As I told the RevGals, I have debated with myself for weeks about today's Friday Five.- Self 1: It should be deep and theological.
- Self 2: But it's almost Christmas, it should be fun and warm and sweet.
- Self 1: But your last Friday Five was sort of silly. You should show your more serious side.
- Self 2: You worry WAY too much!
So after consulting with Soda Chicky, I went playful, pals o' mine! I love stories, so I hope you'll tell some about your favorite Christmas memories.
- What was one of your favorite childhood gifts that you gave? It wasn't really a childhood gift, more of a young adulthood gift. I made some water color note cards for my mom. I knew it was a good gift when she rationed them out for only very special notes.
- What is one of your favorite Christmas recipes? Bonus points if you share the recipe with us. One of my favorite Christmas recipes is something Mountain Mama makes called, "Sandwich Cookies." I think it came from some really basic cookbook. You make dough the consistancy of pie crust with flour, butter and cream. After rolling the dough out, you cut little circles, flip them in granulated sugar and prick with a fork so they don't puff up too much. Mountain Mama uses an old teaball to cut out the circles. It works best. After baking the cookies you make sandwiches with great frosting: butter, powedered sugar, a little cream and a tiny drop of color. When they're all done, you find that they are best eaten in one bite. If you try to bite them they crumble all over your clothes. They are the best. Papa Joe once left them as a "tip" for the housekeeper when we were having Christmas on the road. They're that good.
- What is a tradition that your family can't do without? (And by family, I mean family of origin, family of adulthood, or that bunch of cool people that just feel like family.) Many years ago, Mountain Mama got tired of writing "Love from Mom and Dad" on the gift tags of presents given to me and my sibs. (We didn't do Santa Clause at our house.) Instead she would put down the names of fairy tale characters, tv people, movie stars, book characters... Some times the names were clues: Miss Goody gave a pair of two shoes; Pele gave a soccer ball; Julie Andrews gave the soundtrack to "The Sound of Music." Sometimes the names were just silliness. The Chick is adament that the tradition continue. And really, I hope I get at least one gift from Billy the Brownie!
- Pastors and other church folk often have very strange traditions dictated by the "work" of the holidays. What happens at your place? When we were still a parish pastor's family, the tradition was that all three of us went to church on Christmas morning. (It is still my favorite service.) Bug Man would always vacuum. Soda Chicky would help with ushering or acolyting. I found that this quieter, smaller service was the time when I could most tune in to the joy that really is Christmas.
- If you could just ditch all the traditions and do something unexpected... what would it be? I think it would be truly glorious to go to another country and experience the week around Christmas. What's it like in Paris on Christmas Eve? Or Jerusalem on Christmas Day? Or London on Boxing Day?
Blog Pals, I hope you have a very Merry Christmas!
