Over the years, as our lives have become free-er and less encumbered, so have our Christmas trees become simpler and (I think) more stylish....all hail the Christmas stick!
Yes, I have to say that this year I am quite frankly nauseated by all the consumerism...the pressure to purchase, the plastic, mass produced decorations and forests of tree cut down to shed their needles all over your living room floor like sick people losing their hair. Maybe I'm getting old and jaded (my hair has faded to a lovely shade of jade I must say), but I am going with it...working on the experiences of Christmas as opposed to the 'stuff'.
So, on that note we decided to make stained glass window cookie stars to hang on our stick yesterday. We found a great recipe, armed ourselves with aprons, rolling pins, baking paper and a whole free evening, and we were off! Pulsing butter, brown sugar and spices in the food processor (the joy of pressing buttons on electrical appliances never seems to diminish!), smashing colourful boiled lollies (after carefully halving them all so it was 'fair'), having fun with colour coding lollies with bowls, chilling the rolled dough so it's cool enough for the star shapes to be moved but not so cold they break - the kitchen became one big art studio/laboratory all set to the dulcet tones of Elvis Presley's 'Blue Christmas' album!
Now this - the smell of cinnamon and sugar, the whole family singing cheesy songs together, the joy of creating - is what I really love about Christmas....
And the science and fun of it all continues - over night the cookies softened as they absorbed moisture in the atmosphere and I heard the soft 'thunk' of stars falling during the wee hours....it's OK however as we have given ourselves permission to eat them as they fall. Delicious, and a great study of impermanence!
So, on that note we decided to make stained glass window cookie stars to hang on our stick yesterday. We found a great recipe, armed ourselves with aprons, rolling pins, baking paper and a whole free evening, and we were off! Pulsing butter, brown sugar and spices in the food processor (the joy of pressing buttons on electrical appliances never seems to diminish!), smashing colourful boiled lollies (after carefully halving them all so it was 'fair'), having fun with colour coding lollies with bowls, chilling the rolled dough so it's cool enough for the star shapes to be moved but not so cold they break - the kitchen became one big art studio/laboratory all set to the dulcet tones of Elvis Presley's 'Blue Christmas' album!
Now this - the smell of cinnamon and sugar, the whole family singing cheesy songs together, the joy of creating - is what I really love about Christmas....
And the science and fun of it all continues - over night the cookies softened as they absorbed moisture in the atmosphere and I heard the soft 'thunk' of stars falling during the wee hours....it's OK however as we have given ourselves permission to eat them as they fall. Delicious, and a great study of impermanence!
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