Well – at least a little bit. For an assortment of reasons – perhaps because I’m a bit tired, and my daughter (the working real estate agent) is up to her butt in angry reptiles as far as clients looking for a suitable roof to celebrate their own Yule under – we were a bit late in getting around to decking our personal halls for the holiday season. Mainly because the garage is packed tightly with stuff of which at least three-quarters is intended for her eventual household. It’s a major project to find all the Christmas ornaments…(we can’t even find the tub that the mantlepiece Wedgewood got put away into last Christmas in order to make space for the long lighted Christmas garland!) And I am trying to finalize one book for print and halfway through writing the first draft of another, in between baking bar cookies to inflict on our near neighbors. Wee Jamie is three and a half years old and sort of hyperactive, and I am looking after him most days … and anyway, we’re a bit farther behind than usual in our Christmas prep. I exhausted most of my December stock of energy in going down to Goliad for Miss Ruby’s Author Corral, the first weekend of the month.

At least we have the tree assembled and sort of decorated. My daughter bought the Christmas Vacation advent calendar when it came available at Costco this year, and I’ve been making the various figurines into ornaments, by way of sinking a tiny screw-eye into each and attaching a wire ornament hanger. She loves watching Christmas Vacation, and plans to go all-out with the decorations when she has her own place. There were some Monsters, Inc. figurines from the Dollar Tree, similarly converted. Our Christmas tree is one of those with the lights already built-in, so adding those few little items do make it at least amusing. My daughter thinks that she will set up a small Christmas tree in Wee Jamie’s bedroom, and ornament it with the Monsters, Inc. figurines, and assorted small dinosaurs. (Note to self – check and see if there is a Monsters, Inc. Advent calendar available these days. There is A Christmas Story calendar – perhaps next year. I’m more of A Christmas Story fan, myself, if only because Ralphie’s house reminds me so very much of my grandmothers’ place.)

And we did do a round of Christmas movies, every night – adding a couple of new selections to the rota – Klaus, and a new animated version of The Grinch Who Stole Christmas. Klaus was very original and rather sweet, and the new Grinch wasn’t half bad at all. The first was quite creatively original in working up a Santa origin story, and the second filled out the  epic of the Grinch rather sweetly in expanding on the characters, especially the dog. We bailed on a perfectly revolting, sickly-sweet cartoon about the Elf onna Shelf about five minutes into it though – and couldn’t find a free streaming version of Arthur Christmas. Tonight, we’ll watch The Santa Clause.

For a good few years, we went all-out in making an assortment of fudge for distribution to neighbors and places that we did regular business with; but the cost of everything just got too much this year to make as much as we used to make. We do have some small quantities of quality chocolate and various ingredients either left over from last year, or bought on sale at  extremely reduced prices, so I’ll make what I can with what we have, and otherwise fill out the gift boxes with slabs of coconut-lemon-nut bar cookies. I lifted the recipe from the 1970s edition of Joy of Cooking.

Pecan Angel Slices (Walnuts or almonds work well, also.)

Cream together until well-blended:  ½ cup butter and ¼ cup sugar

Beat in well: 1 egg and ½ teasp vanilla

Combine and add to the above: 1 ¼ cup sifted flour and 1/8 teasp salt

Pat dough evenly into a greased 9×12 inch pan and bake at 350° for fifteen minutes. Remove from oven.

Combine: 2 beaten eggs, 1 ½ cup brown sugar, ½ cup flaked cocoanut, 1 cup chopped pecans, 2 Tbsp.  flour, ½ teasp double acting baking powder, ½ teasp salt and 1 teasp vanilla.

Pour over cookie layer and return to oven for 25 minutes

Combine 1 ½ cup sifted confectioner’s sugar with sufficient lemon juice to make a smooth, runny glaze. Pour over warm cookie/pecan/coconut layer and allow to set. When cool, cut into bars or squares.

And that’s our Christmas plan for this year. Other than getting the print version of West Towards the Sunset available by next week – that’s about it for the season.