Shake It Up

Mouse over the picture to shake things up!  Html trick here.

Left to right:  mine, E's, R's.

Traditions are a part of the holidays, a wonderful part, and the expectations that come with them are, of course, an inherent part of traditions, and maybe that's where some troubles around the holidays begin.  Trying to pull off all the holiday expectations traditions, trying to remember and get to all the little details that are part of some of those traditions can lead to inordinate amounts of stress, at least for me, that is.

On the other hand, when I look back, the typical holidays where we did the same thing year after year all blur together into one.  It is the years where traditions weren't followed that stand out from all the rest:

1.  The year that my parents "couldn't find our stockings" to hang up on Christmas Eve, and then Santa brought us each a bean bag chair, leaving our presents on top of them.

2.  The year that my uncle stopped by early Christmas morning and gave us an intricate jigsaw puzzle, telling us that if we could finish putting it together before he returned for Christmas dinner that evening, he'd give us each $20!  We spent the entire day not playing with our new toys, but hunched over a table in the basement doing the puzzle, and we finished JUST in time to earn our prize.

3.  The year when I was in my late teens and my oldest brother was in his early twenties.  We were tired of never getting a White Christmas in Seattle so we drove an hour away up in to the mountains, filled the trunk of my dad's big American car with trash bags of snow, brought it home, and made a snowman on the front lawn.

4.  My first year away from home at Christmas, determined to by free, single, and independent, celebrating with new friends and roommates, several states away from home.  A couple of weeks before Christmas I met this guy with an honest and straightforward look in his eyes.   We both had Christmas Day off of work and made plans to go cross country skiing that day along the edge of the Black Canyon of the Gunnison River.  Due to a silly misunderstanding, it didn't happen.  I went anyways with a co-worker of mine.  Our first date should have been Christmas Day.  Instead, it didn't happen until a couple of weeks later in January when we did laundry and played Gin Rummy together.  Here we are, fifteen years later!

5.  The first year we chose not to travel to be with our parents, to stay at home and have Christmas in our own house, with our own children, our own family, with our own new mix of old and new traditions.

6.  Of course, there are also the holidays that stand out, marked with the sadness of funerals and people who aren't there with us that year.  They become a part of our holiday remembrances as well.

Already, in the few years we've had our own holidays here with our kids, I feel like I've set my self up by doing the same things each and every year, setting the kids up for potential disappointment, setting myself up for trying to pull too much off and getting worn out and cranky.  So, rather than worry about getting all the details of all the traditions "right" this year, I'm trying to not worry about it too much.  Regardless, yes, a lot will be the same this year as other years.

Maybe we need to shake things up a little each year.  What will THIS Christmas be remembered for?  Probably not for the things that we didn't do or have, the things we didn't get to, but for the things that we did differently. 

Maybe this will be the year that we'll remember, not because of of the cookies we can't bake at our own house due to a broken oven, but for the cookies we'll bake after the oven is fixed or else at somebody else's house, or maybe the new treats we figure out how to make in a pan on top of of the stove.  We probably (hopefully) won't remember this as the year we didn't get Panda licorice ropes in our stockings (because they couldn't be found in the stores), but rather as the year we did get big Hammond's candy canes instead (because I could find those).

Maybe we'll remember this as the year we shook things up a little and made snowglobes out of thrifted and found things, the little bit of Sculpey clay we had on hand, a few jars, some glitter, paint, water, rocks, glue, and our imaginations (not that there weren't plenty of little details involved in pulling  these off!).

What holidays do you remember as being a little different?   What will you say when, looking back on this year's holiday season, you find yourself saying,  "Remember the year when.....?"

What are your favorite, non-baked, holiday goodies?  The oven won't be fixed (under warranty!) until after the first of the year.  So much for those cinnamon rolls on Christmas morning.  Oh well.  Maybe next year, right?   

 

Comments

[Erin B]

Rumballs are a big traditional non bake cookies a mixture of cocoa, vanilla wafers, cornsyrup rolled up in powdered sugar... Plus a little extra treat for the adult ones!

[Rebecca]

I remember the year we actually had a white Christmas, the year I didn't get an exchange present at Grandma's (my uncle forgot) and how proud my mom was of me for not making a fuss, and the Christmas I spent in a hotel room. Happy Holidays!

[theresa]

ohhh, my boys and I just made two awesome stovetop treats! Popcorn balls with real kettle popped popcorn (no microwave stuff for these goodies) - I'll email the recipe as soon as I can find it in the mess of papers on my counter, although I'm sure there are tons online. It was super fun, and little fingers loved rolling the sticky popcorn. It's deifnitely one of our new traditions ;)

And, second was a super easy microwave caramel recipe from Country Home magazine. http://www.countryhome.com/food/giftsfromkitchen_ss2.html

Happy non-oven treat making!!

[tanaya]

What a wonderful post! Thank you for sharing. I posted some similar thoughts on my blog this morning. (though I trailed off in a different direction). Here are some of the things tI posted that I remember:

I remember the years of need, where we were so grateful and blessed to find a box of food for Christmas dinner on our front porch from a very caring, not-so-anonymous stranger. I remember the dinner where my grandfather forced me to try pickled herring. The year that my sister INSISTED she saw Santa’s sleigh (she still swears this is true). Photo sessions on my Grandma’s front porch, with all of the cousins. Making gravy with my dad. Touring the neighborhood for Christmas decorations and stopping for hot cocoa before finding our way home on Christmas Eve. The year that my Uncle came home, surprisingly. The year that my Aunt announced her pregnancy. The first year that I was the hostess, and prepared my own feast for our family. The years that I made ornaments for everyone in the family, because I was too young/broke to buy anything. I remember the unusual, the happy, the sad, I remember everything, and none of it has to do with the physical gifts that I received.

[Nicole]

I'll remember this year as "the year we spent Christmas in Disney World"

[meg]

Our non-bake Christmas goody is a mimosa for the adults. When I was a kid we got sparkling cider in champagne flutes!

But my favorite tradition by far has been that after all the unwrapping and eating is done, right before we have desert after our formal dinner, mom pulls out another small gift for all members of the family to open and savor. Christmas lasts ALL day.

[Kassia]

I've been reading your blog for ages and have been meaning to tell you how much I look forward to it everyday! I'm originally from Colorado, but now live in the midwest - so your gorgeous nature pictures always make me feel a bit homesick!

My family loves boiled cookies - a combo chocolate, peanut butter and oatmeal cookie that you make on the stove top. Very easy and super addictive. Email me if you're interested in the recipe.

Merry Christmas!

[Tania]

If you have a waffle iron, these are yummy: http://www.marthastewart.com/page.jhtml?type=content&id=recipe1720023&layout=martha

Also, we used to make these dumplings/ donuts on the stove and then shake them up in paper bags with cinnamon and sugar until they were coated. Yummy!

[Carrie]

Ooo, my mom used to make us those little stove-top donuts. They were good. I think it was just biscuits (canned dough, even) fried and rolled in cinnamon sugar. Yum.
We made Christmas wreaths with cornflakes. You use the rice-krispie treat recipe, but add more marshmallows and some green food coloring and sub cornflakes for the krispies. Drop them on waxed paper in clumps and flatten them a little, then decorate with red hots for the berries.

[Leslie]

We didn't have an oven last year (wasn't fixed till after Christmas) so we borrowed a crockpot and made Christmas dinner in one crockpot and a delicious pudding cake in the other! I was ticked at the time, but now I look back and think how positive everything turned out. If you are feeling indulgent chocolate truffles, and these (http://food.cookinglight.com/cooking/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=361524)
Sugary Spice Pecans don't need an oven. (In fact, they don't need a refrigerator - I set both on the back porch to cool!)

[ramona]

mix dried dates and grated coconut (maybe add a bit water to smooth it), roll balls of it and roll them in grated coconut or nuts...ready are healthy and not baked treats. yumm

[Anna]

I remember the year we lived in Colorado (one year with all the others in NY) and my parents forgot to bring the ornaments. So, we made them all. It was also the year we "cut down" our own tree, although that really involved my mother sitting in the car with 3 kids in snow suits while my dad scouted the tree, then came back and said it was too far, so we continued to sit in the car while he chopped it down. It was also the year that the Easter Bunny brought pails instead of baskets (he'd forgotten the baskets in NY too). Great post. Thanks!

[Bettsi]

You're right! It's the years that we don't get hung up on "tradition" that really are memorable. I remember my first grown up tree decorated with candies on hooks and candy canes because that was all we had. I remember 1996 when we were poor and getting ready to move. We had a Charlie Brown tree decorated by me and the kids with construction paper ornaments. I remember the year we moved into this house "our first" and created a little tree in honor of my mother who had died the year before. Thank you for reminding me of this. It is as Dr. Suess said, "Perhaps Christmas was about something more." BTW, I'm voting for peanut brittle and cinnamon pancakes! Blessings to you and yours!

[Julia]

Great post! It's all so true...and I love your snowglobes with the mushrooms! You probably already know of these, but my favorite unbaked treat are cocoa rum balls, sometimes called chocolate rum balls, or just rum balls. They are so good and easy to make!!

[Kristin]

How about truffles. I don't have a recipe, but it shouldn't be hard to find one online. Have a great Christmas Siri!

[Rebecca]

I love your essay. (And I have to agree about Panda licorice being great. We are blessed to have my in-laws mailing us assorted licorice for holidays).

Good no-oven recipes: there is a link on my blog to an AMAZING truffles recipe, you could make them just rolled in cocoa and no spices (there are several different coverings, some which involve odd spices the kids might not like.) Other good things: ástapungar (http://icecook.blogspot.com/2006/09/icelandic-doughnut-balls-starpungar.html#links -- Icelandic doughbut balls) and Rice Pudding (http://icecook.blogspot.com/2006/12/rice-pudding-hrsgrjnagrautur.html#links) ... it's great topped with cranberry juice concentrate. (I have no idea how that recipe is but I am sure it is good, she has nice recipes.)

[amanda]

oh, this is just brilliant. And perfect timing for so many of us for sure. I think you're just right - I remember the 'exceptions' from my childhood too. And I'm sure my children will remember the same. Um, how about the year that we celebrated Solstice the day AFTER Solstice because Mama didn't realize that the date she had was Universal Time. Yeah, that would be this year! Here's wishing you a 'light' holiday celebration free of worries and full of love.

[jean]

Happy Solstice, Siri. Today, as always, thanks for writing.

[Jennifer]

Merry. Merry! Cinnamon buns are a tradition in our family as well. I think this year we will try something new. A friend and I were discussing Christmas brunch yesterday and she suggested crepes for Christmas morning. She makes her crepes ahead of time and warms them in the morning--because she has a big family. For our family of four I am going to make them fresh. Crepes, strawberry cream cheese filling, fresh strawberries and whipped cream on top. Teamed with organic scrambled eggs and fresh citrus fruit salad it will be a grand morning.

If you use a microwave our favorite treat is peanut (or cashew, or pecan) brittle. I have made at least four batches already. The children packaged them up in small cellophane bags and I have been handing them out to couriers and guests as they leave. A nice little bit of love.

May your solstice be bright and your Christmas happy.

[Sarah R]

How about some taffy? I found this recipe - http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,,FOOD_9936_24646,00.html?rsrc=search

- but there may be more out there. The year my dad left us, around Christmas, my mom and brother and I made peppermint taffy one day and had a ball. We were older than E and R, though, so perhaps this idea should wait a year or two.

I mostly wanted to stop by to say I wish you and yours a peaceful and joyous Christmas and a wonderful New Year. I think I've only commented here once or twice, but I check your blog every day and get a strange sort of comfort and joy from it. Your photos are gorgeous, your boys are a delight and your life seems, sometimes, like something I'd read about in a favorite children's book. Keep up the good work. Some of us out here depend on you!

[Sue]

Some favorites around here: No bake cookies are always a hit. Also Christmas goodies, made with corn syrup, peanut butter and cornflakes, dropped on waxed paper. Popcorn balls made like rice krispie treats. Great post...I love the story about the snowman. What a wonderful memory!

[blair]

Siri, you have made my day. I was just sitting on the couch, a mere days before gifts will be handed out, completely stressed about how I was going to get everything done. I am so very glad I read this. So very glad.

Happy Holidays Siri. Happy "shaking things up"!

[lyn]

What a lovely post.
Merry Christmas !

[--erica]

thank you for the beautiful post.. you have quieted my anxious heart.

recipes? microwave fudge..and white chocolate popcorn.. YUM..

[Heather in Washington State, USA]

Thanks for the inspiration about avoiding holiday madness! As for non-baked Christmas breakfast treats, I have to admit a fondness for Costco's pumpkin pie. I see nothing wrong with having pumpkin pie, topped with some Brown Cow Cream Top yogurt, for breakfast. It's probably healthier than pastry anyway.