HI Maureen, I love a good Holiday project, and am quite crafty. What Kind of Christmas cards were you looking for, give me some ideas!!! This could be so much fun!!! Email me dear and we can discuss it. I can see now doing a special hummingbird vine Christmas card Just for Tina. What fun. I have lots of ideas!!! Talk to you soon. Kathy

My husband's parents used to celebrate the English way, or what they thought was English (they're from Hong Kong). A full dinner at 6p on Christmas Eve, putting up the tree, opening presents at midnight, and then eating a full meal AGAIN at 2am in the morning Christmas Day! This really wasn't very enjoyable for me, and since my MIL worked it was pretty stressful for her, too, doing all that stuff! They would make roast leg of lamb (Chinese will eat meat in huge quantities if they can afford it!), shepherd's pie, several Macanese (Portugese recipes adapted from Macau cuisine) dishes, and one little lonely package of Green Giant creamed spinach for 8 people. Eventually over the years, they stopped doing these parties, due to ill health and just getting tired of all the work involved. I was secretly relieved, although my husband STILL misses opening presents on Xmas Eve, LOL! My family of third-generation Asian Americans, celebrates Christmas Day. We never have a set menu, as all of us, including my now-grown-up nephew and niece, are dynamite cooks and love to experiment. Although we do a mostly traditional Thanksgiving, Christmas is always different. Sometimes we do "theme" ethnic cooking; sometimes we do more traditional stuff. This year it's slow-roasted salmon and prime rib, because my nephew is anxious to try cooking his first Big Piece of Red Meat :)) I make a smoked salmon sushi appetizer that the family really likes, so I offered to do the hors d'oeuvres this time. My BIL is vegetarian so he'll do a Greek salad and we'll have a couple of desserts -- probably a tiramisu and a fresh strawberry tart with lemon curd filling. My sister is in charge of the starch this year, could be pretty wild as she approaches cooking as a science experiment! New Year's we celebrate individually. My sister and her family do a buffet drop-in. My husband and I usually make ourselves a nice festive brunch -- blueberry French Toast or Chocolate Pancakes, and then maybe rack of lamb or filet mignon for dinner.

Rita do you live down south and are hot mulled beverages ever welcome down there? I had Scandanavian "glögg(or glühwein as the Germans call it or mulled wine) once at a bar up north and became an immediate devotee. I've served it before at parties and it was a hit. One of the best ones I made was mixing a spiced red wine with a blackberry flavored wine and heating it with citrus and a few spices. As many recipes as there are people and tastes, but I can buy it by the bottle here in MI and drink a cup many a night, heated in the microwave. Can be kicked up a notch with brandy or schnaaps or some kind of liqueur. If you don't want hot, just go with some type of wine punch, which is basically what sangria is. Drink the prosecco straight or with a twist of citrus peel and maybe a shot of peach brandy if you are really desperate. Isn't that what a bellini is? Champagne is a big enough treat for me not to add anything except maybe orange juice in the AM for a mimosa.

I just tried a simmering potpourri for the first time and it made the whole house smell so Christmas-y! I had fresh peel from my breakfast orange, so I put it in a saucepan w/ water, a couple of broken up cinnamon sticks and a spoonful of whole cloves & put it on the stove over low heat. It's still going right now & I'll definitely do it again. I also get the free trimmings from HD and arrange them around the house, since our tree is vintage aluminum. They don't sell balsam, though & that's the most fragrant, IMO.