So the last two days involved some kitchen time... I like to be prepared for the holidays well ahead of time, even for Christmas Eve supper. I baked two tourtieres for that, one yesterday and, once I was informed that we'd likely need two, another today.



Tourtiere is a French-Canadian dish, a meat pie that's traditionally served at supper after Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve, though it can be served pretty much any time. Recipes vary: mine includes ground pork and beef, onion, garlic, and a mix of spices and herbs. But what I liked best about this year's end product (so far--there'll be no tasting till Christmas Eve, of course) is that perfectly golden-brown crust. It's something I aim for and often fall short of whenever I bake pies.

I was brought up Catholic. I spent countless Sunday mornings in church and attending Sunday school (technically called Catechism, even though since Vatican II, the Catechism has rather gone by the wayside). I have to admit, even though I'm sort of lapsed, I still feel the pull to Mass on Christmas Eve. And Christmas Eve Mass always--in whatever church I was in--included this song. It still calls up indefinable emotions for me.

The forecast is calling for snow tomorrow, a couple of inches. Naturally, that means I won't be driving. Sadly, that will be hard on both parties: me, because I won't be able to sneak a nap in the afternoon (I'll be short on sleep that night), and my brother, because he'll have to stay till 11 PM in order to drive me home. But I'll try to be positive. After all, who doesn't like a white Christmas? And hey, Kim Stockwood here can almost (almost!) make me feel good about snow:

Oooh, here we are, just five more sleeps till Christmas... or in my case, four and a half sleeps (I won't be getting much sleep Friday night, on account of a) working late and b) working early the next day).

On my frigid walk this morning, I was listening to a Christmas mix CD that I'd made some years ago and wondering how I'd make up to jenni411 for "Dominick the Donkey" yesterday. And then the next track on the CD was the following. jenni411, I know there's nothing particularly Christmassy about Pachelbel's Canon in D, but somehow Trans-Siberian Orchestra make it work.

Nuts! I love 'em! I remember Dad always buying a bag of mixed nuts in the shell at Christmastime, and all of us having a go at them. Dad ate the most, I think, but I'm sure I was a close second. And what do you need to get at nuts in the shell? A nutcracker, of course!

Until I hear this song on the radio, it's not really Christmas. I don't know why. I've loved it since I was a kid.

This is my niece's favourite holiday tune. (I'd say "Christmas," but the song never mentions Christmas, just snow, sleighs, and bells!) At 3, she's hard-pressed to sing any song the whole way through, save "Twinkle Twinkle, Little Star," but she sure can jingle those bells! Here's Diana Krall putting a jazz spin on it.

It's not really looking a lot like Christmas here--we're having another one of those aberrant Decembers, like last year, when it rains instead of snows (though there was a bit of snow mixed in the rain when I went to the supermarket this morning). It's kind of chilly & dreary, actually, with all this rain. It almost makes you want to go someplace warm for Christmas...

Today is St. Nicholas' Day; if you're a Dutch child, this is the day you discover treats in your wooden shoes. Somehow, St. Nicholas (Sinter Klauss) became conflated with the gift-giving that surrounds Christmas over the centuries, and now we have Santa Claus (or HoHo, as my three-year-old niece calls him). So in honour of the day, today's Advent Calendar treat is a little tune to remind us that the jolly old elf himself is on his way:

Today's song is a bit... off-beat. I know it's a favourite of a lot of folks. I like it as representative of how many of us experience the holidays with our loved ones. Family: the people who know us the best, and know exactly which buttons to push. So behind the little window today, we have The Pogues: