Holiday ornaments hold special memories

There are few yearly rituals more enjoyable to me than putting up my Christmas tree. Untangling strands of lights and unwrapping ornaments of years past is great fun and brings back wonderful memories of people, places, and special times.

Positioning packed-away ornaments on your tree can be a great family ritual, especially if some of those ornaments were fashioned by family members when they were children. Often holiday decorations contain valuable family history. The sight of them can bring nostalgia, wonderful memories, and welcome opportunities to recount those memories with younger generations.

Sometimes handmade tree trimmings are those we value most. For many of these ornaments, beauty is truly in the eye of the beholder. As a teenager decorating my family’s tree, I considered my childhood handmade ornaments tremendously unattractive. Horrid, actually. The painted Popsicle stick sleds and felt Santa faces were not my favorites to trim the Christmas tree. Oh, how I longed for something more sophisticated than yarn, paper, and glued-on glitter.

As an adult I feel differently. I remember making those ornaments in elementary school and at Girl Scout meetings. My favorites are the simplest—construction paper ornaments adorned with glued-on glitter, an opening in the middle for a picture from that school year. There’s no denying that these ornaments would look a bit out-of-place on the designer-dressed trees we see in department stores. However, if you’re building a Christmas tree from your memories, one ornament at a time, nothing is more beautiful.

The real value in our Christmas decorations and tree ornaments lies not in their external beauty but in the memories and meaning behind them, whether handmade or not. You may have ornaments that honor a child’s birth, an anniversary, or a special trip. Teachers have ornaments given by special students, and others by a special friend or to commemorate a milestone. For some, the most meaningful ornaments may be the precious few scraped up to dress their first grown-up Christmas tree.

Instead of searching out gifts that may be forgotten by next year, consider crafting handmade ornaments for some on your gift list. It’s sure to save money, and is likely more meaningful to the receiver than any gift you could buy. If you’re making ornaments with children, your time spent is an extra gift to them. For gift-giving, place several ornaments in a small, decorative holiday tin, and be sure to label each with the year.

Christmas ornaments can remind us of where we have been, but also of how far we have come. You don’t have to spend a lot of money to make great holiday memories. Sometimes, the best memories are homemade.

Holiday entertaining on a budget

A tight budget this holiday season doesn’t mean you can’t entertain friends, family and colleagues without breaking the bank.

The first order of business, of course, is to decide what sort of gathering you will have. Do you want to host a formal holiday meal, or do you just want to have people over for simple hors d’oeuvres?

Then set a budget and try to work within it. Start with a plan. Sit down and make a list of everything you’re going to need.

Food is usually the biggest expense associated with entertaining, so finding ways to save there can cut down significantly on your total cost.

One strategy is to thumb through sales circulars from local grocery stores and put together a menu based on the week’s best deals. Keep in mind that some stores have lower prices than others, and that some have sales on certain days of the week.

After assembling a grocery list, look for coupons in newspapers, magazines and on the Internet. Organize them by category to make it easier to figure out where you can combine savings with other offers to cut down on your bill.

By being creative and innovative, you can save big on table-settings and decorations. It’s kind of fun and eclectic and a little quirky to use mismatched plates and glasses. You can just coordinate your table with a color scheme and theme. Running short on flatware, plates or glasses? Try to borrow before you buy.

Place cards can be made out of all kinds of materials.  One of the easiest is card stock cut to the right size.

Create centerpieces and other decorations from items found in the backyard. Pinecones, branches and berries in a basket or a vase look nice and cost next to nothing.

Background music can come from CDs or sound files you already have or from a radio station you like; many stations even play holiday music suitable for a Christmas gathering.

Also, keep in mind that when money is tight, certain themes will produce far less strain on your budget than others. Hosting a potluck—providing the main dish and asking guests to bring a side dish, drinks or a dessert—is a money-saving way to entertain. Or you could do a cookie swap, for which guests bring a plate of cookies to share, a dozen bagged cookies to “swap,” and copies of the recipe.

Another frugal party idea is a popcorn and movie night. Make lemonade, pop popcorn—stove top is less expensive than the prepared microwave bags—have a variety of toppings, like cheese, cinnamon and sugar, butter, and rent a movie.  Lemonade from a packaged mix, iced tea, and coffee are all relatively inexpensive drink options for serving a crowd. Browsing magazines at the local library might inspire even more party ideas.

The bottom line? Even when you don’t have a lot to spend, you can still have fun entertaining family and friends.

Turkey Q & A

This time of year I get tons of turkey questions. Some of the questions are really good, and others are downright entertaining. I’ll share the questions and answers here. 

Question: I have a frozen turkey left from Thanksgiving last year. How long can you store a frozen turkey in the freezer and it still be good?

Answer:  A turkey that has remained frozen continuously will be safe to eat indefinitely. However, bird’s quality may have diminished. Experts suggest that a frozen whole turkey be stored  for up to 12 months without compromising quality. If you are considering using a year-old frozen turkey as the centerpiece of a holiday meal, I suggest using the existing turkey as an ingredient in soups or other dishes and purchasing a newer turkey to serve to your guests.  By the time it’s thawed and you can assess any possible freezer burn or other quality issues, it may be too late to buy and thaw another bird in time for the holiday.  

Question: I’m leaving town 10 days before Thanksgiving and won’t be back for over a week. Can I put my 20-pound turkey in the refrigerator to thaw while I’m gone?

Answer: No. After the turkey has thawed, it must be cooked within 1 to 2 days. It will take a 20-pound bird four to five days to thaw in the refrigerator (24 hours for every 5 pounds of turkey). If you start thawing upon leaving town you will be way beyond that window. Put the turkey in the refrigerator upon returning home.  If the turkey doesn’t thaw completely by Thanksgiving you can finish up thawing using a cold water bath.  You might also consider baking the turkey from the frozen state. It will take at least 50% longer than a fully thawed turkey (which will be a really long time for a 20-pound bird), but you won’t have to worry with the thawing time.

Thanksgiving Planning Timeline

No need to worry about planning the perfect holiday meal. This timeline will help save time, money, and your sanity in the weeks and days leading up to Thanksgiving festivities.  

One Month before the Meal

• Make menu plan
• Order your turkey, duck or ham
• Plan for centerpiece
• Plan table cover
• Bake cookies for snacks; cool, wrap and freeze
• Clean out your pantry. Toss any items that have expired or have questionable purchase dates.
• Clean out refrigerator and freezer

Two Weeks before the Meal

• Review menu plan
• Make shopping list
• Purchase any non-perishables
• Confirm guest list
• Prepare a test batch of any new recipe planning to use
• Bake, cook, and crumble bread for stuffing

One Week before the Meal

• Clean and organize refrigerator
• Bake and freeze pies
• Bake and freeze cake
• Prepare and freeze dinner rolls
• Remove turkey from freezer and refrigerate to defrost (24 hours thawing time for every 5 pounds of turkey)

Four Days before the Meal

• Check food supplies on hand
• Review menu plan
• Review grocery list
• Purchase needed items
• Check tableware
• Make cranberry sauce and refrigerate (if fresh cranberries are used)

Two Days before the Meal

• Purchase last-minute and perishable items
• Prepare centerpiece (if using silk flowers)
• Prepare congealed or marinated salad and refrigerate
• Stew giblets; cool and refrigerate (for gravy, if desired)

One Day before the Meal

• Put cranberry sauce in serving dish; cover and refrigerate
• Prepare vegetables; cool and refrigerate
• If serving ham, bake, cool and refrigerate it
• Set table
• Prepare centerpiece and place on table (if using fresh flowers)
• Put coffee water in pot; set aside
• Prepare tossed salad; cover and refrigerate

The Day of the Meal

• Prepare stuffing or dressing
• Remove rolls from freeze to rise
• Bake turkey and stuffing (plan to remove from the oven 30 minutes before serving time)
• Put sugar and cream into serving containers, cover (refrigerate cream)
• Chop giblets and make gravy; cool and refrigerate

One Hour before the Meal

• Heat vegetables and gravy
• Perk coffee
• Prepare tea
• Remove pies and cake from freezer

Last Minute Jobs before the Meal

• Place sugar, light cream, cranberry sauce on table
• Bake rolls
• Place other food items on the table
• Place pies in the oven to defrost

Immediately Following the Meal

• Refrigerate leftovers
• Clean kitchen
• Debone chicken or turkey (bones may be boiled and stock used to flavor soups, stews and gravies)

One Day after the Meal

• Plan use of leftovers:
  • Casseroles
  • Sandwiches
  • Salads