One Week until Christmas Day and another week until New Year’s Day

Jamál (Beauty), 7 Masá’il (Questions), 168 BE – Sunday, December 18, 2011 about 3:50 PM Pacific Time

I no longer celebrate Christmas. Christmas Eve is my birthday and Christmas day brings back memories of my childhood in Blackwell, Oklahoma. My Grandmother Newland enjoyed Christmas because she could do one of her favorite things. Grandma enjoyed cooking and baking. Every year at this time, she would bake pies, cakes, and cookies.

Grandma began baking a few days before Thanksgiving and continued until after New Year’s Day. In addition to baking, Grandma fixed turkey, ham, and everything else that went along with the holidays. In addition, Grandma cleaned house. Grandma did a through how cleaning twice a year, once in the spring and again before the New Year.

The holiday season was a busy time for Grandma. For several years, she planned and cooked the Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s dinners, while she was cleaning the house for the New Year. Thinking about it make me tired, because I am not sure I can do all the things she did.

Where do I begin writing about my Grandmother’s Christmas and New Year’s rituals? I suppose I should begin with her cooking, especially her pumpkin and apple pies. For years, Grandma made her own pastries for the holidays. I cannot bake pies like my Grandmother, I can cook many of the other dishes she made, but not the pies; therefore, when I want a pie I buy it in the store. Grandma Newland also made her own whipped cream.