Sunday, December 13, 2020

12 Delights of Christmas Tag


Heidi started this tag on her blog Along the Brandywine last week, and I'm happy to say, she tagged me with it!  Thank you, Heidi :-)  

So here we go with my answers to her questions!  As usual, all pictures are mine from my Instagram account, except ones that are movie screencaps I took myself.

1) A favorite Christmas tradition? 

Every year, we take "Christmas walks" around our neighborhood to look at the Christmas decorations outside their homes.  One of the kids gets to carry a little lantern with a battery-operated candle in it, and sometimes we sing Christmas carols as we walk.

2) Say it snowed at your domicile, would you prefer to go out or stay curled up inside? 

I do both!  First, I go out and help my kids build a snowman, maybe have a snowball fight, maybe do a bit of sledding down the hill in our backyard.  It tends to work best if I go down the hill first, to carve out a deeper track than they can make.  Then they can just sled down in that track all they want.  When I come inside, I make hot chocolate for everyone.  After that, I curl up and watch the snow.

3) Tea or hot chocolate? 

Hot chocolate, all the way.


4) Favorite Christmas colors (i.e. white, blue, silver, red and green etc)? 

Red and silver and gold are my favorites.

5) Favorite kind of Christmas cookie? 

I have a recipe we call "Mandi Cookies," named after a college roommate of mine who gave us the recipe.  They are fantastic for cut-out cookies, and I could eat half a dozen in one sitting.  I have the recipe here on my recipe blog.

6) How soon before Christmas do you decorate (more specifically, when does your tree go up)?

I like to put it up the day after Thanksgiving.  I would put it up the day after Halloween, but Cowboy would object strenuously, so I don't.  Some years, it's gone up later, though, like the years when we spend Thanksgiving somewhere else with family.

It usually takes us one day to set up the tree and decorate it, and I spend another day doing lights and decorations outside and in the foyer, and another one decorating the living room.  So it's a job for a long weekend.


7) Three favorite traditional Christmas carols? 
  1. "What Child is This"
  2. "Go Tell it on the Mountain"
  3. "Silent Night"

8) A favorite Christmas song (i.e. something you might hear on the radio)? 

I have a great fondness for Mariah Carey's "All I Want for Christmas is You" because one of my first college roommates really loved it and we would grab pencils for microphones and belt it out along with the radio.

9) A favorite Christmas movie? 

White Christmas (1954) is my top favorite, and you can read my thoughts on it right here.


10) Have you ever gone caroling? 

Yes!  Though not for a long time.  When I was a kid, my parents and the rest of the church choir (which my mom led) would go caroling to the homes of shut-in members of our church.  When I was a teen, our Sunday school went caroling to some nursing homes a few years.

11) Ice skating, sledding, skiing, or snow boarding? 

Sledding!  I didn't learn to ski or ice skate until I was in my teens, and I never really have enjoyed either of them.  But I love sledding.

12) Favorite Christmas feast dish?

Every year, for the last 10 years or so, I've made coconut cream pie for Christmas.  We love it!  Especially Cowboy, who loves basically all pies.


Time to TAG people!

I would love it if these bloggers took a turn with this:


And if YOU want to do this tag yourself, even though you haven't been tagged, you are 100% allowed to do so!  Here are the questions, for copying ease:

1) A favorite Christmas tradition? 
2) Say it snowed at your domicile, would you prefer to go out or stay curled up inside? 
3) Tea or hot chocolate? 
4) Favorite Christmas colors (i.e. white, blue, silver, red and green etc)? 
5) Favorite kind of Christmas cookie? 
6) How soon before Christmas do you decorate (more specifically, when does your tree go up)? 
7) Three favorite traditional Christmas carols? 
8) A favorite Christmas song (i.e. something you might hear on the radio)? 
9) A favorite Christmas movie? 
10) Have you ever gone caroling? 
11) Ice skating, sledding, skiing, or snow boarding? 
12) Favorite Christmas feast dish?

18 comments:

  1. Great answers! I'll have to try out that cookie recipe sounds delicious.

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    1. Thanks, Skye! It is just wonderful -- it has almond extract in it, which makes it so unique and yummy.

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  2. Ahhhhhhhh, you tagged me!! You and Gabby both, actually ;) The people have spoken--clearly, I MUST do the Christmas tag now!

    I love "All I Want for Christmas Is You." It's a Jam (TM) for sure.

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    1. Katie, I DID. And so, obviously, you must do it.

      Definitely a good song for bopping around doing Christmas decorating or baking or what-not!

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  3. I've been longing for Coconut Cream Pie lately. I never thought of it for Christmas. H'm.

    I'd always been more of a Holiday Inn over White Christmas person. However, when my daughter was about 13 we enjoyed the movie together and she deemed it "the best" because there was no magic and no kids, only four people trying to do something nice for someone else (the General). She created a new fondness for the movie in me.

    Love the photos, and thanks for the tag.

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    1. Caftan Woman, it works very well for Christmas! All white and creamy :-9

      I have never managed to get into Holiday Inn, but I really should rewatch it sometime, because I only saw it a couple times, and maybe it would grow on me? But yeah, there's no way I would not love a movie about a couple guys playing fairy godfather for someone whom they respect and admire. It hits allllll my buttons.

      Thanks! And, you're welcome :-)

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    2. I did have fun! Thanks.
      https://www.caftanwoman.com/2020/12/12-delights-of-christmas-tag.html

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    3. Caftan Woman, yay! I will check it out after supper :-)

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  4. Coconut cream pie sounds amazing! Man, more I'm hungry for that. I'm not the biggest fan of "All I Want For Christmas is You" because my mom plays it non. Stop. All. Christmas. Season. But, how it is used in Love Actually is one my favorite parts in that movie!

    Thanks for the tag! I'll let you know when I do it. :-)

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    1. MC, I look forward to that pie every year :-)

      Yes, when that song shows up in Love Actually, it's one of my favorite parts.

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    2. Here are my answers:
      https://moviesmeetmatch.blogspot.com/2020/12/inklings-december-2020-12-delights-of.html

      Thanks again! It was sweet of you to tag me. :-)

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    3. MC, yay! I look forward to reading your post after breakfast :-)

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  5. I love this tag! Ivy nominated me for it, and I'm really looking forward to filling it out. Mmmm, coconut cream pie is SO GOOD.
    Silent Night is one of my favorite carols, too, and All I Want for Christmas is such a fun song (though I'm beginning to get a little tired of it, since it plays on my Spotify playlists so often).
    Sledding is so much fun! My sisters and I love it. And, yup, I'm a "both" person, too. I'll go out and do some fun snow activities, wait 'till I'm freezing, and then spend the rest of the day inside.

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    1. McKayla, yay! I hope you have fun with it.

      Both is just super fun, right?

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  6. OF COURSE, I had to tag you! *fellow Christmas conspirator that ye are ;D*

    That's our go-to sugar cookie recipe ever since you gave it to me years ago. So yummy and it's the best texture for rolling.

    And I love love your walking around the neighborhood tradition. We don't live in a suitable spot but we have driven around looking at lights twice already. (Oh! I just realized we could walk around John's parents neighborhood which is for retirees and even carol some. Before getting married I used to go annually with a church group to carol in nursing homes, which, alas, isn't feasible this year of course, but this new idea might make for a really neat compromise. Hmmm... *putting on thinking cap*)

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    1. Heidi, of course! :-D

      It really is just the best sugar cookie recipe. I think we'll make some on Saturday.

      When I was a kid, we drove around looking at lights too, because we lived in the country. We do that sometimes here too, to see new lights farther from home.

      I have seen people going caroling to nursing homes and just standing outside people's rooms. The people can open their windows a little to hear, and it's such a nice way to brighten people's lives a little. So that's an option, maybe?

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  7. Aww, I love your family Christmas tradition. That's so sweet. :) I wish our neighbourhood was that close, haha - you'd have to walk huge hills for half an hour before you even came to the first Christmas decoration. xD

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    1. Thanks, Gabby! When I was a kid, we lived out in the country and did Christmas drives instead :-)

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