News Trend Happy First Day Of Christmas|Actual

"From the end spring new beginnings."

- Pliny the Elder

Here are some moments and memories from the Streicher family Christmas Day celebration:

^ When my girls were small, I entertained dreams of starting each Christmas morning off with a pan full of homemade cinnamon rolls, warm from the over and smothered in sticky deliciousness. As the years flew by, my spicy dreams were shattered by the cold, hard truth: Christmas mornings with young children are a free-for-all, and baked goods - especially those involving multi-day prep - are a laughably unattainable fantasy.

Luckily, my first-born shares my ideals and has lately taken on this tradition for herself. That is a yuletide win-win if ever there was.

^ Santa came! Our stockings were indeed hung by the chimney with care, including one for Ranger and one for the cats to share. Interestingly, I went ahead and hung up my third-born's stocking, even though she is spending this Christmas in Vietnam, and Santa generously filled it anyway.  What a right jolly old elf.

^ Old and new, handmade and store-bought, trendy and timeless, our Christmas tree boasts ornaments of all variety. And while we will never win any prizes for themed, color-coordinated, decor-inspired designs, we are pretty happy with all the memories that our ornaments hold.

^ There is a special sweet Christmas moment, just before the unwrapping begins, when I take a moment to stop and look, to appreciate all the thoughtfulness and generosity that has poured forth to make this special event come together. True, giving gifts is not the reason for the season, but the love and care that those gifts symbolize matters and pausing to reflect on that theme is one of my favorite Christmas milestones.

^ Dogs love Christmas Day. There they sit, surrounded by all their favorite people, enjoying either a romp through the cast-off trimmings or an extra morning nap, depending on their age, I suppose. Ranger, distinguished elder that he is, snored pleasantly through our proceedings, and woke up near the end for a festive photo shoot. Well played, laddie.

^ While the others got a jump on our dinner preparations, my second-born and fourth-born, Ranger and I headed down to the beach. The weather was cooperative and we found a small but festive crowd of similarly minded folk also enjoying the holiday at the beach. Despite the special occasion, we entertained ourselves in all the usual beach-y ways.

^ We watched the ferries sail away.

^We walked along the shore and then up near the lighthouse,

^ We watched the ferries sail back.

^ We watched the waves roll and eddies ripple in currents across the water.

^ We stood in awe as the clouds filled the sky in threatening formations, only to drift apart and wash themselves in golden light.

^ We watched the waves crash on the rocks at high tide and shivered in our boots at the thought of its undoubtedly frigid temperatures.

^ Ranter did not share our wimpy concerns and boldly plunged in for his own polar bear swim.

^ And as we were leaving, a bald eagle soared majestically overhead. Though we are lucky enough to live in a place where we see these glorious birds all the time, it's never a small thing to watch one slide overhead, enormous wings spread as sails in the wind, circling upward on the thermals as it prepares to hunt. These are the moments that make any day worthy of celebration.

^ We arrived back home, and I noticed how our outdoor decorations stood pale and washed out against the daylight. Once the sun goes down, I know that the lights will glow warm and bright against the night, the gold ribbon on the wreaths will shine, and the strong, dark circles of evergreen boughs will appear bold and welcoming. This spirit of waiting is part of Christmas too, and even though this year's wait is over, I don't want to forget.

^ And as we passed through the front door, on our way inside to cook our Christmas feast and wind down our happy day, I was reminded that this is just the start. Christmas, at our house, is celebrated for twelve full days and that means the fun has just begun!

* * * * *

Celebrate the Twelve Days of Christmas with me!

The First Day

The Second Day

The Third Day

The Fourth Day

The Fifth Day

The Sixth Day

The Seventh Day

The Eighth Day

The Ninth Day

The Tenth Day

The Eleventh Day

The Twelfth Day

AndEpiphany too.

News Trend Happy Second Day Of Christmas|Actual

"Life is what happens when you are busy making other plans."

- John Lennon

The casual observer may not notice anything particularly interesting or noteworthy about this evening's table setting for our Second Day celebration. But the truth is that today marked a very special and long-overdue milestone in the history of the Streicher holiday table.

^ See those red Christmas plates? They date back to the very earliest days of our family, the first year of our marriage. Our daughters were just a dream in those days, but already my head was full of ideas about how we would play out our years together. And in a fine example of my overwhelming fondness for details, I imagined sitting down to many a Christmas dinner eaten upon these plates.

Just one small hitch in that fantasy. Already I was hoping for a family larger than four, but dang, those plates were expensive and at the time, a purchase of four plates was all our budget could handle.

No matter, I told myself, there's plenty of time to buy more. As the family grows, I'll buy more plates and my babies will sit at them just like so many adorable little Cindy Lou Whos at the roast beast feast of the Grinch.

A perfectly reasonable plan. But we all know what happens to our plans when life kicks into gear.

Fast forward to last week. Sorting through my holiday dishes, I realized with a familiar pang of disappointment and regret that now - many, many years after my family expanded to five and then six members - I still have just four Christmas dinner plates.

And you know, after all those years of patience and budgeting and setting other priorities, something inside of me just snapped.

Without another thought, I marched my little self straight to the computer and ordered two more plates.

No questions asked, no excuses tendered.

I have to admit, they cost a little more than I was comfortable paying but come on. Dreams matter, and I have waited a good long time for this one to come true.

My plates showed up today.

The UPS man was still walking back to his truck as I ripped open the box, pulled out the plates and washed them clean.

No matter that my third-born resides in Vietnam at the moment - I prepared a place setting for each member of my family.

Six shining red Christmas dinner plates, trees adjusted perfectly, sat on my table.

My dream has finally come true.

We broke them in tonight by eating our traditional Second Day of Christmas meal of Mexican-style enchiladas. The four original plates match exactly with the two new ones - I can't tell them apart and already they have blended together as a perfect set of six. If I didn't know better, I'd think they had been together all this time.

So even though I'm a few decades off my anticipated timeline, I think that the story of my Christmas dinner plates definitely worked out happily ever after.

* * * * *

Celebrate the Twelve Days of Christmas with me!

The First Day

The Second Day

The Third Day

The Fourth Day

The Fifth Day

The Sixth Day

The Seventh Day

The Eighth Day

The Ninth Day

The Tenth Day

The Eleventh Day

The Twelfth Day

AndEpiphany too.

News Trend Happy Fourth Day Of Christmas|Actual

Each year as Christmas approaches, the handmade ornament wheels in my brain start to turn.

Always, my goal is to produce a little trinket to share with family and friends but the fine points of each creation is totally left to my whims. Often, my inspiration comes from certain materials - wood, paper, beads - or colors or random ideas that mash up in my brain.

This year, though each of those factors played a role, my ornament design was primarily a nod to the themes of my life during the past year.

^ Random rectangles of air-dry clay, roughly hewn into rectangles with a toothpick and speared twice to create hanging holes. My process was intentionally raw and unrefined; my finished product turned out nice and scruffy.

^ Pristine, shiny, delicate red baubles with fancy filigreed fasteners. I didn't have to do a single thing to prepare these beauties for the project - they were pure and perfect from the get-go.

I know. That sounds like quite a bit of philosophical baggage for a bitty little Christmas ornament to carry. But hear me out.

^ There's an undeniable contrast between the two elements that pleases me. I like mis-matchy things.

More than ever before, this was a year of yin and yang for me. Some parts of my life were gilded and shining and almost perfect; others were irreconcilably flawed. Although I would usually choose to live comfortably in the merry middle, these intense and opposite experiences reminded me that there is also grace and peace to be found in the extreme highs and lows.

^ Golden cursive is hand-painted and therefore less than perfect, but provides a counterpoint to the two extremes. The detailed, repetitive brush work is like therapy for me.

So whether your year was a blissfully uneventful stroll through the seasons or a walk on the wild side, like mine, I hope that you have found beauty and joy in the journey.

^ Voilà! Say hello to my 2015 Ornament of the Year.

And now, for the love of Pete, let's all buckle our seat belts and hold on to the handrails as we discover what 2016 might have in store.

* * * * *

For more Ornament of the Year posts, check these out:

2017

2016

2015

2014

2013

2012

2011

* * * * *

Celebrate the Twelve Days of Christmas with me!

The First Day

The Second Day

The Third Day

The Fourth Day

The Fifth Day

The Sixth Day

The Seventh Day

The Eighth Day

The Ninth Day

The Tenth Day

The Eleventh Day

The Twelfth Day

AndEpiphany too.

News Trend Happy Third Day Of Christmas|Actual

"The universe is pure geometry - basically, a beautiful shape twisting around

and dancing over space-time." - Antony Garrett Lisi

"There is geometry in the humming of the strings, there is music in the spacing of the spheres."

- Pythagoras

My new wreath is pure geometry.

A basic five-sided shape, repeated seven times over and connected with a bit of reinforcement.

The design of this himmeli masterpiece is the love child of a traditional Scandinavian folk art and a fearless DIYer named Mandi.

I simply followed her directions and voil?! A handful of brass tubes now sing with the music of the universe on my front door.

And Ranger, for his part, simply noticed a beautiful chance to escape.

* * * * *

Celebrate the Twelve Days of Christmas with me!

The First Day

The Second Day

The Third Day

The Fourth Day

The Fifth Day

The Sixth Day

The Seventh Day

The Eighth Day

The Ninth Day

The Tenth Day

The Eleventh Day

The Twelfth Day

AndEpiphany too.

News Trend Happy Christmas Eve|Actual

Hallelujah.

After countless years of staying up ridiculously late on Christmas Eve to get my presents all wrapped, I have finally come up with a solution to my masalah.

I stay up ridiculously late on the night before Christmas Eve instead.

Problem solved and Happy Christmas Eve to you and me!

News Trend The Agony And The Irony|Actual

"The agony and the irony: they're killing me (whoa.)"

 - Harvey Danger

I love sending Christmas cards

I really, really do.

Over the years, my ritual has grown as many steps as Santa has bunions but I don't mind:

Creating my own cards.

Composing a newsy note about the fam's current events.

Personalizing each letter with a few special paragraphs for that recipient.

Choosing a photo that captures a fun moment in our year.

Addressing each card as I reflect on that person and what they have meant to me.

Delivering big stacks of cards to the post office where they are sent off willy-nilly across the planet.

I get huge satisfaction form this annual task.

And I do it because I want to; not because I have to.

But at the same time, I must confess. Sometimes I really hate this job.

The entire production hangs over my head, a heavy weight of responsibility.

My all-too-short pre-Christmas prep time is never long enough to get the job done.

And the celebratory mood of the Twelve Days is dampened as I scramble to get this final task stricken from my month-long to-do list.

Finishing my cards is always, ALWAYS a drama for me.

Still. I do it because I want to; not because I have to.

I've come to accept the agony and the irony of my annual Christmas card battle of the spirits, and honestly, it's become a funny little tradition all on its own.

P.S. I finished my 2015 cards tonight. Wahoo!!

* * * * *

Celebrate the Twelve Days of Christmas with me!

The First Day

The Second Day

The Third Day

The Fourth Day

The Fifth Day

The Sixth Day

The Seventh Day

The Eighth Day

The Ninth Day

The Tenth Day

The Eleventh Day

The Twelfth Day

AndEpiphany too.

News Trend My Homemade Potato Salad|Actual

One sunny Saturday each summer, my mom would toss the four of us kids into the car and haul us off to the annual family reunion. Along the way, we would get firm reminders of what polite behavior looked like, and some general threats - no, I would call them promises - of the malice that would fall to us if we scrapped or sulked in front of the relatives.

She didn't need to worry. Presiding over the reunions were my four German great-uncles who were truly giants among men. The shortest of the group checked in around 6'2", and as a child, I remember my knees knocking together as I gazed up, up, up to look at them. Funny that I was frightened though - they were a kindly lot. Very short on words, but always smiling around the cigars clenched between their teeth at the fine youngsters swimming at the shallow end of their gene pool.

No child with an ounce of sense would misbehave in their midst.

^ My grandmother and her nine siblings grew up on a farm in Lapeer County, Michigan. Two of her brothers, my great-uncles, farmed all their lives - Uncle Pat on the original family land and Uncle Mickey on the acreage across the road and down a way.

Our family reunions usually landed in one of their back yards, and one year, I believe at Mickey's place, we discovered an old bulldozer sitting off in a distant field. My elder brother put on his best simulated driving performance and I was his enthusiastic audience.

For what it's worth, those are my father's legs.

But let me backtrack. As my mom was loading us up into the car, she also set a casserole or serving dish of some sort onto one of our laps and firmly instructed, "Make sure this stays safe."

Our family reunions were potlucks, and my mom went all out on preparing a crowd-pleasing side dish.

My mom's favorite dish to bring to family reunions was her seven-bean salad. Green, kidney, navy, black - I can't recall which all she mixed together in her large green casserole dish, and left to marinate in a vinaigrette dressing overnight. She loved that concoction but I must admit, it was too tangy and, well, bean-y for me.

I much preferred her potato salad. Now this was not a German potato salad, as this German family considered typical. My mom's fairly generic potato salad featured potatoes, hard-cooked eggs, celery, and mayo; in other words, it was a perfect blend of basic flavors that felt safe and familiar to our childish palates.

In other words, I loved it.

Decades have rolled by. My dear grand uncles and their sisters, including my grandmother, Clara, have long since passed, and the reunions have slipped into history.

But I promise you, my mom's potato salad lives on.

For every picnic holiday - Memorial Day, Independence Day and Labor Day - all through my daughters' lives, I've whipped up a big batch of these simple, tried and true flavors. Even my husband, good German that he is, used to suggest that my recipe would be improved by some vinegar or at least for heaven's sake some yellow mustard, has given up and given in to my merk of basic.

Oh, the sacrifices we must make for harmony in the family.

* * * * *

Now to be totally honest, this is the kind of dish best made from memory and gut instinct, rather than a particular recipe.

Normally, a few hours before dinner, I start the cooking process by deciding whether or not I want leftovers, and then choosing either my large or medium sized cooking pot.

Cooking a small pot of potato salad is a language I don't speak.

^ Today I decided to use my large pan: 15 fairly small potatoes, 6 eggs (I might have used 8 but we only had 6), a cup of mayonnaise, a half cup of milk, and celery. This is definitely not enough celery so I sent my husband to the store to buy more.

Once I decide on the pot size, I gather my ingredients and start adding ingredients based on proportions.

^ Let's be honest. As I'm cooking, my potato pot almost always overflows. But as long as the water level stays above the potatoes and eggs - and I can always add more if needed - there is no harm done.

Scrub and cube enough unpeeled red potatoes to fill about tiga/4 of the pan.

Tuck in some eggs. I cook my eggs along with the potatoes, and I just eyeball the proportion of egg to potato.

Once the pan is boiling along on medium high, I chop up some celery. Sometimes, if I'm feeling crazy, I add some sweet onion too.

^ True confession. After completing this step, I momentarily turned my back on this bowl to put the milk and mayo back in the fridge. Gracie, who had been politely lying nearby, suddenly lost control.  In a flash, she bolted across the room, leaped paws up onto the counter in front of the bowl and got in one or two good licks before I turned around and caught her in the act. So I dumped this bowl of dressing out and started over.

Whisk the half cup of milk, give or take, into the cup of mayonnaise, more or less, to create a creamy dressing that will spread easily and evenly over the salad. If I want to make my husband happy, I might add a little yellow mustard or white vinegar to the dressing at this point.

But that's a mighty big if.

Set the dressing in the fridge to bide its time.

^ Don't worry if the potatoes are a bit crumbly. All those little bits are going to get stirred up with the dressing and the eggs and the celery, and the end result is going to be creamy heaven.

After about ten minutes, when the potatoes are fork tender, drain the contents of the pot into a colander and run under cool water. Rinse the pan out with cool water too. Submerge the eggs in a bowl of cold water. Hard boiled eggs peel much more easily if they sit in cold water for a spell, immediately after cooking.

Once the potatoes are cooled off and well drained, load the pan back up with first the potatoes,

My husband is still at the store fetching the rest of the celery. I'll add it later.

Next the celery,

^ And don't worry about the eggs looking messy either. Once they are chopped and stirred in, they will be adored for their taste rather than their handsome appearance.

And finally peel the eggs and toss them in on the top.

Now tuck the pan into the fridge and tell it to cool its heels till dinnertime.

* * * * *

Just before serving, pull the pan of potatoes and friends as well as the dressing from the fridge.

Fish out the eggs, dice them into bite-size bits and drop back into the pan.

Pour the dressing into the salad and stir. When the salad looks appropriately well-dressed, stop. If it still looks dry after using all the dressing, mix up another small batch and keep adding till the salad looks good.

Transfer the potato salad or a portion thereof to a serving dish.

If you have time for one more step, snip some fresh chive and present it either on the side or sprinkled over the top.

Serve to small children in the presence of towering uncles and if possible, wink at them and smile as they clean their plates.

* * * * *

Ready for more stories about my most dearly beloved, tried-and-true homemade meals?

My Homemade Lasagna

My Homemade Macaroni and Cheese

My Homemade Spaghetti and Meatballs

My Homemade Grilled Cheese Sandwich

My Homemade Cold Tuna Noodle

My Homemade Beef Stir Fry

My Homemade Beef Stew

My Homemade Parmesan Chicken Nuggets

My Homemade Enchiladas

My Homemade Chicken Salad

My Homemade Cranberry Apple Crisp

My Homemade Pasta Primavera

My Homemade Pad Thai

My Homemade Quiche

My Homemade Potato Salad

My Homemade Cobb Salad

My Homemade French Toast