Fraa - geel- ay. It must be Italian!

Well, it's the week of Thanksgiving and I have flavored my home with Christmas decor. Nothing really fancy, but just like every year at this time, I pop on some Holiday Television Specials, light some Glade Christmas candles, spray some "Limited Edition" Fresh Evergreen & Snow Febreze, and put up the tree.




Then, after the air has cleared, the broken glass from the broken ornaments and bulbs is swept up, I baked "from a box" a delicious Christmas cake and coffee and nog did flow.





Then it's time to curl up on the couch and watch my first official Christmas movie of the year. This year it was the 1991 masterpiece All I want for Christmas. I will touch on that movie in a later post. All I'm saying is that I use the term masterpiece very lightly.

Mikey

My old man's spare tires were only actually tires in the academic sense. They were round and had once been made of rubber.

Christmas Television Specials are...well...special. From the classic music performance specials, to the Rank & Bass stop motion, or Charlie Brown they all have a specific place in the season. However there are a few that I have recently discovered that I had never seen before. Once I saw them I understood why. I will be sharing a few of these with you over the next few weeks.



First up is The Mr. Ed Christmas Episode. Remember the talking horse show? It's very strange to watch this thing today. In the Christmas special Ed wants Wilbur to buy him and his horse friends some new "horse presents". Meanwhile Wilbur and his best friend Mr. Kirkwood try to talk their wives into bringing the Christmas budget down to $15.00 for each person. Well, hilarity ensues. Not really, but there is something fun about watching these shows now days. Take a look at how strange this thing is...



p.s. if i may say so, the title of this post is quite clever... and again...wrong & sad.

Mikey

Was there no end to this conspiracy of irrational prejudice against Red Ryder and his Peacemaker?

I should have used the title from a few posts back, but this makes it more interesting. Enjoy another clip from one of the greatest movies ever made!

Mikey

victor? the lone ranger's nephew's horse?

the mantle.i posted this picture of the sweet shark on my other blog, but i just can't resist sharing it here, too. it's the living definition of holiday peace.

xoxo
velvet

Well, put your arms down when you get to school.

Elf was the first time I had the chance to hear Zooey Deschanel sing. I was immediately drawn to her Cabaret style voice. Now her and M.Ward have made one of my favorite records of the year. I had the chance to see them a couple of weeks ago, and they did not disappoint. Let's take a look at this great scene from Elf!



Mikey

Let's face it, most of us are scoffers. But moments before zero hour, it did not pay to take chances.

We are still here! Velvet and myself are getting ready for an awesome Thanksgiving together. We are planning lots of pictures, recipes, and a few other surprises to share with all of you. So, keep the Christmas spirit alive as the countdown really kicks into gear!

Mikey

It… It… T’was… Soap Poisoning!

Mikey

schwartz created a slight breach of etiquette by skipping the triple dare

gingersnaps.
just the name makes me think of the holidays. this is the best-tasting, easiest recipe for this delightful treat that you will ever come across. moist and chewy (i know they say 'snap' in the name, but i just hate hard cookies) and full of sweet and spicy molasses flavor. i like to make them smaller since my kiddos (oh alright, me too) eat them by the handful.

gingersnaps
mix together:
1 1/4 cups flour (i use my homemade gluten-free mix*)
1 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ginger
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon cloves
beat in:
3/4 cup oil
1/4 cup molasses
1 egg
add in:
1 more cup flour

roll into balls and roll in 1/4 cup sugar
bake at 375 degrees on an ungreased cookie sheet (don't forget to do my soft-cookie-trick - take them out of the oven right before they are totally done.)

* gluten-free flour mix: 1 part teff or sorghum flour, 1 part rice flour (white or brown both work), and 1 part flaxseed meal or almond meal

xoxo
velvet

he worked in profanity the way other artists might work in oils or clay. it was his true medium; a master.

xoxo
velvet

gallons of turkey soup. gone, all gone!

usually we trim our tree (a fake one because of sky's allergies) the first day or so of november. but since pants was gone and we were all a bit tired, we waited until this past weekend. so sunday night we got the boys bathed and pajama-fied, turned up the holiday music, broke out the eggnog (using the special glasses that sky calls 'holy grail cups' because of their shape), and got all ready for some tree trimmin'.
and that's when pants and i realized...we didn't have a tree.
we had taken down boxes and boxes from the attic, assuming some were filled with ornaments/decorations and some held the tree parts. but after digging through all the boxes...no tree. hmm. then we remembered that the tree had broken after christmas last year, and we had gotten rid of it. and hadn't replaced it yet. oops.
so instead we trimmed the mini-trees the boys keep in their rooms, and put up the other decorations. the next evening, pants came home with a tree purchased from the lovely home depot, and we are now ready for the holidays with our tree up and running:
for some reason, i get all martha stewart about the christmas tree. i like it to have a really pulled-together, matchy look - no homespun crafty or sentimental ornaments here (those all go on the kids' trees). the last few years i have done a turquoise, green, and silver theme, but wanted a change this time around. so we went for more of a rustic feel, with fake fruit in purples, reds, and gold, wooden beaded garland, and a rusted metal star on top. (i had gotten these all on clearance at target last year after christmas.) i did throw on some green shiny ornaments at the end, though - couldn't resist.

xoxo
velvet

Flick says he saw some grizzly bears near Pulaski's candy store!

Here is some more Christmas Mall music. My good friend Charlie sent this to me about the last mall video I posted:

I remember the malls and Lazarus department store in Columbus Ohio where I grew up, and they would play this music at Christmas time. Couldn't wait to get up to the 6th floor to see Santa but my mom would have to stop and look at drapes or something while on our way. Little Charlie would look up at her with big (woman, you can look at drapes anytime, can't you see this is important?) eyes.

There was a shot in that video of Santa and a helicopter. We used to go to the Northern Lights shopping center to wait for Santa to come in by chopper. They used to rope off a big parking lot and he'd land and get out with his sack of crappy trinkets but is was great because he came by helicopter. Great memories.

Thanks Chuck!



I am loving this stuff.

Mikey

....I'm not color blind either.

It's time to start giving this blog's namesake some due! Lets take a look at one of my favorite scenes from my favorite Christmas movie. Enjoy!

Mikey

Fa ra ra ra ra ra ra ra ra!

My quest to find new and unusual Christmas music has led me to this little number. Simply called Merry Christmas, this Korean record has a very strange (and maybe even disturbing) cover. It contains the songs: Jingle Bells, Joy To The World, Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer, Silent Night, Silver Bells, The Little Drummer Boy & White Christmas. They are all in Korean except for a few lines in English every now and then. So, I am diggin' this one right now and I have come across a few others that I am anxious to share with you. Until then, enjoy a little taste of this snowflake!





i know the title of this post is so wrong, but it is so perfect.

Mikey

there he stood, between us and the alley

first nog of the season.
xoxo
velvet

They looked at me as if I had lobsters crawling out of my ears.

Mikey

It's a beautiful duck. It really is. But you see, it's smiling at me.

No duck here, but I do have what has been a family tradition since I was knee-high to a grasshopper. As much as I love these I only make them one night a year. Every Christmas Eve I am in the kitchen preparing the little morsels of piggie goodness. We always enjoy them while we exchange presents on Christmas morning.

Here is what you need:

1 Pound of Bacon (cut into thirds)
16 Ounce Canned Water Chestnuts (cut large ones in half)
1 Cup of Brown Sugar
1/2 Cup of Chili Sauce
1 Cup of Miracle Whip
Toothpicks

Preheat oven at 350
Wrap bacon around the water chestnuts and secure it by inserting toothpicks to hold them upright.
Position them into an ungreased baking dish.
Bake for 45 min minutes

While the Water Chestnuts are baking, mix the Brown Sugar, Chili Sauce & Miracle Whip together in a bowl.

Remove the Water Chestnuts from the oven and drain the dish of all the grease.
Pour the Sauce over the Baked Water Chestnuts. Again, make sure you drain them before pouring the sauce on them!!!

Now bake them for an additional 20 minutes.

Remove them and enjoy my favorite Christmas Snack of all time!

Mikey

little orphan annie

it's that time again...time to get your bake on! even though it's eighty degrees here in southern cali right now, i can still summon up some christmas spirit by whipping up these quick and easy favorites...snickerdoodles! even the name is happy. these chewy cinnamon-y delights are the perfect cookie to take you back to those happy childhood holiday memories.

snickerdoodles
in a mixing bowl, beat:
1/2 cup butter for 30 seconds
add:
3/4 flour (i used a mixture of gluten-free flours* and they were still delish!)
1 c sugar
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
beat, then add:
3/4 c more flour
cover and chill for an hour.
form dough into little balls and roll in mixture of:
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 tablespoons sugar (you can use red or green colored sugar to make them more festive)

preheat oven to 375 and bake on an ungreased cookie sheet. i honestly don't ever bake things for a certain 'time', so i just take these cookies out when they look almost done.

this is the secret to a good cookie, btw: take them out of the oven right before they are totally finished cooking (they will carry-over cook on the tray, no worries). that way they will always be soft and delicious, never crunchy or dry.

enjoy these fireside with a warm mug of hot cocoa or spiced coffee.
mmm...christmas is yummy!

* gluten-free flour mix: 1 part teff or sorghum flour, 1 part rice flour (white or brown both work), and 1 part flaxseed meal or almond meal

xoxo
velvet

I left Flick to certain annihilation. But BB gun mania knows no loyalty.

We are looking forward to posting some fun Christmassy recipies. Until then, here is a post from a blog from a previous life:


Even though I love to cook and prepare an occasional extravagant plethora of extravagances, a simple treat should never be overlooked. Here are two very delicious yet very quick and easy holiday drinks.

Coffee Nog:
Get your favorite holiday mug. Pour a thick eggnog into one third of the mug. Now pour some coffee in there and you got yourself a nice creamy treat. If you have a cappuccino machine, you can froth up the nog to make it nice and velvety.

Hot Coco Coffee:
Finish up your coffee nog. Rinse the mug. Pour one package of instant hot chocolate. Now pour some coffee in there and you got yourself a nice chocolaty treat (sounds familiar).

So there you go. Extremely easy, but i guarantee that you will enjoy. Unless you don't like coffee. Or chocolate. Or nog. Or Christmas.

Mikey

You used up all the glue on purpose!

Get out the Sears catalogue. Put on your brown polyester pants suit, and head to the land of Burnt Orange and Gamboge. It's your local indoor shopping center circa 1970 whatever. I love me some Christmas music, and my newest obsession is 1960's/1970's Christmas Mall Music. It's not your typical mall muzak...well it really is, but it's Christmas songs. So I put together a little glimpse of Christmas shopping in days of yonder. Listen as the music seems to echo through the rafters of JCPenny.




More mall music to come!
Mikey

my little brother had not eaten voluntarily in over three years

i like to think i generally have above-average taste in music (i am married to a musician, after all), and usually you can find me listening to some obscure progressive band or some great old classic. which is why the confession i am about to make is so embarrassing.
i can't help it, but i love...eighties christmas music.
from wham giving me their heart to the band-aid relief group making me wonder if those african kids really do know if it's christmastime at all, i am a sucker for these kinds of tunes. but my most cringe-worthy favorite of all-time has got to be...dan fogelberg's same auld lang syne. it's the epitomy of cheesiness, yet i love it. and for some reason it turns this normally non-sentimental gal into a weepy pile of mush.
apparently ridiculous lyrics and terrible synthesizer music cast some sort of holiday spell over me, i don't know. even sting got through to me by delivering gabriel's message.
just don't even try asking me to please come home for christmas, pat benatar.
because you know i would.

xoxo
velvet

Lifebuoy, on the other hand...

Welcome to Velvet and Mikey's Yule Blog!

Why a Christmas Blog that starts two months before Christmas? Well, because they call it the "Christmas Season". Seasons don't just last for a day. Besides, there is nothing like spending the last two months of the year gearing up for that one beautiful and glorious day, only to be letdown by grossly unrealistic expectations of holiday magic. Can't wait!

The day after Halloween, the Christmas music is turned on, and we both start decking out our places like crazy. (The only difference is that Velvet puts her tree up asap, but Mikey waits till the week before Thanksgiving.) So, in this snow-covered corner of the interweb, you will find all of our favorite Christmas stuff...Christmas music, Christmas recipes, Christmas movies, Christmas Stories.
All Christmas all the time!

Lot's of great stuff heading your way folks! Babbo Natale!!!

Mikey and Velvet