Nothing wrong with some optimism

I raised three boys too Tom, I think I'll stick with the traditional snowman and leave the boobies for the guys to make.

Sounds like your daughter and her mom had a lot of fun, that's really nice :)

I'm not even going to say what my 4 boys would do.. it's a pg site..

Off to Tofino BC to spend Christmas on the beach with my daughter and our dogs. Having our traditional seafood fondue Christmas Eve then goose with all the trimmings Christmas night. Go for a walk on Long Beach and a forest hike. It’s amazing.

That really stinks - I've spent several Thanksgivings alone, but never Christmas (even though it's not my favorite holiday) I hope that your ideas of driving around to see the lights and baking cookies like you mentioned below helps.

Put on a fancy dress to cheer them up!

Seafood fondue sounds interesting. I love traditional fondue. Never had Goose. I looked at some of the recipes online but it looks a bit to complicated for me to make.
I remember going dinosaur hunting one year with the boys. Even drew Offical Dinosaur Hunting Licenses for them. We didn't see anything but we had loads of fun tracking them.

Yeah, ditto.

Christmas day will be with my daughter. She's coming over from the USA :)
We'll do a wine fondue together, my son cannot make it this year, has to work.
Boxing day I'm with my mom.
Not the Christmas I'd hoped and thought to be having this year, but I'm going to do my utmost to enjoy it!

I will be spending time with family, just cooking and hanging out together. The Christmas Tree is up.I will be moving it into the living room and lighting it up soon :)

Christmas is what you make it. It can be joyful or full of despair. Its really up to us.

I've never heard of wine fondue, perhaps I know it by another name? My sis was the fondue guru. One year, before I was married I spent leave at her house and she laid out a huge spread with 3 different fondues. If I remember correctly I think she said one was a wine based fondue (was sweet). She also did cheese and some hearty white sauce? Personally, I've done mainly cheeses.
I tried doing a chicken wing fondue sauce but I made it too hot and spicy.
Most of the time I made different dips instead. One year I laid out three tables of relish goodies. A bunch of different pickles and pickled veggies, clams, squid, oysters, even had a hot & spicy table with a poorman's pat`e and different crackers and chips. I was amazed after everyone had gone at how little was left in the trays. I have pictures of the layout someplace online but I'm too lazy to hunt for them.

Do you have a special window for your tree? When we went back to the tree for Christmas, it was always in the same spot, in front of the window.

What kind of food will you make for dinners over Christmas?
We always had a baked ham, that was a given. Some years we also had a small turkey. Then there were all the fixins that went with it.
Lots of baked stuff but never...fruitcake.
Cornbread white creamed corn casserole, green bean casserole, buttery mashed potatoes, fried sweet potato slabs, lots of yeast rolls with whipped butter, cranberry glaze and way too many different pies.

Of all the foods you cook at Christmas time, which one is your favorite to cook?
Mine: Cashew Crunch (Brickle) - its like peanut brittle.

I still buy a small assortment of baklava and if my daughter will be there I get her a box of chocolate cordial cherries. I pick up a box of ribbon candy too.

now that a generation has past. we will all be at my sister or my brother's. i will head up christmas eve and stay with one of them then after the kids have all opened presents the rest will all show up.
we usually have a big ham with all the fixings. special dishes or munchies well always the fudge and i think my niece is going to try taking over mom's whoopie pie duties. after that it's usually just a bunch of nibble platters a veggie tray and a relish tray.
we all tend to put our trees in the same place the living room window that shows up best from outside. and we run the gammut from charlie brown trees and cut a whole in the ceiling trees to a few like me a smaller fake tree just to save space in an already too small living room lol

Seems like you have a merry ole time with Christmas. Yea, my X always did a bunch of different fudges too. I liked the Peanut-butter fudge and the Divinity the best.

We also did a mulled spice cider (mine always had a bit of spiced rum in it but the recipe calls for brandy, lol)

Ingredients

3 (3-inch) sticks cinnamon
5 cloves
4 cardamom pods, pressed until they just crack open
1/4 teaspoon coriander seed
1/2 star anise pod
1 quart (900ml) high-quality apple cider
Optional additions (see note): 1 tablespoon (15ml) brandy, raw sugar, lemon zest
Extra brandy, lemon slices, and/or freshly grated nutmeg, for serving (optional)

Directions

1. Heat a small skillet over medium-high heat and add spices. Toast, stirring frequently, until spices are fragrant and coriander seeds begin to darken. Add loose to cider, or add to cider in a cheesecloth sachet or a reusable spice bag for easy removal later.
2. Add apple cider to a 2-quart pot or slow cooker. Cover and set over medium-high heat. Bring to a simmer, then lower heat to maintain simmer and cook for 1 hour, or until spice flavor is well infused. Alternatively, for a less cloudy final cider, cover and mull over low heat for 4 hours, without allowing cider to bubble.
3. Just before serving, adjust seasoning of cider with brandy, raw sugar, and/or lemon zest, if needed (see note).
4. Serve plain, or with a slice of lemon, extra brandy or other liquor, or a small grating of nutmeg. If keeping warm for service, remove spices.

When I lived in Pennsylvania I always liked getting roasted chestnuts at the local vendors in the park during the parades.
Been years since I've had them tho. Someone send me a bag, lol.

My dad always had whiskey-man's eggnog. While I do like eggnog sometimes, the nog in the liquor stores is just too strong for me now.

Put the tree be decorations up with my girl.. family & friends in between somewhere. And just some me time.

Christmas decorating is fun when you have someone to do it with.
My M-I-L always put up a wonderful Christmas town on white cotton.

Similar to this:



She actually had more pieces than what is in the picture.
Plus, her entire house looked like Christmas exploded.
I used to poke fun at her that if she buys anymore Christmas stuff she would need a barn to display it all.

She had a 'town' for every holiday.

how could i forget the eggnog. tho it's a fight to keep enough in the house we have 3 addicts under one roof
yeah tom i work real hard at slowing down and enjoying the season.
and i will definitely be trying that mulled cider thanks. you wouldn't by chance have a good applejack recipe for the big kids would you?
the old timer we use to get ours from took his secret recipe with him when he passed years ago.

Plans for Yule: Take myself out for sushi... Briefly talk to the kid on the phone...

Old Fashoined AppleJack
2 ounces Laird's Applejack brandy
¼ ounce maple syrup
3-4 dashes Angostura bitters
1 orange peel
1 Cinnamon stick

In a pint glass, combine maple syrup, bitters, and brandy. Fill glass halfway with ice, then stir vigorously about a dozen times.
Strain into an old-fashioned glass over a giant ice cube.
Squeeze/twist orange peel over the drink to extract oils, rub peel around the rim of the glass, and add to the cocktail.
Garnish with cinnamon stick.

AppleJack Moonshine


Ingredients

Yeast (preferably ale yeast)
5 gallons unpasteurized AppleCider
5 pounds Cane Sugar

Instructions

First step is to heat up one gallon of apple cider in a stockpot and dissolve sugar in pot completely.
Next step is to mix in the remaining 4 gallons of apple cider into a sanitized fermentation bucket.
Let mixture cool to below 75 degrees and then add yeast.
Cover the mixture and let ferment for a minimum of five days.
If everything went correctly you should have a few inches of yeast at the bottom of the bucket.
Separate the yeast form the liquid by siphoning off the liquid on the top of the yeast with tubing.
Place strained liquid into container.
Lastly freeze the cold cider.