Let's Talk with Cheryl Hollon
Time to Start my Advent Calendar
December 1, 2022
It’s the first day of December. Time to start my Advent Calendar! I’m a big fan. My earliest advent memory was when my mother bought one for us three kids when we were all under five. It wasn’t fancy. The calendar merely revealed a Christmas image, but still, we were so excited for each day that got us closer to Christmas.
My favorite television image is from an episode in Season 1 of the British comedy, The Vicar of Dibley. She (Dawn French) has a collection of 30 Advent Calendars plastered over every square inch of her living room. Each calendar is filled with chocolate – heaven, in my definition, of course.
My husband hit the jackpot this year with this fabulous advent box filled with whiskey samples.
Each tiny bottle is represented by a QR code that describes each sample. The samples harken to the seven seas of Whiskey: Bourbon and Rye, Scotch and Irish, Japanese and Taiwanese, Danish, Welsh, and Israeli.
I’m looking forward to a joyous celebration each day. What special treats do you look forward to during the holiday season?
Season’s Greetings to you and your family.
My Paint & Shine Mysteries are set in the Daniel Boone National Forest. My parents were born, raised, and now rest in peace at the Adams Family Cemetery in Wolfe County, Kentucky. The characters spend much time preparing traditional southern meals and creating moonshine cocktails. Please consider buying locally. Independent bookstores need your help during this challenging time. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B088WYF8QV
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Want to know more about author Cheryl Hollon? Visit her website.
Posted in Let's Talk, with Cheryl Hollon • Tags: Cheryl Hollon, Let's Talk, Time to start my advent calendar | 14 Comments
Since we celebrate Hanukkah, I always look forward to the potato latkes. There’s nothing like homemade potato pancakes sizzling in oil. The advent calendar with whiskey sounds like fun.
Latkes sound delicious, and I love the smell of sizzling olive oil. Have a great holiday!
When I was in first grade, I had a friend whose grandmother lived in the apartment next door to her. This was back when we walked home for lunch each day. On my way back to school, I’d meet up with Marcia at her apartment, and if it was a cold wintery day, her grandmother would hand each of us a steaming latke wrapped in a napkin to eat on the way back to school. Just thinking of that memory makes me drool!
What a wonderful memory. I remember walking home for lunch in elementary school. I would have loved a latka!
Really good dark chocolate, eggnog, and hot chocolate are our favorites for the holidays. We’ve been talking about an advent calendar, but this year the time just got away from us. Next year, for sure!
I’ve already put in my request for a dark chocolate advent calendar for next year!
Although we are Jewish and enjoyed family time with our dreidels, songs, and menorah, one of my favorite rituals between the ages of three and seven was going to a non-Jewish couple, who were friends of my parents each year. When we arrived, their Christmas decorations would be lit up outside their home, but the well-decorated tree would be dark. With just the right pomp and circumstance, they would allow me to help turn on their tree. Sitting in their front bay window, the tree was a glorious site for the family to enjoy inside the house and for anyone who passed to admire from the street. The traditional excitement of lighting the tree ended for me when I was seven as we turned on their street and looking ahead, I saw the tree blazing through the window and then suddenly go dark. Lighting it was still fun, but I realized it was show for my sister and me…… we continued to visit each year, but the lighting tradition was allowed to fade — and you know what? It was still a joy to see the tree lit and to share a few hours of their holiday with them. Sadly, my parents and the couple are gone, but happily, the memory lives on.
What a blessing to have such a powerful memory to enjoy. Now that you have ‘little readers’ in the family, I expect that you’ll be setting up something for them to remember.
I adore peppermint ice cream, and it’s only in stores around here during December. We have a carton in our fridge right now! It may be my lunch today!
Our local gelato store has a plum pudding flavor that I’m anxious to try.
When I was growing up , we would make tamales on Christmas Eve, in the morning our dad would take care of the masa, my mom would make the red pork meat and later on we all as a family would put the tamales together in the husk, we did it as a family , our parents, our grandmother that live close by to us and my 5 siblings and I, we would have tamales on Christmas Day. I always make sure that we have tamales either on Christmas Eve or on Christmas Day, I have never made them by myself , its alot of work, but I do make sure to purchase some. Now a days, my little family and I decorate gingerbread houses on Christmas Eve or on Christmas Day while sipping on hot apple cider, we have alot of fun doing that
I love the part where everyone pitches in to make the tamales. What a great tradition!
Love Advent calendars…last year my husband gave me a coffee one, and our neighbors gave our pups a doggie one. 🙂 I’m on Team Maggie with the peppermint ice cream, and when I lived in Dallas I was Team Alicia with tamales (bought from one of the ladies at work). I haven’t had tamales since I’ve lived in Florida but I really need to find a source.
I’m so curious about the tamales. I also need to find a source.