Finished decorating my tree today with CNN playing in the background detailing a mass murder.
Usually I prefer Charlie Brown Christmas while I decorate. Sign of the times, I suppose. 
I can’t get my head around pomegranate seeds and chocolate because pomegranate seeds have so much moisture and moisture and chocolate don’t mix in my experience. @Consolation, did you ever use pomegranate seeds in your chocolate making?
@doschicos I have never had this combination before but chocolate and pomegranate looks interesting. Instead of the regular ice cube tray I would use the silicone ones with different shapes.
I also think this would be interesting as a pomegranate/chocolate bark.
I’m looking forward to not hosting Christmas/Christmas Eve for the first time in many years. H and I are going to oldest D and son-in-law’s house in Chapel Hill for the holiday. After all the snow we had in MA last year, I’m happy to have a Christmas without it. With my luck, it’ll snow in NC!! Younger D and her significant other are also going to be in NC for Christmas as well as son-in-law’s Dad. Small group, but it should be fun.
abasket, I feel your pain. I have nothing against Christmas, I just want someone else to do all the work. Is that too much to ask? My husband busts his butt putting up Christmas lights and decorating, but I get stuck with the shopping. Absolutely hate it, plus cleaning the house if we entertain. This is also my busy time of year for work, and it’s just a hassle. If someone else could do all the shopping, entertaining and cleaning, I could go for it. Oh, and someone else to pay for it!
I’ve done all my gift buying online for many years. Highly recommend it. No driving, no looking for a parking spot, I can search for the lowest prices. Do you shop online much, @busdriver11?
We are a Christian family, and I always dream of a Christmas focused on our faith and family rather than the commercial aspects of the holidays. But every year, I end up stressed about buying gifts, decorating, attending holiday functions, etc., and I end up being a big crab! And every year I feel like it’s over the top. Not the way I want it to be, but it’s MY OWN FAULT! But maybe this year…
“I’ve done all my gift buying online for many years. Highly recommend it. No driving, no looking for a parking spot, I can search for the lowest prices. Do you shop online much, @busdriver11?”
I do a little bit, @doschicos. It is less painful. However, I tend to buy many clothes for the kids, and then just return what they don’t like. Hard to tell what something is really going to look like, or the size, online. And the return is tougher. Thinking about maybe just telling them I’ll take them on a shopping trip, and force them to do it with me! And perhaps some money. I don’t shop for many people anymore, thankfully.
I love online shopping, never find the petite sizes and colors my daughters like in person and I hate crowds and grumpy cashiers (although I appreciate the work they do this time of year)
I usually find pretty great deals online and have kept things simple over the years. I’ve seen too many people turn Xmas into a frenzied tiring time that they don’t enjoy. You can change things but slowly and think about what you want to do for the holiday. One of the best holiday’ s we had was when we were snowed in one Christmas, couldn’t travel and just huddled in, had a nice dinner, watched movies, played board games, no grumpy kids. We visited a day or two later and it made me reconsider plans and cherish what was important to us and compromising in the future. You can never make everyone happy but you can control how much you have to do and how much you want to do.
" Finished decorating my tree today with CNN playing in the background detailing a mass murder.
Usually I prefer Charlie Brown Christmas while I decorate. Sign of the times, I suppose. "
This is one of the reasons I keep tuning into Food Network and turning off the news
We always do the tree with Handel’s Messiah playing. We get a real one - usually the weekend before Christmas and i stays up till Jan 6 or so. The wreath on the door goes up earlier. DH will put the icicle lights up soon. It’s just one row across the front of the house. I like houses that do more, but hate the inflatable ones. Especially since people often turn them off during the day. So you have dead Santa during the day. Ick. The thing I like most is cookies. I had a great aunt who sent tins of cookies to everyone for Christmas. I still use her recipes and they go to all the holiday parties. If I am organized this year, I might send some up to my brother and family. He’s got my Mom living with them and she loves cookies. My sil used to cook a lot, but has gotten busy with other stuff and really doesn’t enjoy it much any more.
@doschicos, no, I am not a particular fan of pomegranate. I did use fruit purees, but they are mixed into the ganache.
The thing about liquid and chocolate is, as I once read, is like sugar and water. If you put a tablespoon of water into a bowl of sugar, it will clump up. If you combine the sugar with enough water, it will dissolve. That’s why chocolate can be smoothly melted with cream to make ganache.
In the video, they use chocolate chips and add vegetable oil. The addition of the oil means that the chocolate doesn’t have to be tempered to avoid gray streaks. It also means that it will have less shine and no snap, but it doesn’t matter for what they are doing. It is not something that a professional would do. Nor is setting it up in a freezer. If the chocolate is properly tempered, it will set rapidly at cool room temperature.
It could be done as a bark, but the liquid around the seeds would dry up, which would probably not be as nice.
BTW, the nut version would keep a long time, but the pomegranate won’t.
Decorated my office cube yesterday!
Plugged in my tiny USB Christmas tree into my computer , plugged in a snowman light and took a half a dozen push pins and some shiny light bulb garland to the outside of my cube. A total of about 3 minutes work - done!
Still have everything to do at home yet…3 minutes won’t cut it there.
@busdriver11, why don’t you treat yourself at this time of year? Merry Maids to the rescue. They will do a one time cleaning for you. They are pricey, but for the stress they might relieve, why not? You work hard. Give yourself a present!
I bake and bake and bake cookies. Everyone has their different favorites so even though I think a bout cutting back, by the time I include everyone’s “must haves” it winds up being a lot.
We always host Christmas dinner at our house and I go all out with days of prep. I don’t have as much energy as I used to a decade ago but now the kids, being older and having good kitchen skills, are able to chip in and help.
Favorite part of the holidays: Day after Christmas. It’s just the immediate family and we call it “Pajama Day”. We lounge around in our pjs all day, watch lots of movies and eat leftovers and lots of Christmas cookies. The best!