And the Countdown is On!

But I cannot be a Scrooge so bring on the Christmas tunes and the eggnog. One reason I know that I haven’t turned my Christmas music on is I have people in my life who really don’t enjoy Christmas music so rather than make them listen to the music I enjoy I have chosen to not turn it on. Time to change that, it is the middle of December, and it is time to bring on the ho-ho-ho and mistletoe – Feliz Navidad. It starts this morning.

I accomplished my first Christmas baking last night – Turtle Pecan Tarts. One of my favorites. Caramel filling with chocolate and pecans in a tart shell. They are very good. I have a couple of other favorites that I make every holiday season. The next week will be filled with sweet treats for the holidays when the kids get home and maybe some unexpected Christmas visitors. The value of a deep freeze. We can bake and buy food and pop it into our deep freeze to save for a later date. It is a privilege that we take for granted. Being able to pop down to the deep freeze and bring up some sweet treats or food to defrost and start making ourselves a meal is something that not everyone has access to. Don’t forget to be grateful for what you do have instead of wishing for what you don’t. This is something I need to remind myself on a regular basis.

Anticipation. For those of you that have little children around you – enjoy this time of year with them. Oh, the excitement of waiting for Santa Claus. The threats that are made to make your children behave work very well for the month of December. And then there is Elf on the Shelf who is watching them every day and reminding them to be good – or whatever else it is that Elf does. Elf on the Shelf came out way after I was raising kids. Thank goodness he wasn’t around. It seems to me when my 3 children were small I had enough to do without worrying about where to hide Elf before I went to bed and figure out something he has to say or do. Guaranteed I would have fallen into the trap of hiding him if he had been around. You never want your kids to have less than other kids if it is preventable. A person must definitely be creative to keep up with his trickery and games for the month of December – until Christmas Eve. And once again as long as you have an internet connection there is a ton of information on good old Google to guide you along the way.

Next on the list for December is the gift buying and wrapping. A lot of us have more than we need and is the gift buying necessary? What is Christmas about? For me it is getting together with my family and enjoying their time with us while they are home. Gatherings will be larger this year with Covid restrictions being lifted. Households will be hosting people instead of staying within their own four walls and keeping to themselves.

A few years ago, I changed the gift giving thing up with our family. We had been through the pick a name and place a monetary amount on the gift to purchase. We have done the “Chinese” gift exchange with a minimum amount of money to spent on a gift. These were fun but so often I found anything you could buy someone they already had or simply didn’t want or need. Or they would ask you “what do you want me to buy you?” Go out and purchase it, wrap it and then you would act surprised when you opened it. Mind you some people are very good gift givers. They think about it and figure out something a person actually would use or want. For myself, I found I worked full-time, had a lack of time for shopping and what I thought was a great gift ended up stuffed inside a dresser drawer, never to be seen again. Such a waste of my time and resources. So, I changed up the rules. Everyone could purchase a gift or two, no monetary limit and bring it on Christmas day unwrapped and place it on a table to be auctioned off later (more on that below). Being unwrapped saved the environment as well from all that Christmas wrap that ends up in the dumpster on Boxing Day.

Once the Christmas meal was done and dishes cleaned up the auction would start. Anyone who attended your Christmas meal could participate in bringing a gift or not and same for buying the gift. Their choice. The whole reason for auctioning off the gifts was to donate the money to a charity of our choice. It made you feel good about giving to someone or a group that could use the money. You went home with a gift you wanted and would make use of. A little friendly competition always made the bidding more fun. Often a gift would sell for more than twice its value. You could go buy it in the store for less money, but not on Christmas Day.

We were able to do this auction for a couple of years as we had large Christmas gatherings to make it worthwhile. The more people there were the more fun it was. And then Covid hit – 5 people at Christmas didn’t work nearly as well as 20 or 30. I even made paint sticks with numbers on them the 2^nd year we did this to make it more official – like being at Sotheby’s. It was a fun way to do a gift exchange. It doesn’t work as well when you have little kids as they do need presents to open. But a person could have items for children to bid on as well. Kids love to help others and it teaches them good values and to appreciate what they do have.

There, those are my thoughts on gifts. And this year I have broken my rules as I have purchased a few gifts for family. They always know they get socks. Santa knows that everyone needs socks – just have to know what kind of socks people like.

In “wrapping” it up today enjoy the season as much as you can and by the time you read this it will be like 6 days away. Yikes!

Christmas is not always full of joy for everyone. For many this past year has brought sorrow and pain. Our thoughts and prayers are with those we know that are having a harder time this year. We are thinking of you too. Take care.

The next week will simply fly by, and every day seems to have something going on. This past weekend has been free for myself, and I am thankful for that. I have a lot to do yet. The list is getting shorter!

I will end with a Christmas tune of course. I have so many favorites. Favorite album is Christmas with Boney M, as is it for many people. This may not be my favorite song, but it is what I wish for. “Let There Be Peace on Earth” by Vince Gill, featuring his daughter Jenny Gill. It is a beautiful rendition.

Wishing everyone Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

Merle Lee Ann Pratt – merleleeannskitchen.com – Email: merleleeann@gmail.com

This column is sponsored by MacKenzie Funeral Chapel and Crematorium – We will be there when you need us – Bev and Brian Stobbs

130 9th St. E, Prince Albert, SK

Phone: (306) 763-8488

https://mackenziechapel.ca/

by Merle Lee Ann Pratt – Merle Lee Ann’s Kitchen, author of “A Baker’s Dozen”

And the Countdown is On!

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