It’s that time of year when the chill in the frosty air brings us indoors to hunker down with thick comforters and mugs of steaming hot chocolate overflowing with fluffy marshmallows. When holiday music and movies become the soundtrack to our everyday home lives. When we gather ‘round the fire for company, drink, food and love. When we are celebrating and remembering those we treasure and hold near and dear. When the real meaning of the season is family – by our DNA or by our heart. When we reflect and give thanks for all we have. In a nutshell, unconditional love.
I’d like to welcome Cleo Coyle (pseudonym for Alice Alfonsi who writes the Coffeehouse Mysteries and the Haunted Bookshop Mysteries in collaboration with her husband, Marc Cerasini) to share the beauty of the season with us.
Favorite Holiday tradition?
Opening the gifts Christmas morning with a fresh pot of coffee and a plate of cookies. (Santa always left us some.)
Favorite childhood toy?
Tie: Matchbox Cars and Easy Bake Oven (Spirograph was pretty cool, too.)
Favorite childhood game?
By age 7: Candyland and Operation!
By age 10: Trouble and Battleship
By age 12: Othello, Backgammon, and Chess
Snow ball fight or making snow families?
Snow ball fight!
Sleigh rides, sledding or skiing?
Under age 12: Sledding
Over age 12: Skiing
Favorite Holiday song?
Tie - "Carol of the Bells" and the "Hallelujah Chorus" from Part II of Handel's oratorio Messiah, especially when performed by a flashmob like this one.
Favorite holiday movie?
Well, depending on how my day is going: Miracle on 34th Street or Die Hard!
Favorite holiday story to read?
A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
Snow on holiday eve or just a chill in the air?
Bing and Danny will answer for me
Most memorable holiday memory?
Singing carols with my sister
Please share a Holiday recipe.
I'll share two!
The first one is my kinder, gentler version of Pfeffernüsse, a delicious little gingerbread ball that's dusted with snow-white powdered sugar.
This second recipe is a much healthier cookie. My Oatmeal Cookie Brittle has no flour or butter, but it does have plenty of holiday flavor. New Jersey Family magazine even featured it in their 12 Days of Cookies this year.
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