comfort & joy
Monday, December 28, 2009 by Lindsey
Currently Listening
Ain't Gonna Lose You
Brett Dennen
My day today will be spent in Christmas preparations. While for most families Christmas has already passed for this year, ours is still yet to come. Today I plan to take advantage of the after-Christmas sales with Mom, as well as beginning an epic few days of cooking and baking. On the menu for our Christmas/New Years Eve festivities are the follow dishes, to be eaten in no specific order over the course of two days:
Spinach/Brie Quiche
Mini Gingerbread Muffins
Potato Chowder
Turkey Wreath
Green Bean/Tomato Salad
Deviled Eggs
Jalapeno Cheddar Cornbread Muffins
Ham
Fudge
Pumpkin Pie
Apple Pie
Needless to say, I am very excited to create such an epic assortment of snack-foods. and have plans to post the several of the recipes here, along with the recipes for my cranberry jam, my apple butter, and my peppermint cake recipe that so many people have asked about. It will take me a while, but I will be glad to have some of these recipes out of my head, and written down.
A few weeks ago, I made it my very specific mission to compile a list of classic and essential Christmas movies. (Primarily so that I can begin to acquire them for my own DVD collection.) My first step in beginning this process was Google, because I saw no point in putting all this effort into a list like this if I could find a good one already. There was none to be found that met my very particular specifications, so then I started looking through TCM lineup for the month, just to be thorough and make sure that I had actually seen all of the essential holiday movies.
Now, after 3 weeks, I present to you my (almost) complete list of essential Christmas Movies. I feel certain that at some point I will need to add some, but this is it for this Christmas season.
The Best of the Best: Christmas Movies
Period of Adjustment
It's a Wonderful Life
The Man Who Came To Dinner
Meet Me In St. Louis
Love Finds Andy Hardy
Holiday Inn
A Christmas Carol
Christmas In Connecticut
You've Got Mail
Susan Slept Here
The Shop Around the Corner
A Christmas Story
White Christmas
Miracle On 34th Street
In The Good Old Summertime
Little Women
The Family Man
The Grinch
Charlie Brown Christmas
National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation
Bundle Of Joy (New Year's Movie)
Period of Adjustment
It's a Wonderful Life
The Man Who Came To Dinner
Meet Me In St. Louis
Love Finds Andy Hardy
Holiday Inn
A Christmas Carol
Christmas In Connecticut
You've Got Mail
Susan Slept Here
The Shop Around the Corner
A Christmas Story
White Christmas
Miracle On 34th Street
In The Good Old Summertime
Little Women
The Family Man
The Grinch
Charlie Brown Christmas
National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation
Bundle Of Joy (New Year's Movie)
Note: While, I do like movies like The Holiday, Christmas with the Kranks, The Family Stone, and a few others not on the list - I couldn't bring myself to put them on the list because they're more guilty pleasures/preferences than they are classics. I also had the opportunity to watch Pieces of April this holiday season, and while it's not a kid's movie (mostly for language, plus I can't see my siblings really "getting" or enjoying it) it was surprisingly good. Has almost a "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner?" feel with a modern-indie twist.
There are also a few other movies that I associate with the holidays for some odd reason, even though they are not Christmas movies at all: The Stand (which my Mom bought for me a few weeks ago!!), Alice, and A Beautiful Mind.
Oddly enough we actually had an extremely white christmas day this year because of the blizzard that came through last weekend. Yes, I was giddy. I thought a blizzard was like a mythical weather occurance that only happened in Narnia. Was sad that Zoe, Sophie, and Declan weren't here to enjoy the snow - but I did go out and play in the (extremely deep) snow with Taylor for an hour or so. I know, I know, I'm a wimp. But I would much rather just sit by a window with my knitting project and coffee and look at the snow. Which, for the most part, is what I did. :D
It has really been such a relaxing few weeks, Mom and I got to spend some really relaxing time together while Dad and Taylor were gone dropping off Zoe, Sophie, and Declan in AL. I actually finally was able to meet up for coffee with Mary a few weeks ago, and finally was able to connect with my friend Brynn yesterday. We've been trying to get together for months, we'd met a few times before - and both knew we had a ton in common, but just hadn't been able to get together. We really hit it off when we finally did yesterday and ended up talking for several hours. (Probably would've talked longer but it was starting to get late in the afternoon.)
I think that's all I have to say for now, can't wait to see Nathan in 15 days. I'm so thrilled for my trip. :-)
-Lindsey
There are also a few other movies that I associate with the holidays for some odd reason, even though they are not Christmas movies at all: The Stand (which my Mom bought for me a few weeks ago!!), Alice, and A Beautiful Mind.
Oddly enough we actually had an extremely white christmas day this year because of the blizzard that came through last weekend. Yes, I was giddy. I thought a blizzard was like a mythical weather occurance that only happened in Narnia. Was sad that Zoe, Sophie, and Declan weren't here to enjoy the snow - but I did go out and play in the (extremely deep) snow with Taylor for an hour or so. I know, I know, I'm a wimp. But I would much rather just sit by a window with my knitting project and coffee and look at the snow. Which, for the most part, is what I did. :D
It has really been such a relaxing few weeks, Mom and I got to spend some really relaxing time together while Dad and Taylor were gone dropping off Zoe, Sophie, and Declan in AL. I actually finally was able to meet up for coffee with Mary a few weeks ago, and finally was able to connect with my friend Brynn yesterday. We've been trying to get together for months, we'd met a few times before - and both knew we had a ton in common, but just hadn't been able to get together. We really hit it off when we finally did yesterday and ended up talking for several hours. (Probably would've talked longer but it was starting to get late in the afternoon.)
I think that's all I have to say for now, can't wait to see Nathan in 15 days. I'm so thrilled for my trip. :-)
-Lindsey
Pieces of April was a great movie. While watching it, I kept thinking, "Give these people some money so they can get some professional lighting and camera equipment."
Still, even with their tiny budget, they did an amazing job.
~ J