Holiday Plan… Chel’s Cheese Ball Delight

I’m thinking that sometime later this week, I’ll make the first cheese ball of the season. It has such a tacky name… Come on, let’s have some cheese balls! Really. Tacky. But they’re yummy. So until someone comes up with a better name, that’s what we have.

Here’s the recipe. Adjust it to taste. Enjoy. (And for the record… everyone’s gonna love these. When Publix puts crackers on buy one, get one… buy several. I’ve got five boxes in the pantry now.)

Chel’s Cheese Ball Delight

• 1 box cream cheese (I use the low fat… not full fat, not no fat, low fat…. middle of the road.)
• 1 small box of Velveeta
• coupla shakes of garlic salt

Ok. Now, that’s the base. Let the cheese sit until they’re soft enough to mix. Or if you have a stand mixer, let it do the work for you. Put the mix in the fridge for 30 minutes or so until it chills and it easier to roll.

While it’s chilling, put wax paper on your countertop. Sprinkle chili powder on the wax paper. Form the cheese into whatever size balls you prefer (see, tacky). Roll them into the chili powder till coated. Now, I make small balls (again, tacky) because I like lots of chili powder in every bite.

Variations:

• Add a bit of basil or thyme to the cheese instead of garlic salt
• Ditch the chili powder & roll them in chopped nuts
• Roll them in fresh herbs
• Mix green onions into the cheese mix

Use your imagination. Think of what you like. And go from there. Keep these in the fridge. Let me know how you like them.

Filed under Holiday Plan, Recipes | Permalink | Comments (2)
Tagged with: cheese ball • Holiday Plan

Chel’s Holiday Plan … the Gifts!

In the final phase of my Christmas Plan, I work on the gifts. Each year, I do this a bit differently, but, I believe that’s the beauty of my plan… with a little tweaking each year, it’s fully functional.

Every year, the first thing I need is a list. I want a list where I can write down every single person - teachers included - for whom I’ll need gifts. Here’s how I do it…

1) Make a list of everyone. Just everyone possible. Better to start big and cross people off than forget someone.

2) Decide who will get hand-made gifts and who won’t. Consider each recipient’s wishes. I want gifts to be about the recipient not about the giver (the rare occasion when I don’t want things to be all about me!).

3) As I complete or purchase each gift, I put a check mark by that name, until I’ve completed all of the gifts.

4) If I’m making gifts, I do all of the gift making the same way I would do the card making, set aside an amount of time and work during that time and then stop. Even if I’m not finished. If I need several blocks of time, fine. But I limit myself, so I don’t get too overwhelmed by it all.

5) Make a list of everything needed for wrapping and such (paper, tape, bows, bags, cards, anything) and do all of that shopping at once. Take an hour and do just that stuff. And then, it’s all done and available when I want it.

6) Do the wrapping in sessions, too, so it’s less overwhelming.

With the list, I make a second list of all gifts that need to be mailed (we’ve got lots of family in other states - even more now that we’re in Florida). I plan to purchase or make those gifts first, so they can be wrapped and in the mail by mid-December, in plenty of time for a Christmas arrival.

My folks will be here for Thanksgiving, so I’ll have my gifts for my nephew ready for them to take back with them, cutting down on shipping costs.

I’m doing a couple of new things this year… one friend and I agreed to exchange only handmade gifts (she’s an amazing artist, so I came out ahead on this one!). Also, two college friends and I exchange gifts every year, and I suggested this year that we shop our homes. It’s economical and ecological. Who knew?!

We’re going to find jewelry or books or spa treatments or candles or whatever around our houses that are wonderful items but that we don’t use/like/need/care for anymore. And we’re swapping. It’s a fun way to save a little money. And these girls have great taste, so, again, I did good.

If you use my Holiday Plan and like it, please let me know.

Griff and Eliza, ‘05.

Filed under Holiday Plan | Permalink | Comments (4)

Chel’s Holiday Plan … the Cards

Ok, the next step in my holiday plan.

In terms of Thanksgiving cards, I send a handful. If I remember. I’ve got other stresses at Thanksgiving (namely, my parents coming to visit for a week AND STAYING IN MY HOUSE THAT ENTIRE WEEK). If you get a gobbler card from me, yippee. If not, eat your turkey and say a little prayer for my sanity. Actually, do that even if you get a Turkey Day card.

Now, for Christmas cards… that’s another story. Here’s my plan. I follow it with much success every year.

Take your list (made during the initial Question stage), however long it is, and cut 10 percent. Just delete them. If you’ve only got 10 names on the list, cut one. If you’ve got 40, cut four. It’s not an unreasonable amount, and quite frankly, it helps me feel like I’m paring down, making things easier for myself.

It may only be in my head, but it helps. And never have more than 50 people on the list. That’s just unmanageable, I think. But that’s just me. (Keep in mind what stamps cost these days when you’re making your card list!)

Everything else can be done in small blocks of time, so it’s not so overwhelming. I can do an amazing amount of stuff while I watch an evening of television.

1) If you’re buying cards, decide if you want plain cards from the store that you can drop a photo into or photo cards. If you want photo cards, start taking those family pictures and uploading them to Snapfish or some such place as soon as you get the tree up. Order photo cards soon. The earlier you order, the less expensive the cards!

2) Plan to address envelopes (or key in labels) one evening watching television (if you don’t watch tv, I don’t think I can help you. I mean, really.). Stick the labels and stamps another evening. You can buy stamps online to avoid the line at the P.O. and to be sure that you get the cute stamps. And for me, cute stamps are important.

3) If you’re making your cards (which I did last year for the first and final year), make a list of everything you’ll need to make them and buy those things all in one shopping trip. Then, decide when you’re going to make them. Set aside an hour or two or three or whatever, but do it in one block. And decide that you’ll do it all in that amount of time and that whatever doesn’t get done, just won’t. And that’s fine.

4) I always take my stack of envelopes and make two stacks - the folks who get a name signed to the card & the folks who get a short note. And I mean a short note! (If I get photo cards, the note is printed on them, so this step is already done!) Then, I do the signing and note writing. (For those of you who get more than a quick note from me, hush up about it, huh? Don’t want people getting jealous.)

And now, I know there are people who want to write big newsy letters about what happened in their family all year long. I hate those. If I don’t know you well enough to have a general knowledge about what happened in the last year, why are you sending me a card? I want a photo of you and the kids. That’s it. I don’t need to know all of your accomplishments. Let’s not try to make everyone else feel icky about themselves by sharing how fabulous you are. Sheesh. But again, that’s just me.

If that’s your thing, however… Buy recycled paper and use a font big enough for us to play the error game without losing our eyesight (Those of you who know me and Mike in real life know we like to edit stuff that comes in the mail for errors. We’re comfortable with our dork status.).

Now, I’m updating this some this year for financial reasons.This year, I’m willing to acknowledge that e-cards or bloggy cards or special web pages aren’t a bad way to communicate holiday love with those people who may be on the fringes of your card list anyway. (Pretty frickin’ holiday generous of me, huh?)

Now, go make a list! And I wanna be on it!

Griff and Eliza in front of the Chrismon tree at our former church. He was six, and she was two.

Filed under Holiday Plan | Permalink | Comment (1)
Tagged with: cards • Holiday Plan

Chel’s Holiday Plan… the Questions

Here goes… This is how I get started.

1. Make a list of Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s traditions (one list for each holiday) that you enjoy. Each person in the family names his or her favorite two holiday traditions or activities. Add those to the list. Don’t let the list exceed 10 items (unless your family’s that big).

Now, this is your immediate family. If you’re having extended family visit, and you want to include them, great. If not, they can play along with your choices, right? (Personal disclosure… I’m struggling right now with the fact that my family has invited themselves to both Thanksgiving and Christmas without asking if that’s ok with us, and I know already that they’ll expect things to be done a certain way, which isn’t really OUR way. And I’m going to spend some time trying to decide how best to handle this for everyone.)

2. Make a list of holiday traditions that you hate. Go on, be honest. Ask each family member if there’s any one thing that ya’ll have done in the past that they don’t enjoy. Add those to the list. (I’m not saying you HAVE to throw something out, but this is a good way to get in touch with what your family really likes and dislikes.)

You’re not going to be able to avoid everything that everyone hates, unfortunately, but this will give you an idea of what activities are going to necessitate a friendly holiday bribe. I figure it’s good to know those things in advance.

3. Make a list of activities you’d like to do during the holiday season…watch the Macy’s Day Parade, watch football, eat too much, go caroling, attend an Advent service at a church, drive around after dark looking at lights, rent holiday movies. There’s no end to this. It’s a fluid list. As your family grows and ages and changes, the list will change, too, though I think you’ll find some things will remain year after year.

4. Make a list of people to whom you’d like to send Christmas cards. List anyone and everyone. You’ll be paring down later. Think about whether you want a photo card or a plain store-bought card with a photo inserted or a card you design yourself. Consider if you’d like to say, ’screw cards.’ It’s a fine thing to say every now and then. (I even once said I would only send cards to people who sent them to me, but that was a particularly unhappy season for me.) Decide if you want to make your own cards.

5. Make a list of all of the people on your gift list. Include everyone you can think of… family, friends, teachers, etc. This is the BIG list from which you can cut.

6. Make a list of charities you’d like to donate time or resources to this season.

7. Make a list of your favorite holiday foods. Let each person add to the list. Be sure to include one take-out or dine-out meal! I’ve got several foods that I only make between Thanksgiving and Christmas Day, and my family is already talking about some of them.

After each list is complete, I keep each around and rest for a few days before tackling the how-tos of making the holidays happen for us. Just answering the first few questions put us all in a cheerful state of mind.

Eliza’s first Christmas. Griff was five and she was two and half months.

Filed under Holiday Plan | Permalink | Comments (2)
Tagged with: Holiday Plan • questions

Chel’s Holiday Plan … the intro

I love the holidays… pretty much everything about them. I’m already a little excited about Christmas decorations, even as I’m still putting up Thanksgiving decorations. I know there’s stress that goes along with the holidays, but for me, the fun and anticipation outweigh the stress.

Years ago, however, my friend, Aleece, was saying how overwhelmed she felt by the holiday stuff, and I offered to make her a plan to follow. See, I love a good plan almost as much as I love the holidays. And so, I made her a plan. I don’t know if Aleece ever uses it, but I still do.

Now, usually, I post this late in November, but this year, I figure we all need a little extra time to plan. The economy is forcing us to make some more creative choices this year, to make more with less. So I’m modifying my plan a bit to allow for that.

I’ll be looking forward to seeing what comments folks have to add to the plan, to enhance it.

One of my favorite shots of Griff… he was four, before Eliza was born. And he was clearly tired of taking photos.

Filed under Holiday Plan | Permalink | Comment (1)
Tagged with: Holiday Plan