@SarahAnaruk, I'm almost done with the Christmas shopping. Have some presents left to order online for friends abroad, and to make the ones that are supposed to be handmade. I also have to chose a present for hubby's birthday, which is on 30.12.

@bdbchick, I really want to give my Secret Santa something handmade or at least with a personal touch. I have several ideas and have ordered some materials so we'll see how I handle it in several days

@starjam25, thanks! It really is a huge thing. And it is even more terrific that we managed to do it 10 years earlier, thanks to hubby's hard work.

How did everyone's Thanksgiving was? We don't have this holiday on Europe, so I'm curious

We opened the holiday season yesterday by decorating the Christmas tree and baking some Christmas cookies. I love experimenting so I made them with stevia mostly. I also made some of them salty instead of sweet and they were the best! I'm definitely making those for Christmas again ;-)

rbratt06 wrote: »

I'm almost done with Christmas shopping. Just need to get a few more things for my husband and daughter, but everyone else in our extended family is finished.

Saw a small loss, which pleased me considering I'm on that time of the month and ate all the things on Thanksgiving. But, I agree, this was a terrible week to start quidditch!

That's awesome! You are so on top of it!! Great job on the loss! Thanksgiving can be a rough one. All the yummy food!!

Moarrein wrote: »

@SarahAnaruk, I'm almost done with the Christmas shopping. Have some presents left to order online for friends abroad, and to make the ones that are supposed to be handmade. I also have to chose a present for hubby's birthday, which is on 30.12.

@bdbchick, I really want to give my Secret Santa something handmade or at least with a personal touch. I have several ideas and have ordered some materials so we'll see how I handle it in several days

@starjam25, thanks! It really is a huge thing. And it is even more terrific that we managed to do it 10 years earlier, thanks to hubby's hard work.

How did everyone's Thanksgiving was? We don't have this holiday on Europe, so I'm curious

We opened the holiday season yesterday by decorating the Christmas tree and baking some Christmas cookies. I love experimenting so I made them with stevia mostly. I also made some of them salty instead of sweet and they were the best! I'm definitely making those for Christmas again ;-)

I love homemade gifts!! They are the best! What kind of crafty stuff do you make?

Thanksgiving was good! A traditional Thanksgiving here usually consists of way way too much food, since it's a harvest celebration. Traditionally there is turkey with stuffing (bread stuffing is traditional if you live in the North, cornbread stuffing if you live to the South- people can get pretty worked up over stuffing lol). Lots of sides. In our house we usually have green bean casserole, mashed potatoes and gravy, homemade cranberry sauce (some people prefer jellied- which is like jelly made from cranberries, and others prefer chunky so whole cranberries left in, more like a jam), buns, and glazed carrots. Then of course there are appetizers (usual veggie platter, meat and cheese tray, BBQ weenies, deviled eggs, etc). And desserts. Pumpkin pie, and pumpkin flavored desserts are very traditional but other pies are pretty normal too. Egg nog is a must for us too. And you basically have a huge meal and eat leftovers the rest of the week. Lol. The tradition comes from a meal the Native Americans and the Pilgrims shared after the first bountiful harvest. It wasn't made into a national holiday until Abraham Lincoln was president because a woman who published recipes common to ladies magazines (and consequently several cookbooks for the holiday afterwards) petitioned the president to make it a holiday as a means of promoting cooperation and union during the Civil War (in simple terms the battle between the north and south over slavery- and the almost split of our country). So, probably way more than you wanted to know! Lol. And anyone who celebrates differently, or sees an error in my generalizations feel free to add or correct!
I love learning about different traditions and cultures and trying traditional foods (within reason). If you want to try a Thanksgiving meal I'd be happy to send you a meal plan and any recipes I traditionally use.
Do you have any major holidays that are more for your respective country? How do you celebrate those? Or holiday customs? I absolutely love traditions.

Moarrein wrote: »

@SarahAnaruk, thanks for all that info. I also love learning about traditions. All i know about Thanksgiving is from the movies
We have many national holidays in Bulgaria. For example today we celebrate St. Nicolas' Day, protector of fishermen and bankers. We usually have stuffed carp or any kind of fish Another popular holiday is St. George's day, when we usually make lamb on fire and rice with liver. Another interesting holiday is March 1. We give each other bracelets and brooches, that are made from red and white yarn. We call them martenitsas and everyone is wearing at least one.

About the handmade things, I love to knit bracelets and decorate glasses, mugs and clothes. I love making gifts that are more personal. But I don't have many people around me that appreciate them.

Oh man! That's too bad that they don't appreciate them!! They are the most thoughtful gifts in my opinion.

Thank you for all those traditions!! I didn't know about any of them! What do you usually stuff the fish with? And what is lamb on fire? Or what is the fire part of that? I have some leftover liver in the freezer from when we processed our pigs, I might have to try this rice and liver! I love the March 1st thing! I will have to look more up on that!

I hung out with the bestie and she took some cosplay pics of me annnnd here they are

(My fav holiday themed anime con is THIS WEEK!! I head out on thursday morning so this weekend was the final "practice")

I'd also like to note the little girl in some of the pics is Charlotte who is my bestie Liz's kid... She's almost 4... definitely shows just how short I am.

SarahAnaruk wrote: »

@bdbchick awesome outfits!! I don't know much about cosplay but it looks like a lot of fun!! Lol, that's about where my four year old stands next to me too!!

Shorties unite!