I have been talking, thinking, obsessing about holiday gifts this year. I want to find and make great presents without draining my piggy bank. Because this has recently become my mission, I’m having a little giveaway so that you can either check another gift off your list or give yourself an early present – you deserve it!
Green Grocer Bags have become my new favorite thing to bring to the grocery store. Here are a few reasons why I love them:
1. Five bags in one! You get a big tote bag and four smaller produce bags.
2. Each bag is a different, bright and cheery color.
3. They make me feel cool at Rainbow.
4. They are the product of a small, local business with a lot of heart.
To enter the giveaway, just answer the following question in the comments:
What is your favorite holiday tradition?
One entry per person. The giveaway ends Saturday, December 12th, so leave your comment before then! The winner will be chosen at random and announced Sunday, December 13th.
If you don’t win but would like to own a Green Grocer Bag you can contact Vicki at greengrocerbags@yahoo.com or pick one up at Cole Hardware in San Francisco.
My mother’s Yorkshire pudding for Christmas day dinner is the holiday tradition I look forward to most.
Getting the Christmas tree. My Dad and I would go out in the woods and find two trees, one for us and one for my Grandma. Then my Mom and I would decorate the tree and listen to Christmas music.
Our annual Christmas carol sing-a-long party. There’s nothing like singing together!
Decorating the tree. I love getting out the ornaments. We have a big collection, gathered over many years and I like remembering who made which one, whose little hand is on the plaster, who gave us this or that special one. (I alos love the Garland family sing-a-long party tradition and am a “regualr”
Blessings! I love Kitchenbite!
I love the tree trimming tradition at our home; we break out the egg nog, put on loud holiday music, and marvel at the origin of each ornament as we put it on the tree. Some ornaments are incredibly nostalgic, and some are very funny, but each one is unique and special to us!
Strawberry waffles w/LOTS of whipped cream on Christmas morning!
I’ll add a nice prime rib roast beef to that Yorkshire pudding for Christmas Day dinner!!
Every year my sisters and I would break out The Osmond Family Christmas album, crank up the record player and sing those songs all day long! Actually we sang them for weeks and weeks. Running like crazy all over the house, our parents thought we were nuts! A few years ago Leslie found it on CD and the tradition continues! (I do hate to admit that The Osmonds were a big part of our Christmas tradition, how embarrassing…)
Every year each family member opens a new pair of warm pajamas of Christmas Eve. We put them on and then together under blankets and read the Christmas story.
Really just seeing family and friends … and the oodles of holiday parties and bubbly aren’t too bad either!
Oh – and Christmas music – I love it!
Driving around town and looking at all the pretty Christmas lights. Oh and homemade tamales on Christmas Eve and Strawberry crepes on Christmas morning, Mmmm!
Easter brunch, which was started my hubby’s parents many years ago. It’s Springtime, and flowers, and bunnies, and kids on Easter egg hunts. Grandma Lola’s famous chicken curry crepes are a must, which I have continued making each year as the tradition!
I love KitchenBite!!!! It’s a kitchen site so full of heart! OK, my favorite holiday tradition is when everybody gathers around the piano and sings good old Christmas carols and I particularly love it when people try on a little harmony.
My husband and I are both from the East Coast. Once our daughter was born we wanted to create a Christmas Tradition in our home rather than face the agonies of airports on Christmas Eve.
So, since 1996 we have hosted a Christmas Eve open house, friends come from as far as New York City, all of the neighbors are invited and they are are welcome to invite all of THEIR friends and family. We have people from newborn to well into their 8’s here.
It starts in the afternoon when our dear friend Gene, pulls into town on his motorcycle, we are insanely busy with last minute preparations and then there is that magic moment, the fireplace is roaring, candles are burning, Christmas music is playing, Aurora is watching at the window for guests. It is so beautiful and peaceful.
The party has seemed to take on a life of it’s own. Everyone who comes thinks of it as “our” party. My southern husband makes a fabulous dish that is a kind of a mix of gumbolaya and cioppino. I make my Scots Trifle(me cooking is a Christmas Miracle in and of itself!).
The phone is in constant use as the kids dial the Santa Hot Line to see whether he has finished delivering to Europe and the East. Often we babysit neighbor animals over the holidays and all are welcome to bring their dogs(some bring their cats too). Last year we had 7 cats, 3 dogs and five puppies at our party.
Many of our neighbors are musicians so there is alway music around the fire. This year one of the best bands in Monterey County, The Good Sams wil be playing.
Somehow our 1000sq ft manages to fit everyone in quite comfortably no matter how many show up.
The party lasts until I see Santa’s sleigh coming from out behind the moon.
Then it starts again on Christmas morning when all the houseguest get up and have a fine breakfast of Irish oatmeal(in between sneaking in the last of the trifle and leftover cookies).
Our daughter is a teenager now, so each Christmas becomes more precious since I know that my adventerous girl may move to Japan and start a tradition of her own.
Marilyn
waking up my big sister (or in more recent years, my big sister waking me up) and gathering the family and the pets up in the living room and opening stockings one gift at a time. ooh and dutch babies!
Having Austrian nut roll at breakfast Christmas morning! It reminds me of my Grandmother who made the best nut roll and other yeast dough baked goodies at Christmas and other times of the year. Happy holidays…
When I was growing up in Fresno, we used to open presents on Christmas Eve and then take a ride down christmas tree lane. This was where all of the big, big houses in Fresno were. All of the houses went overboard with all of the decorations and lights galore. Fond memories. Now Jay and I go to the 40’s in Sacramento. Same idea as above These are houses from 40th to 49th street.
Our Noah’s Ark advent calendar — and all the arguments my sister & I used to have about whose day it was to put the little paper pair of animals into the ark. Now it’s rather worn, and we sometimes forget to mark the countdown, but mom always props it up somewhere in the house!
Taking the Christmas in the Adobes walking tour through downtown Monterey is a relatively new holiday tradition for my family. For two nights in December, the Historical Society hosts an evening where two-dozen historic adobes are open to tour. They’re all decorated for the holidays and people in period dress greet you with tales of the adobe’s history, live music, sweet treats, and even social dances from the early California period. Tourists who just visit the aquarium or the wharf are often oblivious to the historic gems hidden amongst Monterey’s downtown, so you feel like you’re enjoying a secret treat.
My parents would take the entire year to gather little useful goodies, all under $15, of random things: simple pocket knife, cold/flu tea, dark chocolate bars, pastry brush, hot glue gun… until they had about 40 items. They’d put everything in a box and on Christmas morning my brother, sister, and I, and anyone else who was invited for the holidays, would each take a turn picking an item out of the box, starting with the youngest. It was great because my parents didn’t have to worry about meeting anyone’s expectations of what we wanted for a gift, and we all had control over picking things we thought were most useful.
I love Ursala’s tradition – what a great way to give gifts, celebrate and make life easier around the holiday time!