Category: Holidays

Aloha Friday: My Favorite Non-Conventional Holiday Movie

Aloha Friday, Holidays, Movies

This time of year, Christmas just seems to take over.  Christmas decorations go up in every store.  Christmas music blares 24/7 from the radio stations.  Television stations trot out the Christmas specials and movies.

Since we celebrate Chanukah, and not Christmas, this XMas overdrive can get tiring quickly.  We tend to avoid the stores (admittedly, partly because of the crowds), turn off the radios, and change the channel from the Christmas specials.  Once in awhile, we’ll find a Chanukah special, but they are few and far between.

However, in all of this Christmas hoopla, there is actually a Christmas movie that I love: The Nightmare Before Christmas.  I just love the tale of Jack Skellington kidnaping Santa Claus (or “Sandy Claws” as Jack calls him) so he can make Christmas in his own image.

Recently, I introduced the boys to this movie.  I was apprehensive at first, worrying that they would be scared of Halloween Town’s spooky residents.  Instead, my boys were instantly hooked.  Since then, we’ve all been singing “The Oogy Boogy Song” as well as the other tunes sung during the movie.  I think I’m going to have to buy the Nightmare Before Christmas soundtrack so we can rock out to it more.

My Aloha Friday question for today is: Do you have a favorite non-conventional holiday movie/special?

P.S. If you haven’t already, go visit FollowerHQ and let me know what you think of my Twitter application.

P.P.S. For a bit of fun, try my other Twitter Application, Rout. It’s a +F in Fun!

Thanks to Kailani at An Island Life for starting this fun for Friday. Please be sure to head over to her blog to say hello and sign the linky there if you are participating.

Aloha Friday by Kailani at An Island Life

Aloha #117

e-Latkes

Food, Holidays

I can’t mail these latkes to everyone, so here are some photos.  Just try not to slather your screen with apple sauce or sour cream.

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No, I didn’t make these.  This was a collaborative effort between Aunt M and B’s grandmother.  And, yes, they tasted as delicious as they look.

How Did November Pass So Quickly?

Holidays, Life

It seems like only yesterday that I was lamenting the ending of August.  I was sure that the nice, warm weather was soon to be replaced by cold, wind, and snow.  Summer was over, but I was in denial.  It didn’t matter if the thermometer read 50 degrees instead of 80.  It didn’t matter when snow began coming down.  I was still in a summer frame of mind.

Of course, I could only maintain denial for so long.  Eventually, I had to give in and admit that fall was here.  After all, the crunching of leaves under my feet isn’t particularly “summery.”  Neither is the need to put on a jacket before going out.

But here we are now, November 28th, and I’m suddenly struck by how quickly the months have gone.  I barely realized that October had begun and then we were taking the boys trick or treating.  The candy stashes from that holiday weren’t gone when it was time for turkey and Thanksgiving.

Now, we stand on the precipice of the winter holiday season.  The stores have long ago begun the annual Christmas assault – putting up decorations and playing music the minute Halloween was over as if Thanksgiving didn’t even exist.  Radio stations are going Christmas Music 24-7.  Shoppers are crowding malls for deals (and getting a little too aggressive, I might add).

I feel like someone has pressed fast-forward on the world’s remote control.  Can someone please find it and hit pause for a bit?

Aloha Friday: Thanksgiving Food Memories

Aloha Friday, Food, Holidays

P1060474As I sit here writing this post, my stomach is filled to the brim.  I couldn’t eat another bite.  I’ve indulged in turkey, gravy, cranberry sauce, sweet potato casserole, stuffing, Asian salad, chocolate rugalech, pumpkin chocolate chip cake, and dark chocolate peanut butter banana ice cream.  I can’t eat any more.  I can’t even think about food.

Ok, maybe I can think about food a little bit.  Thanksgiving, to me, always means certain dishes.  It just doesn’t feel like Thanksgiving otherwise.  Of course, one is turkey and another is stuffing.  The dish that most says “Thanksgiving” to me, though, is sweet potato casserole.

P1060468 Growing up, my mother and I seemed to have a ritual.  Every year, she would make a sweet potato casserole topped with marshmallows.  Every year, I would eat the marshmallows and leave the “yucky” sweet potatoes behind.  Every year, my mom would bug me to try a little bit of sweet potato.  I never would.

One year, I had enough of being bugged.  I decided to just give in, take a taste, and show my mother just how disgusting those sweet potatoes were.  I took a small bite and… loved them!  I couldn’t believe how great they tasted.  I went from skimming the casserole for the marshmallows to eating the whole thing.  (My portion, that is, not the entire casserole.)

My Aloha Friday question for today is: What Thanksgiving food brings back memories?

P.S. If you haven’t already, go visit FollowerHQ and let me know what you think of my Twitter application.

Thanks to Kailani at An Island Life for starting this fun for Friday. Please be sure to head over to her blog to say hello and sign the linky there if you are participating.

Aloha Friday by Kailani at An Island Life

Aloha #115

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