Christmas passed through our home like a happy whirlwind this year! Liam found the whole experience exciting, but maybe a bit overwhelming. As promised, Santa visited our home leaving us feeling very fortunate to have all that we have been given in this life.
We visited with my family up north, got to see both of my Grandmothers, and even one of my cousins who I haven’t seen since Liam was an infant!
On the last day of 2006, I cannot help but reflect on the year that has just passed. There were many ups and downs in our family. We began 2006 by learning the wonderful news that we would be new parents again in the fall! Then, Dad was in the London hospital for most of the summer with persistent infections and knee problems, coupled with serious heart problems. Stuart lost both his Nana to cancer, and his friend Tom who passed away suddenly this summer. Then this fall we were blessed when our beautiful and healthy daughter Gwyneth was born in October, after having threatened to come early for many months. As always, Liam was the sunshine in every day that passed, filling our home with so much love and joy, and distracting us in the times we felt sadness.
It is so hard to predict what a new year will bring, yet, the very thought of a new beginning always brings with it the hope of wonderful things to come.
I wish all those I hold close, both family and friends, many things but mostly I wish that you may find happiness, health and love in everything you do in 2007, and peace and joy to all.
This was my Great Grandmother’s recipe, and I am honoured to continue the tradition of making it for my family every year. I hope that one day, my children will continue this tradition.
As a child, on Christmas Day, we went to Gramma Katie’s farm, and she had always made the most beautiful meal, complete with about six desserts including this one. As children, we were never really all that fond of the pudding, but we did like the brown sugar sauce and ice cream which Gramma served with it! Nowadays, my husband and I practically fight over the left over pudding! It really is a special Christmas treat!
Traditional Christmas Pudding (Also called Carrot Pudding)
1 cup Brown Sugar
1 cup Raisins
1 cup Dates
1 cup Currants
1 cup Margarine* (scant — just under 1 cup)
1 cup Shredded Carrot
1 cup Grated Potato
1 1/4 cups Flour
1 tsp Baking Soda
1 pinch Salt
* Traditionally Suet would have been used instead of Margarine
Directions
Mix all the ingredients together in large bowl
Cover the bowl with tinfoil
Steam for 3 hours**
** To steam the pudding, you can use a large pot with a small amount of water in the bottom. We use an inverted pyrex bowl in the bottom of the pot to keep the bowl with the pudding above the level of the water. Cover the pot, and cook on medium heat (keep water to a low boil) Make sure you continue to carefully add small amounts of water to the pot so that it doesn’t boil dry over the 3 hours steaming time.
Serve with a Brown Sugar Sauce or Custard.
Along with the egg nog, Christmas movies, decorations and other festive delights, this tradition has been around in our home since the adoption of our feline friend Rose. This year, we were alerted to her presence in the tree not by the usual movement and noise that accompany a cat cimbing through the limbs of an indoor Christmas tree, but rather by our son’s amusement at the spectacle. Perhaps Liam will think this is the norm. That in every household, part of the yearly Christmas tradition includes the climbing of the tree by the family pet. Well, in our home, indeed it does…
These yummy little cookies are so easy to make for Christmas! They freeze really well, and make a pretty addition to a festive cookie tray too. Once you see them, their name makes perfect sense!
Cathedral Windows
1/4 Pound Margarine
12 Ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 Cup chopped walnuts
12 Ounces coloured mini-marshmallows
7 Ounces sweetened grated coconut
Heat butter and chocolate on low heat until chocolate is melted. Allow to cool slightly, then add walnuts and marshmallows. Spread a thin layer of coconut on parchment paper, and drop chocolate marshmallow mixture on top of coconut in batches. Roll into 2 inch diameter “logs” then refrigerate overnight. Slice into rounds once thoroughly chilled and serve.
I went out for coffee with friends this evening, and while I did have a great time, I am now wishing that I had made a different choice of beverage. Because I now have two children to care for, I am reminded why it is a bad idea to drink coffee in the evening (as it is, I will be up all night feeding my daughter) Here it is 10:02, and both of my children are fast asleep. I should be doing the same thing, but instead I am wide awake with no signs that sleep is imminent. Still, considering that it was my first coffee of the day, it was almost worth it…
It’s funny how the late nights of my youth (when 3 a.m. wasn’t an unusual bedtime) have been replaced with evenings when 10:00 is a really late bedtime. Perspectives sure change when we become parents. Nothing prepares you for that, yet, nothing in the world would ever make you want to return to your life before having children.
So, I guess the next time I do a coffee night out with the girls, I will try to remember that perhaps an herbal tea, or milk steamer would be a more sensible choice. After all, I am a Mom now, and doesn’t Mom know best?!? 
This morning, The Polar Express has been viewed in our livingroom for about the fifteenth time. It’s magical story captivates him every time he watches it. Indeed, it fits both Liam’s passion for locomotives and is fascinating to him in that it is a Christmas movie. Chiristmas is not something that he fully undersands just yet, but he knows it means good things are happening in his home, much excitement at the mall, and festivity in the homes and other places he visits at this time of the year.
It is hard to remember being a child of his age (is it even possible?) I cannot imagine, nor can I remember learning of the wonders of Christmas for the first time, seeing the love between family and friends which seems infinite in this festive season, and the small miracles of kindness and goodwill towards others that I have both witnessed and recieved this year.
I do think that toddlers are wise beyond their years. Maybe it is because they have yet to experience some of the bad things that seem to happen to us all, those things which we call “life experiences.” Perhaps Liam sees in this movie some of what the rest of us lose as we get older.
I think this quote from this beautiful Christmas movie sums it all up beautifully. “Sometimes, the most real things in the world are the things we can’t see.” -The Polar Express
Gwyneth is pictured here doing what she does best…sleeping! Doesn’t she look cozy though, even without her shirt telling us so!
The colder winter temperatures we’ve endured over the past few days make me want to hibernate in a cozy corner of my own. It won’t be long now before the real snow arrives, and stays! A mixed blessing in that it forces us to slow down our fast paced lives, but at the same time, it also keeps us cooped up when we want to be outside!
With Christmas fast approaching, it is nice to enjoy these times with visits from friends and family, wonderful treats that frankly, I could do without in trying to lose this pregnancy weight (but, hey what the heck, it’s Christmas!) and all of the other special things this season brings.
Cozy? Yeah, I think I could get used to this for a while anyway!
