For many, this is the most wonderful time of the year. I am one of these people. I love Christmas. My head is filled with nostalgic memories from my childhood in Minnesota, where the abundance of snow always assured us a White Christmas, and our well insulated home held all the flavors of my mother’s and grandmother’s holiday baking. My children have a very different experience of Christmas, growing up in California. Eighty degree December days are nothing like the fifteen degree days in the Midwest. Flip flops sit in the front hall, instead of boots. We squeeze tangerine and orange juice in our kitchen, instead of brewing hot chocolate.
But, our California Christmas still beckons family traditions. Every year we play board games like Blokus, Code Names, Dominoes and Chess -inspired this year by the show The Queen’s Gambit. We watch our favorite holiday movies – The Holiday, Love Actually, White Christmas, Elf. Gramma Beth and my daughter Fliss cook Eggs Benedict for everyone on Christmas Morning – both vegetarian and traditional versions. We pull out my grandmother’s china and set our table with fresh branches from our yard. These vintage plates have held Christmas meals for our family since 1922. Most years we bake a plethora of sugar cookies to decorate. Sometimes, a gingerbread house is added to the mix. My Scandinavian heritage always makes a welcome appearance too – lingonberries are served with Christmas Eve dinner, a Danish Coffee cake arrives in Uncle Sage’s hands with the knowledge we will all devour it before Christmas Morning. We ship in Norwegian goodies from our favorite Scandinavian shop in Minneapolis (Ingebretsen’s). The house smells like California Christmas – orange blossoms, mixed in with the aroma of homemade meals and my favorite Christmas candle, sent yearly from a friend far away – Winter White(Illume).
Christmas feels different this year. There were not Christmas parties to attend. We did not put out all of our decorations. Live Christmas concerts are a thing of the past. But, despite the constraints of 2020, we are still together with our immediate family, cooking meals, baking treats, watching movies, and playing games like we do year after year. The familiarity feels comforting. Happy Holidays from our Ojai home to yours!
OHI HOME STYLE 