Posted on 12/14/2007 5:20:05 PM PST by snugs
How prepared are you for Christmas?
A lot of singles I know and who live on their own do not really do much for Christmas in the way of decorations or buying any special food etc for Christmas. A lot of them get an invite for the day to spend either with friends or family members and therefore their sole preparation is buying a few gifts for the people likely to be at this event and maybe contributing either monetarily to the host/hostess or taking a few food/drink items on the day. So as a single you think you are prepared and will not be caught unawares but you maybe wrong so I thought this weekend I would offer a few suggestions in order that we may not be embarrassed this year
Many stores in Britain and I suspect in the US have tins or large boxes/cartons of sweets (candies) or biscuits (cookies) only available at Christmas and Easter and many have offers on such as 3 for the price of 2 or a special price for buying 2.
A large tin of chocolates or toffees are always acceptable and even if the recipient does not consume them at Christmas often the best before will be Easter or even beyond, having a couple of these in the house can often be useful for that unexpected gift you get, such as a long lost friend or relative ringing and saying I am in your area today/tomorrow can I pop in and almost certainly they will have a card and a small gift for you.
Also if you do not use these for gifts at Christmas they can be used at Easter or for a birthday present next year. In particular Scottish Shortbread is a good one to give as this is a traditional Christmas/New Year treat.
Another idea is that there are presentation boxes of nuts and dried fruit they make a nice gift and again can be stored for Easter or given as birthday presents if not used.
If you are a baker why not make an extra batch of cookies or candies such a rum truffles or home-made fudge or toffee or even mince pies, keep a few little fancy cardboard boxes and some ribbon and they can quickly be used to create up a present for the unexpected visitor.
A tip also if you have been invited out for the day and you think you have the gifts thing covered in case of an unexpected fellow visitor why not take an extra couple of bottle of wine and bottle bags with you so that you can make the person welcome and they have as least one gift to open if present opening is part of the day's celebrations.
In the range our chocolate mint thins, similar to After Eight Mints, orange chocolate thins, Turkish delight both chocolate covered and icing sugar covered. Various truffles and chocolate covered nuts such as chocolate brazils.
These have come in very handy.
We have have a TJ Maxx in Ashford but as it is out of town I have never visited it LOL
We also welcome non singles as well you often contribute with lifting the spirits of singles and offer suggestions and help and also fun to us all.
Great you are organised you will have to let us know your secret even though I tend to buy throughout the year I am always lefts with cards not done and several gifts still to buy days aways from the event.
Yes I tend to have gifts that cover several events and people always come in handy especially if you have a heavy month expense wise you still have a gift for someone especially if unexpected such as an engagement or passing driving test etc.
I like to wonder round the local shops before Christmas but do not see the appeal of going to a large shopping centre this time of year.
I am thinking of doing some homemade peppermint creams will post the recipe later tonight.
Wow thankfully we have not got that craziness yet in Britain 1.00am a few supermarkets open that late but not other shops.
Late night shopping at Christmas goes to about 10.00pm but no later.
Sorry to hear you have had some problems over the last few weeks hope not Holly related.
Happy Christmas please check in when you can.
That is a great point about knowing about family in future generations often only it is only hearsay and imperfect memory unless you come from a famous family.
Great idea again something you can keep in reserve and if invited to last minute party take some for the guests there.
I did something similar a few years ago not online but just on the computer for me when going through some issues it helped even though no one else ever saw most of it.
Our cleaner at work recently had her lawn mower wrecked when lent to a neighbour she is a real sweetie and often brings in bread pudding and cakes to work so we have all collected money and are going to give her B & Q vouchers so she can replace the lawn mower and hopefully get some other bits for her garden.
PUPS NEEDING HOME - Oklahoma City area
(I dont understand how people can do this, I truly cant.. but here is the plea.. if you want the email addy to pass on to your email list, I wlll provide it/dolly)
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I have a friend that has two doggies that need good homes. Due to the ice storm and the damage done to their home (it will take over a month to get back into their home), they need to find a good home for each of the dogs. These dogs are very well cared for and very well loved. They simply want to place them with families who will love and care for them.
Lilee – 7 year-old spayed female Basset. Very good with kids and OK with cats. Sweet, playful, full blood. Would like to be a cuddly ‘only’ dog.
Boomer – 3 year old Blood Hound. Not yet neutered. Needs tall fence as he is a climber and jumper. Sweet, puppyish, loves kids and is good guard dog.
The link below shows photos of the dogs. In the icy picture, Lilee is the Basset standing apart on the left. Boomer is the taller, obvious ‘non-Basset’.
Contact me if interested and I will pass along your inquiry to the owners.
Link to photos of the dogs:
http://kenroper.zenfolio.com/p567666845/
I like the idea of little individual pies. Interesting that you mention Crisco because I have not bought it for twenty years but just last night I saw it in a recipe for making some spritz cookies and one of the recipes calls for the butter flavor Crisco. I have never tried the butter flavor Crisco. I wonder if it will be a light yellow color? I don’t think I’ll get and stick to the real butter recipes. But when I was a pup Crisco was extremely popular and a staple. It was said that Crisco was practically a miracle treatment for burn victims but the manufactures could never talk about it as a salve. The other spritz cookies do not call for Crisco. No matter what I make I’m still getting my annual tin of Dansk.
LOL... I did the hide n’ seek with gifts one year... then decided to get a bin to put in the corner of my closet. Can’t wait for your recipe on the peppermint. :)
I keep mine in my gmail account, in the drafts or spam folder.
I wouldn’t want mine public, that’s for sure.
No, I don’t do too awful much too differently from my non SDA friends, but from the world, oh yeah, quite different!
unscriptural huh? I don’t think so.
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