This recipe is a perfect grain-free, naturally sweetened and Paleo-legal alternative to the traditional wheat-based gingerbread cookies. Made with almond flour and sweetened with honey and coconut sugar, these cookies turned out deliciously crunchy, chewy, and fragrant with holiday spices. 3 cups almond flour (and extra for rolling out dough) 3/4 cup coconut sugar 1/2…
10 Ways To Celebrate A Destitute Christmas: #8. A Christmas Play
The tradition of plays at Christmas time is ancient, and goes far beyond the old Medieval custom of mummering and janneying. Shakespeare himself drew inspiration from these old dramatic customs. Until quite recently, family Christmas plays were common holiday fun – replaced, I believe, by television. I have found Christmas plays featured in some of…
10 Ways To Celebrate A Destitute Christmas: #7. Family Game Night
It’s cozy to curl up with a book on dark winter evenings, but for more lively entertainment, a family game night is the perfect way to spend time together. If you don’t have to have a full game shelf! there are many games that require only a deck of cards. Speed, Rummy, Crazy Eights, Spoons,…
10 Ways To Celebrate A Destitute Christmas: #6. Making A Festive Wreath
A real, home-made wreath is a rarity in these days of plastic, store-bought wreaths. Technology has tried its best to replace them with garishly plastic, perfumed ones, but it simply can’t replicate the real thing – fresh, heavy with holly, and smelling of the fragrant forest. Making a Christmas wreath is not at all difficult…
10 Ways To Celebrate A Destitute Christmas: #5. Scratch Paper Snow Flakes, Christmas Origami, and Wycinanki
We don’t usually get to experience snow here in the Deep South, but it is still fun to make paper snowflakes. I love the way a snowflake surprises you with what it looks like once it’s unfolded. Snowflakes – Here is a short tutorial on how to fold a snowflake with scratch paper: …
10 Ways To Celebrate A Destitute Christmas: #4. Elving
(Shhh….because of course we won’t really have absolutely no presents this year!) Despite what anyone who is selling something says, you don’t have to buy something to make a present for someone. Thrift, a virtue I have come to appreciate more and more, is the near-magical talent of seeing what you already have, adding a…
10 Ways To Celebrate A Destitute Christmas: #3. Volunteering and Charity
This year I decided to volunteer for Rose’s ballet school. I sewed beautiful table runners for the Sugar Plum Tea, which helps raise money for Pofahl Studios, an excellent local dance school that does a lot to support the young dancers in the community. They say that giving to others makes us happier than when…
10 Ways To Celebrate A Destitute Christmas: #2. Curling Up With A Good Book
The darkness fills the corners more and more as we lean towards the solstice. The short days, early dusk, and long nights give ample opportunity for reading a good wintertime tale. Stories, in fact, have shaped the way we celebrate this season. Here is an interesting article about it. How sweet and cozy it…
Ambrosia: A Local Food Recipe
Ambrosia was originally the food and drink of the ancient Greek gods that gave them immortality, but in modern times it mostly refers to a fruity salad. It is one of those recipes like gravy, in which everyone has their own version. It can vary from a wholesome salad of orange sections, chopped nuts and…
Sectioning Citrus
Citrus sections are a delightful way to eat up the abundance of oranges and grapefruit this time of year. With all the pithy white and membranes removed, even the pickiest of eaters will delight in a bowlful. When I first had sectioned oranges at my in-laws’ house, I wondered how on earth they had spared…
Real French Dressing
I’ll never forget the moment I stepped inside Tata Gabby’s apartment building in France. The beautiful wrought-iron grating clanged behind us as the door shut out the streets of Nice and the bright summer’s day. We were enveloped in dimness as we walked up two flights of beautifully tiled stairs. I struggled to drag…
10 Ways To Celebrate A Destitute Christmas: #1. Scrumping Citrus
There is a sort of transcendental peace about poverty. I usually find the holiday season fun, but very stressful. The crush of shopping, making sure all the favorite holiday things are celebrated and everyone will get what they want, and all the worry about planning the holiday make me anxious. This year, when Black…
Toadstools And Fairy Rings 