Monthly Archives: December 2016

Hello, and welcome to my post for the style: color;maroon>Happy Holidays Blog Hop! I decided to keep it simple, and post a short list of short (holiday-flavored) lists. That’s coming right up. I’ve also got a little Lou Sylvre news and info, and a prize drawing and teensy swag offer for Holiday Hoppers. For more holiday-style goodness, check out the other bloggers in the hop, listed right here at this link to the blog of our host, Nikki J. Markus..

Now to the lists!

My three favorite things about the holiday season (not counting being with people I love, because that goes without saying):
(The first list.)

• Lights! Or perhaps I should say “light,” because winter is soooooo dark. It would be different if I lived in the southern hemisphere, I suppose, and I don’t’ think I felt this way growing up in Southern California, where it never gets quite as dark in December as it is here, a mere thousand miles north in Washington. Our daylight hours here are pathetically short for the months bracketing the solstice, and the low-angled sunlight often hides behind cloudy skies. Holiday lights and candle flames truly “make the season bright,” and it’s a life-saver.
• Pajamas. No seriously. It’s a family tradition to gather on the day of our celebration for breakfast. The rule is pajamas. No one is allowed to be dressed in actual street clothes, even if driving many miles to get to the gathering. This is my rule, and since I’m the grandma, well, it goes. I’d make allowance for guests, but generally speaking, those outside our immediate family who have chosen to join us are perfectly willing to get into the spirit, and they wear pajamas too. In fact, they often wear the silliest pair.
• BreakfastWe have lots of food. I no longer have to cook it all. We all manage to squeeze in at the round table . Those are all good things. But my favorite part about the day is German pancakes—that’s what we call them, and they’re reasonably close to what I’ve seen called a German pancake in the few restaurants that have them on the menu. But this is a family recipe. Interestingly, my mother, who was from Germany and came to the US as my father’s bride when he was stationed in Frankfurt in the late 1940s, had never seen such a pancake in her homeland. She learned the recipe from her mother-in-law, whose heritage was a mix of Native and French Canadian. Regardless of whether they’re German, they’re darn good eating, a hefty version of a large crepe, which can be eaten with maple syrup, or rolled up with jam (or whatever) inside. They were always a treat when I was growing up, and now the big treat for me is to see not only my children, but my grandchildren devour them.

(The second list)

Three lists of holiday books (a list of lists in a list of lists):

• On Goodreads, “Best Gay Winter-ish Holiday Romance”. I love the title, and this is a great big list, with more than 250 books.
• M/M Holiday Delights.”This is more than a list, really. A long series of cover-blurb-link type posts hosted by Melyna on her beautiful Books, Coffee, and Captured Moments blog. Delight-full. (heh!)
• My own tiny list, right here:The Christmas Wager by Jamie Fessenden, Finn’s Christmas by Angel Martinez, and (yes, of course I’m going to put my own book in here!) Falling Snow on Snow by Lou Sylvre.

(The third list)

Four winter holidays, with a tradition and song to go with each

• YuleTradition: Bonfire. Song: “Solstice Bells” by Jethro Tull
  Hanukkah Tradition: Menorah. Song: Maoz Tzur
  Eid Milad un-Nabi Tradition: Mawlid (festival). Song: Well, I’m not sure, but here’s a great article instead.
  Kwanzaa Tradition: Seven days, seven principles. Song: O Kwanzaa Christmas Tradition: Evergreen tree, decorated and lit. Song: Carol of the Bells”(this is the Pentatonix version, cool.