Congrats to Phyllis Miller, winner of last week’s giveaway contest! This week, we’d like to take a moment to express our thoughts and prayers for a quick recovery to all those impacted by Hurricane Sandy. We encourage all of our readers – those living in hurricane-impacted regions as well as those outside them – to help with recovery in any way you can. Contact a shelter and find out what…
Most of the traditions in our household are holiday-centric. Thanksgiving is at my in-laws’ house. We bring the green bean casserole, slightly modified to accommodate food allergies. Christmas dinner is also with TG’s folks. (What can I say? I have great in-laws, and their house is the biggest. We have kind of a large extended family in the area, so more room at the table is always a plus.) But…
Being that I’m Jewish, I’ve seen The Fiddler on the Roof a few (hundred) times. If you haven’t, I encourage you to get it from Netflix or your favorite video store. Here’s a little sample to give you a taste, or if you’re familiar, make you get all warm and fuzzy with nostalgia. It’s over seven minutes, but worth it. Go ahead and watch, I’ll wait here: There, wasn’t that…
This has been a really hard post for me, for some reason. I keep thinking about different traditions from different times in my life, and I start writing, then delete and start all over again. But of all the traditions I’ve almost written about, one continues to pop into my head. I keep passing it over because it’s not the funniest or the most clever… it’s not even original to…
I’m not a huge fan of the Fourth of July. I don’t like fireworks or char-grilled meat or planned activities and having grown up with leftist parents and having attended an even more leftist liberal arts college, the whole forced patriotic thing still brings out the rebel in me. This is not to say that I don’t participate in the ENORMOUS celebration my neighborhood has every year. A celebration so…
I’m thumbing through my mental filing cabinets, trying to remember the holiday traditions my family is supposed to have. But see, the problem is this: our traditions are kind of flickering, waffling a little, not quite sure if they want to stay or go. Get every family member a gift, or just pick names? Open gifts on Christmas Eve, or Christmas morning? Christmas brunch or Christmas dinner? Midnight mass or…
Everyone on my mom’s side of the family has a homemade stocking. They are made of felt and usually have a snowman with a variety of jaunty hats, vests, buttons, etcetera, and the person’s name in letters along the top. (The exception is the one my aunt made for my grandmother in the 60s which is decorated with many flowers and has the word “PEACE” instead of my grandmother’s name.)…
This was going to be the touching story of how a Jewish Girl from the Midwest who grew up with almost no traditions except for an overzealous renunciation of tradition and envious of all of her friends and their Christmas trees, married a Wasp from New England who embraced Christmas with all the innocence and zeal of a wide-eyed five-year-old, woke early the Saturday before Christmas and made a great…
I was going to share my recipe for Chunky Apple Walnut Cake which is hands down my family’s favorite holiday recipe. Really any time of year recipe. So favorite that when my oldest daughter was coming home for Thanksgiving this year, she asked if I would make the cake twice while she was home, timed to emerge warm from the oven when she arrived a couple of days before the…
Alright kids, one more Halloween post…we’re almost to the Samhain finish line, and then we can let the Thanksgiving and Christmas and Hanukkah and Kwanzaa and New Year’s Eve fatigue settle in. Since the theme this week is “Halloween memories,” I decided it would be ‘fun’ to try and remember every Halloween costume I’ve ever worn. (No! Thanks for asking, but I haven’t experienced a major head injury recently. I’m…
