It's hard enough to give up the cookies and candy that come with the holidays, but then there's the dreaded job of taking down all the decorations and hoping they'll still fit in the closet. Facing the prospect of spending the rest of the winter in dimly lit rooms with all the life sucked out of them, I'm thinking, what's the rush?
This year, The Crew decided to add a small, Christmas tree to the holiday decor in our kitchen, mainly due to an overabundance of baking themed ornaments that someone can't stop buying. We were all a little surprised by their choice of color but according to Burt (via Google), black trees symbolize elegance and individuality. They are a modern twist on tradition and can be a bold canvas for personal expression. He also may have accidentally selected black when ordering it. Whatever, it matches the curtains and is a suitable comment on 2025.
The shipping was delayed so it didn't arrive until last Monday. Putting it away until next year would have been the logical thing to do but that was never going to happen. So, a unanimous decision was made to consider observing the medieval tradition of keeping the festive decor up until the second of February or Groundhog's Day or Imbolc or Candlemas - they all happen on the same day so there must be something special about it. According to legend, decorations left up after Candlemas will become possessed by goblins. That might liven up the rest of the winter a bit but we probably don't want to let things go on for that long.
Since they've committed themselves to the party going a little but longer, Ivy thought it was a good time to try out that white chocolate gingerbread cookie recipe she didn't have time to make in December. Maybe some mulled wine would go well with them and while they're in the kitchen they might as well get some decorations on that new tree, too.
If they can keep it standing up.
While Ivy stabilized the tree and added some decorations, Burt gave Kib some assistance with the liquid refreshments. Some things are best left up to the professionals. Kib's version of mulled wine is pretty standard but he likes to make it a little extra, so he adds the fruit and spices to a bottle of port instead of wine. It's a team effort, he monitors the mixture until a wisp of steam comes off the surface, then has Burt to move it off the heat. In the meantime, Burt's job is to keep from wandering off.
When the mulled wine was finished he moved onto his next assignment as a tree topper. It's only a part-time job until we find the giant star cookie cutter currently stored somewhere is the basement.
In the end everything worked out. Who knew white chocolate ginger cookies and spiced port would go together? All those cookie cutter and kitchen ornaments found the perfect home and the Crew got to add another tree, even though they don't think it should count since it's under six feet tall. As much as we would love to keep the party going it's probably time to start to disassemble the Christmas decor because Poe's birthday is on Monday and that means Valoween is just around the corner.
Thanks for stopping by, stay spooky and have a great weekend.
See you soon!
