Holiday Prep and celebrations

[elbkup]

I'm always the admirer of those with festive spirit regarding decorating and just celebrating holiday season basically staring 1st December.
It was sort of never a tradition inside my household, so I'm not very fond myself of such things, but I'm always smiling seeing decorated houses, lighting displays on porches etc.
As for my Christmas prep...it's kind of complicated this year. For the first time ever, mom will be abroad (work) while me and my younger sister will be together. And I'm already in my feelings just typing this. Come 24th, I will be a crying mess. We already ordered part of food I certainly won't be able to prepare by myself (my sister is not much of a cook or baker help and I simply refuse to get overdone by myself regarding preparations...), but there will be few dishes and sweet things I plan to make by myself.
I guess we will buy a small tree, some lights, festive tablecloth and...we will try to feel happy, despite mom not being with us in flesh.
Christmas or holidays are all about being with those 2 people for me, not much about festivities and whole package. And about calm, unhurried spending of this time (which is a nice and welcomed change comparing to how Christmases looked like before 2013 for me, being rather a fake pageantry of happy family cosplay, ending with tears getting into the borscht ). As this year mom is not around, everything sort of hits me harder. Plus the older I get, the more emotional I am becoming over holidays.

I guess Christmas is about those we celebrate with AND those who cannot be with us.. nephew, wife Trish and new baby spend Christmas with her family (Thanksgiving with us) so it is just us old folks, 10 dogs 8 cats, etc.. but nephew’s Mom does the traditional Christmas lasagna anyway in his honor (he is a vegetarian).. it will be nice but quiet, laid-back; enjoy your Holiday NNNF

 

[elbkup]

It is Thea’s first Christmas (my Grand niece born April..)
She and her parents went to her Aunt Sarah’s wedding December 16..

 

[NoNameFace]

Here we are, first ever Christmas pierogi made by myself, completely from scratch. Usually it's my mom who makes dough and fillings, this year it was all mine to do.

 

[Rina RUS]

I also love a wonderful song which is called Three White Horses.
In this song December, January and February are compared to white horses.

Три белых коня. #10песенатомныхгородов - новогодний выпуск

Музыка Евгений Крылатов, слова Леонид ДербеневПроект реализован в рамках программы "Территория культуры Росатома" http://tercult.ru/ Продюсер -Тимур Ведерни...

www.youtube.com

 

[NoNameFace]

Following my Christmas culinary adventures in the kitchen, here's borscht soup made from scratch, also a first for me. It was always my mom making it, now I took the baton and...reluctantly saying I think I succeeded
We ordered uszka (small pierogi/dumplings with cabbage ans mushrooms, they can also be with meat filling, usually served with borscht), but as I managed to make quite good dough for pierogi, I think I could have make uszka also

 

[CellarDweller]

Did you make all of these!!? Scrumptious
I would be dead .. from over- sampling..

Yes, mom and I made them all from scratch.

 

[CellarDweller]

As I start typing this post, it's 2 minutes to midnight, Christmas is almost gone here on the East Coast.

I hope that everyone who celebrated Christmas and Hanukkah (which ends tomorrow - the 26th) had great holidays.

Tomorrow (26th) is the first day of Kwanzaa. If anyone here celebrates, I hope your holiday starts well!

 

[elbkup]

Yes, mom and I made them all from scratch.

That must have been fun

 

[CellarDweller]

That must have been fun

it was both a lot of work, and a lot of fun.

 

[CellarDweller]

 

[CellarDweller]

Here we are, first ever Christmas pierogi made by myself, completely from scratch. Usually it's my mom who makes dough and fillings, this year it was all mine to do.
View attachment 6205

Following my Christmas culinary adventures in the kitchen, here's borscht soup made from scratch, also a first for me. It was always my mom making it, now I took the baton and...reluctantly saying I think I succeeded
We ordered uszka (small pierogi/dumplings with cabbage ans mushrooms, they can also be with meat filling, usually served with borscht), but as I managed to make quite good dough for pierogi, I think I could have make uszka also
View attachment 6212

Looks tasty, NoNameFace! Hope you were satisfied with the finished products!

 

[CellarDweller]

not religious here but I love this advent hymn...

what is your favourite holiday piece ?

I have a Christmas playlist on Spotify that I listen to, and it's a mix of traditional, contemporary, country, pop, everything.

I will say, my faves tend to be current, pop style songs.

This one is my absolute fave.

 

[CellarDweller]

Other faves include:

Britney Spears - My Only Wish
Ariana Grande - Santa Tell Me
Vince Vance & The Valiants - All I Want For Christmas is You
David Archuleta - Christmas Every Day

and this is my favorite version of "The 12 Days of Christmas" by Straight, No Chaser. You have to listen to this, it's not what you expect.

 

[CellarDweller]

Hiya GS Fans!

It's new year's eve today!

I will be spending it at home, relaxing. I went out and got some special foods that I would've had if I had gone to a party, and I'll have them for dinner today.

I'll watch cheesy Hallmark movies (

) and then the countdown to midnight.

I was invited to a gathering on New Year's Day, so I went out and bought a selection of various flavored cupcakes for dessert.

To other GSers who are in different time zones, and it's already NYD, HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

 

[CellarDweller]

Happy New Year!!

Leaving in a few minutes to go to the New Year's Day gathering, here are the cupcakes I'm brining to the gathering.

Top row: Vanilla Riot and Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough

Middle row: Chocolate Cream Filled and Red Velvet

Bottom row: Candy Cup and Dulce De Leche

 

[CellarDweller]

20 Best New Year's Superstitions That Will Bring Good (and Help You Avoid Bad) Luck

By Cameron Jenkins - Dec 31, 2022


As the clock strikes 12 on New Year?s Eve, you can typically find crowds of people cheering, families together blowing noisemakers and couples scrambling to find each other in order to share a kiss. For many of us, these festive traditions come and go on January 1 with very little thought or fanfare. But have you ever stopped to think where they got their start? Many of our yearly rituals, including filling up on good luck foods and celebrating by wearing lucky colors, actually stem from New Year?s superstitions.

Around the world, people have adopted several superstitions that are thought to help bring good luck, protect the home or keep away anything that is generally no good. In Germany, it is unlucky to cheers with water and in Russia it is considered bad luck to wish anyone a happy birthday before the actual day arrives. And like those customs, the practices that we carry out each New Year were first conceived to fulfill similar purposes. The seemingly innocuous exercise of keeping a few extra dollars on you to welcome in the new year was believed to ensure prosperity all year long, and cleaning the house on New Year?s Day was said to ?wash? away any luck headed in your direction. And the list of things not to do to start off a new year goes on.

So, if you?re still looking to find the answer to the question ?Where did new year?s superstitions come from?? Get ready to dive into the origins of all of those wacky notions below.

Here's Why You Should Absolutely Not Eat Lobster Tonight

Fascinating!

www.goodhousekeeping.com

 

[4everchan]

I'll watch cheesy Hallmark movies (

) and then the countdown to midnight.

I watched The Holiday Sitter. (first gay hallmark xmas movie).. and then I wondered if something like that was ever going to happen to me... as I cannot be bothered with family and children HA !!! So was it a horror movie or a romance Considering how handsome Jonathan Bennett is... i guess it was a romance

 

[elbkup]

New Year’s Eve Day was me - by myself - curled up on the sofa with 3 dogs, 2 cats and Netflix… phone at hand talking to friends and family.. binged on chocolate during the day.. talk about belly bomb! the usual libations at the Stroke of 12.. no kisses everyone asleep a couple snoring
New Year’s Day individual omelettes, crusty toast with gobs of butter, hash browns and huge green salad.. sister made her famous chocolate chip cookies…
Today everything slowly easing into normal .. hoping for a better economy, world peace, no more guns
AND fantastic skating!!!
Happy New Year 2023 to all GS friends!!

 

[elbkup]

Instagram Dancers and Dogs did their annual Muttcracker to benefit homeless pets…. I adore these people!!

Dancers & Dogs on Instagram: "Happy New Year! Did you get a kiss at midnight? 🎉💋 . Dancer - @israel_zavesco , @orlandoballet Dog - Ranger, Tibetan Mastiff . #dancersanddogs #newyearskiss #maledancer #tibetanmastiff"

Dancers & Dogs shared a post on Instagram: "Happy New Year! Did you get a kiss at midnight? 🎉💋 . Dancer - @israel_zavesco , @orlandoballet Dog - Ranger, Tibetan Mastiff . #dancersanddogs #newyearskiss #maledancer #tibetanmastiff". Follow their account to see 1523 posts.

www.instagram.com

 

[CellarDweller]

And now, we have a bit of a break, until February and Valentine's Day, at least, here in the US.

Of course, in the US, we have Martin Luther King Jr. Day, but I don't think that people "prep" for that. But given the state of things here, perhaps they should.