When I was young during the holidays we tried to get a tree in the woods. The snow was three feet deep in the mountains we got stuck, we had to buy a tree that year. One family we knew would get one from the farm they usually ended up with a ‘Charlie Brown’ tree that was to be thinned so the other trees would have more room these sad looking little trees were just as loved as the expensive ones from the expensive tree lots in town. I remember doing this with your dad and aunt one year and the dog we went to a tree farm and selected a tree.
Later that tree farm closed after they sold off all the trees it became a gold course for a while any way. It’s on the way to Missoula and we talk about it almost every time we go that way.
Other things we did was to go to the boat parade late November now it used to be in December right before Christmas but got so cold people quit doing that and they started doing it again this year and moved it up.
When we were kids we would go to the Santa parade early December. Santa came to town on a fire truck and his helper elves passed out bags of candy for all the kids. We lived in a small town and the city council did this with the help of the volunteer fire department we all got tickets for the event at school.
My mom was from the south and an excellent cook, her mom {my grandma} made peanut brittle from peanuts they had grown for us one year. I’d never seen home grown peanuts before being from the north.
My mom and other grandma both had restaurant cooking experience with pies bread rolls etc. food was one of the focal points of the holiday pies and other baked gooey goodies were the highlight of the season. They did not make home made candy fudge etc. but did dip some pretzels, nuts, Ritz and peanut butter crackers, in candy coating, put with cookies as a gift on a plate this was a hit
with all who received it. Another year she made up bread and it was given on a home made bread board a family member had hand crafted in the shop that fall.
December was one of the best months of the year for me because sledding season would begin on our new sled with mittens Gram had knitted going down the hills in our town and then coming home mom and gram would have hot cocoa waiting for us!
Another year when I was in jr. high we went to the other side of the state [Washington] where a great uncle of mine had and apple orchard in Wenatchee, grandma could not stand to see the apples on the ground going to waste so we picked up apples and those went into pies that grandma made that thanksgiving and Christmas that season.
I bake cookies up from the dough you can buy and make up several kinds I used to call myself “the slice and bake cookie queen”. I’ve even been known to show up at a track met with some and all the kids on the team would call me mom! At Christmas I mix in some sugar cookies that I’ve got from the store and mix them in the cookie tin sometimes it’s been returned for a “refill” and we take these to gatherings of friends family and groups clubs and other meetings at work.
One year even participated in a “cookie exchange party” it was a bit of a disappointment for me that year because it was the year the oven went out I had to order mine from a bakery they were excellent but I caught flack from the other gals there. Mine were better than some that were awful and tasted like smoke! Yuck! Those had to be tossed.
Special memories I have from when I was little one of my favorite Christmas memories was being in a Christmas pageant at Church complete with costumes, the one that stands out in my mind the most was the year I got to be an angel and we went in costume and stood in a field they took slides, still pictures of us, and showed these as someone read the Christmas story, on Christmas Eve. The Christmas Eve service was one of the best most attended services of the year, one year in high school I went to midnight mass with my friends. Came home and our folks would the all night toy assembly!
Now days I add peanuts to Chex snack mix and put it in jars and everyone loves it. I get a few bags ahead that I’ve sewn up, or put in jars usually plastic and bring these to gatherings of family and friends. Something fun I did this year was to pick black berries when grandpa was fishing and gave them to friends in the neighborhood I see on my walk. They love ‘em for pies cobbler and other holiday baking. I’m happy because I made room for the turkey!
This year I found out about a children’s book called Fancy Nancy maybe you have seen these at the School library I would have loved to get those when I was a kid!
