[Game] Last one to post wins!

[Finchbearer]

LOTR marathon is for Boxing Day when all you want to do is precisely nothing. Why is fantasy so…Christmassy?

If you do the proper twelve days of Christmas thing then I believe that runs into January, but I like everything cleared before Jan1st, because I’ll have put the tree up at the beginning of November and that’s two straight months of Christmas vibes.

Nothing beats a carol service in a church but have not attended one in years, especially if there’s a choir. Something about many voices together. Once in royal David’s city is a good one it builds and builds.

Whoops forgot all about The Holly and the Ivy, another favourite.

 

[Ban]

Haven't been to a church for Christmas in ages. Usually there will be an André Rieu concert rerun on one of the channels here, either Dutch or German, to provide Christmas carols. Works well enough haha. Maybe they'll be singing in the chapel nearby this year. Might go there.

 

[Finchbearer]

Anyway…vol au vents…those are like little retro puff pastry things aren’t they? I love those. Any retro Christmas fodder and I’m there. Cheese and pickles on cocktail sticks are where it’s at.

 

[Ban]

Somewhat. Vol au vent is a creamy, chicken ragout which you serve in puff pastries, but those don't have to be little unless you are making it as an amuse. I don't know about it being "retro" though. The tradition of serving them has been uninterrupted here in Limburg. Another popular dish here is Knien in 't zoer, which is a rabbit stew prepared with a thick apple syrup called stroop, gingerbread, laurel leaves, peppercorns and more. Another reason to love winter: Prime stew time.

 

[Finchbearer]

Stew season is the best, chuck ingredients in the slow cooker in the morning, scran for dinner.

Yes vol au vents are considered retro here, they used to be very popular in the seventies and eighties I believe, but we still love them. Maybe they are Dutch? We would call them canapés, or if you’re less posh; buffet food. I realise you said vol au vents over there are massive? We only ever eat them as bite sized things.

Wait…are stroopwaffles a Dutch thing? I love those.

 

[Ban]

Canapés are small pieces of bread with food served on top. That's a different thing, but we serve those as well. As the name suggests vol au vent is French in origin, with whom my province shares many cultural matters. Stroopwafels are indeed Dutch.

This is vol au vent:

 

[Finchbearer]

Okay next time I make a stew I might have to serve it in a giant vol au vent pastry…

We put anything in them, whatever you want:

 

[Ban]

I've used those often as well, though I tend to just put a shrimp concoction in them. The tiny shrimps mixed in with whipped cream, tomato paste and worcestershire sauce. Time for Christmas I'd say, my appetite for the season has awakened.

 

[Finchbearer]

I’m pepped up for it now too! Now I’m remembering that mince pies will soon be in the shops…always good to start early.

 

[Ban]

Those tiny sweet pies are delightful. I'm looking forward to when it's cold enough to drink glühwein (mulled wine I believe). And as soon as the Christmas markets open I am crossing the border to Germany in order to buy a big piece of marzipan in Aachen.

 

[BearBear]

Okay now we're talking. When I drank I drank Grey Goose around Christmas, but also around every other holliday and weekend, it wasn't because it tastes good though, for that I had Andre's Cold Duck. Because if you must drink, it must be birds, or things named after birds at least.

Now for food, backlava, fruit cake, and honey ham with maple syrup. Baked beans with bacon, grilled onions, and melted cheese chunks. And of course the cookies. Sugar cookies with decorative frosting goes well from October through Christmas. The colors change but the cookies stay the same.

Now we get into bought cookies, always buy them in tins because tin is magical and adds flavor. You can have your plastic packaged cookies. Also the fruitcake must be in a tin.

This year, my friend bought me a huge tin of cookies. Now if I could only fit them in my already meager calorie restricted diet. Nope. Why'd she do that to me? I can't eat them or throw them away so they sit there mocking me every time I pass, but it feels good to have them, so I thanked her.

The fall-spring also means nights below 55F and the mosquitoes can't come out to play anymore so I can do my morning walks. I had my first this morning since May 1st. Damn you global warming! We didn't have mosquitoes at all just three years ago. At this rate there'll be more mosquitoes than air molecules in a few short years. We'll be breathing mosquitoes. When will they eveh learn when will they ev-ah learn...

 

[Ban]

Okay now we're talking. When I drank I drank Grey Goose around Christmas, but also around every other holliday and weekend, it wasn't because it tastes good though, for that I had Andre's Cold Duck. Because if you must drink, it must be birds, or things named after birds at least.

Now for food, backlava, fruit cake, and honey ham with maple syrup. Baked beans with bacon, grilled onions, and melted cheese chunks. And of course the cookies. Sugar cookies with decorative frosting goes well from October through Christmas. The colors change but the cookies stay the same.

Now we get into bought cookies, always buy them in tins because tin is magical and adds flavor. You can have your plastic packaged cookies. Also the fruitcake must be in a tin.

This year, my friend bought me a huge tin of cookies. Now if I could only fit them in my already meager calorie restricted diet. Nope. Why'd she do that to me? I can't eat them or throw them away so they sit there mocking me every time I pass, but it feels good to have them, so I thanked her.

The fall-spring also means nights below 55F and the mosquitoes can't come out to play anymore so I can do my morning walks. I had my first this morning since May 1st. Damn you global warming! We didn't have mosquitoes at all just three years ago. At this rate there'll be more mosquitoes than air molecules in a few short years. We'll be breathing mosquitoes. When will they eveh learn when will they ev-ah learn...

I approve of everything in this comment except for the Cold Duck. I had to google it to discover it's a sweet red and white wine blend. Such things ought not be, but by the gods I could go for some baklava and I wish we'd import North American maple trees here to obtain less costly syrup. The love of tins is felt as well. Every confectionery tastes better when packaged in a pretty tin, with bonus points if some old-time imagery is imprinted upon it.

 

[BearBear]

I approve of everything in this comment except for the Cold Duck. I had to google it to discover it's a sweet red and white wine blend. Such things ought not be,

How dare you it's purple! Nothing purple can be bad. I don't make the rules but it's inarguable. I will have it stricken from the evidence. And you didn't even try it. For shame.

 

[Ban]

How dare you it's purple! Nothing purple can be bad. I don't make the rules but it's inarguable. I will have it stricken from the evidence. And you didn't even try it. For shame.

Never had a bruise turn purple? Those suckers aren't great.

 

[BearBear]

I don't eat bruises. Case closed.

 

[Mr. M. L.]

Okay, so far I think Ban's Christmas sounds the best, besides not going to church, Midnight Mass is one of the best things about Christmas.

Bear, the best cookies for any and all seasons are homage chocolate chip cookies and no cookie can ever beat them, especially if you can taste the butter.
Also 55 degrees is way too warm for Christmas, I may have grown up in CA weather but I fell on love with snow during the winter holidays after I went to college in Wyoming.

 

[BearBear]

I saw snow a few times, not here, no.

It only goes down to 35 or so in mid-winter. If there are clouds, it's rarely below 45.

It could be as much as 85F during Christmas. That's usually because of an easterly wind off the mountains. It's not every year though.

 

[Mr. M. L.]

It's currently 84 where I'm at right now. They're predicting mid 90's at the end of the week though sadly, but I don't think it's supposed to last longer than the weekend.

 

[BearBear]

I'm too close to the coast to be that hot without an easterly wind or southern tropical moisture. In October the chances of 80's decrease a lot. But go 10 miles inland and it could be 100.

 

[pmmg]

Well, I am close'ish to the coast (the east one) and its about 80 at the highs.

Seems some of the insects have figured out it is getting colder...they hang around the door and try to sneak in.

But...I never really cared what the weather is. Rain, Snow, hot or cold, still have to do what I have to do.

Which, right now, is pointing out that you all still lose.