Holiday Countdown Day 23

[listener15]

DAY TWENTY-THREE

Movie
Today you get two movie recommendations. First is "Holiday Inn" a wonderful black and white musical movie from 1942 staring Fred Astaire and Bing Crosby. After Bing Crosby's character loses in love he goes to Connecticut where he opens an inn that's only open during the holidays. From there the story takes off. The second movie for today, "White Christmas" is a sort of remake of "Holiday Inn." The movie was supposed to reunite Astaire and Crosby but Astaire had retired so (after someone else pulled out) Danny Kaye was put into the other role. While "White Christmas" is fun, out of the two I say watch "Holiday Inn" if you only have one spot open in your TV viewing time.

Book
Today's book is a newer book, but oh so beautiful and wonderful. While "Santa Claus" by Rod Green is for kids, even the adults will be looking and reading this book. What is it about you ask? Well it tells all (almost all) the secrets of Santa! The route Santa takes, things about his suite, how his workshop looks... all sorts of fun stuff.

Song
So today's song is a classic Bing Crosby song. One that everyone knows... but something you probably didn't know was that this holiday must, "White Christmas," was actually a flop at first. It didn't do so well. But then came World War II and the part about "just like the ones I used to know" in the song had people thinking of Christmas' before the war. The song became a hit.

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Recipe
Today's cookie recipe is a must try for everyone. I saw this on foodnetwork (love that site, Mmmm...food porn) and decided to give it a shot. Holy moly. I made these for my gal's class and they didn't last until lunchtime. "Red Velvet Sandwich Cookies" By Paula Deen is WONDERFUL. This is the cookie you need to make if you only make one at Christmas time. NOTE: if you double the recipe you end up using a whole 1 fluid OZ of red food colouring, so just pour that whole bottle in. Also, if you double the cookie recipe, don't double the frosting. Yeah yeah, I hear you experienced bakers laughing at me. The moment I told my mom "well, I doubled the cookie recipe and it came out wonderful, so I doubled the frosting..." she started laughing at me and asked how many more dozens of cookies I could frost. Heh. On that note, I did end up making another double batch of cookies, didn't make any more frosting and used the frosting from my first try and it was enough. So double cookie recipe, don't double frosting. Make two double cookie batches, double the frosting. One more thing, the cookies come out kind of hard but the next day they turn a little more cakey. So make these cookies the day before. I didn't use the nuts because my gal doesn't like nuts and they still came out yummy yummy. I've got lots of people asking me to mail these cookies off to them. Trust me. They are THAT good. If that didn't convince you to try it, how about this:







Frak. Now I want one. I guess it's back to baking for me.

Last Minute Gift
You forgot someone. Uh oh. You need some quick, cheap, Christmas gifts! Never fear, here is a (very) short list of gifts that don't cost too much and are more than likely to be at the store.

First is a harmonica. A Harmonica? Yup, a harmonica. The type of harmonica you want to get is a "diatonic" harmonica (note: harmonicas are also called Mouth Harps or harps) in the key of C. This isn't as hard as it may sound. Most harmonicas in the store are diatonic and in the key of C. The other type of harmonica (and very pricey) is Chromatic, that you don't want. It's easy to see what they look like cause they have a button on the side.

Chromatic Harmonica:


Diatonic Harmonica:


There are harmonicas in other keys other than C, but C is the most popular. Now even diatonic harmonicas can get pricey.

The Horner Special 20 is pricey at about $25 (you can get it for $20 or $16 if you look around) but this may be too pricey for a beginner. You can find M Hohner's "Old Standby" for about $10 to $7. The Blues Band International sells for about $5 to $4. These last two are not bad for a beginner. They aren't the best out there and they will have to replace them in about a year (more or less depending on how often the play and such) but they are cheap enough that if they overblow and break it, it's not too expensive for them to get another one. (If you're giving something to someone who has played harmonica for a while, you're better off getting the Horner Special 20.) The best part? You don't have to buy them instruction books. There are many many site and youtube videos on how to play the harmonica. There's even a FANTASTIC site called harptabs.com (don't forget that s) that has free tabs for a lot of songs to practice with (if you need suggestions for instruction sites or songs to practice you can visit the harptabs.com forum or shoot me a message). And think, the harmonica doesn't take up much space! Not like say... the drums. And you can send them off to the park or backyard to practice if it gets too annoying.

Second gift, an art kit. Now these can get expensive. At least the ones you buy put all together. All this kit really needs in some pencils (just your plain old number 2s work wonderfully or you can buy them a little kit that has some of the different ones with an eraser and sharpener) and a sketch pad. There are a lot of sketch books out there, so if the person you're giving this to hasn't drawn much or at all, get one of the "Biggie" sketch books. They are usually pretty cheap and come with a LOT of paper. Beginners should feel comfortable with their supplies and a lot of times an expensive nice sketch book with a limited amount of pages is scary... but one with a lot of paper isn't. Joanns, Michaels, and Hobby Lobby all have coupons you can print out and use and Michaels and Hobby Lobby have "cheap" store brand stuff that would be perfect for getting someone new to art. But what if you're getting something for someone who already does all this? More paper is never a bad thing. The Biggie or one nice one is always needed by an artist.

Third gift, and you guys are going go roll your eyes at me, but just head on over to the craft store and get one of those "I Taught Myself Knitting!" (or crochet, I love to crochet) kits. If the person can walk and talk, or tie their shoes... or get up in the day and get dressed, they can knit or crochet. Just like anything, it takes practice to learn but it is a fun hobby for a boy or girl. The only thing missing from those kits is yarn, so just pick up a skein of cheap, brightly coloured (bright so it's easier to see the stitches) yarn (get them "I Love This Yarn!" from Hobby Lobby if you're there, or just some cheap Red Heart if you're somewhere else). If you print out a coupon (easy to get and find) you can get the kit and yarn for around $10. If you go to JoAnns and you are getting for a guy, there is a "Crochet Dude" kit if you're worried about how "manly" this idea is.

Fourth gift. Gift card. Hate to say it, but sometimes you just don't know what to get someone. And while it may seem like a cheating thing to do, a gift card can be wonderful for someone. It maybe enough for them to try a new craft or it could be enough off something "expensive" for them to get it. Don't be afraid of gift cards.

Last gift idea, the gift of your time. I know hooky. But it's true. Sometimes I person just wants to spend some time with you. So make them a pretty coupon that says you'll spend the day with them. Go to lunch. Go to the zoo. Go to an art show. Go ice skating. Whatever they want to. Heck, maybe take a class with them (like an art class, or photography, or singing, or dancing... the list is endless). This is especially great to give parents. I know how much mine look forward to when I go visit. It's never the gift, it's the fact you had to come over to give it to them. Memories with those you love is something you can't replace or make up. If this is too weird, then give them an empty scrapbook that the two of you are going to fill up. Honestly, it is something they'll treasure.

Fanfiction
Today's fanfic is a sweet wonderful fic from the Xenaverse, but it's an Uber. "A Midnight Clear" by Blue. I was going to do a quick summary of it, but I don't want to spoil anything. But go read it!

Art/Photos