While I love the traditional Christmas carols that we sing in church, I also love many of the songs that I hear on the radio. One of my favorites has always been “Rockin’ around the Christmas Tree”; no Christmas is complete until I have heard Brenda Lee a few times (couldn’t resist the video!):
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Can you go a Christmas season without hearing “Blue Christmas” at least once? I say you cannot! This is one of those songs that grows on you over the years.
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The first time I heard this arrangement of “The 12 Days of Christmas”, I knew that I had to go out and buy this group’s album:
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I liked their music so much that I bought copies as Christmas presents for our church choir director and organist (and the organist’s son loved it so much that he insisted on listening to the CD at bedtime every night!).
I couldn’t do posts of Christmas music without including an all-time favorite, but it truly defied classification. I finally came up with a solution – Christmas favorites that come to us from other countries/cultures. It just might work….
Back in 2011, I got an idea for something to do for the days leading up to Christmas – I LOVE Christmas music, both sacred and secular, so I thought it might be nice to post some of my favorites.
The thing is, I have LOTS of favorites – too many for just one post – so I decided to do a musical version of an Advent calendar, and count down the days until that most joyous day which celebrates Christ’s birth. Whenever possible, I have included links where you can purchase your own copy of each day’s selections.
I hope you enjoy my selections – some days there may be just one song; other days, I may do both a “church” and a popular song (both “classics” and contemporary); some days I may post different versions of the same song. I’m just winging it, so bear with me!
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Every family has their own “family lore” – stories handed down from generation to generation. These are generally told around the campfire, on the front porch, or around the dining room table. The good ones are side-splittingly funny; the really great ones are the ones which manage to embarass one or more family members.
Every year, Paul or I will drag out this old chestnut – it never fails to leave friends and family rolling in the aisles:
When Rebecca was a baby, Paul would oftentimes get Sarah and Michelle ready for school in the mornings. Since they were ages 9 and 10 at the time, this consisted of waking them up, telling them to get dressed/ready, and driving them 3 blocks to the school.
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With holiday parties coming up, here’s a neat idea for either bringing along to share, or giving as a hostess gift. It is delightfully easy to make, and it is decadently delicious.
If you don’t like alcoholic drinks, you can always leave out the booze and just have a really yummy chocolate sauce. This is great straight, over ice, or over ice cream:
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1/2 cup light corn syrup
1/4 cup water
1 vanilla bean, split, seeds scraped
4 ounces bittersweet chocolate
One 14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk
1 cup half-and-half
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 cup Irish whiskey (or vodka, for a more neutral flavor)
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From 1978, these classic clips from the sitcom “WKRP in Cincinnati” never fail to leave me in stitches:
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Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!
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Whenever I think of Thanksgiving, this is the song that comes to mind – and this is a beautiful arrangement sung by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir:
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There are plenty of videos with this beautiful song out there, but I absolutely LOVE the photography used in this one – it’s full of the people and things that make America such a great country:
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(“Simple Gifts” from “Appalachian Spring” by Aaron Copland, performed by the New York Philharmonic Orchestra, and conducted by Leonard Bernstein, is available in CD and MP3 formats)
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The Fat Lady Has Sung
Koch's Tour 