Happy Holidays!

I think this will be my last post until after the Holidays. Hope you all have a wonderful Christmas!

Much Love, The Bartholomews

Festivus ~December 23rd

Festivus is celebrated every year on December 23. However, one element of this holiday is that it can be celebrated on various days in December and even at various times throughout the year, according to the celebrant's discretion.

Festivus is a holiday that was introduced on an episode of the television sitcom "Seinfeld" on December 18, 1997 and over the years it has become increasingly more popular. In the episode "The Strike," Frank Castanza describes to Cosmo Kramer how and why he came up with the Festivus holiday several years earlier. Frank explains that during an encounter where he and another father were fighting over the last of a certain doll, upon which time Frank inflicted several blows upon the man, destroying the doll in the process, Frank decides he doesn't like the commercialism of Christmas and figures there must be a better way to celebrate the holidays. And thus Festivus was created.

Origins of Festivus
In reality, Festivus was created in 1966 by a writer named Dan O'Keefe. O'Keefe had read about a similar event in a book, made a few tweaks to the idea, and, after the named popped into his head, decided to call it Festivus. The original Festivus took place in February 1966, as a celebration of O'Keefe's first date with his future wife Deborah, but is now celebrated on December 23.

So how did Festivus turn up on the Seinfeld show? Well, Dan O'Keefe is the father of Daniel O'Keefe, a screenwriter for the Seinfeld show. The younger O'Keefe wrote the comical storyline into an episode of the show, adding a few new elements, and the rest is history.

Elements of Festivus (from festivusweb.com)

• Slogan ~ "A Festivus for the rest of us!"
• The Festivus Pole ~ The Costanza's tradition begins with an aluminum pole, which Frank praises for it's "very high strength-to-weight ratio". During Festivus, the unadorned Festivus pole is displayed. The pole was chosen apparently in opposition to the commercialization of highly decorated Christmas trees, because it is very "low-maintenance", and also because the holiday's patron, Frank Costanza, "find[s] tinsel distracting." (Don't we all?)  (The Festivus Pole was not part of the original observance, it was added for the Seinfeld show.)
• The Airing of Grievances ~ At the beginning of the Festivus dinner, each participant tells friends and family of all the instances where they disappointed him or her that year. As quoted from Frank Costanza: "I've got a lot of problems with you people, and now you're going to hear about it." (Go to kwillis.com to download a grievance worksheet.) 
• Festivus Dinner ~ In "The Strike," a celebratory dinner is shown on the evening of Festivus prior to the feats of strength. The on-air meal appeared to be meatloaf or spaghetti in a red sauce. The original holiday dinner at the O'Keefe household featured turkey or ham followed by a Pepperidge Farm cake decorated with M&M's.
• The Feats of Strength ~ After the dinner, the head of the family tests his or her strength against one participant of the head's choosing. Festivus is not considered over until the head of the family has been pinned to the ground. A participant is allowed to decline to attempt to pin the head of the family only if they have something better to do instead.
• Festivus Miracles ~ Another growing tradition, although not used by all celebrants of the holiday, is the phenomenon of the Festivus Miracle. (This is when fairly non-extraordinary coincidences are referred to as Festivus Miracles.)     

Although the Festivus celebration is based on creating a non-commercialized holiday, you can go to Festivuspoles.com to purchase an aluminum Festivus pole and the book Festivus, A Holiday For The Rest of Us by author Allen Salkin.



Sources: festivusweb.com, wikipedia.org

Rest In Peace Joe

On this date in 2002, Joe Strummer died suddenly in his home at Broomfield in Somerset, the victim of an undiagnosed congenital heart defect.

Wikipedia: Joe Strummer

Official Website: strummerville.com

"Strummerville is a registered charity that aims to create new opportunities for aspiring musicians.

Set up by the friends and family of Joe Strummer in the year after his death, the charity seeks to reflect Joe's unique contribution to the music world by offering support, resources and performance opportunities to artists who would not normally have access to them."

Blogload: Joe Strummer and the Mescaleros discography - yovengodelhoyo.blogspot.com

Blogload: The 101ers : Elgin Avenue Breakdown (1975) - urbanaspirines.blogspot.com

Blogload: The Clash - The Essential Clash (2003) - rockermusical.blogspot.com

Christmas Morning Love.

Do these look heavenly, or what?



And here's a great tutorial on how to make new ornaments look vintage. How COOL!

Almond Crunch Bar

I made these delicious treats a few years back & haven't made them since. Now that I have started working on my grocery list for Christmas weekend, I am eager to get started on these treats. They are so yum! Thanks for a former co-workers mother for sharing the recipe with me & now I will share with all the wonderful crafty friends of WIP :)

Almond Butter Crunch

Toffee ingredients

1 2/3 cup of sugar

2 sticks of butter

3 tbls of water

1 tbls of light corn syrup

.....

1 cup of silvered toasted almonds

1 8oz of milk chocolate (I used 1 1/2 bags of chocolate instead)

1 bag of sliced toasted almonds

.....

Combine all the toffee ingredients, stirring occasionally until mixture reaches 300 degrees (you will need a candy thermometer for this).

Remove from heat and quickly stir in one cup of silvered toasted almonds (as I am stirring the toffee mixture, I actually toast the almonds in the oven, I couldn't find any already toasted).

Spread mixture thinly on a cookie sheet. allow to cool, then melt the milk/dark chocolate and spread onto the cooled toffee. (I recommend using a long spatula when spreading. I found it easier to spread than using your normal type of spatula).

Sprinkle on sliced toasted almonds (again, I toasted these in the oven while melting the milk/dark chocolate). Allow it to cool/harden.

Flip it, then spread last layer of chocolate and sprinkle w/ sliced toasted almonds.

Once it is all cool, break it up into mini chocolate pieces. I actually cut mine up with a sharp knife. these make for great party treats or to give away. Happy Baking :)

my cookies arrived!

The cookies I won here at lovetheday arrived in the mail. They were delicious bite-sized cookies all beautifully decorated. They asked what cookies I would like and I told them to surprise me. Today we found a package on our back porch and inside were these darling shades of blue winter mitten cookies. Needless to say they are all gone and we loved every bite.

Thank you Clara's Cookies and lovetheday!

What Think Ye of Christ?

In the wee hours of the morning on Friday, December 17, 2010, the historic Provo Tabernacle, an LDS church house in Provo, Utah caught on fire and burned for more than a day before firefighters were able to put out the blaze. The structure was completely gutted by fire and everything was destroyed, but take a close look at the second picture:

Firefighters recovered a painting of Christ that was burned in the fire. The fire burned the entire painting except the image of Christ near the center. Amazing!

Photos by Scott G. Winterton from the Deseret News, accessed from KSL.com.