Holiday traditions.

 RHYS BOWEN:  At this time of year I love to read books about the holidays, watch movies about them (Love Actually, White Christmas and The Holiday being favorites) and I’ve also written books set at Christmas time. I think my favorite of those was THE TWELVE CLUES OF CHRISTMAS, set in the quintessential English village with all of the customs of traditions that I loved when I was growing up: the carol singers going around the neighborhood, being invited in for mulled wine and mince pies, the Christmas pudding brought in flaming to the table and containing silver charms that predicted your year ahead (you had to eat very carefully). There were always crackers, the type you pull and go bang, with silly paper hats we all wore, and even sillier riddles and useless gifts in them. We played party games and I loved indoor fireworks. They were pieces of paper you lit on the fireplace. One twisted and turned into a snake. Another had fire racing through it and ending in a small bang. They were harmless enough if Daddy supervised but now they are illegal.

So I put all these traditions into my book, reliving them each time I read my own book again. I’ve tried to keep some in my life here. I make mince pies every year, and sausage rolls. I do buy crackers every Christmas. This year they contain wine up reindeer and we’ll have races. I buy a Christmas pudding although nobody likes it except John and me. But I miss the atmosphere… the carol singing, going out into the crisp night air. When I was in school I was in the madrigal group and we went around the big houses near by school.  Sometimes a maid came to the door and brought us out cookies or mince pies. Sometimes we were invited in. It was always magical to hear our voices hanging in the night air. 

So what family traditions do you try to keep up for your holidays? And who has a favorite Christmas movie they have to watch?

 

LUCY BURDETTE: I love writing books set at Christmas time! The first one I wrote was PREACHING TO THE CORPSE, taking place in my hometown in CT with lots of scenes at our Congregational Church. I could enjoy the holiday church supper, the beautiful lights and music, and more, vicariously. I have to say one of my favorite endings ever was in that book–very Christmas related, but you’ll have to read it!

I’ve also done two Key West Christmas installments, DEATH WITH ALL THE TRIMMINGS and THE KEY LIME CRIME. Key West is beautiful and quirky during the holidays, with the hometown parade, lighted boat parade, astonishing decorations, and more. I love sharing those traditions with my readers!

JENN McKINLAY: I’ve written a couple of Christmas mysteries and one romcom (THE CHRISTMAS KEEPER, SUGAR PLUM POISONED, and A MERRY LITTLE MURDER PLOT) and it is fun to write about the holiday, although I’m usually writing it in July - lol. 

My traditions are fluid because we often travel for the holiday, but no matter where we are it’s Christmas Eve service (love the candle lighting and carols), presents Xmas morning, and prime rib for dinner! Pass the horse radish sauce. And, of course, it’s never Christmas until the first box of See’s Candies arrives! 

HALLIE EPHRON: Just realizing that I’ve never put Christmas in one of my books. Not once. 

Jerry and I lit Hanukah candles and sang the blessing and ate brisket and potato latkes and mandlebrot (cookies) for dessert. Ecumenically, on Christmas morning we exchanged gifts. No tree and I hang some kind of greenery on the door. 

No Chrstmas decorations, though I do love having a bright red amaryllis in bloom, but usually I think of it too late. It worked for us. 

We’re surrounded by Christmas celebrants and it’s so much fun to walk the neighborhood and see magnificent decorated trees through the windows and glorious outdoor lighting. Not to mention blow-up Santas and Grinches and reindeer. 

DEBORAH CROMBIE: Rhys, your Christmas books are so much fun, and the best part is the food! And you just reminded me that I don't think I got crackers for this year and now it is probably too late!

I've written three books that are set around Christmas, AND JUSTICE THERE IS NONE, WATER LIKE A STONE, AND A KILLING OF INNOCENTS, and I think they are among my favorites. I love seeing my characters celebrate Christmas.

We do a tree–so much work, but my favorite tradition. Christmas morning stockings and Santa presents, then Christmas dinner in the afternoon. The fixed thing is NO TURKEY! We usually do a rib roast, but this year I think we're doing pork shoulder, with potatoes and hopefully Yorkshire puddings. I love Jamie Oliver's recipe. I gave up on the steamed pudding, no one else will eat it. And no one else likes mince pies, either, boo!

JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: My first book, IN THE BLEAK MIDWINTER, is set in the Cristmas season, but it’s taken until the latest one, AT MIDNIGHT COMES THE CRY, to really lean into Christmas, as it were - a visit to Santa, a Christmas parade, decorating the tree, etc. (One of my agent’s notes was, “Christmas it up!”) Since I love reading stories set during the holidays in November and December, I’m happy to offer the same experience to my readers.

One of our iron-clad traditions, that may be in the minority now, is having a real tree. I mean, living in the Pine Tree State, how can we not? This year, it’s going up very late - today, in fact - because although we’ll be having a gathering on Christmas Day, our real family celebration will be in mid-January, when Virginia comes home from the Netherlands for two weeks. Spencer and his new girlfriend will be flying up from Norfolk, and of course, Victoria and her new wife will be there as well!

HANK PHILIPPI RYAN: Growing up? We celebrated everything you could get presents for, frankly. We celebrated Hanukkah and one memorable tradition was us kids griping at my mom that she was giving low-key presents on the last day. GUM? We would howl. GUM IS NOT A GIFT! We were terrible kids. :-) 

We had a Christmas tree, too, until Mom decided it was inappropriate. We rebelled, but that’s a whole nother story. We always had standing rib roast and yorkshire pudding, and I can still recall the incredible fragrance.

Now we are truly low-key–the kids are coming whenever they get organized to this weekend–there’s finals week and soccer and so many things to juggle!--and we’ll celebrate the whole kit and kaboodle. Always champagne and delicious goodies, and I am, actually, considering the rib roast!

RHYS: I do love the scent of a real tree, but we moved from it years ago because I like it see it up early and I was always afraid it had dried out by the time Christmas was over. 

And you'll notice I have cleverly highlighted everyone's Christmas books, just in case you need ideas for last minute stocking stuffers!

What traditions do you have in your families?

Carol Pouliot on Christmas Traditions

DEBORAH CROMBIE: We're getting into the spirit of the season today with Carol Pouliot, author of the Blackwell and Watson Time Travel Mysteries. This series has such a great premise, a fold in time that allows modern day journalist Olivia Watson and Depression-era cop Steven Blackwell to connect via a doorway in Olivia's (formerly Steven's) house. (My love of magical doorways goes back to Narnia, I'm sure!) As RSVP TO MURDER is set at Christmas, Carol is sharing some of her own cherished Christmas traditions with us! (And I have to add that this cover is absolutely fabulous. I'd like a poster of it.)

CAROL POULIOT: Thank you so much for hosting me today on Jungle Reds, Debs. I’m thrilled to be here and to talk about Christmas traditions!!

Every year as I turn the calendar to December 1st, I sense a familiar tingle. Christmas is coming! I can't pack up my fall decorations fast enough. I clean the house from top to bottom and strip it down to bare bones—throw pillows tossed into a closet and knickknacks swept off the kitchen windowsill. I get an almost magical sense when I open the door to my Christmas closet and start gathering up the wooden Santas that my Mom painted, a small sleigh—glossy red, black, and gold—crafted by my Dad, and a tiny Santa Claus clinging to a miniature Eiffel Tower, a gift from my niece the year I took her to Paris.

During the holidays, I read a lot of children's books. I think this probably started when I was a kid. My parents read voraciously, and I inherited their love of reading. It wasn't Christmas in our house if we didn't get a book! So now, I dig out my Little Golden Books, as well as the others I’ve acquired over the years. I go to the library and check out a bagful. I stack them on the ottoman near my favorite chair and, as the weeks go by, I read each one, savoring the stories, pouring over the illustrations.

 

One of my favorite childhood traditions is something my sister and I continue to this day. Most years, my mother would buy a new ornament or two for the tree. One year, she bought a beautiful red glass ball with the sides cut out. My sister and I thought it looked like someone had taken a bite out of a juicy apple and named it "The Apple Core." Because there were only two of us, my sister and I each had our own designated side of the tree. Every Christmas morning when we hurried down the stairs into the living room, we knew which gifts were ours. The year of The Apple Core caused a serious discussion. My sister and I both loved it and we both wanted it on our side of the tree. To be honest, I don't remember who got it that first time, but every Christmas after we took turns—one year she had it hanging on her side of the tree, the next, it adorned my side. Fast forward to when my sister got married and moved to her own house. What do we do with The Apple Core? We decided to share it. Again, I don't remember who got first dibs, but one of us took it for five years then, on that fifth Christmas, wrapped it, put a bow on it, and handed it over as a gift to the other. We have been doing this for fifty years. It's one of my most cherished traditions.

We all acquire beloved traditions over a lifetime. My new book, RSVP to Murder, is a Christmas mystery. My main characters, Steven and Olivia, are a couple now, and I knew I wanted them to begin their own holiday rituals. It was a lot of fun deciding what to choose for them—like giving a gift to a loved one.

Reds and Readers, what are your favorite holiday traditions?

RSVP TO MURDER - A new twist on the English country house mystery.

Embarking on their most daring time-travel experiment to date, Depression-era cop Steven Blackwell and his 21st-century partner-in-crime Olivia Watson travel to the Adirondack Mountains for a Christmas party at one of the legendary Great Camps. Their host, a wealthy New York publisher, has planned a weekend filled with holiday activities, but, as the last guest arrives, temperatures plummet, and a blizzard hits. Before long, the area is buried in snow, the roads are impassable, and the publisher is poisoned.

Unwilling to wait until the local police arrive, the victim’s widow convinces Steven to launch an unofficial investigation. Soon, a family member goes missing, and Steven and Olivia discover a second victim. Trapped with a killer, Steven and Olivia race against the clock before the murderer strikes again.

Carol Pouliot writes the acclaimed Blackwell and Watson Time-Travel Mysteries, traditional police procedurals with a time-travel twist and a seemingly impossible relationship between a Depression-era cop and a 21^st-century journalist. With their fast pace and unexpected twists and turns, the books have earned praise from readers and mystery authors alike. Carol is a founding member of Sleuths and Sidekicks, Co-chair of the Murderous March Mystery Conference, and President of her Sisters in Crime chapter. Sign up for Carol’s newsletter and learn more at https://www.carolpouliot.com and https://www.sleuthsandsidekicks.com

Rhys celebrates pub day for GOD REST YE ROYAL GENTLEMEN.

 RHYS BOWEN:  Hooray, hooray, today is publication day!

A week late but never mind, GOD REST YE ROYAL GENTLEMEN is finally in a bookstore near you or arriving on your Kindle or audio. I’ve just been doing a couple of weeks of podcasts, interviews, Zoom events with bookstores as well as signing boxes and boxes of books!

But now I’m excited that the book has been released into the wild in good time for the upcoming holidays. It’s the second Christmas book in this series and I’ve pulled out all the stops to make this the Olde English Christmas to remember (complete with a body or two, naturally). 

Georgie’s family is there is force, all the characters you love or hate. AND the royal family is also there, spending Christmas at Sandringham where something strange and creepy might be happening… enough said. You’ll have to read the book to find out why Georgie might be summoned to the queen. Oh and Queenie is in evidence. What possible disaster can she cause this time. (hint: it’s a big one)

So Jenn and Hank were gracious enough to interview me for various bookstores last week and now my Jungle Red sisters are out in force to pepper me with questions. 

HANK:  How much fun was it to remember your childhood holiday traditions while writing this book?Did any of the escapades come from real life?

RHYS: Hank, first thank you for the fabulous interview questions. I so much enjoyed our chat and you made it so relaxing and fun.

I have to confess that this book is a chance to relive the holidays of my childhood.  I remember it as a magical time, completely uncommercial, with lots of feasting and fun. My school madrigal group went carol singing in a posh neighborhood and we got invited in for mince pies and wassail bowl. The house was decorated with greenery. The feast ended with flaming Christmas pudding containing secret silver charms that foretold your future, and we played lots of silly games, including sardines (which is reverse hide and seek with everyone seeking the hidden person, then cramming in with him when he’s found until you are packed in like sardines!)

All of the above appear in the book.

HALLIE: Rhys, this is the fifteenth Royal Spyness series novel and yet it keeps feeling fresh. Each time out, you reveal something new about Lady Georgie. This time you’ve put her in a particularly ticklish situation, and I’m wondering if she surprised you as much as I suspect she’s going to surprise some of your readers? 

RHYS: Hallie, thank you. I’m glad you still find the series fresh. I try never to put Georgie in similar situations and more importantly, I want the reader to watch her grow. She’s obviously matured during 15 books, gained confidence since being married, and has become more than an accidental sleuth. I have to say that my characters continually surprise me. They do and say things I hadn’t expected and then my plots go off in directions I hadn’t planned. I’ve learned to go with the flow and just follow along.  If I’m surprised then you are surprised.

LUCY BURDETTE: I am a huge fan of this series and can’t wait for next week! Just reading the first chapter about the holiday houseparty that Georgie’s planning to throw makes me worry… I’m wondering whether these are the easiest books to write because you have the voice down so perfectly?

RHYS: IN a way they are easy to write because I do know the characters so well now. It is an ensemble cast and each time it’s like coming to a family reunion. It’s really one long life-story gradually unfolding. Georgie’s voice came to me perfectly in the first pages of Her Royal Spyness and she still dictates perfectly. The books are a joy to write because they are funny. I love to laugh and I’m always calling out to John to tell him what awful thing Queenie has just done, or Mummy has said.

JENN McKINLAY: Lady Georgie is my role model. I want to be her when I grow up! I love that this book is set against the holidays. Does writing about Christmas make you nostalgic for the holiday season across the pond or did you bring your traditions with you?

RHYS: Jenn--fabulous interview yesterday! It went so smoothly and everyone loved it.

And it makes me very nostalgic, Jenn, although it’s for a time and not a place. Christmas in England now has the same commericial hype as it does here. I’m nostalgic for a simpler time: walking through the snow to midnight mass,  smaller gifts, emphasis on family interactions. I have tried to recreate some of the traditions: my mum always baked sausage rolls and mince pies as our Christmas snacks and I do that. I serve Christmas pudding (although nobody likes it except John and me) We do play charades and other silly games.  One year we tried home made gifts (it wasn’t a great success).

DEBS: Rhys, I would love your Christmas pudding!

RHYS: I'll mail you a slice if you like!

JULIA: I am so excited for this book!!! I love all the Lady Georgie novels, but I have a well-known soft spot for Christmas mysteries and romances. Speaking of which, now that Georgie has landed her Darcy (or was it vice versa?) how are you keeping the spirit of romance alive in the series? It can be hard to transition a will-they-won’t-they couple into matrimony without things getting a little less bubbly.

RHYS: Good question, Julia. Obviously I loved the will they/won’t they stories in the earlier books. That delicious romantic tension is so appealing but it can’t go on forever. Neither can Georgie not entirely trusting Darcy to be faithful. But I think readers are ready for the next chapter in their lives and we’ve had romantic episodes with Georgie’s friend Belinda, Georgie’s Mummy to keep a little spice going.

DEBS: Rhys, I think up until now THE TWELVE CLUES OF CHRISTMAS has been my favorite Georgie book--so clever and so funny--so I am especially looking forward to this one! I adore all the British Christmas traditions and we celebrate with some of them even here in Texas (it’s not Christmas without crackers!)

The Royal Spyness books have always had great covers, but this one knocks it out of the box. It is gorgeous!  Were you thrilled when you saw it? Did it go through more than one iteration?

RHYS: It is a lovely cover. My only concern is that the man behind Georgie looks a little too suave and elegant to be Darcy. I picture him a little wilder, don’t you? And hunkier.

Who else is ready for a simple, calm and nostalgic Christmas? Are there any questions you'd like to ask me?

Happy Christmas from the Jungle Reds

DEBORAH CROMBIE: No matter what or how you celebrate, we want to take a moment to wish you joy today, and to say how much we appreciate all of our wonderful readers, and the time we are privileged to spend with you, every day of the year.

I'll be spending today (after a big family Christmas Eve get together with Rick’s side of the family) at home with Rick and the kids and granddaughter Wren, and our dear friend Gigi Norwood. We enjoyed our quiet Christmas so much last year that we decided to do it again. We’re making a pork roast that a friend ensures me is fabulous (fingers crossed), roasted Yukon Gold potatoes in duck fat, Jamie Oliver’s creamed spinach and another Jamie recipe for braised red cabbage with apples. We’re cheating on the desserts and going for sticky toffee pudding and a Chantilly Cream cake from Whole Foods. I suspect there will be a bottle or two of Proseco drunk, and some traditional Christmas crackers pulled.

But mostly we will be enjoying friends, family, and the delight of the almost four-year-old’s Christmas.

Now, we would love to know how you’re spending the day!

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: We are home, and will make rack of lamb and have champagne and I hope we will be able to take a walk and look at the world and relax a bit. The baby children are in California and Brooklyn, and we have plans with them for later.  I am trying to convince Jonathan to watch The Man Who Invented Christmas-- a wonderful wonderful writers’ movie, highly recommended, but mostly we will just soak up the niceness. Love you all, so much, and all of you are my gifts.
Happy happy holidays!

JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: Home, and hosting the traditional Hugo-Vidal Christmas dinner, this year with 28 guests, one dog, two fires, three tables and four instruments for the after-feasting music.  As a gift to the Smithie (aka The Maine Millennial) we’re having an alcohol-free party this year - she’s celebrating 18 months of sobriety, and we all want to support her.

So grateful to have all three of my children home safe and sound, to have family and friends to share the day with, and to have this wonderful community today and every day! Welcome Yule!

LUCY BURDETTE: Oh all your days sound fabulous! We did most of our big events before Christmas (trip to California, dinner with friends and family, Christmas Eve service (beautiful!), so will have a quiet day on Christmas. It won’t hurt us a bit to have that time to be grateful for all the family and friends in our lives (including you Reds and red readers!) Luckily, we have leftovers of the yellow cake with caramel frosting and some Key West pink shrimp, so we may have that for dinner!

HALLIE EPHRON: Our gala dinner is Christmas eve… and since Christmas and Hanukah overlap we’ll be celebrating both. Lamb chops, as my kids requested. With potato latkes, of course. And mandelbrot cookies and iced gingerbread cookies for desert. We’ll play some holiday music and play games so the kids are truly tired out by the time they get in bed. Christmas day we have the morning together, the disperse--my daughter and her family to her husband’s family, my other daughter and us to have Christmas dinner with friends. Happy holidays, everyone!!

JENN McKINLAY: I’m attempting raspberry macarons, a nod to Paris, this year. I used to host the holiday meal but the past few years I’ve always been on deadline so I’ve been relegated to chief dessert baker. Peppermint bark, macarons, and apple pie. The eve is spent at church  and then we head home to watch A Christmas Carol with Alistair Simm (tradition!). Our mornings are usually quiet and then we’ll go to family for a meal with me bringing dessert. It’s not the chaos it was when the hooligans were little but it’s a joy just the same. Happy Holidays to all who celebrate whatever you celebrate. Peace.

RHYS BOWEN: just returned from carols by candlelight with the family. On Christmas Day it’s a big brunch, hopefully a walk if the weather allows, an English tea then a big turkey dinner with all the trimmings. I wish you all the merriest Christmas ever!

On Christmas Eve

LUCY BURDETTE: I came across this photo of my first Christmas Eve on this earth, with my mom and big sister, Sue. I don't know what we were singing, but my father was probably playing his accordion and warbling along too. This got me thinking about Christmas traditions and what has been strongly carried along with my current family. The one thing none of us will ever give up is Christmas stockings. We love them, no matter how old we get! (And for me also, it's attending Christmas eve carols and lessons service, though I can't confirm that all of my family does that.)

How about you Reds, holiday traditions?

RHYS BOWEN: We gave up stockings only recently although Daughter Anne and I still exchange. One tradition is mince pies and sausage rolls as we open presents. Another is that the tree gives us another small present in the afternoon.. 

JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: Our Christmas Eve traditions: Go to the 5:00 service at St. Luke's (the one with the Christmas Pageant in it!) pick up Chinese take out, and watch DIE HARD at home, all snugged up together in front of the wood stove.There will be a huge missing piece in our Christmas Eve this year, so the children and I are getting away from our house, and snowy Maine - all the way to Hawai'i! Where we will probably...go to the service at the Episcopal church in Hilo, get Chinese takeout, and watch DIE HARD.

Hollywood Christmas

HALLIE EPHRON: Everyone stays here on Christmas eve--two little grandkids, my 2 daughters, my son-in-law. The Night Before Christmas must be read aloud. The radio tuned into Christmas music. A delicious Xmas eve dinner served early before the little ones turn crabby (shhh, I'm making a lobster bisque this week and freezing it) that includes potato latkes and Hanukah cookies (mandelbrot). I know, Hanukah will be over, but so what? 

And Xmas-eve night my daughter and I put together something yummy/yeasty to cook the next morning after presents are opened. Sticky buns in years past. This year we're making jelly donuts. 

Here's a picture of Christmas morning when I was little, a tree so big my dad always had to cut the top off to get it into the house. We trimmed it Christmas eve.

DEBORAH CROMBIE: We are a stocking family, too, and vow never to give it up. And this year we will have a stocking for Wren, such fun! When Kayti was little we read The Night Before Christmas aloud on Christmas Eve, along with A Child's Christmas in Wales. I still try to read both, just for myself.  These days we go to my in-laws for a big Christmas Eve party. (There are five siblings, with sibs' others, sibs' kids, and now sibs' kids' kids, and always some non-family friends.) It's great fun, but I often long for a quiet Christmas Eve in front of the fire, with hot chocolate and a movie or a book.

Stockings with Kayti, 1988

Christmas morning the kids come over as soon as we're all up. We do stockings, then breakfast (with something sticky!) then the tree. We used to go to my aunt's for Christmas dinner but the last few years we decided we really wanted to stay home. However, the quiet Christmas Day has evolved into a proper Christmas dinner for eight to ten people! But I love having family and friends around the table to celebrate.


INGRID THOFT: Christmas Eve includes a delicious meal, new PJs for the grandkids from Nana, reading “The Night Before Christmas,” a viewing of the Grinch, and the stuffing of stockings for both kids and adults.  The last few years, I prepped baked French toast to be popped in the oven on Christmas morning.  This year, I decided to let someone else do the work, so I ordered cinnamon rolls from Zingerman’s in Ann Arbor.  Fingers crossed they taste as good as the French toast.  My photo shows a Thoft tree from years past.  We were more ambitious then, but trimming a smaller tree is definitely a more peaceful process!

Hank's mom, circa 1965

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN:  When I was little, we had champagne and scrambled eggs. Aw. And oranges in our stockings. (This is my mom, circa, maybe, holidays 1965? And now, I see, we have similar nail polish, and rings, and wear a watch with a bracelet.)  Anyway.  We could open ONE thing on Christmas Eve.  And the whole thing was..odd. Because we're Jewish. But we celebrated everything.  And now Jonathan and I do the same thing.We have rack of lamb one of the days, with a great wine. One of our traditions is this conversation.  Hank: Can we get a tree? Jonathan: We're Jewish. Hank: I know, but still, it'd be fun. Jonathan: If you want a tree, of course we can have a tree. Hank: Okay, I guess it's silly. ::sort of:: 

King George with wind-up toys

JENN MCKINLAY: Stockings! So much fun. We still do those, too, and we always have a wind up toy in it. No idea how this tradition started but I have a collection of windup toys that is unequalled. My picture is our newest kitten, King George, playing with a few years worth of windups. I had to check and make sure i hadn't already given the ones I bought this year. When I was a child and when the Hooligans were little, we always read Twas the Night Before Christmas and left out a plate of cookies and carrots (reindeer get hungry, too). Now that they're older we have a make your own pizza party and watch a Christmas movie together. It's still lovely just  to be together.  

Red readers, what will you be doing today and tonight? Any special Christmas eve traditions?

THE HAND MADE'S TAIL

RHYS BOWEN: Hear Ye! Hear ye! Starting with a Sunday shout-out for Debs! her book, Garden of Lamentations made Carole Barrowman's top ten list. We are all so thrilled!

https://www.jsonline.com/story/entertainment/books/2017/12/14/best-books-2017-carole-e-barrowmans-picks/940814001/

RHYS:  We have an olive tree in the garden and this year we had a bumper crop of olives. "I know," I said. "We can make our own olive oil."

So I went on YouTube for videos on making olive oil. (there are video how-tos on everything these days, aren't there?). And I watched several videos. First one picks the olives. In Italy they place big sheets around the tree then they bang the trunks with sticks and shake the branches to knock down the olives. This wouldn't work for me as mine is on a steep bit of hillside.
Then you pit the olives--all three million, six hundred thousand of them.
At some point you have to steep them in lye or brine or some kind of solution so they are no longer poisonous--yeah, right.
Then you put them in a mortar and smoosh them into a paste.
Then you hang them in a cheese cloth with a basin underneath and leave them until liquid has collected in the basin. (several days)
Then you skim off the clear oil from the top of the icky, sludgy liquid and voila:
You have ONE CUP of olive oil!

Actually I have a Trader Joe's nearby and I can buy good Italian olive oil for $7.99. Enough to last me a month. So olive oil making will not be added to my skills this year.

The problem with do-it-yourself or make-it-yourself is that things take too long. When my kids were small I made stuffed toys and doll clothes and puppets, and frankly I could buy much better ones for the same price. But it was the love that counted, right?

One Christmas we decided that the holiday was too commercial and we'd all make hand-made gifts. On Christmas morning we exchanged candles and beaded jewelry and pillows and scarves and we said how lovely they were and thanked everyone. But the kids said, "Is that it? I get a scarf for Christmas?"
"And a wooden toy," we added. "The holiday shouldn't be all about gifts."
Small faces fell.
Then I relented. I darted into the bedroom. "I did buy a few gifts," I confessed. "Just in case."
Everyone else darted into their bedrooms. "So did we," they said.
But you know what? I still use the scarf and the pillows and the candles years later and every time I do I'm reminded of the person who made them for me!

More recently my daughter Clare pointed out that it was wasteful and polluting to use wrapping paper. So she made bright cloth bags for all the gifts. They looked nice the first year. The second year a bit more crumpled and frankly there was no fun in untying a cloth bag. At least not as much fun as ripping open paper. So I'm afraid we're still going to waste and pollute. (although I do put everything I can into bags and boxes that can be reused).

So I'm afraid it will be a non-crafty Christmas this year. The children and grandchildren are way too busy to sit down and make things. And I don't need any more candles or pillows or even scarves. I'd make home-made fudge but it would have to be lactose-free, sugar free and gluten-free for various family members, which sort of loses the point, doesn't it?

The only things I still am commanded to make are the mince pies and sausage rolls of my British heritage. I don't make my own Christmas pudding (I buy one for John and me). We don't really eat that many cookies. So it looks like a labor-free holiday ahead, which suits me just fine.

How about you? Have you ever made holiday gifts? And what else do you make?

JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: I am the anti-Crafts, so I don't have a good record with home made gifts. I've made cookies and fruit bread as hostess gifts, of course, but I'm afraid nothing as good as my college roommate, who for many years made her own faux-Kahlua. Delicious!

My grandmother Greuling, who lived through the Great Depression, was the queen of homemade gifts. Every year, she would give each of her grandchildren - all eighteen of us! - hand-knit mittens and scarves. I have some that are over forty years old and still in good shape. She would start in January and knit all year long.

I think she may have done more elaborate projects for her five children, although I have to confess I wasn't paying attention to boring old brown-up gifts when I was a kid. She also hand-crocheted an afghan for each of us for a high school graduation gift. Mine is in the family room right now! Thanks, Grandma!

An Old Fashioned Christmas

RHYS BOWEN: I'm currently writing a Molly Murphy Christmas book, called Away in a Manger,  which is perfect as I can get into the spirit of the season as I write.... or can I? Would Molly have been surprised to learn that some people find a new car under their tree? That all presents can be bought online? That people fight each other to get into stores on pre-Black Friday Thanksgiving Day sales?

Sometimes I think we've completely lost the spirit of the season with this constant desire for bigger and better gifts, more and more of everything. In a way that's why I'm enjoying taking myself back to Molly's time, when children were thrilled to find an orange, some nuts, and maybe a small toy in their stockings. When the Christmas Day feast of turkey/pies/plum puddings really was a treat because the rest of the year meals were very simple. When carolers sang in the streets, and the air was full of pine greenery, roasting chestnuts, baking potatoes.

I took a Christmas market cruise one year up the Danube and visited the markets in small towns along the river. That's about the closest I've come to old fashioned Christmas: stalls with wooden toys and ornaments, serving hot wieners/mulled wine/gingerbread. A brass band playing. A feast for the eyes and ears and nose. Small children, wrapped up against the cold, standing wide-eyed at the magic of it all. I loved it. But would my family really be happy with a carved wooden train?

I remember one year we decided we would make hand-made gifts for each other and get away from the commercial aspects of Christmas. So we worked on them. Clare made lovely velvet pillows. Dominic made fleece hats/scarves and toys. He also made CDs of stories read by him (he's an actor) They were a big success. I did jewelry and throw rugs with family photos all over them. BUT I went to the store and got real presents (just in case). As it turned out, so did everyone else. We opened our gifts to exaggerated delight and then when we were done, one of us cracked. "I just happened to see this as well," and brought out the store-bought gift. Sheepishly we all followed suit.

So I'd love you to share--what does an old fashioned Christmas mean to you? Can you remember things that happened in your childhood that were special to you? Special foods your grandma made or family traditions? I'd love to include some in the book I'm writing.
And did you ever have a Christmas of home-made gifts?