The holiday season is traditionally a busy time filled with happiness and good cheer. With celebrations, family gatherings and office parties, it represents the most social time of the year. The holiday-party season and the gathering of family during the holidays can produce a tremendous amount of stress and tension - two key triggers in the onset...

Have you ever sat in a group of people and listened to someone describe a family member whose own agenda takes over from the rest of the family?  We have family members like that.  One family member has driven past our home numerous times a year and stopped in only once in eight years.  (We live five minutes from the freeway.)   We drive 3 ½...

I have lived at least three days' drive from my grandparents and most of my extended family my entire life. Though it didn't surprise my mother, I know it was hard for her when I followed in her footsteps and moved across the continent from her and my dad. The independence that motivated her to move from Virginia to Ontario, Canada, sight unseen,...

You could say that I am the complete opposite of the Grinch. I LOVE Christmas! "The whole Christmas season”.   If it were up to me Christmas lights would go up in October, the baking would begin as soon as cooler weather hit and everything would get a coat of glitter.  There is only one thing I do not like about Christmas: the mall. It’s...

Ingredients: 2 cups creamo 1 cup milk 3 tablespoons baking powder 1 1/2 cups shortening (creamed) i.e Crisco vegetable shortening 2 cups sugar 8 cups flour Directions: Cream shortening.  Add sugar and mix until fluffy.  Add creamo and milk, baking powder and 7cups of flour (use 1 cup for rolling out dough). Mix until well blended.  ...

It may seem very complicated and appear to be a lot of hard work, but planning a Victorian Christmas is not only a memorable experience, it is lots of fun too. The key to the whole plan is to start the activities early! In prior years, when I was teaching cooking classes on this very theme, I would have to schedule the classes during the last...

Make them for party favours, give them as gifts or just decorate your home for the holidays. Materials: Apple Apple corer Taper candle Evergreen branch Directions: 1. Purchase apples that will sit upright and are quite firm. A soft apple will not last as long. 2. Core out a hole in the apple to fit a taper candle. Make the...