Hello and welcome once again to Toni Taddeo's Tuesday 4 where 4 questions hopefully help us to blog, meet people and think about things in general.
Sometimes the simplest questions can be a bit difficult to answer.
Today's topic is the countdown to Christmas.
1. What was the countdown to the holidays like for you as a child? Special projects at school.. at home.. with friends? Do you use an advent calendar?
The lead up to Christmas was always a special time. Every year our schools and our churches would prepare by rehearsing a play about the birth of Christ and also rehearse for the singing of Christmas carols. I was in our small church choir and always enjoyed the singing but I was never into acting. I remember having to play an angel once and I was so nervous for weeks on end and on the day of the performance. I didn't have the same issue in the choir because I didn't sing solo.
At home we kids didn't have much to do but we were so excited with the anticipation of eating all the wonderful baking our dear mom would make each year. In fact, when she wasn't home I'd sneak into the crock pots and try to help myself without it being noticed. Many years later mom and I had a good laugh about it as she admitted knowing what was going on, lol!
No one that I knew ever used an advent calendar and in fact I never even heard of one until well into adulthood. Now I usually send one to my niece in advance of Christmas. This year I didn't get a chance to send her an advent calendar due to our mail strike.
2. As a kid did your family stay home on the holidays or go visiting around ... what do you do now?
We always stayed home at the holidays. My mother was known for her wonderful cooking and every major holiday, including Christmas she would make so much food and people would drop by all day and into the night to eat and to visit. She loved being of service in this way.
These days I stay home because now I make the dinner. Sometimes I host people, either family members or friends for dinner. I'd like to host moreo often but my energy levels simply aren't there when it comes to holidays.
3. What foods did Mom and Grandma make for those days? What snacks were out? What is the food situation in your home today?
In those days the usual menu for Christmas was the traditional bread stuffed turkey and all the fixings like mashed potatoes, green beans, corn niblets, tomato and lettuce salad, coleslaw with raisins, Hawaiian salad, gravy and a variety of canapés (sausages, crackers, cheeses, pickles) and snacks (nuts, chips, dips etc. Desserts were plentiful too with jellies, cakes, puddings, dessert bars, pies and ice cream. Growing up I always felt that we prepared way too much food because there was always a lot left over though people ate a lot too.
I resolved to make far less food once I started cooking myself especially since I don't have an 'open' house. I strive to make plenty of food so people can eat their fill plus have a bit left over for later.
4. What is Christmas dinner for you and yours? Goose? Turkey? English Roast Beef?
Christmas dinner is usually stuffed turkey because I'm very traditional that way. However I will often make something different, like ham for New Year's Dinner especially if we had turkey for Thanksgiving and Christmas and we are feeling 'turkied out', lol.
As the years go by, I'm wonder how long I'll be making a larger holiday meal. I keep saying, I'll make a chicken instead of turkey. But last Christmas and again for the most recent Thanksgiving, we had a smaller turkey instead. That way I got to stuff it because a turkey doesn't seem complete to me without stuffing. If I can find a small turkey for Christmas dinner we will have that again this year. We also have mashed potatoes, baked Brussels sprouts, sweet potatoes, various types of salads, pickles, cranberry sauce, gravy and some kind of dessert. Snacks usually consist of a variety of cheeses, crackers, pickles and crudités.
Hi friends and fellow bloggers,
How are you all doing?
How is the weather where you live?
These are a few photos of the weather over the past week or so.
My health has been up and down as it usually is at this time of year. Whenever I'm fighting a cold I don't have much energy except for watching something on television or Netflix or one of the other streaming services. Sometimes I also start a project. I started making a few dishcloths but ran out of yarn. Maybe I'll get back to Michael's soon. I'm only buying small skeins of cotton yarn since Michael's no longer sells the large skeins of cotton. At least not the branches I visit.
I just got two large surprises!
My 'baby' brother who usually joins me and other family members for Christmas, has just advised me that he will be away as of Friday, December 22nd until sometime in the New Year 2024. The trip came up very suddenly as he was at a conference recently and won the trip credits as a door prize. He is always lucky that way when it comes to winning air credits for travel. The same thing happened last year though it wasn't right at Christmas holidays. So it's a huge surprise. I'll will miss his presence over the Christmas holidays and I'll also have less help eating the turkey and all the fixings. I just bought the turkey today. Had I known he wasn't going to join us, I may have bought a chicken instead. Oh well, I bought a Butterball turkey so it ought to be tasty.
The second big surprise is my Christmas gift from him. He wanted me to open my gift right away. He presented me with a cute little gift box with a Santa waving on the front of the box. Inside was a handwritten note saying 1 ticket for me to attend the Rolling Stones concert when they pass through the city in July 2024. I can't believe it!!!
I've been a huge Rolling Stones fan since I was 16 years old. I still have very fond memories of me playing my only two (2) 8 track cassettes on a cassette track player I bought with my babysitting money. The 2 cassette tapes were Janis Joplin (I don't remember the name of the album) and The Rolling Stones (the Jumpin' Jack Flash album).
I would play those 2 cassette tapes all day long after school and play them loudly on constant repeat. Mom and dad were so good about it. They never, ever complained. In fact, they enjoyed the fact that I was enjoying the music. They didn't have any concerns about my music choices because they actually liked some of it too and they knew I was a 'good kid' who didn't hang around with the wrong crowd despite the music. My little brother who bought me the concert ticket, would have been about 5 years old during the time I was listening to these tapes. He would have barely been out of his "Ruby Ducky" and "Country Roads" phase, lol.😂
Anyway I look forward to hearing the concern next summer Lord willing. When I first heard the Rolling Stones was stopping in Vancouver, I thought I'd like to hear them. However I'm not the kind of person who will do whatever it takes to get a ticket. I thought I wouldn't stand a chance anyway but I did happen to mention to my brother that the band was coming to town and it would be my last opportunity to see them if ever since Mick Jagger, the lead singer is now 80 years old! Keith Richards is also 80 and Ronnie Woods is 76. They are all considerably older than I am yet they still have the stamina to put on a concert every night and travel the world.
Here is a video of the band performing Jumpin Jack Flash a few days ago in New York City.
What about you dear reader? Are you a Rolling Stones fan? Have you ever seen them live in concert?
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| These chips were cooked using the bake function. |
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| These chips were cooked using the air fryer function. |
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| The pork chops, onions and apples were fried on the stove top. |
I want to try roasting a whole chicken in the counter top oven soon.
Have you ever bought yourself any Christmas gifts and if so, what did you buy?
Thanks for stopping by!
I'm sending you my best wishes for a very Merry Christmas.
🎄🎅🤶
Hello and welcome to Toni Taddeo's Tuesday 4.
Hollywood magic is well named. In Druidism the holly and it's wood were used in magic. Magic wands were often made of holly wood. Lightning will not strike holly so it is often planted next to homes to protect it. The word holly comes from the word holy and the holly tree was sacred in times past. Today Hollywood still churns out 'magic' and 'spellbinding' displays as well as 'stars in the firmament' who entertain, mesmerize and influence us.
Let's talk about it....
1. Do you have a few favorite holiday movies you enjoy watching year after year? Do you make some popcorn to eat while you watch movies at home?
Yes, I love watching Miracle on 34th Street with a very young, Natalie Wood. I also love watching It's a Wonderful Life with Jimmy Stewart and Donna Reed. More modern Christmas movies I enjoy are the Home Alone movies, the Grinch movies and The Holiday.
I didn't always make popcorn to eat while watching movies at home but now I do. My late sister used to do this with her children every weekend and I got into the same habit whenever her children were visiting. I continue the tradition even when watching movies alone.
2. Have you had a celebrity crush? Can we ask who it was?
I've never really had a celebrity crush though when I was younger I thought Rock Hudson was handsome. Later I thought Robert Redford to be very good looking, especially in the movie, The Way We Were. But I can't say I had a crush on either of these actors.
3. Do you have favorite actors/actresses whose movies you don't want to miss and what movie would you say is your all time favorite from those stars?
I watch for movies by a few actors and actresses such as Daniel Craig in James Bond movies, Tom Cruise in Mission Impossible movies & many different actresses such as Julia Roberts (Nottinghill), Emily Blunt (The Devil Wears Prada and The Girl on the Train), Kirsten Dunst (The Two Faces of January, Marie Antoinette & Spider Man), & Catherine Zeta Jones (Zorro). There are probably more but there is no standout favourite of mine in acting.
4. Have you met any famous Hollywood people in person or would you like to? Why or why not?
I've never met any famous Hollywood people in person although once I was walking on Denman Street in downtown Vancouver when the actress Audrey Landers passed by me. She was acting in the very popular television show, Dallas, at the time. I think she'd been a guest on what was then the Alan Hamel talk show which was filmed in a nearby studio. The talk show and the studio are both long gone. What struck me was how much makeup she had on. I guess when you're on television you need to wear a lot of makeup to look 'normal' but in natural light you look clownish. I don't have any desire to meet any famous people since I don't follow any of them.
1. What was the countdown to the holidays like for you as a child? Special projects at school.. at home.. with friends? Was a big deal made of the month in your family or town? What does your countdown look like now?
Christmas season was always super busy for kids. We not only had Christmas programs at school to rehearse and prepare for but we also had Christmas programs at church to rehearse for the congregation. December was a nice, celebratory month in my town but I don't recall big and ostentatious Christmas displays. It was a small town after all and most people who decorated did so modestly. We children looked forward to getting the presents under the tree each year and to having a feast at Christmas dinner and all kind of snack foods throughout the season. Our house was a place for relatives and friends to drop by throughout the day to eat and visit. This was the case at every holiday and mom absolutely loved having everyone over and making sure they had too much to eat. Mom didn't go all out baking cooking and sweet snacks but she did make a big batch of Dream Bars and also shortbread and sugar cookies. I still absolutely loved and still love Dream Bars and make them on occasion for the Christmas season too. A day or two before Christmas and New Year all sorts of snacks would be set out which including things like nuts and mandarin oranges (the only time of year we could get these oranges in local stores), fruit cake, deli meats, variety of chips and dips, smoked oysters, pickles, cheese, crackers and cheese balls. We had this basic selection all through my childhood and into adulthood too. There was always plenty of food.
2. As a kid did your family stay home on the holidays or go visiting around ... what do you do now?
My family usually stayed home on the holidays and people came to us. These days, I find most of our relatives stay in their own homes celebrating with their own immediate loved ones or they travel far to gather with loved ones. After all the families have grown up with children, grandchildren and even great grandchildren so things have changed. I hosted both friends and local relatives for years but these days don't do much of it.
The snacks that were always out were mixed nuts most of which you had to crack yourself, Christmas candy (the red and white or green and white ones that tasted of wintergreen or mint, mandarin oranges, fruit cakes, Dream Bars, cookies,potato chips, pickles, cheese cubes, cheese balls, crackers, smoked oysters and deli meats. The only real baking was the Dream Bars which have a shortbread like bottom with crunchy coconut flavoured topping. I basically make the same Dream Bars but not every year and we have a lot of the same snacks. I guess the other home baked goods were the cookies, usually shortbread and sugar cookies.
4. Did you have a traditional way of spending the day with time to open gifts, visit, special breakfasts, special dinner, guests? What do you do now?
Christmas morning was always for our immediate family. The children woke early and excitedly waited until parents rose and said it was okay to open gifts. Then everyone sat around together and opened their gifts one after another while we all oohed and awed and commented on the revealed gifts, lol. I don't remember if there was a special breakfast until much later when my mother and sister always made waffles with fresh fruits, whipped cream and bacon for breakfast. Then we waited for the full feast at dinner. I still basically do the same but we don't have the special breakfast every year and I do not put the Christmas turkey on the table until supper time. Mother always wanted the 'dinner' early so it was more like late lunch growing up. Then we ate leftovers throughout the day and into the next.
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