Category Archives: Friends and Family

How’s that for a blog post title?

Christmas time brings back all types of memories for me, and thankfully, most of them are happy.  I won’t lie; as a child, I was spoiled rotten.  I was an only child; I scored gifts from Santa, my parents, and two sets of grandparents.  I had more stuff than one child needed, but the one thing that I remember most is all of the love that was around at Christmas time (and all year as well.)

Me, about age 3

My favorite memories of Christmas involved my Grandmother.  We would go to her house for dinner, along with the rest of my mother’s side of the family.  The women would cook while the men watched television.  Then, the men would eat first, and the women last.  I know, I know …. very old-fashioned.  But the kids ate with the men, so we were ‘dying’ by the time the women finished, so we could open gifts.

Christmas morning we would go to Grandma’s again for a smaller gathering, this time for brunch.  Pancakes, sausage, bacon, salty fish, and fried tenderloin.  I was always so excited to have the salty fish, and now, as an adult, I’m on the hunt for fresh haddock to fix the same way that Grandma did.

My Grandpa (Dad’s father,) would visit as well, and never missed a Christmas while I was a little kid.  He would help me open gifts, and play with me most of the morning to give Mom and Dad a break.  My mother has a certain memory of Christmas morning, when I was about four or five.  She says that she and my Grandpa stayed up half the night putting together this life-size playhouse (one of the one room ones, a la Fisher-Price,) while my Dad was at work.  They were both so excited when I came down the steps on Christmas morning, but sadly, I didn’t even notice all their hard work.  I took one look at the playhouse, and one look at my mother, told her I didn’t feel good, and then proceeded to vomit on the steps.

But Christmas was always good, and it still is.  Our family gatherings are smaller now, but I have taken over Grandma’s role with cooking and baking.  We have a party for friends and one for family.  And I still enjoy it as much as I did when I still believed in Santa Claus.

What a dreary day!  When I woke yesterday morning, the rain was pouring, the fog was setting in, and the temperature outside was chilly.  But I wasn’t going to let that dampen my spirits, because I was headed to Charlottesville to see Chan!

The beautiful Channon

Even though we chat everyday on the internet, via email and blogs, it is still wonderful to catch up in person.  Our go-to lunch spot for a while now has been Thai 99 II.  The food is amazing (yummy curry tofu!) and I love the purple walls.  Besides the wonderful food and company, I was able to deliver Chan’s Christmas gifts in person.  I hate to mail something if I can drive a short way and visit the person instead.

This was also a chance to celebrate another milestone for me.  I’ve officially lost 25 pounds, and I’m feeling fab!  Chan understands the triumph; she’s a fellow Weight Watchers member.  It is wonderful to be able to celebrate with folks who understand, who have been there themselves.

Pretty In Pink

I was at the mall, shopping with Mom last night, when I decided to visit one of my favorite stores, New York & Co.  I was shocked not only at the size of the dress (the last time I wore a size 10?  I can’t remember.), but that it was 60% off.  And the shoes?  Oi!  Fab three-inch pumps that I can’t drive in, but make me feel like a diva.

Now, back to our story.  After lunch, Chan took me to Laughing Sheep Yarns, to let me pick out my Christmas present.  How sweet is that?  They had some lovely yarn (Spud and Chloe!), but I settled on some beautifully soft lace weight.  Findley, a new line of lace weight by Juniper Moon, is bound to be used up before the first half of the upcoming new year is over.

Thank you, Chan, for the wonderful afternoon!  It’s always a pleasure!

One of my favorite things about the holidays is keeping family traditions alive.  When my Grandma was alive, she was the one person who kept it all together for Christmas. I can remember her baking cookies, fudge, and candy for the family (and the man who did her taxes, and the mailman, and every doctors office she visited throughout the year.  She must have made over twelve turns of fudge.)  She cooked dinner for the whole family, which sometimes consisted of twenty people.  She wrapped gifts, donated to the needy, and put on a mean Christmas display at her house. (I can still see her, standing in the freezing night weather, in her bedroom slippers.  She would be tapping on the picture window and motioning which way to move the tree.)

My Grandmother, Ina - December 1953

I love that photo.  Did you catch the Santa pin on her blouse?  She was such a beautiful lady and I miss her each and every day.

When she passed away eight years ago, I was determined not to let her love for the holidays die with her.  Mom and I still make the fudge (though not as much,) and potato candy.  I still host a family dinner between Thanksgiving and Christmas.  I make sure to donate what I can to those who need it most, and stay in touch with family and friends who live across the miles.

Now, in case you are wondering to yourself, ‘What the devil is potato candy’, you’re in luck.  It is a very easy and tasty recipe, that involves little to no cooking.  If you haven’t tried it, I hope that you will.

Potato Candy

Ingredients

• One small potato
• One (or two, just in case) bags of Confectioners’ Sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• One jar creamy/smooth peanut butter (Grandma always used Peter Pan)
• Wax paper
• Rolling pin

Directions

1. Peel and dice potato.  In a small pot, cover diced potato with water and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat to medium and cook until potato is tender (aka, you can easily mush it with a fork.)
2. Mash diced potato and set aside.
3. Let potato cool completely.  You can put it in the refrigerator for a few hours, or even overnight.  But just make sure that it isn’t hot for the next step.
4. In a large bowl, add the mash potato, confectioners sugar, and vanilla extract.  It is a good rule of thumb to add the confections sugar a little at a time – say 1/2 cup to a cup at a time.  The goal at this stage is the make the potato mixture into a good, stiff dough.  A dough of sugary goodness.
5. Spread a sheet of wax paper on your kitchen counter and sprinkle with confectioners’ sugar.  Using a rolling-pin, spread out the dough and roll out until it is about 1/4 inch thick.
6. Once the dough is rolled out, spread the peanut butter evenly over the surface of the dough.
7. Taking a knife, cut long strips in the dough, to your desired width.  This stuff is sweet, so anywhere between a 1/4 and 1/2 inch is good.
8. Roll the strips up and cut when they are about the size of a silver dollar.  Set aside on a plate.  Work this way until all of the strips are cut up into pieces of candy.
9. Store in the fridge, in a ziplock bag or air-tight container.

Alternatively, you can roll the dough log-style and just cut into slices.  The above method is just the way that my Grandma did it.  One batch is about 20 pieces, if I do remember correctly.  It may be a little more or less, depending on how large you cut your pieces.

What are some of your favorite holiday traditions or recipes?  Is there anything that you just have to make for the holidays?