All I Want for Christmas Is...

 LUCY BURDETTE: Here come the holidays, sprinting toward us again! For some of us, that means we need gift ideas, yikes! I almost always end up giving books, unless the recipient has made it clear this would be unwelcome. (Like one great nephew who opened his present a couple years back, burst into dramatic tears, and said “A book! That’s not a present!” We’re giving him a game this year LOL.) Of course we love to have our own books given as gifts, but this year I have several other suggestions.

The New York Times Book of Games is perfect for a wordsmith who doesn’t have all the time in the world. Next to that is a gorgeous book of poetry by women and girls by Ella Risberger. (Debs told us about this a couple months back and I immediately ordered it for our granddaughter. It’s so lovely!)

And two cookbooks–the newest by my Paris-loving idol, Dori Greenspan, and the Key West Woman’s Club cookbook for fans of history and Key West, which can now be purchased online.

HALLIE EPHRON: My yearly challenge is what to get for my grandchildren. Last year I knocked it out of the park with a personalized soccer ball light for my grandson who regularly scores goals for his soccer team. It comes from ETSY. So there’s a real person out there who makes them to order.

I’ve also found gorgeous silver (earrings) for my daughters on ETSY. (My fave: Liz Blanchflower at Stone and Sterling Design.)

And more. I like that there’s a real craftsperson who made the gifts. And if you read the customer reviews carefully you get a sense of whether the workmanship is up to snuff.

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: I am so eager to hear what you all have to say! I have nothing, and need help. I saw some slippers (see photo attached)  that look like you have monkeys climbing up your legs and was tempted. Because I am clearly scraping the bottom.  I used to try incredibly hard to be perfect but there’s no way, so I gave up. 

JENN MCKINLAY: When the Hooligans were youngsters, we implemented the four gift rule to mitigate the conspicuous consumption: So it’s something you want, something you need, something to wear, and something to read for the entire family (Hub and I included) and I really haven’t had to stress about gifts ever since. I await their lists and will shop and wrap in an afternoon and go back to cookie baking - the real holiday joy for me! The only other gift recipients are nieces and nephews and they get a Venmo transaction and we call it a day. 

JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: Shopping for my family is easy, because, like Jenn, we have protocols. Santa leaves cold weather necessities (lip balm, hand sanitizer and pocket-sized hand cream), candy, good socks, a book and something small and fun. Now they’re all grownups, everyone gets ONE gift from me beneath the tree. We all exchange Christmas wish lists right after Thanksgiving.

I have two suggestions for hostess/neighbor/I wasn’t expecting a gift from you needs. First, the Bed Bath and Beyond Fresh Balsam candle. I promise this isn’t sponsored; I love this candle SO much this time of the year. It smells just like fresh pine, and it lasts FOREVER.

The other is super cheap and easy. I get a few Christmas-themed mugs at a Dollar Store, a box of fancy Ghirardelli hot cocoa packets, and a box of candy canes. Each mug gets a few cocoa packets, a couple of candy canes, and voila, the perfect last-minute present. I usually tell the recipient it’s a cheap mug and they can recycle it in the new year - nothing to hang around cluttering your kitchen!

DEBORAH CROMBIE: I have two books for my granddaughter, the Ella Risbridger-edited volume of poems for women and girls, EVERYTHING WILL BE GLAD TO SEE YOU, which is, as Lucy says above, absolutely gorgeous. I think it is available for less and more quickly from Blackwell's in the UK than from Amazon. Blackwell's does not charge shipping to the US! And Jane Langton's THE DIAMOND IN THE WINDOW, as recommended by some of you here. I also may get Wren her first fountain pen. Lamy Safari now has Hogwarts pens, a different color and badge for each house. So cute!

My daughter will want a book, but she usually gives me a list to choose from.

Here's an idea for cooks in your life: Naomi After Cooking Hand Scrub, which was raved about in Bon Appetit and supposedly smells fabulous and will really, truly, get the smell of onions and garlic off your fingers. I ordered some to try, but if it is as good as advertised it may be too late to order as a gift for anyone else as it is apparently selling out. Bon Appetit recommended Bergamot and Pepper but there are other fragrances.

For the guys in my life, no idea. Hopefully they will have suggestions.

Weigh in please Reds, any gift suggestions from you?

Let's Get Crafty!

 RHYS BOWEN:  Sorry about publishing two blogs on the same day by mistake yesterday! Busy week with Thanksgiving and John's birthday. 

Anyway, I've been talking about everyone madly shopping and scoring bargains on Black Friday. I remember my youth when Christmas presents were smaller and simpler. IN those post war years in England everything was still very austere so some of my presents were often home made. I had stuffed toys, dolls, a wooden train all home made.  When I got older a gift was sometimes a hand knitted sweater. I never thought they were less perfect because of this and I have to confess that I still love receiving home made presents.

To me they mean that someone thought about me, got an idea and then took

 time to create something for me. Our son Dominic is the king of home made gifts. Many of his have to do with cooking as he loves experimenting in the kitchen. Last year was lavender lemon curd and limoncello (from our more than bountiful lemon trees). He has created home made beer, other condiments, a lethal spray that kills cold germs.  Also during Covid he made everyone wooden lap desks so we didn't work with our laptops on our knees.  And when the grandkids were small he did audio discs of fairy tales. (He's an actor and they were excellent. I keep telling him to read for Audible).

Last year my granddaughter Mary Clare knitted me a fabulous scarf. It took more time than she had imagined and she sat up until three am on Christmas morning to finish it. I love it, especially because of the time she put into it.

I haven't made anything recently except family photo albums after big events and anniversaries. I love having them myself and glancing through them in spare moments. I also made an album of my sketches that I do when I travel. 

No creative ideas this year yet, but I do find the moment the evenings get longer that my thoughts turn to crafts.

Last year some of you will remember that I made gnomes. This year I have a kit for a holly fairy. I'll show you when it's finished. I also have patterns for caroling mice but that might be a bridge too far as I'm the one who writes all the cards, buys and wraps all the gifts and makes enough food for the family for a week. But I do enjoy the simplicity and quiet of knitting, sewing, with carols being played.

How about you? Who likes to craft? Knitters? Crochet? Anything else?

Thinking Ahead to Christmas food.

 RHYS BOWEN: Apart from buying gifts this is the season when our thoughts turn to food. In my earlier days I participated in cookie swaps. All those hours making cookie dough, cutting into shapes, rolling it, frosting it etc etc. I made Stollen, whcih I adore but nobody else does. It seemed we were overflowing with sugar/butter and everything else bad for us. Now I find there is less interest in sweet things. We always have a Christmas brunch with eggs, bacon, sausage etc, then at four o'clock we have tea (of course, we're British) with lots o cookies, cakes etc but I find not that many are eaten.  Then in the evening we have the big Christmas dinner with turkey and ham and all the trimmings, followed always by apple crumble and Christmas pudding (just for John and me). 

As we have fifteen people descending on us I always try to plan ahead, to make hearty soups and easy dinners that I can free before hand. This is complicated by the fact that I have three gluten free family members, one lactose intolerant and one who doesn't eat meat. I have planned to make a big cocoanut fish soup, a paella one night, but need other ideas. All the pasta dishes I make for a crowd could be made with gluten free pasta, I suppose. But I like the idea of hearty soups. Last year I made a chicken soup with aromatics and chicken breast and then finished it with lemon and spinach. It was quite yummy.

The one thing I always have to make (tradition) is small mince pies and sausage rolls. These are very simple... short crust pastry cut and put into muffic pans, mincemeat inside, brushed with egg white and sugar and then baked. For the sausage rolls I've recently switched to puff pastry and Jimmy Dean's sage sausage meat, the closest I can get to English sausage. 

So any suggestions for easy meals to feed up to fifteen people will be most welcome!