GoodyBlog

Epiphany: The End of the Christmas Season

O Star of wonder, star of night
Star with royal beauty bright
Westward leading, still proceeding
Guide us to thy Perfect Light
-"We Three Kings of Orient Are"

Some think that Christmas ends once the ball drops in Times Square, but the season of Christmas as celebrated by most of the Church ended yesterday, at the feast of the Epiphany. The holiday commemorates the Magi visiting the Holy Family, bringing forth gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. (The Wii, regrettably, didn't make the final cut in their gift selections. Not that you'd want to play video games in a stable anyway.)

The unofficial penitential season of "Removing Everything Christmasesque From The House" follows shortly after Epiphany. Unless, of course, you want to keep it up year-round.

Although the season of Christmastide has ended among Western Christians, many Orthodox Christians are celebrating Christmas today. (And if you are, Happy Christmas!) The reason? Some Orthodox jurisdictions maintain the feast days of the Church according to the Julian Calendar, which is approximately 10 days behind the "new" Gregorian Calendar. Others follow what's called the Revised-Julian Calendar, which I'll allow Wikipedia to explain.

So, even if you're not an Orthodox Christian and you're looking for an excuse to keep your Christmas stuff up longer, there you go. It'll be my excuse.

Holiday Classics

  One of the great things about having kids during the holidays (and there are many) is having a built-in excuse to revisit some of the animated Christmas favorites I enjoyed as a child. Sure Matthew, Isabella, and I faithfully watched this year's newcomer, Shrek the Halls. And it was entertaining. But somehow the idea of Shrek, Fiona, and his ogre babies celebrating with Donkey and The Gingerbread Man didn't quite do it for me. Not like Charlie Brown's pathetic little tree or Rudolph's can-do shiny red nose did, anyway.

Still, none of these can match my personal favorite, How the Grinch Stole Christmas. At a time when present-giving has gotten totally out of control (hint kids: don't expect as many gifts this year), the cartoon's heartfelt message (and I do mean the cartoon, not the movie, by the way)—that the holidays are about the joy of celebrating together, not material things—resonates more than ever.

My son Matthew, though, prefers The Year Without a Santa Claus, mainly because of the jazzy, show-stopping number from the dueling brothers, the Heat Miser and Snow Miser. A sampling:

I'm Mister Green Christmas
I'm Mister Sun
I'm Mister Heat Blister
I'm Mister Hundred and One
They call me Heat Miser,
What ever I touch
Starts to melt in my clutch
I'm too much!

As for little Isabella, she's enamored with Frosty the Snowman—so much so that she's been talking for the last day nonstop about wanting to meet him. That's going to be a tough one to explain to a 3-year-old. But at least she got to meet Shrek on our trip to Universal Studios in the fall.

What's your favorite holiday special?

Photo via
Photo via
Photo via

Holiday Inspiration Overdrive!

Aren't these are amazing ornaments! How do people think of such cute things? Check out the how-to at not quite vintage. Can someone barely crafty make these? I'm going to give it a shot. Link thanks craftzine.

Alright, are you ready for cake in a jar? With cute labels? Angry Chicken has all the details. This is seriously going to be a new trend.

Isn't much of life about packaging? Think Garnish is an amazing resource. They have tons of party ideas and the good part is you can buy every element right on the site (even the twine). I love their simple, homemade aesthetic. Link thanks Kim Vallee.

Have an Elmo-riffic Holiday!

Jot this down in your calendar now: Elmo's Christmas Countdown airs on ABC this Sunday the 23rd at 7:00. We know that the mere presence of certain fuzzy red guy is enough to make your kids happy, but there plenty of cool guest stars to entertain you too, including Ty Pennington, Sheryl Crow, Jamie Fox, and Anne Hathaway. (Just the sight of the Sopranos' Steven Schirripa and Tony Sirico dressed up as Ernie and Bert is killing me.) If you and your kids want a sneak preview, check out the clips on ABC’s Web site here.

A Green Christmas Tree

Now before you say, "duh"... do you know how to make a naturally green Christmas tree, well, Green?  Here's a hint: You don't have to chop down an evergreen to enjoy it during the holiday season. (And I'm not suggesting you decorate the fir tree in your front yard instead of putting one up in the living room either.) This year I'm taking a cue from my sister (who normally scoffs at what she calls my "tree-hugging ways"). She and her boyfriend will soon decorate a live Blue Spruce Christmas tree, which they bought from the local nursery for $95 (not much more than your average cut-tree price tag, mind you). Their plan is to plant O' Tannenbaum in the backyard after the new year and have something to remember their first Christmas together by for years to come. Now of course for this to work every year one would need a very large backyard that could accommodate a lifetime of Christmas trees, but even still I think it's a pretty cool, eco-friendly idea. So when she sent this picture of her new tree to my cell phone last night, I praised her efforts and welcomed her to the "green side". Then I reminded her to decorate with LED lights, since they use 90% less energy (I just couldn't resist).

Build a (Virtual) Gingerbread House

Check out this beautiful gingerbread house I just created (via Ohdeedoh)! I'm not really kitchen-inclined enough to make a real gingerbread house, so this virtual one totally fulfilled my craving to stick candy-colored goodies all over. Plus, no cavities and no calories. Merry Christmas!

DIY: Sweet Trees

If you're making a gingerbread house, you've got to make some gumdrop trees. I think these are really beauties. Complete and simple instructions at Bella Dia!
Link thanks to thimble.

The Better Brownie Baking Binge

We're deep in the holiday baking season. And on Saturday, I finally had a break from baking and cooking. We were going to my wife's company's Christmas party, so the kitchen shoulda been closed.

So, what did I decide to do? Bake brownies for the Parents office, that's what! Yay!

But this was no usual plot to fatten people with chocolatey treats. Rather, this was an obsessive desire to work on standardizing a stunning brownie recipe.

Just about every recipe that I've used in the past simply didn't do it for me. Either the brownies were so fudgy that I should have just made fudge, or they were dry and cakey. When making brownies, I usually ended up using a box mix as a base "recipe," adding my own bits of flair afterward.

But those mix days are now in the past. I finally found a perfect recipe within the pages of Pam Anderson's well-named book, The Perfect Recipe. Ms. Anderson is the former executive editor of Cook's Illustrated, an amazing organization known for its tenacious desire to perfect every recipe known to man. Cook's has become my bi-monthly cooking class, and has inspired me to be a better food scientist.

And, if you want to know the secrets to brownie bliss, keep reading below the cut!

Panicking About Holiday Pounds?

Holiday weight gain is definitely a legit concern, but there's a bit of good news: A new study in the New England Journal of Medicine found that most of us don't pack on as much weight as we think, phew! (The average study subject gained about one pound from early November to early- to mid-January.) The real problem is that we don't lose those few pounds we do gain from super-size holiday feasts—and all that extra weight adds up as the years pass. Get the full scoop on how to eat, drink, and be merry in moderation here.

Christmas on Sale

I was at Pottery Barn yesterday and noticed that tons of their holiday stuff is already on sale, including this adorable fake mini tree that would look great in your child's bedroom. How fun would it be for the kids to have their very own tree that they can decorate with handmade paper ornaments?