d i n a n e . n e t 

I didn’t really know what I’d write about today. I thought I might just let the blog go another day writing-free. Who knew that Jen would have the perfect thing to inspire me some writing.

Egg nog or hot chocolate?

I really do like both. However, since this is a Christmas quiz, I’ll have to go with the nog. I’ll drink hot chocolate almost any day that it’s below about 40 degrees. In fact, I’ve taken to having hot chocolate from Au Bon Pain almost every other day. They’ll make it with skim milk, so it’s almost healthy. Egg nog, however, is never healthy. And it’s only for Christmas. But I do love it at Christmas. With extra nutmeg.

Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree?

Since when is Santa a lazy bum? Santa always wraps. With paper that’s got his face plastered all over it.

Colored lights on tree/house or white?

I’m generally a big fan of colored. But my rule, really, when appreciating other people’s decorations, is consistency. If you’ve got the classy white edging and spotlights on wreaths thing going, don’t be putting up a strand of colored blinking lights on one of your fir trees. But in the same way, if you’re going gaudy, go all the way! We actually just have four strings of smallish, but not miniature, colored LED lights on the posts on the front of our apartment, and six strings of the standard small twinkle light sized colored LED lights on the tree, which is definitely too small for six strings of lights, but that’s how many we have, so that’s how many went on the tree. The LED lights are super bright and use like no electricity, so I love them.

Do you hang mistletoe?

We didn’t have it growing up, and I don’t have it now.

When do you put your decorations up?

As soon as possible following Thanksgiving. My dad was out putting his lights up outside on the Friday after. I was at his house that week, so my decorating had to wait for the next available weekend.

What is your favorite holiday dish (excluding dessert)?

Aw, man! It’s all about the dessert! But if I have to chose a Christmas food that isn’t cookies, it would definitely be pierogi.

Favorite holiday memory as a child:

I don’t know if I can pin down just one. I know there was one year my parents invited Santa to come over on Christmas Eve (I think it was the neighbor dad from across the street, and if I’ve got my story right, my dad went over and played Santa there next), but it’s not a huge deep memory. It really is that whole cooking with my dad thing (how many times can I link to the same post? we shall see…) that sticks out in my mind. But not as individual events, just as a tradition all blurred together – in a good way.

When and how did you learn the truth about Santa?

I don’t have a traumatic story. My mom broke it to me gently in the car on the way over to my friend Shelly’s house. See, Shelly’s mom told my mom that Shelly found out (she found the wrapping paper in her mom’s closet or something), and the moms figured Shelly would tell me. I did deduce from the Santa thing that there was also no real Easter Bunny nor Tooth Fairy (and the Tooth Fairy has always seemed the lamest of them all, by the way). Maybe it’s because I got let down easy that I still chose to participate in silly Santa-related activities. I like the idea of him, even if I know there isn’t a jolly old guy living at the North Pole with his jolly old wife, nine reindeer, and seventybillion jolly little elves.

Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve?

No! That’s like cheating!

How do you decorate your Christmas tree?

We’ve got the aforementioned lights, we theoretically had garland, but I forgot about it until the tree was more or less finished anyway, and then there’s the ornaments. Mike and I each have a collection from our childhoods that could easily fill a medium sized tree on their own. Then, we’ve also got a collection of various sparkly things that I’ve gotten more recently. And then there’s my favorites – my uncle’s ornaments. My uncle had the bestest Christmas tree around, even if it wasn’t real. He had this bright white tree with blue twinkle lights, and every ornament was special. He had his mother’s old glass balls, of which I now have a small collection, and he had the ornaments he made. My uncle was an antique dealer, and a true artist. He made a huge collection of ornaments out of foam balls, ribbons, beads and pins. They are each beautiful and unique, like snowflakes. I couldn’t describe them and give them justice. You’ll just have to believe me when I say they’re awesome. I have a small number of those now too. He has six nieces and nephews, and we each got a fair share of his Christmas spectaculars when he passed. Honestly, it was pretty much the thing all of us were dying to have of his.

Snow! Love it or dread it?

Oh, man how I love the snow. Christmas is better when it’s white. Also, snowboarding. We’re going this weekend (fingers crossed and depending on the weather), and I cannot wait. Snow is just so soothing and calming. I have to say, though, I do eventually get bored of it, the same way I get bored of spring, summer, and fall. It’s a good thing I live in New England, where we have all these lovely season-things.

Can you ice skate?

I’ve never tried. Is that weird? I can in-line skate pretty well, so I think I would be able to, but I’d probably need some serious practicing before I called myself a skater.

Do you remember your favorite gift?

As a kid, I’m sure it was my scooter. That thing was awesome. A great mode of transportation. Plus it was purple. Since growing up, I think my favorite gift is the clock we now have in our living room. I drooled over that thing every time I went into the store where it used to live, and Mike was awesome and got it for me a couple years ago. It’s really neat.

What’s the most important thing about the holidays for you?

Cooking. (Obligatory third link) Pierogis aren’t the only thing. It’s the lemon sugar cookies with ridiculous amounts of sugar and frosting. It’s the big Christmas day meal. It’s spritz cookies. It’s veggie chopping. It’s pies and stuffing and potatoes and egg nog. Maybe it’s not exactly the cooking. Maybe it’s the spending time with people I love … cooking.

What is your favorite holiday dessert?

Cookies! Yay! I’ve been waiting for minutes to write this answer! I love cookies. I love sugar cookies. I especially love my mom’s recipe for lemon sugar cookies with lemon icing, which are cut into fun Christmas shapes like trees, Santas, wreaths, stars, snowmen, reindeer, and, of course, the “Christmas Duck” and now “Christmas Bunny.” (My sister and my boyfriend are both insane. And that’s why I love them.)

What is your favorite holiday tradition?

And you thought I would stop with three links. Why not make it four?

What tops your tree?

This slightly gaudy, but still quite nice, gold star with sparkly fake gems that I got at Mike’s favorite mall store, who’s name I cannot remember. They have all the kinds of things you would put in your library if you had a library. Mike wants to win the lottery so he can have a library and buy one of everything in that store.

Which do you prefer, giving or receiving?

I love giving gifts. Absolutely. But I did really like Jen’s response to this one: “If I could only do one, I’d rather do the giving than the getting. But luckily, I don’t have to choose.”

What is your favorite Christmas song?

I love them all! I grew up listening to some serious classics, along with a really awesome 2-CD set of English carols. I can’t pick! My favorite of the English carols is “The Holly and the Ivy.” And I’ve always loved “Sleigh Ride.” Ooh, and “Oh Holy Night” is really fun to sing. But so’s “Silent Night.” Oh, and “Coventry Carol” from the Interstate 8 days. And “Carol of the Bells.” Plus I have a soft spot in my heart for silly things like “Dominick the Donkey.”

Candy canes: yuck or yum?

I love anything made out of sugar.

Favorite Christmas movie?

I’d have to say “The Grinch Who Stole Christmas” stole my heart eightybajilionty years ago. No, I haven’t seen the live action one. No, I don’t intend to. Yes, I don’t care if the original cartoon is only a half hour. Yes, I own it on DVD so I can watch it over and over again. Which reminds me, actually. When I was a kid, I probably watched A Muppet Family Christmas, you know the one at Fozzy Bear’s mom’s farmhouse, more than the Grinch. But that could just be because we had that one on tape, where the Grinch we had to wait for it to hit the TV. That tape of A Muppet Family Christmas was from the TV, so it still had commercials. Commercials that I could probably still recite because I heard them so many times. Mostly they were for a brand of cereal that doesn’t exist anymore and for DoubleMint gum. Talking about tapes reminds me of one other thing. We only have a VHS player for two tapes at this point: Transformers and “The Snowman.” If you’ve never seen “The Snowman,” you absolutely must get your hands on it. It’s a silent movie cartoon. Yes, I know that sounds weird. But it’s beautiful art and a beautiful story. Plus the music is spectacular. Actually, add the soundtrack of “The Snowman” to the ridiculous list of my favorite Christmas songs.

What do you leave for Santa?

We always left him a variety of cookies, where at least one was in his likeness, and the biggest carrot we had for the reindeer. My dad would then bite several of the cookies (while we were sleeping, duh) and run the end of the carrot in the garbage disposal, leaving just the top nub, which he’d leave out on the front porch. Very ritualistic, my dad. Actually, he still does this. I think sometimes he thinks my sister and I still believe that Santa and Rudolph really come and eat those things.

Man, that was fun. Thanks, Jen.

1. Tara says:

   December 7, 2006 at 7:28 pm

   The Snowman is on DVD now… for like $10 bucks…
   The Snowman on amazon
2. dinane says:

   December 8, 2006 at 9:27 am

   I know, my mom told me. Transformers was supposed to be out on DVD too. If we got both of them, we could throw the VHS machine out of a window. When I say that I’m joking. When Mike said that at Best Buy the other day while he was looking for Transformers, he was serious.

   Eep!
3. Tara says:

   December 8, 2006 at 5:25 pm

   We have transformers. All of them.
4. dinane says:

   December 11, 2006 at 8:50 am

   When I was referring to Transformers, I mean the movie. The TV show too, though… that’s superspecial.

   Having never watched the Transformers… I wouldn’t understand.