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Calling For Christmas Cookie Recipes — 2012
Thanksgiving is behind us, Black Friday has passed, and Christmas is less than a month away. It’s time to start thinking about baking Christmas cookies for family and friends. As always, I’m...
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Calling For Christmas Cookie Recipes — 2012 (II)
Kolachky is, I think, a cookie of Eastern European lineage. It sounds like it would be fun and challenging to make — cookies that requires brushing with egg white, sealing, and dusting are more...
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Elemental And Ornamental
My sister Cathy has lots of energy and, lately, has become a huge fan of Pinterest. She found an idea there to hang Christmas ornaments from ribbons as a holiday decoration and tried it out on Mom’s...
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Holiday Balance
During the holidays, it’s important to maintain a sense of balance. Don’t get carried away with spending on presents. Try to avoid channeling your inner Martha Stewart and decorating every square...
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Calling For Christmas Cookie Recipes — 2012 (III)
In response to my annual call for new Christmas cookie recipes, my thoughtful sister Margaret passed along the Columbus Dispatch 2012 Holiday Cookies insert. It’s full of interesting recipes, include...
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North Of Woods Christmas Lights, 2012
Many of our neighbors in the North of Woods section of New Albany have put up their holiday lights, and the neighborhood looks great. Kish loves Christmas lights, and I agree with her — seeing the...
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A Signature Drink For The Evening (Cont.)
After much careful consideration, Kish has settled on a white cosmopolitan as our signature drink for this evening. Thanks to niece Amy for the suggestion! Ingredients: 2 cups citron-flavored vodka;...
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Calling For Christmas Cookie Recipes — 2012 (IV)
Shortbread probably seems a bit old-fashioned, but I’ve always liked its taste — and during the holidays, what might otherwise be quaint and therefore boring just becomes “traditional” and cool....
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North Of Woods Christmas Lights, 2012 (II)
I like the ethereal feel of twirly lights in bare trees as a general rule, but I particularly like how these creative neighbors set things up so that the twirly lights in the trees are linked with the...
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Stille Nacht
Folks, we’re really closing in on Christmas. This weekend Richard will be returning home, I’ll finally be doing my long-delayed holiday baking, and it will seem a lot more like Christmas as a result....
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Easing Into The Holidays
America used to work, hard, up until the very day a holiday arrived. Think of the original Miracle on 34th Street if you don’t believe me — the competency hearing for jolly Kris Kringle goes into the...
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Merry Christmas, Mon!
From the shores of the Caribbean — where one holiday celebrant in St. John’s, Antigua, danced under Christmas decorations while wearing a Viking helmet, a rag skirt, a tunic, and underneath it all a...
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On The Eve Of The New Year
I’ve never much cared for New Year’s Eve. My father referred to it, with humor and scorn, as “amateur night.” It’s a contrived holiday that tends to be the focus of too much partying anticipation. I...
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The Season’s Last Gasp
When I arrived at the Mayflower in Washington, D.C. today, the staff was taking down the Christmas decorations — a sure sign that the holiday season is over, a new year has begun, and it’s time to get...
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The Season’s Last Gasp (II)
Here are the Hyatt Arcade in downtown Cleveland, the Christmas season is still in the air. The bunting is hung on the bright metal railings, the lights are strung along the facades, and down at the...
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The Halloween Balloon
Every year, Halloween seems to get bigger and bigger. What used to be a holiday for little trick or treaters and some juvenile delinquents back in the ’60s has become a huge retail money-maker, with...
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Calling For Christmas Cookie Recipes — 2013
Yesterday when I went to visit Mom one of the assistants asked if I was “the cookie baker.” Paraphrasing Bill Murray in Groundhog Day, I humbly acknowledged that I was a cookie baker, not the cookie...
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The Rewards Of Blogging
I like blogging. I’ve always enjoyed writing, which I think is fun and mentally relaxing. Blogging helps to satiate that nagging creative impulse brooding just below the surface. I feel good when I...
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The First “Friendsgiving”
It was the early 1980s. Kish and I had just moved to Washington, D.C. We worked on Capitol Hill and lived in a tiny apartment on East Capitol Street. We were young and employed, and eager to flex...
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Cabbie Carols
This morning I took a cab to the Houston airport. I was intent on catching up on email as I rode, but something kept nagging at me as I read and deleted. It was lurking just below the level of...
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