Polar bears know how to live

First day back at work?  Don’t want to return to your regularly scheduled life after slowing down for Christmas?  Fear not!  I have a message for us from Carl Honoré, an expert in living slow during the rest of the year:

“Well done, Slow Christmasers, for slowing down the holidays this year!  Christmas has been infected by the virus of hurry. We’ve turned it into a festival of stress, over-shopping and over-eating. It should be the opposite — relaxed, simple and slow.  I encourage you to think about ways to incorporate slow into your life year-round, and wish you the best of luck in your journey.”

But where to start?  Here are a few resources I’m using to slow down my own life:

• In Praise of Slowness, by Carl Honoré, HarperOne, 2005

This is a book that has changed the way I think about the world, and my place in it. It’s not preachy or didactic.  Carl just shares with the reader his own wake up call:  wanting to buy 60 second versions of the classic bedtime stories to speed up reading to his son at bedtime.  He tells the stories of people around the world who practice slow food, slow parenting, slow driving, even slow sex, and how they got there.  His hilarious TED talk is how I first discovered him, but you can also watch a video of Arianna Huffington talking to Carl about the book, which was picked for the Huffington Post book club’s first book last fall. And if you like the book, you can read Carl’s blog and check out his peeps at SlowPlanet.org for a regular fix.

• The Center for a New American Dream

New American Dream is a great resource for ideas about slowing down your life. They have an alternative gift registry, a My New Dream community of 126,000 people nationwide (think my.barackobama.com for the simple life), and a nifty downloadable wallet buddy to help you spend wisely. They even have a Simplify the Holidays project.

• Take Back Your Time

These folks sponsor an annual Take Back Your Time day on October 24.  An excerpt from their agenda, which you can endorse:  “The U.S. has the longest working hours in the industrial world. The average European puts in nine fewer weeks on the job each year than Americans do. While the Chinese have a mandated three weeks of paid leave, Australians four, and Europeans 4 to 5 weeks, the U.S. has no minimum paid leave law…It is time for the United States to join all other industrial nations in guaranteeing that our nation’s tremendous productivity be used to allow Americans freedom from overwork, stress and burnout.”

• The Omnivore’s Dilemma, by Michael Pollan, Penguin, 2007

If food is your entry point, and you haven’t already read this book or its sister one, In Defense of Food, it will probably become your bible. It’s a fascinating romp through the history of agribusiness, and it profiles a few folks who have opted out of industrial food. For a semi-regular fix, you can read Pollan’s excellent (but a bit zealous) contributions in The New York Times.  Also, for the community behind the man, check out Slow Food USA, and the Italian mothership, Slow Food.

• Voluntary Simplicity: Toward a Way of Life that is Outwardly Simple, Inwardly Rich, by Duane Elgin, Quill, 1998

This guy was way ahead of his time when he first wrote this book in 1981. It started a movement, which you can check out at The Simple Living Network.  I haven’t read this book yet, but it’s at the top of my list for the new year.  If you read it, let me know what you think!

• “Fresh Start for a New Year? Let’s begin in the kitchen”, Mark Bittman, New York Times, 1/6/09

Staples I now make that I used to buy for highway robbery prices to pocketbook, health, and environment:  dried beans, bread crumbs, broth, salad dressing, pasta.  This article is a great place to start. Tip: the freezer is your friend. Put tablespoons of leftover tomato paste in ice trays to freeze, then pop them out and into baggies so you’ll never be without. Put leftover bread of all kinds in a gallon freezer bag:  the next time you want bread crumbs, just pop some in the blender and pulse, et voila!  I also found a great recipe for homemade wheat pasta that doesn’t require machinery. The best advice I can give is don’t try to do it all at once.  Take on one slow food technique a month, and adjust it so it works for you. Extreme slow fooding is about as helpful in the long run as crash dieting.

These are the people that have inspired me. Anything else you’ve found helpful? Please share with us.

And now I must say goodbye.  I’ll be thinking of you often throughout the year, dear Slow Christmasers. Be sure to make your requests for next Christmas in the poll to your right. And when things get rough, don’t forget to stop, think, and drop.

Keeping Slow Christmas in my heart,

Porter

"All the Whos down in Whoville, they sang just the same."

You did it! You kept Christmas slow this year.  Before you go enjoy it with your family and friends, I want you to bask for a moment in the glow of your creativity and warmth. You made Slow Christmas a success:  over 6,000 people visited the website and the Facebook page this year, and it wasn’t to hear me pontificating.

You shared your ideas, your childhood memories, and your vision of what Christmas should be.

You are Margaret Mead’s small group of thoughtful, committed citizens who will change the world.

You are also the best Christmas present I have ever received.

It would be impossible to capture them all, but here are a few of my favorites from you:

Slow Christmas experiences

“In Baltimore there is one street that does [lights] for everybody – 34th Street in Hampden. See http://www.christmasstreet.com/ When I lived in Baltimore it was a great Christmas tradition to take a stroll down 34th Street checking out all the different light displays. My favorite was the artist who made a tree out of hub caps.” – Jon, website

“Practically the only Christmas ritual I have anymore is to listen to the Choir of King’s College Cambridge perform its oft-imitated but never surpassed Festival of Lessons and Carols, broadcast on NPR every Christmas Eve at around noon. It is heavenly– for real.” – Eleanor, Facebook

“[White Christmas is] a classic to be sure, but my strongest memory associated with this film is the 10 year old me walking around my house singing ‘And LORD help the SISter who comes between me and my MAN!’” – Sarah, Facebook

Slow Christmas gifts

“I’ll join the cause! It’s near to my heart. Here’s one idea: don’t ever ever buy wrapping paper again. Use the comic pages in the newspaper, or use the regular sections of the paper and color, draw or collage on them. Since we’ll all be exchanging fewer presents, it won’t be much of a burden. And another idea: If you plan to give a gift certificate, tickets or something else in envelope, don’t use a store-bought envelope. Use a page from a glossy magazine to make the envelope. Cosmetic ads make great envelopes – there’s usually a lot of space on the face to write on if you fold them correctly.” – Gail, website

“I just saw a neat idea on a friend’s Facebook status: She and her husband only do stockings for each other for Christmas, no other big presents. I’m assuming they do presents for the kids, but what a great way to cut back without completely cutting out gifts all together.” – Karen, website

“For the past three years or so, my family and I have slowed things down for the holidaze. When I moved to DC traveling expenses became high. So we’ve cut back on gift giving and focused on what a blessing it is to “slow down” and spend time together. We all have such busy lives that it is a special occasion when we can spend time together…Voila! A Holiday Bake Party was born. The idea is to bake from scratch a large amount of baked-goods and invite your loved ones to your home to share them with you. After the feasting is over, pack-up festive take-home boxes of the “goods” for your guests to take home as a gift.” – Fernanda, Facebook

Slow Christmas with kids

“I started thinking about a less commercial Christmas a few years back when my husband and I were facing serious financial difficulty. But times got better and more spending and stuff started creeping back in. Then we had our first son 2 years ago, and it really forced me to reexamine how we were celebrating the holidays and what I wanted our kids (and us) to take away from this time of year. So we’re making presents for each other, and filling the rest of the space under the tree with a big basket of Christmas/winter-themed children’s books. We’ll be spending lots of time in PJs reading, making Christmas cookies, and watching our favorite Christmas movies…” - Emily, website

“A couple in our church told us how they control Christmas for their 3 year-old son. They give him just three Christmas presents, because, they explain to him, that is how many gifts the Christ child got. One of the gifts might be sort of large and extravagant, the “gold” gift, the others more modest, more reasonable. They can’t fully control what relatives might give, but they hope to constrain things by setting this example. They got this idea from someone in another church, they said. It seems an eminently sensible and focused way to deal with Christmas giving. There is a Scriptural basis, it focuses the child on the spiritual reason for the season, it provides a philosophical constraint on materialism that a kid can understand and identify with.” - Ron, website

I was reading picture book versions of the Laura Ingalls Wilder stories to my toddler.  The Christmas story is striking: each child was delighted with new red mittens and a big piece of striped peppermint candy. It was also Laura’s year to get a rag doll.  That’s it. Different expectations.  Time with family and special treats, that’s enough for a great Christmas. - Eden, Facebook [For a real treat, read all the Little House memories this inspired.]

A Feminist Slow Christmas

“Hear, hear! That’s what killed Christmas for me back in the 1970s–all those fraught gift decisions and extra decorating and entertaining and the stress of getting it all right on top of the normal responsibilities of job and family and home. Of course, I grew up reading my mother’s Ladies Home Journal and the odd Better Homes and Gardens and Family Circle in the 1950s. And my husband was conditioned to those rigid gender roles, too. Small wonder I recognized Martha Stewart as the last straw the minute she began showing us how to make-our-own-everything ten times fancier a few decades later. I headed for the nearest exit, throwing the Christmas baby out with the bath. Slowing Christmas down to a more manageable pace might be worth a try for this recovering Christmas-o-phobe. Thanks for the tips and words of encouragement!” – Sherrill, website

A Slow Food Christmas

“My Christmas dinner is going to be extra Slow this year. I’m making a traditional Mexican feast using recipes I just learned while studying Mexican cooking in Puebla, Mexico. I’ve always said that I was glad I wasn’t born a Mexican or Greek grandmother because though the foods are delicious, the preparation of these traditional foods takes forever!” – Meadow, website

“We’ll definitely try the baked eggs recipe. We’re huge sausage-making fans and have found that spinach is extremely easy to grow in the garden. We hope to keep our own hens next year, so we’ll have most of the ingredients close at hand.” – City Smallholder, website

“Oh, this fake-cookie baking thing makes me so sad! One of the greatest joys of my life these days is baking with my two-year-old son. The sensory experience of getting to taste a little bit of each of the ingredients, and the big-boy empowerment of getting to do the stirring (what a great job he did on this for our Thanksgiving pumpkin pie!) — he loves it all and is learning so much. This week he learned the word “recipe” and seems to get that the words in the cookbook are telling us how to make the goodies. I would not trade any of this for all the convenience in the world.” – Karen, Facebook

“Karen, your comment inspired me to make a pumpkin pie w/ my 2-yr-old today! Baking/cooking’s kinda high stress for me, so I usually have her play in the sink, color, or nap while I do any, w/ tiny bits of her “help” or spice smelling. The pie was a great starter project. Thanks!” – Eden, Facebook

Merry Slow Christmas, everyone, and thanks.  More to come before the New Year…

Italian Baked Eggs

any old casserole dish (individual ramekins or petite gratins if you want to go upmarket)
Italian sausage, meaty dark mushrooms, or soysage
10-12 eggs (make them local or free range organic if you don’t normally splurge)
1 can whole tomatoes
fresh spinach
parmesiano reggiano cheese (grated from a little chunk, try to avoid the Kraft green cylinders)
fresh herbs (you pick, the Italians work well:  basil, thyme, oregano…)

Cook the sausage in a skillet, you can cook it with onions if you want but not necessary.  In a large pyrex, or individual ramekins, put a layer of sausage/soysage on the bottom.  Scatter whole tomatoes on top of that layer, with a little bit of their juice.  Put a thick layer of spinach on top of that (it’ll cook down a lot).  Sprinkle some parmesan, and some of the herbs.  Place more whole tomatoes on top of that, and maybe more parmesan, and then crack eggs on top of everything.  The whole tomatoes will stick up taller than the rest, so I kind of crack the eggs into the little valleys between tomatoes, trying to keep the yolk intact like you would a fried egg.  Stick in the oven between 350 and 400 degrees, and bake until the tops of the eggs look a little shiny and have the occasional brown spot.  Could take anywhere between 15 and 30 minutes depending on your oven.  You can also put them under the broiler at the last minute if you want the eggs more well-done, almost hard-boiled, but don’t overdo it or the eggs will get dry and crackly.

Serve with crusty bread.

Baked Alaska

[Note: Here is an authentic recipe, from the Time Life Books Foods of the World Series, American Cooking recipe book, 1968. I am not wild about their cake recipe, so feel free to use any cake recipe you like. Also, Baked Alaska comes in all kinds of shapes, so feel free to experiment. You can use a round cake pan, you can also mold the ice cream into a glacial peak. Finally, the choice of ice cream and jam combination is up to you -- I like french vanilla and marmalade, but chocolate cake and raspberry jam would also be delicious. Just make it your own.]

2 tbsp soft butter
4 egg whites
pinch salt
1/4 cup sugar
4 egg yolks
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1 cup orange marmalade or apricot preserves
1-2 tbsp orange juice
1 quart vanilla ice cream, slightly softened
wax paper
8 egg whites at room temperature
pinch of salt
3/4 cup superfine sugar
slivered almonds and maraschino cherries (optional)

Brush a tablespoon of soft butter over the bottom and sides of an 11×16 inch Pyrex pan. Line the pan with wax paper and let the extra paper extend over the ends of the pan.  Brush the remaining butter over the paper and scatter a handful of flour over it.  Tip the pan from side to side to spread the flour evenly.  Then turn the pan over and rap it sharply to dislodge the excess flour.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  In a mixing bowl, beat the egg whites and salt until they form soft, wavering peaks. Add the sugar, two tablespoons at a time, and beat until the whites cling to the beater solidly when it’s lifted out of the bowl. In another small bowl, beat the egg yolks for about a minute, then add the vanilla.  Mix a large tablespoon of the whites in the yolks, then pour the mixture over the remaining egg whites. Fold together, adding the 1/2 cup flour, two tablespoons at a time. [Note: this is more an art than a science, don't get hung up on the Fifties precision of it all.]

Pour the batter into the pyrex pan and spread it out evenly.  Bake in the middle of the oven for about 12 minutes, or until the cake draws slightly away from the sides of the pan, and a small knife inserted in its center comes out dry and clean. Turn the cake out on a sheet of wax paper, then gently peel off the top layer of paper.  Let the cake cool and cut it in half cross-wise.  Spread one layer with the cup of marmalade or apricot preserves (if it is too thick, whisk into it 1 or 2 tablespoons of orange juice) and place the second layer on top.  Mold the softened ice cream on a sheet of aluminum foil into a brick the length and width of the cake.  Wrap in the foil and freeze until solid again.

About 10 minutes before serving, make the meringue. First, preheat the oven on broil.  Then, beat the egg whites and salt until they form soft peaks.  Still beating, slowly pour in the sugar, and continue to beat for about 5 minutes, or until the egg whites are stiff and glossy. Remove the ice cream from the freezer and place it on top of the cake on a flat, ovenproof baking dish. Mask the cake and ice cream on all sides with the meringue, shaping the top as decoratively as you like. Sprinkle slivered almonds on top of the meringue.  Slide the cake under the broiler for 2 to 3 minutes, and watch it carefully, it burns easily. The meringue should turn a pale golden brown in 2 to 3 minutes. Decorate with maraschino cherries if desired. Serve at once before the ice cream begins to melt.

The White House at Christmas

One of the things Washingtonians take for granted is that our town, in addition to being where we live and work, is also where the President lives. I got invited through work to the White House Christmas open house yesterday.  For all you Slow Christmasers out there who love a little Christmas porn, I’ll try to capture everything about the visit, and make you feel like you were there.

Outside, we waited in line in the bitter cold for an hour and a half, in anxious anticipation. Little kids brought by their parents to see some history in action were stamping their feet and chasing each other around the stationary grown-ups.

Once we made it inside, I was amazed at how small everything is up close. The State dining room is actually pretty intimate, though the placard said the room could be rigged to hold 140 people.

The State Dining Room

The White House gingerbread house, however, seemed larger than life. The house this year is made with 140 pounds of gingerbread and 250 pounds of white chocolate. The surface looked so smooth and buttery, I was sorely tempted to lick it, just a little, to verify that it was white chocolate and not marzipan or some other gross baking cheat. But, remembering myself (and my career) I managed to stay behind the rope. After all, what kind of an Administration would stoop to calling something chocolate if it was really marzipan? It would be cruel and unusual.

Complete with a tiny Bo, and Michelle's vegetable garden with marzipan radishes

Michelle Obama had the idea this year to send all the old glass presidential ornaments that had accumulated over the years around the country to be repurposed and designed by Americans, then hung on the main tree in the White House.  There’s a Georgia Peach covered in peach papier-maché, a blue Native American ornament with suede fringe, and a few covered in little kid drawings.

The main attraction

Another tree with the gold leaves, which I may or may not have stared into for 10 minutes.

You are getting fery sleeepy...

And finally, a room where it’s Christmas all year round:  The Red Room.

Decorated with cranberries, natch.

I will say that without the Obama family in the tableau, all that holiday decoration seemed like it was waiting for its big moment. My guess is that upstairs in the living quarters is where the real Christmas spirit in the building resides.  You can almost picture it, Sasha and Malia hanging their childhood stockings brought from Chicago, Barack reminding them teasingly about the threat of coal, and Grandma Robinson rolling her eyes just in case they actually believed him. My guess is, upstairs looks a lot like it does in houses all around the country. Messy, exuberant, and eagerly awaiting the best morning of the year.  Signing off, your Slow Christmas special correspondent.

Cats: when you need a nudge to live in the moment

But I’ll let you in on a secret:  the more we wind ourselves up, the longer it takes to wind down.  It’s what we Americans do:  we push ourselves to work longer, save up more, then spend it all on a blowout vacation to somewhere we can sit around for a whole week and do absolutely nothing.  The trouble is, when we get there, relaxing feels foreign to us.  And just when we start to get used to slowing down, it’s time to go back to work. When we get back, the memory of our vacation makes it harder to submit once again to the breakneck pace of daily life. Christmas is no different for most of us.

So what about if this year, rather than speeding-up-so-we-can-slow-down, we head off this madness right now? Here are 3 steps to help:

1. When you notice your mind racing and making lists, stop. Take ten slow breaths in a row, counting all the way to five as you inhale, taking another 5 to exhale. This is almost a cliché at this point, but believe me when I tell you, there’s a reason it’s become one.  Deep breaths actually send signals to your brain that trigger an “everything is okay now” response in your body.  This gives you an opportunity to slow down and take stock.

2. Ask yourself, is this a situation where my need for speed is legitimate, i.e. am I being pursued by bears? As the original fast American would be the first to tell you, there are some things worth breaking a sweat for:

Paul Revere galloping, 1775

But, if you find that you’re rushing to make an appearance at two holiday parties in the same night, or to pick up pink furry slippers for your sister-in-law at the mall, you may want to do a spot-check on your priorities. Your friends and loved ones will understand if you can’t make it to every party. And your sister-in-law may turn out to hate the color pink, but really want your recipe for snickerdoodles instead.

3.Take a look at your to-do list.  Cross 2 things off. Go on, do it.  Then, see if anyone notices that you didn’t do them this year. It’s a hard lesson to swallow for those of us who pay attention to detail, or have a perfectionist streak. But if you’re serious about slowing down your Christmas, you have to prioritize.  Frankly, some errands are just more important than others.  (Having planned a wedding not too long ago, there are a million details that couples can exhaust themselves getting right.  But when we decided not to send save-the-date postcards, or make a seating chart, no one even noticed.)

Try not to skip any steps, or it won’t work.  Let me know how it goes, and I’ll let you know how I do.  Now that you’ve done the hardest part, go forth and create Christmas memories!

My mom is a thwarted artist, and she’s always drawing on something, loose leaf margins, the back of receipts, whatever’s around.  For years when we were little, on the weekends leading up to Christmas, she would bring home old card stock pieces from work, cut them into rectangles with a paper cutter, and we would sit by the fire or in front of the TV and make bookmarks to give to everyone on our list.

It was the only time of the year where Mom would bring out those precious commodities, the gold and silver markers. When no one was looking, my older sister would pump the tip until gold spilled out in a pool on the paper, and stare at all that mesmerizing gold. As the youngest, I liked to make a show of my neatness, to prove that I could keep up. My other sister had a delicate hand, and hers were ethereal and pretty. But we all loved our mom’s the most: they were exercises in symmetry and repetition, like a cross between M.C. Escher and William Morris wallpaper.

I remember making the bookmarks much more than actually giving them to people. But even years later, I would see a bookmark one of us made in the seam of a relative’s book.

What you’ll need:

card stock (any color, something like this)
markers, one silver, one gold (I like this one)
colored pencils

Cut the card stock into your favorite size (2×8″ works well).  Put down some newspaper or printer paper, so you can draw to the edges with the markers, and go to town. Don’t worry about whether it’s the most beautiful thing in the world – the point is to create and have a little fun. There’s no statute of limitations to the thought being what counts, it applies as well at 3 years old or 30.

"One red Christmas ball ornament and Linus' blanket are included to complete the nostalgic look." $7.99

Want to celebrate the spirit of the Charlie Brown Christmas special?  Now you can buy a replica of Charlie Brown’s forlorn little tree that’s machine-calibrated to be imperfect!

Now might be a good time to ask:  why do we love A Charlie Brown Christmas so much?

Maybe it’s because we see a little of  ourselves in the characters:

Charlie Brown, the first cartoon character to ever admit that he gets depressed around the holidays, bringing relief to those of us who feel the same way.

Lucy, with her pragmatic and prescient remark that “Everyone knows Christmas is run by a Big Eastern Syndicate now.”

Sally, who in her letter to Santa, asks “How about tens and twenties?”, is the ultimate materialistic kid. (Let she among us who did not covet the Barbie Corvette cast the first stone.)

Maybe it’s also because the moral of the story resonates with us on some deep level:  even though the way we celebrate Christmas may have lost its way in the modern world, we can still remember the true meaning of Christmas, and that spirit reminds us to be good to one another.

Returning to the 18-inch artificial Charlie Brown tree. Now, I have nothing against artificial trees per se — the jury is out on whether a real or fake tree is kindest to the environment.  But the notion that you can celebrate the spirit of A Charlie Brown Christmas by buying a replica of the imperfect, non-commercial tree that Charlie rescues from the aluminum tree lot is, frankly, nuts. What about buying a cheap knockoff made to mimic the imperfections of the natural world says goodwill toward men, and love for the rough majestic beauty of conifers in winter?

In the story, Charlie, feeling unloved and unwanted during the Christmas season, sees a little tree that’s also unloved and unwanted. He has a “small-C” Christian impulse to show the tree a little love, and he hopes that forgiving the tree its forlorn state, he too will be shown forgiveness by his friends. Like the forlorn Mary and Joseph from the Bible story, who before they are exalted and the angels sing, are also unloved and unwanted in Bethlehem on a cold night. This, we learn from Linus later in the episode, is the true meaning of Christmas. Right?

Now, for folks who’d like to celebrate Charlie Brown’s noble impulse, I will refer you to the example of Licking Creek Bend Farm organic Christmas trees, just outside of Washington, DC. This season, they are offering “Charlie Brown trees” for $25, less than half the price of their conventionally pretty trees:  “these trees are all imperfect and have their own character.”

Now that’s the spirit.

Close up, so you can see the naughty

My recipe for pumpkin bread is pretty simple, when you think about it. But there’s a lot more in there than flour, pumpkin, and spices.

It all started with Bill and Evelyn Pease. Bill and Evelyn were from Cottage Grove, Minnesota, but like a lot of Winter Texans, they dreamt of fleeing the harsh winters. So they would come down to Brownsville every November to spend the winter in a trailer park. One year, they met my grandparents at the Charro Days parade, and they soon became a part of our family. I was really little at the time, maybe 3 or 4, but I can still remember going over to their mobile home for Thanksgiving and Christmas.

The Peases were aptly named. You never heard an unkind word from them. Maybe because they lived nearly half the year with only what they could fit into a mobile home, they weren’t much for material things. At Christmas, they would give out presents, but they never spent a lot of money. A wrapped present that looked like it might be a fancy toy, when unwrapped, would turn out to be a box of Whoppers. This led to no little amusement over the years. One time, their friend Mr. Mungía saw a delicate rectangular box with his name on it, and he was sure it was a watch. When he opened it, it was a Butterfinger bar. It was their way, and we loved them for it.

The original recipe card

Our strongest memory of them was our meals together. Evelyn’s baked goods were always the star of the show. Her pumpkin bread was everyone’s favorite. It was pitch perfect every time – soft, sweet, and delicious. After all these years, it’s still what Christmas tastes like to me. Before she and Bill passed away, she gave my mom the recipe. Mom still has it on an old index card, in Evelyn’s perfect schoolteacher handwriting. When Christmas comes around, we all crave it, and we share stories about our friends from Minnesota.

Here’s Mrs. Pease’s recipe. I hope it’ll become a tradition in your family too!

PUMPKIN BREAD

2 cups canned pumpkin
4 eggs
1 cup oil
1/3 cup water
3 1/2 cup flour
3 cups sugar
1 tbsp pumpkin pie spice (cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, ginger)
2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

Combine pumpkin, eggs, oil, and water. Mix well, add sugar and other ingredients. Pour into two greased and floured 9×5 loaf tins. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the middle of a loaf comes out clean (30-50 minutes).

Note: This is a very rich recipe, almost cake-like. The spouse may consider this sacrilege, but you have plenty of moisture to play with if you want to substitute turbinado sugar, whole wheat flour, or real pumpkin, before you start risking dryness. That said, I’d try it as it was originally intended once, and enjoy the goofy grin on your face.

I remember this carnival ride years ago better than what I got for Christmas last year.

Experience gifts are one of the best ways to celebrate Christmas.  It prioritizes adventure and memories over new landfill fodder.  And it gives the receiver something to look forward to when Christmas is over. Here are twelve ideas to get you started, but as with any gift, don’t be afraid to get creative. Get more information from them about their hobbies or their dreams. Remember:  the idea is to give them what they actually want, not what you want them to want.

1. Do they like live music? If there’s a venue they like best, give them a gift certificate toward a performance of their choice in 2010.  If theatre’s more their bag, gift certificate to their favorite playhouse, but let them pick the play.

2. Shopping for a foodie? Give them a gift certificate to the new restaurant they’ve been meaning to try (if you’re unsure, just ask them if they’ve heard of any good new restaurants lately.) Or, if you live in the same place, offer to accompany them and treat.

3. Any thwarted Dorothy Hamills on your list?  Take them ice skating at a local rink.  If you’d rather die than try to move on ice, give them a gift certificate to go with someone else.

4. Do you have a friend who’s complained of feeling in a rut?  Think back:  have they ever expressed a desire to do something really crazy or adventurous?  Go sky-diving, learn to play the guitar, take belly dance lessons?  It has to be something they actually want to do, you don’t want to make them feel pressured or inadequate. The idea is to give them “permission” to do something they’ve always been curious about.

5. Does your kid like to play football, baseball, or tennis? Instead of getting fancy new gear or team paraphernalia, consider writing out a gift certificate for 5 hour-long sessions of practicing with him or her.  If you’re about as sporty as I am, you can ask them to teach you instead.  They’d probably enjoy the role reversal. And put an expiration date on the certificate to make sure you follow through — there’s nothing worse than an unfulfilled promise to a kid.

6. Looking for a treat to give someone over a certain age? I have an inside source who says they might want a pedicure or foot massage more than another framed picture of you. It’s a sad fact that young people who can reach their feet are more likely to treat themselves to pedicures and massages than older people who probably need and deserve them more.

7. My source had another idea for the over 60 crowd:  teaching folks to use the new technologies that might benefit them. Do you have a parent or grandparent who hasn’t quite mastered their cell phone but is embarrassed to admit it? Maybe your dad wants to learn to use the Internet to research family genealogy. Or maybe they just got digital cable and need some help with the settings. Whatever the tool, chances are you could be useful on this front. Don’t take this opportunity to make fun of your elders, though. That’s a surefire way the cell phone will stay in its box forever.

8. A zoo membership for the year, for your family or your sister’s. Nothing says love like monkey poo.

9. Surprise everyone on Christmas Eve by piling into the car and driving around to see the best light displays around town.  They can even put coats on over their pajamas for a festive mood.

10. Do you have a nephew, niece or godchild that you like to give a present to? While you’re home for Christmas, make a date to take them to breakfast at their favorite restaurant.  Let them set the tone of the conversation, and make them feel special and grown up.

11. One present for kids that is very popular with their parents:  buy a CD or government bond, or start a savings account, for the kid’s college.  This is strictly speaking a material gift, but think of it as giving them the experience of out-of-state college.

12. Giving to someone who likes day trips?  If they live near a u-pick farm, a winery, or a river with rafting or canoeing, give a gift certificate to their favorite destination.

What’s your favorite Christmas experience of all time?  Anyone got you stumped this year?

The Snow Spouse

The first snow of the year is magical. City noises are hushed, and people walk slowly, eyes up in the air and snow caught on their eyelashes and tongues. If you live on the rain line, snowfall feels like a benediction, a sudden gift for good behavior. Snow falling on a Saturday? Too good to be believed.

The spouse remembers when it snowed in Brownsville, Texas, his hometown, for the first time in nearly 100 years. It happened on Christmas Eve, when the whole family was inside at midnight mass. After church, they came outside and saw a winter wonderland. And even though he had moved away to the northeast by then and was well-acquainted with proper snow, he danced excitedly around with his parents and grandparents just the same. The entire family drove to Grandma and Grandpa’s house to eat tamales and watch the snow fall. Years later, they still talk about that night with wonder.

Snow falling is the embodiment of Slow Christmas.  It’s free, it’s magic, and it makes you want to listen to Bing Crosby.  Somehow, when it’s snowing, everyone stops.  If the first snow has yet to happen where you are, dear Slow Christmaser, promise me one thing.  When it does, you’ll drop everything, go outside, and enjoy the moment.