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What are gutsies? We make cut out cookies and they have an ungodly (or godly?) amount of butter in them so much that they have to have flour on the counter and the cookie cutters and the dough fresh from the fridge. Then when they are cut in Christmas shapes and baked we put butter cream frosting on them decoratively.
@Hamsaka said:
It feels like Christmas happens to me and I put up with it. Left to my own I'd not celebrate traditional western holidays except for all the cuteness that goes along with the grandchildren. The music is great, though, and the pretty lights along with the music and generalized sparkly festivity, the least I can say is that it's well timed, the weather is cold, it gets dark at 4pm -- blech. Perfect time to decorate the bleak hibernating climate and 'force' some ho ho hos, I'm sure it's for good healthy balance.
Buddhists (whatever that means) can celebrate or not celebrate anything, that's the beauty, no shoulds or oughts. And good for you to take yourself off for a nice meal when your sister comes around, good for you. That's called self care.
buddhists celebrate wesak on may full moon to remembering siddhartha's birth, Buddha's Enlightenment and Buddha's Parinirwana (death)
those three incidents happen on the same day, the difference is only the years
up to 29 years he was just a worldling, then he gone forth and Enlightened (attained Nirvana) on Wesak Day when He was 35 years old and His Parinirvana (died) when He was 80 years old
@DhammaDragon said:
To my husband and son's dismay (and my own, why not), in less than two weeks, I managed to nibble my way through two tins of two kilos each of my favourite sort of Gutsies.
Have increased my Kundalini Yoga weekly sessions and cut "empty" calories elsewhere to make up for my sin... (or seams )
The children found out: Mom is Santa Claus!!
I promise these are not my children, and that costume does not belong to me
No way it would fit me anyway, after all the gutsies I've been eating...
D'jew people celebrate or d'Jew celebrate? (Thinking of Woody Allen here)
Yes! I do! Also observe Advent as much as possible until Christmas finally comes. You don't have to be a fully fledged Buddhist to participate here. Juno, we also have people steeped in Christian heritage who do not repudiate it wholesale, either. I don't mean this in any negative way, but we have a lot of people here who are just very, very interested in Buddhism and Asian thought generally. Relatively unschooled people like myself. O, there's so much yet to be gleaned!
Wonderful thread. Got off to a good start. Thanks, @federica!
This year, being into Buddhism, I am so loving the generosity vibe of it all and I am putting together loads of Christmas shoeboxes for the homeless - perfect for inspiring right action !
@dhammachick said:
Having a Jewish mother and Catholic father means Chanukah AND Christmas. This year it's 8 days of chocolate directly followed by obscene amounts of food and presents.
I made the cookie dough, rolled and cut, baked, made the frosting, and decorated with my family. There were 11 plates of cookies consolidated to 6. My feet were sore between that and walking meditation. It distracted me from being sad my cat Blackberry died; I was making the cookies while she was at the vet. But it was nice to be around people today and I feel fortunate.
Sorry to hear about Blackberry. Was she named after the phone?
Yes fortunate to have people and cookies.
1
silverIn the beginning there was nothing, and then it exploded.USA, Left coast.Veteran
So very sorry to hear about your Blackberry passing on, @Jeffrey.
I had my favorite pet cat of all times, Fluffy, put to sleep right around Christmas of 2009. He was 14 years old (his kidneys failed). He was an 'indoor' cat. He laid so still sometimes, I thought he was sick or dying sometimes and made me check on him to see if he was okay. That was his personality. His sister - who ran away - was the total opposite: sleek and hyper.
federicaSeeker of the clear blue sky...Its better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak out and remove all doubtModerator
edited December 2014
You may be relieved your dear pet is actually past suffering now, which I think is a positive way of considering this outcome. Best wishes, @Jeffrey ...
For me, celebrating Christmas was to have cake - so I loved Christmas. But this year, few days back, as some of you know I was diagnosed of high sugar in blood, so for the last few days it is without sugar for me in tea. So this year no cake for me at Chirstmas . Damn. Anyways, Merry Christmas to all.
2
Toraldris -`-,-{@ Zen Nud... Buddhist @}-,-`- East Coast, USAVeteran
edited December 2014
Merry Christmas, Belated Happy Hanukkah (just found out it ends the day before Christmas... odd coincidence), Happy Kwanzaa, whatever your Holiday, Happy That.
0
DavidA human residing in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Ancestral territory of the Erie, Haudenosaunee, Huron-Wendat, Mississauga and Neutral First NationsVeteran
This will probably sound silly to many but I have a hard time having a tree in my house that was cut down. It seems almost like a hunting trophy... And then to put lights on it is like applying lipstick...
I'd like a place with a back yard so I can plant a Christmas tree.
I've heard there are places that will rent a potted tree that you can use and when you're done, they replant it.
1
Toraldris -`-,-{@ Zen Nud... Buddhist @}-,-`- East Coast, USAVeteran
DavidA human residing in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Ancestral territory of the Erie, Haudenosaunee, Huron-Wendat, Mississauga and Neutral First NationsVeteran
My brother found the best little fake tree. It looks just like the sad little one from Charlie Brown. Even has Linus's blanket around the bottom! Priceless.
But yeah, you're right. Fake is the way I'll go next year. I got away with not bothering this year but my daughter just turned one. I think it will be a different story at two.
My mother gave me a copy of "The Pocket-Sized Pema Chodron" for Christmas. I chuckled, as I have the e-book version, which I recommended to her with the caveat that it's great, regardless of your religious beliefs, or lack thereof. (My mother is Catholic.) Now I can literally carry Pema Chodron's awesome thoughts in my pocket!
As a side note, this was the first time since last Spring that my Mom straight up asked me if I am practicing Buddhism. I responded in the affirmative and that was that. I think she's known me as a Neo-Pagan for so long that it threw her off a bit. She's a huge fan of HHDL and has read some books on Zen Buddhism, so I think she's more comfortable with this transition than when I was 15. So yay for coming full circle.
I didn't celebrate today I felt like Scrooge sitting in my room everyone downstairs was celebrating but I am happy. I ate four slices of bread with peanut butter and that was that now for another day tomorrow but I am just glad I did not get born in a warzone place.
3
silverIn the beginning there was nothing, and then it exploded.USA, Left coast.Veteran
I bought 2 pizzas yesterday and have leftovers today...Since I rarely buy pizzas, it's a great holiday meal for me. And Del Taco is open today and with a coupon I can get a free milk shake (If I decide to go out, I'm getting a strawberry shake) - you have to spend three bucks to get it.
About 3 days ago, I could feel the tension buzzing in the air, and it made my stomach feel a little funny - same with yesterday - so, being on my own is nice. Odd thing happened last night, I fell asleep, my cell phone woke me up and it was a text from someone I didn't think I'd hear from again, wishing me a Merry Christmas. It buzzed several times before I realized I'd have to wake up to see who it was - it was after 1 am and was a tad unhappy about it, so when I woke up at 4 am, I texted her back a merry Christmas and my text was rejected!
My dad (a Catholic) took us out for Xmas lunch. I enjoyed a beautiful meal with my family for which I am grateful.
Raven
_ /\ _
3
federicaSeeker of the clear blue sky...Its better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak out and remove all doubtModerator
Well, our christmas was a bit of a mixed affair.... H and I had a quiet day together, (which is in itself, a heck of an understatement) and my mum, who traveled to London to spend Christmas with my cousin, her sister/his 92-year-old mum, his Muslim GF and Jewish daughter, actually spent most of yesterday and all of today in hospital, with my nonagenarian, non-English-speaking aunt, as she brought a severe case of gastroenteritis over from Southern France, with her....She is very poorly, and my cousin is extremely concerned. His GF is pregnant to boot, so can well do without a viral attack of anything right now (due the end of January, but still....) so it's all been a bit mad, really.....
We had homemade pizza with kosher salami, italian sausage, etc, tiramisu, lefse, nisu leipa, homemade baileys, and watched pro wrestling (ecw and nxt).
My day was also a mixed bag. It started out terrible. My 18 yr old decided to throw a tantrum last night and refused to participate in Xmas stuff last night and this morning. She blasted me out of the water on her twitter page and I was absolutely heartbroken. I held it together and made a big breakfast for everyone else....i couldn't eat, and was teary eyed until about noon. I looked at the gift box that was left under the tree....which was hers....and I thought....well, the hell with it!!! I had gotten her a gift card for the movie theater....so.....no need for it to go to waste....since she sanctimoniously announced she didn't need any of us and what a terrible childhood she had ( eyeroll)..
anyway..... I grabbed the gift certificate ,piled the rest of us in the car and off we went. Four of us saw not one, but two DOUBLE features WITH all the snacks!!! Me and the other children ended up having a fantastic time!!! We finished the night eating breakfast at IHOP and laughin' and just cuttin' up. I now could'nt care less what she thinks/says about me on twitter....hahaha...a good time can do that..... ......
We have Christmas dinner on Christmas Eve. Played charades, skyped relatives, drank wine, fought over the 'bah humbug Christmas hat'. . . etc . . . As usual I made a complete fool of myself during Charades and Skyping relatives but no one seemed too bothered . . .
The meal was a bit massive. We had a 'starter' for lunch - a sort of cheese and cracker buffet and then hours later . . . Turkey, ham, sausages warped with bacon (that should be 'wrapped' but I prefer my sausages Star Trek style), sprouts, mashed swede and carrots, broccoli and roast potatoes and mashed potatoes - no idea why both, stuffing, onion gravy and later mince pie. Very British. Only two disasters. Candles burning through cardboard box were mistaken for gravy being gently caramelised and my SD card from the camera was put in the wrong TV slot and had to be extracted with tweezers . . .
Christmas day was great, house empty and quiet, just how I prefer. I did not manage to have gruel for breakfast Scrooge style . . . but did watch and thoroughly enjoy the Dr Who Christmas special . . .
2
silverIn the beginning there was nothing, and then it exploded.USA, Left coast.Veteran
At @lobster's place:Candles burning through cardboard box were mistaken for gravy being gently caramelised and my SD card from the camera was put in the wrong TV slot and had to be extracted with tweezers . . .
Still eleven more days of Christmas left, including today...
So the celebration isn't over 'til the fat lady sings.
I'm glad the mean part of Christmas (the rush) is over, though. There's so much crime and other rudenesses that have to happen in order for people to secure "Christmas" for a few loved ones.
One of the really neat things about Christmas is that you do things you normally don't. Rather than curling up with a book or whatever, you sit around a table with friends and relatives for hours, going over the good old times. Lotsa games, too, are played. One of my favorites is Loaded Questions.
I use it to spend time with my Christian family that celebrate. My kids enjoy decorating stockings and eating Christmas cookies. It doesn't have to be about religion. It's really more of a cultural celebration anyway, and I'm a part of that culture. I try not to participate in the consumerism much, tho.
1
federicaSeeker of the clear blue sky...Its better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak out and remove all doubtModerator
edited December 2014
@Nirvana said:
Still eleven more days of Christmas left, including today...
Actually, according to ancient British tradition, christmas isn't over until Candlemas - the 2nd of February. It was also a custom to leave decorations up until then....
Every year I make the same mistake: I miscalculate what our guests will eat, and we find ourselves eating the same Christmas menu for three to four days in a row.
The plum pudding that tasted scrumptious on day one turns unpalatable by the third day.
One more day to go of Chocolate bûche!!!!
I am soooooo über-disgusted already!!!!
Comments
What are gutsies? We make cut out cookies and they have an ungodly (or godly?) amount of butter in them so much that they have to have flour on the counter and the cookie cutters and the dough fresh from the fridge. Then when they are cut in Christmas shapes and baked we put butter cream frosting on them decoratively.
Gutsies are like the cookies.
They also have ungodly (or unbuddhic) amounts of butter and sugar.
http://www.mitten-im-thurgau.ch/joomla/images/stories/weihnachtsguetzli-gemischt.jpg
No Mr Cushion,
Gutsies will not make you fat . . . you are just a support mechanism . . .
You have a Christmas greeting? . . . not sure that is even possible . . .
Pah Humbug!
Bodhi Ebeneezer
Do you people celebrate christmas?
Christzens do
Mr Cushion with puppy lobster. I have seen it all, now.....hahahahaha
buddhists celebrate wesak on may full moon to remembering siddhartha's birth, Buddha's Enlightenment and Buddha's Parinirwana (death)
those three incidents happen on the same day, the difference is only the years
up to 29 years he was just a worldling, then he gone forth and Enlightened (attained Nirvana) on Wesak Day when He was 35 years old and His Parinirvana (died) when He was 80 years old
Mmm those Gutsies are good!!!!
The children found out: Mom is Santa Claus!!
I promise these are not my children, and that costume does not belong to me
No way it would fit me anyway, after all the gutsies I've been eating...
My fave during the holidays is baklava!!
D'jew people celebrate or d'Jew celebrate? (Thinking of Woody Allen here)
Yes! I do! Also observe Advent as much as possible until Christmas finally comes. You don't have to be a fully fledged Buddhist to participate here. Juno, we also have people steeped in Christian heritage who do not repudiate it wholesale, either. I don't mean this in any negative way, but we have a lot of people here who are just very, very interested in Buddhism and Asian thought generally. Relatively unschooled people like myself. O, there's so much yet to be gleaned!
Wonderful thread. Got off to a good start. Thanks, @federica!
I celebrate xmas from my heart. I feel blessed at Christmas.
HELLS YEAH
This year, being into Buddhism, I am so loving the generosity vibe of it all and I am putting together loads of Christmas shoeboxes for the homeless - perfect for inspiring right action
!
chrismukkah!!
Yes my daughter calls in Chrisanukah
Eid (Islam), Festival of Light (Hindu) and Christmas commercial shopping lights are combined around here . . .
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/7765456.stm
. . . and Flying Speghetti Monster provided the sauce . . . (praise be to his meat balls)
I'll PM you my address drools
I made the cookie dough, rolled and cut, baked, made the frosting, and decorated with my family. There were 11 plates of cookies consolidated to 6. My feet were sore between that and walking meditation. It distracted me from being sad my cat Blackberry died; I was making the cookies while she was at the vet. But it was nice to be around people today and I feel fortunate.
Sorry to hear about Blackberry.
Was she named after the phone? 
Yes fortunate to have people and cookies.
So very sorry to hear about your Blackberry passing on, @Jeffrey.
I had my favorite pet cat of all times, Fluffy, put to sleep right around Christmas of 2009. He was 14 years old (his kidneys failed). He was an 'indoor' cat. He laid so still sometimes, I thought he was sick or dying sometimes and made me check on him to see if he was okay. That was his personality. His sister - who ran away - was the total opposite: sleek and hyper.
Thanks for the condolences. I am ok.
You may be relieved your dear pet is actually past suffering now, which I think is a positive way of considering this outcome. Best wishes, @Jeffrey ...
Happy Christmas everyone.
>
I'll second that.
For me, celebrating Christmas was to have cake - so I loved Christmas. But this year, few days back, as some of you know I was diagnosed of high sugar in blood, so for the last few days it is without sugar for me in tea. So this year no cake for me at Chirstmas
. Damn. Anyways, Merry Christmas to all.
Merry Christmas, Belated Happy Hanukkah (just found out it ends the day before Christmas... odd coincidence), Happy Kwanzaa, whatever your Holiday, Happy That.
I'd like a place with a back yard so I can plant a Christmas tree.
I've heard there are places that will rent a potted tree that you can use and when you're done, they replant it.
@ourself Fake trees. They're all the rage.
My brother found the best little fake tree. It looks just like the sad little one from Charlie Brown. Even has Linus's blanket around the bottom! Priceless.
But yeah, you're right. Fake is the way I'll go next year. I got away with not bothering this year but my daughter just turned one. I think it will be a different story at two.
You can get a fake tree on clearance after today.
Buy off season. 
As a side note, this was the first time since last Spring that my Mom straight up asked me if I am practicing Buddhism. I responded in the affirmative and that was that. I think she's known me as a Neo-Pagan for so long that it threw her off a bit. She's a huge fan of HHDL and has read some books on Zen Buddhism, so I think she's more comfortable with this transition than when I was 15. So yay for coming full circle.
I bought 2 pizzas yesterday and have leftovers today...Since I rarely buy pizzas, it's a great holiday meal for me. And Del Taco is open today and with a coupon I can get a free milk shake (If I decide to go out, I'm getting a strawberry shake) - you have to spend three bucks to get it.
About 3 days ago, I could feel the tension buzzing in the air, and it made my stomach feel a little funny - same with yesterday - so, being on my own is nice. Odd thing happened last night, I fell asleep, my cell phone woke me up and it was a text from someone I didn't think I'd hear from again, wishing me a Merry Christmas. It buzzed several times before I realized I'd have to wake up to see who it was - it was after 1 am and was a tad unhappy about it, so when I woke up at 4 am, I texted her back a merry Christmas and my text was rejected!
My dad (a Catholic) took us out for Xmas lunch. I enjoyed a beautiful meal with my family for which I am grateful.
Raven
_ /\ _
Well, our christmas was a bit of a mixed affair.... H and I had a quiet day together, (which is in itself, a heck of an understatement) and my mum, who traveled to London to spend Christmas with my cousin, her sister/his 92-year-old mum, his Muslim GF and Jewish daughter, actually spent most of yesterday and all of today in hospital, with my nonagenarian, non-English-speaking aunt, as she brought a severe case of gastroenteritis over from Southern France, with her....She is very poorly, and my cousin is extremely concerned. His GF is pregnant to boot, so can well do without a viral attack of anything right now (due the end of January, but still....) so it's all been a bit mad, really.....
We had homemade pizza with kosher salami, italian sausage, etc, tiramisu, lefse, nisu leipa, homemade baileys, and watched pro wrestling (ecw and nxt).
What else do you do at Christmas?
My day was also a mixed bag. It started out terrible. My 18 yr old decided to throw a tantrum last night and refused to participate in Xmas stuff last night and this morning. She blasted me out of the water on her twitter page and I was absolutely heartbroken. I held it together and made a big breakfast for everyone else....i couldn't eat, and was teary eyed until about noon. I looked at the gift box that was left under the tree....which was hers....and I thought....well, the hell with it!!! I had gotten her a gift card for the movie theater....so.....no need for it to go to waste....since she sanctimoniously announced she didn't need any of us and what a terrible childhood she had ( eyeroll)..
......
anyway..... I grabbed the gift certificate ,piled the rest of us in the car and off we went. Four of us saw not one, but two DOUBLE features WITH all the snacks!!! Me and the other children ended up having a fantastic time!!! We finished the night eating breakfast at IHOP and laughin' and just cuttin' up. I now could'nt care less what she thinks/says about me on twitter....hahaha...a good time can do that.....
Be sure she's suffering too....
Oh is it over?
We have Christmas dinner on Christmas Eve. Played charades, skyped relatives, drank wine, fought over the 'bah humbug Christmas hat'. . . etc . . . As usual I made a complete fool of myself during Charades and Skyping relatives but no one seemed too bothered . . .
The meal was a bit massive. We had a 'starter' for lunch - a sort of cheese and cracker buffet and then hours later . . . Turkey, ham, sausages warped with bacon (that should be 'wrapped' but I prefer my sausages Star Trek style), sprouts, mashed swede and carrots, broccoli and roast potatoes and mashed potatoes - no idea why both, stuffing, onion gravy and later mince pie. Very British. Only two disasters. Candles burning through cardboard box were mistaken for gravy being gently caramelised and my SD card from the camera was put in the wrong TV slot and had to be extracted with tweezers . . .
Christmas day was great, house empty and quiet, just how I prefer. I did not manage to have gruel for breakfast Scrooge style . . . but did watch and thoroughly enjoy the Dr Who Christmas special . . .
>
Great finale!
Btw, what are sausages Star Trek style?![:\](https://newbuddhist.com/plugins/emojiextender/emoji/little/confused.png ":\")
^^^ Sausages warped . . . oops, the spell checker did that, not sure what the recipe entails, maybe the bacon is from another dimension . . .
Still eleven more days of Christmas left, including today...
So the celebration isn't over 'til the fat lady sings.
I'm glad the mean part of Christmas (the rush) is over, though. There's so much crime and other rudenesses that have to happen in order for people to secure "Christmas" for a few loved ones.
One of the really neat things about Christmas is that you do things you normally don't. Rather than curling up with a book or whatever, you sit around a table with friends and relatives for hours, going over the good old times. Lotsa games, too, are played. One of my favorites is Loaded Questions.
Actually, according to ancient British tradition, christmas isn't over until Candlemas - the 2nd of February. It was also a custom to leave decorations up until then....
http://southernorderspage.blogspot.co.uk/2009/12/are-you-keeping-any-christmas.html
http://resources.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/customs/year/candlemas.html
http://www.schooloftheseasons.com/candlemas.html
Every year I make the same mistake: I miscalculate what our guests will eat, and we find ourselves eating the same Christmas menu for three to four days in a row.
The plum pudding that tasted scrumptious on day one turns unpalatable by the third day.
One more day to go of Chocolate bûche!!!!
I am soooooo über-disgusted already!!!!
Its hard to get a haircut on Christmas.