When I see bins of nuts in the grocery store, they bring back memories of the Christmas battles between my mother and her mother-in-law, Grandma Glidewell. Both knew the agony of paying off the mortgage on a farm in the depths of the Great Depression. Both were saving to a degree most people cannot now imagine. And Mother was determined not to let Grandma save more than she did.

     But when nuts appeared in the stores, Mother's system fell apart. She had grown up in a home where Christmas was the happiest day of the year, and she wanted that for her children. Grandma, on the other hand, had always saved lots of money by not celebrating Christmas at all. Her children had waked on Christmas morning to a day like any other.

     And so each December Mother courageously brought home a brown paper bag filled with sinful, wasteful nuts, which we did not grow on our Montana farm and did not in any way need. They marked the beginning of our Christmas celebration. We all gathered around the nut bowl, joyously taking turns with the nutcracker. And of course word of the money Mother was blowing on nuts, not to mention the nutcracker, got back to Grandma. Such news always did.

     News of our annual Christmas blowouts had, however, a strange effect. Grandma decided to invite us to her house for festive Christmas dinners. And, because she dearly loved us children, she gave us all nice Christmas gifts on Christmas Day.

     When it became clear that Mother had won this particular skirmish, she carried the battle deep into enemy territory. She told Grandma she wouldn't allow us children to come to her house for Christmas dinner unless Grandma got a Christmas tree, as the lack of one might damage our delicate little psyches.

     So poor Grandma had to send Grandpa up into the hills in the pickup, wasting gasoline all the way, to cut down a small tree. And she with considerable agony wasted more gasoline and money buying a string of lights for it - a string of lights being, as she saw it, minimum apparel for a Christmas tree. And when we were due to arrive, she plugged in the lights. Quite a few lights were on that string, and it became immediately apparent that they were going to gallop through the kilowatts.

     We children pranced into her house, took one look at the sacrificial tree as it lit up Grandma's electric bill, and said, "Our Christmas tree is prettier than yours!" Our delicate little psyches remaining intact throughout.

     Janette

     Below, for your pleasure, are some special ideas gleaned from the hundreds of thousands of Christmas items on the Internet - ending with the absolutely ultimate Christmas dessert, Buche de Noel, or French Yule Log.

     The next newsletter will be the regular one that comes out on December 1.

1. A SWEDISH CHRISTMAS

     Years ago I had a roommate whose mama was Swedish. Ingrid introduced me to tomtar, the Swedish Christmas elves, and she gave me a wall hanging with funny little tomtar on it.

     If you go to the website below, you'll learn about the lovely Swedish St. Lucia ceremony that takes place each December 13, which ceremony heralds the promise of more sunlight - and the Sonlight, the Light of the World - in a dark season in a northern land.

http://www.santas.net/swedishchristmas.htm

2. ST. LUCIA BUNS

     These buns are served in Sweden to celebrate St. Lucia's Day. They could be made part of your celebration of the Advent season. Find the recipe for these beautiful golden buns, which in their own way celebrate the coming Light of the World, at:

http://www.recipezaar.com/43784

3. SWEDISH CHRISTMAS COOKIES

     And here's an enthusiastically reviewed recipe for pepparkakor, a spice cookie traditionally served at Christmas in Sweden.

http://www.recipezaar.com/136564

4. A U.K. TREASURE SITE

     If you are a bit of a perfectionist and would like to make exquisite Christmas items that will become part of your Christmas tradition, come to this British site for ideas. Americans will find a slightly different and more traditional slant on craft items and Christmas foods. If you decide to make genuine Victorian dishes such as their plum pudding, you'll need a food scale.

     The site tells you, among other things, how to decorate marzipan fruits, do three-dimensional decoupage, make salt-dough wreaths, and create Advent calendars.

http://www.fashion-era.com/Christmas/

5. THE KIDS HAVE FUN

     Find CHRISTIAN CHRISTMAS CRAFTS here. And note that they also have CHRISTIAN CHRISTMAS SKITS the children can put on.

http://www.christiancrafters.com/chrismon.html

     Click below to find more FAMILY FUN projects, including easy-to-make gifts. The results will not be exquisite, but they will be fun for the kids:

http://familyfun.go.com/arts-and-crafts/season/minisite/christmas-main/

     And here's a GINGERBREAD HOUSE the children can help make:

http://familyfun.go.com/recipes/special/feature/famf199612_ffgingerbread/

6. FAMILY CHRISTMAS TRADITIONS

     This U.K. website describes some lovely traditions that are just a bit different from those in the U.S. and therefore especially interesting.

http://www.ivillage.co.uk/parenting/school/schfun/articles/0,,186624_548432-2,00.html

7. SPECIAL CHRISTMAS COOKIES AND EASY YULE LOG

     Chocolate Dipped Cinnamon Thins - Does this sound as good to you as it does to me? It's a prized recipe from The Victorian Harvest Inn in New Hampshire. Find it at:

http://gonewengland.about.com/od/newenglandcookierecipes/r/recchoccinnthin.htm

     I found the Christmas cookie recipes below at my favorite recipe site: Recipezaar.com. Recipezaar has the comments of those who have actually tried the recipe, which comments are invaluable. I selected recipes that were just a little bit out of the ordinary, and all were of course rated as tops by those who tried them:

     Christmas Meringue Cookies - The recipe donor said, "These are a most unusual cookie with chocolate chips and crushed candy canes. They are so very different from any other Christmas cookie recipe with a wonderful combination of flavors." The reviewers thought the chocolate chips were too big: all good information.

http://www.recipezaar.com/19838

     Christmas Time Cookies - Three out of four reviewers thought these were some of the best cookies they'd ever eaten. Nutmeg was what made the difference, they said. The fourth reviewer didn't go for them - do you suppose her nutmeg was stale?

http://www.recipezaar.com/14466

     Jam-Filled Christmas Cookies - They're not only beautiful to look at but easy to make. The reviewers raved about them.

http://www.recipezaar.com/48140

     Mocha Walnut Cookies - A reviewer said, "My husband nearly finished them off all by himself. When he asked if we could have these year-round instead of just at Christmas, I knew we had a winner!"

http://www.recipezaar.com/3913

     And below is the simple version of the Yule Log or cookie cake. (The elaborate version follows.) The donor of the simple version says, "This is a Christmas tradition in my family. We often have to make more than one and somehow ingredients tend to go missing in action. It is so easy, kids love to help (which explains the missing ingredients)."

http://www.recipezaar.com/31333

8. THE ULTIMATE BUCHE DE NOEL, FRENCH YULE LOG

     For ambitious cooks, here is the ultimate version of the French Yule Log: a chocolate sponge cake with chocolate-mocha filling and chocolate butter icing.

http://www.cooks.com/rec/doc/0,1813,140176-233205,00.html

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WARNING!

     If your e-mail box sometimes gets full, you are in danger of falling off the subscription list of Tour the Sites. Not because I want to lose you, but because, if your box is full when I send out a newsletter, you are automatically kicked off the list. I don't like that policy, but I don't have any say. If you change your e-mail address or get a new kind of spam filter, you may also fall off. So do keep an eye on your newsletters, which should arrive around the first and fifteenth of each month. If you haven't gotten one for a month, let me know and I'll be happy to put you back on the mailing list. Because I'd really hate to lose you.

Janette
Newsletter@tourthesites.com

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