In an effort to make the most of the season, I have decided to try celebrating from Thanksgiving until New Year's rather than focusing on December 24th and 25th. So I enlisted the help of my friend Dottie Dekko for the month, and together we created a wonderful family tradition that others can use with their own family. We focused on three major things; decorating the home for a festive atmosphere, gathering the family prior to Christmas, and fun traditions for Dottie to do with her grandchildren.

Making the holidays special was particularly important to Dottie and her entire family as it was their first Christmas without Dottie's husband Tom, lovingly known as "Boppa." "Because of his passing, family traditions felt even more important than ever,"said Dottie. She went on to say, "Everyone needed comforting and everyone wanted to be together."

A Family Christmas Season, PART I

Right after Thanksgiving we began to decorate for the Christmas season. Dottie's daughter Dana had just moved into a new home and needed some help deciding just how things should look and feel for this special time of the year. I always advise people to go with the color scheme of their home. We chose to decorate Dana's home in copper, bronze and burnt red. These colors blended well with her home's décor and were dazzling when they reflected light. 

Dana's red, warm and glowing dining room was set off beautifully with natural greenery, lots of candles, and ribbons. The ribbons were all glittery and sparkling to reflect the light of the candles. We filled the chandelier with things that coordinated with the table decorations. This is a great time of year to pull out your china, silver, or family mementos. Go ahead and use two napkins instead of one; anything to create a special feeling.

The nearby banister was particularly fun to decorate. Banisters offer a lot of space so you can really load them up with decorations. As you can see,that is exactly what we did with Dana's.

A mantle is a great place to have draping decorations. It should all be full and spill over the front of the mantle. (Not so far as to be a fire hazard of course.) You will need to anchor the draping items down with candlestick holders or some other heavy item. You could even create a semi-permanent mantle by using a board you place over the regular mantle. That way you can use a hot glue gun to hold everything onto the mantle, and simply store the entire board away after the holidays.

As all eyes turn to a bride at a wedding, all eyes turn to a Christmas tree in December. Keeping this in mind,the decorations for the tree must be special. In keeping with our color scheme, Dana and I created a large burst of decorations for a tree topper. From there we draped and wrapped the tree with metallic, reflective netting. Most of the ornaments and ribbons we used were also reflective to make the tree particularly special.

Be sure to fill all other spaces with decorations. Coffee tables, nooks and crannies can all be covered with greens, candles, and other decorations. They don't need to be expensive. The reindeer on Dana's table is something we found at Target. Just be sure to stick with your theme.      

A Family Christmas Season, PART II

In mid-December Dottie gathered her family to pass along a family tradition of making lefsa. She made the dough, brought out the 500 degree pan, and set her warm kitchen with all the necessary utensils. When done as a family, this event was a fun filled evening polished with a delicious treat rather than becoming one more thing on Dottie's "to do" list for the holiday season. 

Lefsa Recipe 

Ingredients

3 cups potato flakes
1 tsp. salt
1⁄4 c. butter
3⁄4 c. (approx.) water
1 c. milk
1 c. flour

Combine potato flakes and salt in large mixing bowl.

Place 1⁄4 c. butter (softened) in a 1 c. measuring cup and add water to make a 1 cup measure. Transfer to a sauce pan and bring to a boil. Add this to potato mixture and mix well. Add milk and mix well. Refrigerate until dough is completely chilled. Do not let surface of dough dry out and form a hard shell.

When dough is chilled,work in flour with your hands. Form into balls a little larger than golf ball size and place in a container lined with a towel. Refrigerate overnight. Roll out very thin and bake on lefsa grill that has been preheated to 500 degrees. Flip when light brown spots begin to appear on the griddle side of the lefsa. When spots form on both sides the lefsa is fully baked. Lefsa is traditionally spread with butter, sprinkled with sugar, and then rolled up to serve. Great served cold; wonderful served warm!

This recipe makes approximately 12 lefsa. It may be multiplied if desired.

A Family Christmas Season, PART III

For Dottie it just wouldn't be Christmas without spending time with her grandchildren. This is a time of the year when the bond between grandparents and grandchildren grows even stronger. Parents may be busy with preparations and parties, but grandparents seem to have just what the grandchildren need. (Parents are not excluded, it's just that the focus is on the grandchildren.) Dottie has traditionally spent this time making cookies and each child gets to take home a package of the goodies they've made. She has also spent time with them making gingerbread houses, going to Christmas shows, and trimming the tree. Her oldest grandchild, Ricky, is a senior in high school. Dottie and Ricky spend time together (just the two of them) making caramels each year. "What you do or what you create isn't the important thing, just be sure that traditions are carried on and that the family spends time together," says Dottie.

One of the most wonderful things about spreading the fun times throughout the season is that there is less pressure for perfection on Christmas day. You could even save a few activities for the few days after Christmas or perhaps they could become New Year's celebrations and traditions.

By Teri Bennett