I’ve been a little delayed on my blog posts. I think it’s a combination of recovering from my Thanksgiving food coma, the start of holiday shopping and preparing for Christmas. I don’t know about you, but 2020 seems like a time warp. The year has flown by, but dragged at the same time. I chalk it up to it being a pandemic year where nothing is normal. With that said, last week, we finally started getting ready for Christmas 2020.
Prep at the Grube house begins with dragging up the numerous totes of Christmas stuff from the basement. We get out the various Santa, Snowmen and candles and place them around the living room. We string garland around the picture window and around our banister where we hang our stockings. And then there’s the Christmas Putz (a word I’d never heard until I met my husband). It’s basically a Christmas Village or scene. We have 2: one on our bookcase and one in the picture window. And as usual, my kids clog up the putz with Matchbox car traffic jams and cotton balls to represent snow. We got everything placed last week, now all we need is the tree.
Obtaining the tree is a whole experience in and of itself. When I grew up in North Jersey, we’d head up to the Millbrook Fire House in Randolph and pick a tree from their selection in the parking lot. We always found a great tree and supported the firehouse all at once. When I was older and I moved to PA with my mom, we got a fake tree that went up the day after Thanksgiving and stayed up until the first week of January. Both the firehouse tree and the fake tree were perfectly acceptable to me, but that was blasphemy once I joined the Grube clan. Matt was appalled that anyone would go for a pre-cut or fake tree. He introduced me to the tradition of going out to breakfast, then heading to the tree farm, freezing your behind off while you search for that perfect tree, cutting the tree down yourself, and then bringing it home to “fill out” for a day before you decorate it. I will admit, the beauty and scent of a freshly cut tree is awesome, but it’s a process, and an important tradition to my husband and now to our kids. The tree hunt is on our schedule for this weekend.
I also traditionally bake a ton of cookies for Christmas (have I ever mentioned how much I dislike baking?). Growing up, I would always bake an assortment of cookies to give to my friends at school. When I became a mother, this tradition was important to share with my kids. My mother-in-law also set the bar pretty high, so Matt expects a delicious assortment of cookies every year. And a few years ago, I came up with the idea to host a Cookie Swap amongst my good friends. Everyone would come over with some of their own cookies to share. I’d make a bunch of yummy appetizers and usually a festive drink. We would sit and laugh, eat and hang out. And I’d put out plain sugar cookies for the kids to decorate and a hot chocolate bar. When everyone got ready to leave for the night, they would take some of all the cookies that were brought, going home with a huge assortment of goodies. Thanks to COVID, the Cookie Swap is taking a different turn this year. We are making it virtual and gathering on Zoom to share recipes, hang out, eat and drink. I may have a few fun games and prizes for us. For my local friends, I will be making cookie and yummy drink deliveries ahead of the event and there will be a virtual cookbook containing all the recipes shared that will be available for all to download.
Speaking of yummy drinks, this year I ventured out to make a few great seasonal beverages that I’ve enjoyed with friends over the years. The first of these is Coquito, which is like a Puerto Rican version of eggnog, but with an amazing coconut flavor. It’s made with rum, coconut milk, coconut cream, evaporated milk, and condensed milk. I’ve known about Coquito for as long as I can remember. Many of my closest friends growing up, and now, are of Puerto Rican descent, and they will tell you that this drink is a staple of the culture at Christmas time. One of Matt’s co-workers used to make some for us every year, but we haven’t had it since he switched jobs a few years ago. This year, I put out the call to my friends for recipes so that I could try to make my own. Last weekend, I made up a batch with a recipe from my friend Cely and this weekend and I will try another recipe from my friend Maryellen. If you haven’t tried it, you should. It’s a delicious drink, and far better than eggnog, in my opinion.
The second drink that I made for the first time last weekend was Boilo. This is a regional beverage out of Schuylkill County, PA with Polish and Lithuanian roots. The beverage is traditionally made with fruits like oranges and lemons, spices like nutmeg, allspice, and cinnamon, and Four Queens whiskey and served warm. Of course, there are great variations of it, like blueberry and apple pie. No matter what kind you have, a little bit of Boilo will do you because it packs a big punch! I was introduced to this delight by my friends Mike and Sara Siro. In normal times, they host a fantastic Boilo party at their gorgeous Victorian home in Pottsville, PA up the street from the Yuengling Brewery. Mike puts out a fantastic spread of delicious food (like me, he is a total foodie) and Sara amazes everyone with her Christmas decor that looks like it came right out of a magazine. In fact, you can check out their gorgeous house on their Facebook and Instagram pages called 14th & Flourish.
Next on my list to get ready for Christmas is to finish my shopping, ship gifts to my family in Washington D.C., North Carolina and Florida and plan my Christmas dinner menu. Christmas Eve dinner is set and we will have roasted leg of lamb, roasted potatoes, and creamed spinach, just like my mom used to make. For Christmas day, I always make 2 casseroles for breakfast , one savory and one sweet. For dinner, I usually make Prime Rib, but this year, my little Foodie Nate has requested Beef Wellington. I’ve never made one before, but I do love a good kitchen challenge, so we will give it a crack.
Hopefully, you all have your holiday prep well underway. Despite this being a crazy year, I hope that you are all excited for the next few weeks. In addition to the traditions of years past, why not start a new tradition this year? Let’s end this memorable year on a high note! Until next time…
I LOVE this!