Holiday 2012
Vol. 5 No. 6
Back Issues available at SouthernHolidayLife.com
Holiday Features Holiday Outdoors 26 Creating Wedowee’s Gingerbread House: Creativity and Teamwork Inspire 30 Safety is Key When it Comes to Outdoor Lights: Safety Tips from TREC 34 Enhancing Your Front Entrance: How to Door Décor
36 Turning Trash into Christmas Treasure: Reclaiming Wood for the Holidays
Holiday Entertaining 16 Embrace the Outdoors When Decorating: Harvest Tablescape 20 Thanksgiving Feats: Harvest Recipes for Thanksgiving
40 Preparing for the Main Event: Christmas Eve Menu
46 Planning a Party in 8 Simple Steps: Holiday Party Tips
50 Tips a Caterer Won’t Tell You...Until Now: Catering Your Holiday Party 56 Get Creative When Decorating the Holiday Table: Holiday Table Settings 58 Southern Like Pecan Pie on Christmas Day: Christmas Day Menu 68 Decorations for 3 Holidays: Holiday Tablescapes
70 Bonding Over A Few Wild Grapes: Making Homemade Jelly
Holiday Traditions 14 I am Thankful: Words From Our Fans 32 Magic Elf Returns to Bring Holiday Fun: Elf Magic 38 Tips for Wonderful Holiday Photos: Photo Tips and Contest
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In Every Issue 10 12 18 62 72
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Letter from the Editor At a Glance Simply Fabulous Charley’s Treasures Creative Crafting
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44 Countdown to the 25th:
82 Marine Crops Christmas: A Family
Advent Calendar
54 Don’t Forget the Deeper Meaning of Christmas: 64 Holiday Traditions Carry on from One Generation to the Next 79 A Disney Magical Holiday: Road Trip
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Staying Connected
74 DIY Christmas Crafts Reclaimed Christmas Tree Holiday Owl Wreath Ribbon Tabletop Tree Merry & Bright Canvas Wall Art Christmas Ball Ornaments
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We asked our contributors to Holiday Memories . Leisel Caldwell
Kelly Caldwell
Leisel
Kelly
Our Annual Glass Family Smackdown on Christmas Eve Eve. Caldwells are in it to win it!
Playing “Hush Kitty” with all my cousins and my Great Aunt Rebeye on Christmas Eve
Charley Norton
My favorite Holiday was my daughters first Christmas.
Jessica Maher
As a child, one year we got a phone call from Santa. Our excitement was priceless!
Chris McEwen
My daughter's first Christmas.
Julie Shirley
Placing the angel on the top of the tree was my magical childhood Christmas tradition.
Amanda Causey
Our yearly trips to pick out a Christmas tree at the Farmer’s Market and the crazy rides home.
Darlene Bailey
When all the family would gather in on Christmas Eve.
Lavoy Caldwell
At my Grandmother Burson’s house, the whole extended family is there. All of us spend the night, and Santa Claus still manages to find us.
Dwight Burke
The whole family together cooking in the kitchen is my favorite holiday memory.
Keesha McEwen
Peggy Burke
The year I got my convertible Barbie car. Santa was so excited he came at midnight that year.
My favorite childhood holiday memory is my whole family piling in our van heading to my grandparents.
to share with us one of their favorite Amanda Boykin
Candice Helton
Drinking hot cocoa and singing Christmas songs while putting up our Christmas decorations.
Sitting around the tree every year with my grandmother wrapping present after present.
Emily Beaird Roach
Holly McKenzie
We always spent holidays @my grandmother's in Wedowee. we still go to Mama Rosa 's every Christmas.
My favorite memory is mealtime with my family at Grandma & Granddaddy's house.
Veronica Hawkins
Whitney Baugh
Making ornaments, wrapping presents, and baking goodies with my mom.
Our son had just turned 2 & I was pregnant with our daughter. We awoke to find a blanket of snow.
Turning Trash into Christmas Treasure Holiday Outdoors by Chris McEwen
I love unusual things. I always have had a knack for turning someone’s trash into a work of art. I never really planned on that love becoming what I did for a living. But as of late, the phrase “Love what you do, and Do what you love” has become a major inspiration in my professional life. I have begun to build furniture out of trash. Within the last 3 years I have stumbled upon an art form that I can do well and that I find interesting, it’s called upcycling. I call it an art form, but maybe its just a hobby. It is mainly reliant on wood reclaiming. Every board foot of wood that I save from the trash has its own history. Some of the wood I get is from pallets, a vast treasure trove of wood in it-
self. When I build things from wood, I like to utilize the natural beauty of the wood. Every detail of the individual pieces of wood create a woven pattern of beauty that comes together to form the final piece of artwork. Not every board is cut perfect from the mill. There are some flaws to every board which is used to create character. There is a small degree of satisfaction when you can reuse some old nasty wood and clean and reshape it into a functioning piece of furniture or décor. There are websites devoted to this on the internet. Usually people send me a picture of what they would like their furniture piece to look like and I try my best to incorporate the picture, their ideas and the wood’s “flaws”
into it. You can never get store bought wood to come with any history. Each reclaimed piece of wood I use has tons of history. Sometimes you will run into a nice straight piece of wood but it will be stained or dyed from some paint in it’s previous life, but that’s also just part of the wood’s personal history. Anyone can do Upcycling, just sometimes it takes a little work and creativity. Having the proper tools and equipment doesn’t hurt either. I have seen Coke bottles being turned into a roof for a shed, a whole “house” made from pallets, or even fishing lures made from bottle caps. Its fun to me because the limits are only what my imagination says they are.
We asked on our social media sites â&#x20AC;&#x153;What are you Thankful for?â&#x20AC;? Here are some of our favorite responses: Sandy Carol Smith: I am most thankful for my Family, My precious lil Princess Macie! When I was told that I might not ever get to have children, but GOD had other plans for me at age 36 I was blessed beyond words. She is my world GOD has been sooooooo Good to me! I thank him everyday for my Blessings!! Amy Richardson: I am thankful for dirty dishes and piles of clothes to wash. My children are growing up so fast and even though washing dishes and clothes seems like a never ending cycle, as long as I have them...I have my kids (and husband <3).
Stephany Dedman: I'm thankful first for the blood He shed for me. I'm thankful for my freedom and Liberty. I'm thankful for my sweet husband and all he does for me, and for our two beautiful girls that's all I need. I am Blessed! Heather Heard Huddleston: I am most thankful for God's aboundless love and blessings for me. It is because of Him that I have the opportunity to be thankful for the many other wonderful things in my life. He has blessed me with 3 smart and handsome boys, a wonderful husband, a very big family, everything I need and most of my wants
Creative Crafting By: Amanda Causey Christmas in Black & White A picture tells a thousand words, captures a moment in time and gives generations something to look back on. I enjoy seeing old photographs in black and white. My love for photography comes from my â&#x20AC;&#x153;Mama Lizâ&#x20AC;? who is rarely pictured in photographs I have since she was the photographer of the family. I wanted to find a way to display photos of loved ones during the holiday times. This basic evergreen wreath is decorated with ornate photo frames purchased at a local craft store. I used some scrap silver chiffon, cut them into three inch strips, and loosely wove them through the limbs. Add in some small elements that go along with your frames and a hint of color if you desire.
Photo Gift Tags Using photocopies of old photographs as gift tags is a great way to remember family members and a creative way to identify gifts under the tree. Use cardstock copies of photos and a gift tag paper punch. Loop twine/yarn through a hole punched at then end. Attach to the gift of the person photographed or make the tags part of the gift itself.
Southern Like Pecan Pie on Christmas Day
Christmas Day Menu Pumpkin French Toast Rounds Fruit Fondue Platter Arugula and fig winter salad Apple and Sage Roasted Chicken Duck and sausage gumbo Sautéed Green Beans, Edamame and Roasted Shallots With me being southern and all, I can’t let this holiday season pass by without sharing with you all a pecan pie recipe. It just wouldn’t be right. Some version of pecan pie can be seen at every house here in the South whether it is the good old fashion pecan pie, mini pies, pecan pie muffins or pecan pie bars. I would like to introduce you to the latest and greatest creation in the pecan pie series and that is a brownie pecan pie.
Combing two of my loves into one pie almost makes me weak at the knees. The best part about it isShhh! I don’t want to say this too loud and risk the wrath of my southern grandmother-the cake is basically semihomemade- as in the brownie layer comes from a box! Okay, seriously, no rolling your eyes. Even cooks with a passion for baking know when a box of brownie mix is called for over the homemade version. Sure you are
Holiday Entertaining by Jessica Maher
more than welcome to make the brownie layer from scratch- but why? A crispy buttery crust, a decadent sugary sweet pecan topping and a moist chewy brownie center will have everyone begging for morewhich could be a good and bad thing depending on how long you want your guests to stick around:) Pumpkin French Toast Rounds 2 large eggs 1/3 cup canned pumpkin 1 tsp baking spice 1/8 tsp salt ¼ cup half and half 2 TBSP sugar ½ loaf of day old French bread, cut into cubes In a large bowl mix together the first 6 ingredients. Toss in the bread cubes and coat well. Allowing the bread to rest in the liquid for 10-15 minutes to soak up all the flavor. Place 2 heaping handfuls of the bread cubes into a greased muffin tin. Sprinkle with a dash of cinnamon and bake at 350 for 15 minutes. Arugula and fig winter salad For the Salad: 1 ½ cups fresh arugula ½ cup fresh basil leaves 6-8 ripe figs, quartered ¼ cup glazed walnuts ¼ cup goat cheese For the dressing: 1 tsp Dijon mustard 1 tsp salt ½ tsp pepper 4 TBSP extra virgin olive oil 1 tsp honey 1 shallot, minced Instructions: Whisk together the dressing ingredients. Toss together the salad ingredients and serve with the dressing.