Ho Ho No-Christmas Without Santa

I love the Christmas season-I love the spirit of peace and giving, I love the lights, I LOVE LOVE LOVE Christmas carols, and of course above all I love Jesus who, according to my beliefs, is the Ultimate Gift that I commemorate this holiday. Still-no matter how and why I love Christmas, believe it or not, here in the House of M we do Christmas sans-Santa style. Monkey recognizes Santa, and knows about him, but as far as he is concerned Santa is like Kai-Lan....cool, and fun, but pretend. For obvious reasons our decision is not very popular amongst our friends and family, but what may be less obvious are the reasons that we have decided to forgo the jolly fat man.

I should say first that we don't have anything personal against Mr. Claus-we think the qualities that Santa stands for are very admirable, and we don't "do" the Easter Bunny or the Tooth Fairy or any other imaginary house guests either. It should also be said that we don't have any problem with other people inviting the Claus into their Christmas celebrations-regardless of a person's beliefs he can fit in nicely into any home and create great holiday traditions. We personally just don't feel that Santa works for us.

One reason we don't do Santa is because we feel that he takes attention away from the focus that our family chooses to have during this season. For us, the holiday season is primarily about spiritual gifts, and about our faith, and while Santa is very nice we don't feel that he has a place next to Jesus.

We also feel that it is too easy for little kids to make a connection between Santa and Jesus-after all they are both supposed to be kind, both are supposed to be omnipresent and omnipotent, and both are invisible to kids but supposed to live in your heart...which is all fine and good until the inevitable moment when a kid is told or figures out that there is no Santa. What does this mean for their faith in God, which is based on so many similar ideas as a belief in Santa?

While we would prefer to avoid a major crisis of faith while our kids are too small to really think everything through, we don't ultimately have a problem with our kids questioning their faith when the time comes and they have the capability to-however during that time they spend discovering their faith, and in fact throughout their entire lives, it is important to us that our children trust us to tell them the absolute truth. No matter how pleasant the idea of Santa is, and it is, we wouldn't be able to both be honest and encourage a belief in Santa.

Whenever we tell people that we don't believe in Santa, there are always objections about 'the fun and excitement of Christmas'. I can assure you-the kidlets still have plenty of fun and excitement. We have regular family traditions for them to look forward to, and let's be honest-kids are excited for presents regardless of the occasion. They still learn about the spirit of giving and fraternity and faith, and they still have plenty of joy and wonder in the holiday from our faith. Our kids experience Christmas just like any other kids-we just don't get our holiday spirit from Santa Claus.

And we have plenty of holiday spirit-everyone in the House of M is counting the days until Christmas. The day after Thanksgiving, as is our tradition, we busted out the Christmas carols and everybody had a great time singing along. We plan on getting our tree next week, and Monkey and I are going to string popcorn and cranberries together. I'm looking forward to our annual watching of How The Grinch Stole Christmas and Merry Christmas Charlie Brown and our special family reading of the nativity story, and Monkey can't wait for Christmas Eve at Grandpa's and orange rolls Christmas morning.

We're all geared up for a very happy holiday-what are your family traditions?


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A Review of Jack Daniel's Spirit of Tennessee Cookbook

I know, I know-most of us just cooked our brains out for Thanksgiving and you're probably thinking that if you never saw an oven again it would be too soon. Trust me though-if anything could get you in the cooking mood again it would be the Spirit of Tennessee Cookbook.

It's easy to get caught up in the fact that this cookbook is brought to you by Jack Daniels-for some people this is a draw. For myself personally it made me a little more skeptical-I have a glass of wine or a girly drink once, maybe twice a year-but I do love cooking, I've enjoyed a Jack and coke in my day, and I do have a special love for southern cooking so I gave this cook book a shot.

I'm so glad I did! This book is boiling over with delicious southern recipes-many of which, to my surprise, did not include Jack. Of course there are drink 'recipes' in the book, but the recipes are overall very diverse including sections for appetizers, soups and salads, vegetables, breads, entrees, desserts, cakes and pies, sauces and gravies, and even a section specifically for outdoor cooking.

I have so far tried at least one recipe from each section of this cookbook and I honestly have yet to find a recipe that I don't like and have many, many more on my 'to try' list. This cook book is fabulous! Inside The Spirit of Tennessee Cookbook there is yet another special touch-interwoven amongst the delicious recipes you'll find both short writings and beautiful pictures that really show the unique lifestyle and culture that is the south, and which make this cookbook a multisensory experience.

You can taste, smell, touch, see, and learn a little about the south in the Jack Daniel's Spirit of Tennessee Cookbook...and if you're an amateur foodie like me you almost certainly won't be disappointed.

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A Really Wordy Wordless Wednesday: Thanksgiving-The Before Picture

We're having Rolls, Mashed potatoes, Deviled Eggs, Carrots, Cranberry Sauce, and a fun Spinach Salad (with apple, walnut, feta cheese, and raspberry vinaigrette) all with fudge and coconut cream pie for dessert. Oh yeah...and TURKEY! I had a moment of panic when I couldn't find my old turkey recipe, but luckily I'm not to bad on my feet. We're having an improvised orange-sage turkey. My new recipe looks like this:

MrsM's Orange-Sage Turkey Recipe
Whole Turkey (ours is 11lbs)
1/2 cup fresh sage
1/4 chopped
1/4 whole
3 whole sage leafs (plus some extra for garnish, 'cause I like my food pretty)
1 Orange
2 tsp grated orange rind
4 Orange quarters
1 1/8 tsp Salt
2 Small Onions
1 tbsp cornstarch
1 cup orange juice
1 1/4 tbsp sugar or 1 tbsp honey
Salt and Pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 475 degrees [Yes, 475! This is to "seal" the juices in the turkey-it's the same idea as searing a pot roast]. Remove turkey giblets. Rinse turkey, then pat dry with paper towels. Starting at neck cavity, loosen skin from breast and drumsticks by inserting fingers, gently pushing between skin and meat.

Grate 2tsp of orange rind off of orange, then cut it into quarters.

Chop up 1/4 cup of sage, mix with rind and 1 tsp salt. Rub under skin of turkey.

Peel and cut onion into quarters. Add orange and onion quarters with 1/4 cup whole sage and put into turkey cavity. Lift wing tips up and over back; tuck under turkey.

Rub turkey skin lightly with salt and pepper.

Put turkey into a lightly greased/sprayed roasting pan, cover turkey entirely. Cook turkey for 20 minutes at 475 degrees. Lower temperature to 250 and cook, covered, for 20 minutes per pound or until the meat thermometer says the internal temperature on the turkey thigh is 180 (or the red button pops out of the turkey, if you're me!).

Remove turkey and let it sit uncovered for at least 20 minutes to allow the juices to settle. Once 20 minutes have passed, move the turkey to a platter and cover it with foil to keep it warm.

Now we make the turkey's sauce! Take two table spoons of the fat from the roasting pan and put into a boiling pan, then strain the fat out and the drippings into the boiling pan with the two spoons of fat.

Add 1/8 tsp salt, sugar/honey, and 1/2 cup of orange juice to the drippings, bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer 1 minute. Combine 1/2 cup juice and cornstarch in a small bowl; add to drippings mixture. Bring to a boil, and cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Serve with the turkey!

This recipe is loosely based off of my old recipe (sorry I can't give credit, I first used it five years ago and have no idea where I got it!) and a recipe I saw in Good Housekeeping...I don't see any inherent flaws in it so wish me luck~I hope you all have a great Thanksgiving!!

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