Storm of Thoughts

A (Small) Look at Christmas Around the World

I realize that I am still writing about Christmas. But there is, after all, so much to say.

I was thinking about our Christmas traditions over the weekend, some of which come from our cultural background, and others from my family’s own particular brand of quirkiness. When we open our presents Christmas morning, we all sit around the tree and take turns handing out gifts. Once everyone has a present, we all open them together, at which point a second person gets up to hand out presents. (This is very different from the Christmases of my childhood, when my brother and I would plant ourselves in front of our “pile” and basically just go at it.) Of course, at certain times, a certain person might want to hand out all of their own gifts to the rest of the family, or a person may be sitting out a round or, alternatively, opening two presents at once, depending on how everything is going. But, basically, we all open our presents together one by one. (For some reason, this struck my mom as especially interesting this year, and she started polling other people about their Christmas morning rituals. Pete’s family does virtually the same thing, but about 3 hours later than we do.)

My brother’s girlfriend is from Mexico. She has many of the same traditions, except for the fact that her family would open all of their gifts on Christmas Eve. (This year we each opened two gifts the night before Christmas, instead of the usual one, as a Mexican tribute). Since part of our family is also Italian, Christmas Eve is celebrated with “The Feast of Seven Fishes” at my mom’s cousin’s house. (Besides all of the seafood, pignoli cookies are also a must.) On Christmas itself, we recognize the Polish part of the family with kielbasa and pierogi, which brings my mom out early on Christmas Eve for a car trip and long wait in line to secure the food from the best Polish deli, a tradition that is repeated every Easter. (Dinner, though, inexplicably consists of beef tenderloin and lasagna.) And we celebrate orthodox Christmas (and Easter) a week or two later with my dad’s mom, who is Russian. (Although these celebrations also include pierogi. Yum.)

The most interesting international tradition this year, though, came from a student (and friend of Pete’s family) who recently came here from Hong Kong. As we all sat around Pete’s living room discussing American movies, different types of food, and differences between China and the US, he suddenly stated, “Christmas is for lovers.” We asked him what he meant, how they celebrated, where religion fit in. “Christmas is for lovers, like Valentine’s Day,” he told us. We were shocked to hear it. Apparently, he would give his girlfriend a present, and might also exchange some small gifts with friends through a “Secret Angel” swap (which, as far as we could tell, is just like Secret Santa, except, as he said, “Angels are pretty and Santa is not.”), but that was it. He was very confused “who gets presents and who gives presents” in our traditional Christmas. Of course, he got to experience it all himself, celebrating Christmas Eve and Christmas with Pete’s extended family. But it certainly left us all wondering about the traditional Chinese Christmas!

I was amazed not only by how different cultures celebrate and how we fit different cultures into our own celebrations, but also how family traditions like these get started.

How do you celebrate Christmas?

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Christmas Cookie Recap (and Recipe)

Now that I am no longer MIA (it was a nice, but busy, holiday break!), I have returned with pictures of cookies (something that took up much of last week). Every year, my mom and I make between 12 and 15 different kinds of Christmas cookies, which we then share with friends and family. (And, of course, eat quite a few of ourselves.) A small selection of this year’s cookies are in the photo above. One of our newest favorites the past few years (which came from a Christmas cookie magazine) is the cookie affectionately referred to as the “Irene Biangasso Birthday Christmas Cookie” (which, I’m told, magically removes calories instead of adding them). Besides possessing that rare and wonderful property, they’re also simple and really delicious. And they are Irene’s favorites because they contain many of the same ingredients as her favorite coconut birthday cake.

1 7-oz pkg. flaked coconut (2 2/3 cups)
2/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup all purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 egg whites, slightly beaten
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
4 oz chocolate candy coating, chopped (we use the discs of chocolate meant for melting because they harden very well)
1/3 cup seedless raspberry jam (or your preference)

Preheat oven to 325. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.

In a medium bowl, stir coconut, sugar, flour and salt. Stir in egg whites and almond extract. Drop coconut mixture by teaspoons 1 inch apart on prepared cookie sheets, making 3/4 to 1 inch mounds. Lightly flour your thumb and press into the center of each mound to make an indentation. (We have found that using an old wine cork works the best!)

Bake in preheated oven about 20 mins till edges are golden. If necessary, use a teaspoon, the cork, or your finger to make indents again after baking. Cool completely.

Melt chocolate on the stove in a double boiler or in the microwave. (If you do it in the microwave, start with about a minute at power 80, then stir well and continue with 30 second intervals until melted, stirring after each.)

Dip the bottom of each cooled cookie and let cool on parchment until chocolate hardens, then add jam into the indent.

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The Rules of Christmas Cookies

My mom found this in an email message recently. It’s especially appropriate since we have started our marathon cookie baking.

1. If you eat a Christmas cookie fresh out of the oven, it has no calories because everyone knows that the first cookie is the test and thus calorie free.

2. If you drink a diet soda after eating your second cookie, it also has no calories because the diet soda cancels out the cookie calories.

3. If a friend comes over while you are making your Christmas cookies and needs to sample, you must sample with your friend. Because your friend’s first cookie is calorie free, rule #1 applies to you also. It would be rude to let your friend sample alone, and being the friend that you are makes your cookie calorie free.

4. Any cookie calories consumed while walking around will fall to your feet and eventually fall off as you move. This is due to gravity and the density of the caloric mass.

5. Any calories consumed during the frosting of the Christmas cookies will be used up because it takes many calories to lick excess frosting from a knife without cutting your tongue.

6. Cookies colored red or green have very few calories. Red ones have 3 and green ones have 5 - one calorie for each letter. Make more red ones!

7. Cookies eaten while watching Miracle on 34th Street have no calories because they are part of the entertainment package and not part of one’s personal fuel.

8. As always, cookie pieces contain no calories because the process of breaking causes calorie leakage.

9. Any cookies consumed from someone else’s plate have no calories since the calories rightfully belong to the other person and will cling to their plate. We all know how calories like to cling!

And finally…

10. Any cookies consumed while feeling stressed have no calories because cookies used for medicinal purposes never have calories. It’s a rule!

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The Simple Joy of Christmas

“When we recall Christmas past, we usually find that the simplest things - not the great occasions - give off the greatest glow of happiness.”
~ Bob Hope

What are your Christmas memories?

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Christmas in the City

Growing up in northern New Jersey provided numerous opportunities to visit New York City (or, as people in Massachusetts seem to hate hearing it called, “the city.”) Whether for field trips, a dinner out, or a day of shopping, there always seemed to be a reason to make a special trip. Plus, with parents who grew up in New York and my dad often working there, trips were even more frequent. The best reason to go to the city, though, was, unquestionably, to see the Christmas decorations. My family used to make a trip practically every year at this time - and, once you’re there, there’s no lack of Christmas-y things to do. (, our favorite was always attending A Christmas Carol, for one.) While Christmas is nice in Boston (and I have the pictures to prove it), nothing will ever beat Christmas in the city.

In fact, ever since I can remember, it has been my favorite part of the holiday season.

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Recipe: Roasted Pumpkin and Squash Soup

Boston has been cold and rainy - which generally means it’s time for soup! This one is easy, filling, and doesn’t take too long once the squash and pumpkin are prepared.

1 butternut squash
1 sugar pumpkin
1 large can of pumpkin
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 large onion, diced
32 oz. chicken (or vegetable) broth
Ginger
Cinnamon
Fresh grated nutmeg
Garlic
Salt and Pepper
(all to taste)

Remove the skin from the pumpkin and squash, take out the seeds, and cut into wedges. Roast in the oven (around 400 degrees) for 15 minutes.

In a large soup pot, add the olive oil and butter, then cook the onion until very soft. (If you like even thicker soup, you can then add in one tablespoon flour to make a roux, but the squash and pumpkin usually end up making a thick enough soup). Add in the squash, pumpkin, and can of pumpkin. As it cooks, add in the ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, and a dash of garlic powder, then pour in the chicken broth. Let the soup simmer, then remove from heat and puree with your immersion blender or in the blender (in parts) until you’ve reached the desired consistency. At this point, you can add in more broth for thinner soup or, alternatively, a small amount of milk or heavy cream to make it thicker. Add salt and pepper, to taste, and top with a swirl of cream or sour cream (or, like in the picture, some sour cream mixed with a few spoonfuls of pumpkin puree) and some sunflower seeds.

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Our Christmas Tree

As I mentioned on Monday, Pete and I spent the weekend getting ready for the holidays. Much of our time, of course, was focused on our (very first) tree. And here, finally, are the photos to prove it!

Searching for just the right tree.

Originally, we thought we’d get a small tree, but eventually opted for one that wasn’t tiny, but was narrow enough to fit in the small space between our two couches. Luckily, it just fit in the car.

It seemed downright roomy before we untied it.

And we picked the perfect size after all, though there was no way to tell while we were choosing.

We also got live mistletoe, which I thought was kind of exciting.

Here I am hard at work on the lights.

We both took a bunch of pictures. We’re very proud, as you can tell.

The finished product (minus a tree topper, which we don’t currently have).

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Getting Ready for the Holidays

This weekend felt like the true beginning to the holiday season. Pete and I spent much of Saturday decorating our apartment, which included getting our very first tree, taking a long time to carefully put lights on every branch, and then spending far too little time actually putting up ornaments. (Due, of course, to our lack of ornaments. Although I actually think I have an impressive number of ornaments for someone who has never had “her own tree” before; unfortunately, most of them are in New Jersey with my parents and the “real tree.”) And to mark the occasion, I had planned to impress you today with a few too many pictures of the tree, which we are, of course, disproportionately proud of. Unfortunately, though, I’ve misplaced my camera cord, and so that will have to wait until tomorrow.

Besides the tree (and the other decorations we put up), we also enjoyed holiday shopping, our first official snowfall (though none of it stuck), and getting in the spirit with holiday movies this weekend. To me, the movies are one of the best parts of the season. Every year I look forward to watching everything from A Charlie Brown Christmas to Miracle on 34th Street Street. My family is especially partial to It’s a Wonderful Life, a movie that can quickly put anyone in the holiday mood. Then there are all of the versions of A Christmas Carol. While Scrooge (with Alastair Sims) will always be the “classic,” you really can’t go wrong with any version of that story. Since the end of A Christmas Carol at the Theater at Madison Square Garden, which we attended every year, my family now loves Kelsey Grammar’s 2004 musical version - which is a good alternative. (Although I’m anxiously awaiting the play’s return someday.) Next on the list for Pete and I is Home Alone, a movie that’s been his favorite for a long time. This weekend we also watched Elf which, for whatever reason, is always funny. (Plus now whenever I watch it I can point out that I talked to Mary Steenburgen!) While not exactly a holiday movie, I also make a point to revisit While You Were Sleeping every year at this time. And, despite the silliness (or maybe because of it), we now always watch Surviving Christmas come December.

What are your favorite holiday movies?

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Recipe: Easy Spinach and Artichoke Dip

There are times when, instead of having a real meal for dinner, my family will instead eat snacks. But usually good ones - hot appetizers, dips, interesting nuts, gourmet cheeses, and, yes, occasionally a good old potato chip or pretzel. Some people, I’m sure, would never do this, but it always seems especially fun. Pete and I (as you can see - although ignore the photo quality!) will occasionally do the same thing. Here’s a recipe for an easy spinach-artichoke dip, one of our favorite “dinner” snacks:

2 cans of artichoke bottoms, roughly chopped (of course, you can also substitute artichoke hearts, but, on the rare occasion we can find only bottom, the dip is especially good)
10 ounces frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
1 1/2-2 cups grated parmesan; set some (1/2 cup or so) aside for the top
1/2 cup grated mozzarella (feel free to substitute other cheese to mix it up! I like asiago)
3/4 cup mayo (I usually use reduced fat)
3/4 cup sour cream
pinch of red pepper flakes
dash of hot sauce, optional
1 clove garlic minced, optional
salt and pepper, to taste

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Combine all ingredients in a bowl, then place in greased 1 1/2 quart casserole dish.
Top with the parmesan you set aside and bake about 35 minutes until golden and bubbling.

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Wordless Wednesday: I love Christmas Time in Boston

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