharing his Holiday traditions. I have been here for at least 15 minutes just gabbing away reminiscing back to my childhood and our family's traditions and then it was gone in a flash. Nothing to do with the site maintenance at all. It was my stupidity. I erased everything!! That's ok. All day today I thought it was Sunday and tomorrow Monday, one day closer to my dreaded PET scan. It wasn't until I turned the news on that I found out it was Saturday. I'll try to make it back tomorrow. Anyone for eggnog?

Bug

andreacha, when is your PET scan?

LiveWithCancer

I am not much of a traditionalist so really don't have an annual tradition... (my son HATED that about me ... he always wished I would follow some sort of tradition...) Until this year, we have always gotten together with my family - only one other time, the three of us in our immediate family spent Christmas Day at a ski resort - we vowed to never do that again. We probably won't all gather this year - like with Thanksgiving, it doesn't make good sense to get together with my mom and husband so vulnerable. It won't change the reason for the season, but it will be sad to miss getting together with our ever-dwindling family.

andreacha, will be praying for good results from your PET scan!!

MLT

Keeping up with as many traditions as possible. My 14 yr old granddaughter came over to make cookies. Have to do Santa Claus sugar cookies. My family and daughter in laws family have been getting together for over 40 years to ice our Santa's together. Can't do that this year, but son's family will come today to continue our treasured tradition.

Geannie

For me this Christmas will be difficult (as it will be for so many)..since I will not be able to see my family. Yet, we are all already getting prepared by making our traditional goodies and sharing pictures and videos. I already made my coconut eggnog and have my ingredients ready for the traditional sugar cookies I make every year. I'm also doing my best to do everything I usually do for Christmas, of course in a somewhat different and limited way. For example, I decorated the house, listen to Christmas songs, and I'm watching Christmas movies. My family and I decided to leave our decorations up until we can safely physically see each other (as we would each need to travel by plane).....and then we will redo all our goodies again and celebrate Christmas together, whether it's months from now.
It might sound silly, but this agreement has actually given each of us hope and something to look forward to. In the meantime, we continue using technological avenues to see and talk to each other. By the way, I'd love for anyone to share an icing recipe for my sugar cookies....somehow I'm not good at all in that particular department. Happy holidays to everyone!

Carool

andreacha, I’ll add my hope for a good PET scan. I too am finding it hard sometimes to keep track of which day it is. And I’ve had—maybe we’ve all had—that very frustrating experience of typing a long email only to erase it accidentally.

MarcieB, I too love the Humpty Dumpty’s feet story. I forgot he even had feet.

All of your Christmas traditions sound so good. Geannie, coconut eggnog. Never had or even heard of that. I love regular eggnog. Coconut sounds even better.

legaljen1969

I love seeing all of the traditions. @LWC, your tradition is that you have no traditions. LOL Your tradition is "It's always something new." You have Forrest Gump Christmas "Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get." LOL

I think I mentioned in another thread that my birthday is Christmas Day. My father's is Christmas Eve. His father's was December 26th. My paternal grandparents were married on New Year's Eve, so needless to say this time of year has always been a big celebratory time in my family. Because my maternal grandmother owned a restaurant and catered for years, it has only been in the past few years that I started "making" anything for Christmas. No-one could ever make anything that measured up to anything she could make. So for years, the only thing I "made" was a trip home to see family.

As for food, the main thing I make is Cheese Benne wafers. Basically cheese crisps with sesame seeds. You have to get the seeds good and toasted before you mix them in. They are good with cocktails, wine, morning coffee, and just about anything else. I love them. They are super easy to make and they make a LOT. I usually get about 200 out of one recipe so two batches usually comprises all of my office and neighbor Christmas presents.

The other "thing" I make almost every year is a photo book that contains all of the special memories from that year. Because this year has been such a dumpster fire and because I got a bunch of my grandmother's photo albums from her last apartment before she passed away, I found a treasure trove of vintage photos. I did a picture book this year with memories from when my grandparents were young adults all the way up through my nieces at their current age. I think there may be some tears this year, as we remember. I hope there are many more laughs and fun memories.

My husband and I have only spent like 3 Christmases by ourselves, and our tradition if we are by ourselves is to go to Waffle House for breakfast. We also have a special Waffle House we go to when are going on vacation, so we will go to the Vacation Waffle House on the way to the gulf coast for this year's family Christmas.

My personal holiday kick off is a Starbuck's Peppermint Mocha. Years ago I had one on Black Friday after my husband had left on a deployment. I decorated our apartment and bought a Mariah Carey Christmas CD. My apartment was a winter wonderland. Some of my neighbors thought I was crazy for decorating since I was by myself and my husband had just left. Silly me. No-one ever told me Christmas doesn't come when your husband deploys (It does still come. LOL). Also I was going home to see my family so some people wondered why decorate if I wouldn't be there to enjoy the holiday.

Oh, and two last things I "make" every year for the holidays is a donation to the animal shelter where we adopted our first kitty. We got her a few days before Christmas in 2004. She was my present that year- my first Christmas away from my family. And I make a donation to the USO.

MarcieB

Omigosh, legaljen, you are talking my language with the Starbuck's Peppermint Mocha thing! You know, McDonalds used to do a pretty good good peppermint mocha too, but they switch it up every other year. Last year, instead of peppermint mocha, they offered *snickerdoodle cookie.*
w-h-a-a-a-a-t?
Seriously, did anyone out there try that? Not me. pass the peppermint and chocolate, please!
I am loving all these stories, and BTW, Jen, my maternal grandparents were married News Years Eve.

legaljen1969

Marcie, if we ever find ourselves with a chance to meet- we simply must. We have so much in common with life outlook and things we enjoy. It's funny because the peppermint mocha is pretty much a one time thing for me each season. I have one to kick off the season and then I am done. I used to be a pumpkin spice latte fanatic. That stopped when "pumpkin spice season" started coming on in late July and early August. I was PS'ed out. LOL

Snickerdoodle cookie coffee sounds awful to me. LOL

ChildOfGod4570

I couldn't wait to decorate my home and start playing Christmas music! One thing I won't allow to go by without me at Christmas time is a viewing of A Charlie Brown Christmas! I'm hoping to bake some Christmas cookies with my mother this weekend, and my sister and I will be spending the Christmas holiday with our parents. I know we must all have our favorite traditions, but for those of us who are Christians, we should remember that the reason for the season is a little baby boy born over 2000 years ago ... the one for whom Christmas is named ... Jesus Christ! HUGS and God bless!

legaljen1969

@ChildofGod, I think those of us who are Christian definitely know "the reason for the season." I think we all have different things that point us toward Him. I think Marcie's main focus with this thread was to post something "light"- just "fun."

andreacha

@Carool, @LiveWithCancer and @Bug. - Thank you for your concern about my PET. It was on the 15th and I must say that my two techs were fabulous. My favorite MRI tech let them know how nervous I was, and they made me comfortable through everything. I hate being so claustrophobic. By the time I got home and logged on to my computer, the results were in my patient portal. When initially diagnosed, my primary was RCC with mets to my heart and lung. After full right and partial left nephrectomies, heart bypass to remove tumor from blood vessel, we concentrated on watching the lungs. The 8mm on lung never changed we thought due to Oral chemo. I believe it is safe to say that the 8mm was nothing more than scar tissue as it didn't light up on the PET. However, there were now several areas in both lungs that did make an appearance. Generally, 2-3 cm each which certainly could have been much worse. They scanned me "head to thigh" and found nothing anywhere else. That part was my Christmas present from Him for which I am very thankful. Like a lot of us I was scanned every three months. However, I became allergic to the CT dye in 2012, so all subsequent chest scans were without contrast. My last scans were on November 5th and the radiologist noted some "irregularities" in the chest. He recommended the PET. I had already made the follow up visit with my Oncologist for the 22nd. I realize that there are so many new treatments since my original diagnosis in 2006 so I am optimistic. Even though my Christmas will be small in terms of people and events, I am determined not to become depressed but instead have started to celebrate the "reason for the season". EVERYONE, despite all that is going on with our personal health and the threats we face with Covid19, please try not to lose hope. Have a safe, healthy and Blessed Holiday Season. Love you all.

Carool

Thank you, andreacha, for your update. It sounds manageable. Please let us know the results of your meeting with your oncologist on Tuesday.

Sending you good wishes and hugs. Love you, too.

Bug

andreacha, as Carool said, it does sound manageable which is good news. You have a great attitude, too. Please keep us posted. Very best wishes and love to you as well.

andreacha

legaljen1969 - Happy Christmas Day Birthday to you! Make it a great one.

legaljen1969

Thank you andreacha. It's been better than I was expecting.

Carool

Hi, andreacha. So how did your oncology meeting go?

petieagnor

I enjoyed reading of your traditions. We don't have any. This is late, but I was rather busy for a change this Christmas. I'm married to Mr. HumBug so Christmas just comes & goes. Last Christmas 2019, my daughter put in a request for a special cookie after no stores had the ingredients. So this year, I bought the ingredients when they were in the stores in October. I also made a fruit cake. I sent out the packages. Everyone was happy. I've even got requests for Christmas 2021.