Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with holiday

best moist but structural vegan pumpkin pie recipe?

amtho — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 21:48:19 -0800

My ideal pumpkin pie is very moist, not too sweet, and quite structural. Is it possible to achieve this in a vegan recipe? We have a can of pumpkin in the cupboard. I'd love to whip up a pie. I have silken tofu, Bob's Red Mill egg replacer, tapioca starch, sugar, soy milk, rice milk, soy yogurt, bananas, and coconut milk "drink".

Does anyone have experience with a vegan (no eggs or condensed milk) pumpkin pie recipe that's delicious and moist, and solid at room temperature?

My previous attempts have either not gelled or have been kind of like eating dehydrated sugary pumpkin sediment - better than my description sounds, but not what I want. On reflection, I think that my favorite non-vegan pumpkin pies have had a lot of egg to provide the structure to keep them thick and moist while holding their shape when cut (and providing decent mouth feel).

Holiday Recommendations for Denver?

soupy — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 16:56:55 -0800

Denver filter: My boyfriend and I will be in the Denver area from Dec 25 - Jan 1st. I would love Holiday/ winter activity recommendations for my boyfriend and I (mid-20s and early 30s) and activity recommendations for us and my parents. I lived in Denver ex-urbs for many years with my family, but we were never around for Christmas / New Year's.

Your favorite Denver area winter time activities would be swell as well. We live in Seattle. Casa Bonita is already on our list.

I need to find a short-term gym in LA!

paultopia — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 10:47:26 -0800

How to find a short-term (holiday) gym membership in LA? I'm in the midst of a major self-transformation campaign that involves lots of trips to the gym. Normally, I'm attached to a university with a lovely gym that I don't have to pay for, so I'm not a member of anything. But over the holiday, I'm visiting family in LA, where there is no such thing.

Last year, I recall calling 24-hour fitness and asking if they had holiday memberships available, and them telling me that it would cost me hundreds of dollars to use their facilities for a couple weeks. That obviously won't do.

Does anyone know any gyms in the LA area (preferably toward the south bay, i.e., San Pedro, Long Beach, Palos Verdes, etc.) that offers short-term memberships for this kind of situation? Thanks!

It's the least wonderful time of the year

Anonymous — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 10:43:51 -0800

How to handle an abusive, alcoholic family for Christmas - now and in years to come? I am 25 years old, and have managed to (mostly) escape my emotionally abusive, alcoholic family. I only go home once a year...and that's for Christmas. Needless to say, this is my least favorite time of the year, and I'm freaking out about heading home in a few weeks.

I don't have many friends in my hometown anymore, and my family doesn't really venture outside the house. Basically, each Christmas is three or four days of drinking, screaming, weeping, cursing, falling over, and general angst.

Although I hope to eventually not go home for Christmas, right now it's just not an option. What I'm looking for are some good coping strategies to deal with holidays at home. How can I reduce my stress and fill the endless hours? How do I prevent myself from getting hurt when situations like the following happen?

- my grandmother gets too drunk to stand before dinner even starts
- my father screams at my mother to go lay down because nobody wants to look at her anymore and she's an embarrassment to her children
- my mother hides weeping in the basement and when I go to find her, she begs me to "throw her in rehab" if she ever gets as bad as my grandmother

(This was all last Christmas, by the way.)

Things I've done in years past include watching a lot of TV, playing on the internet all day, and altering my sleep schedule to limit the amount of hours my family and I are mutually awake.

One note - I don't drink during the holidays, because I see what it does to my family, and I also have an intense fear of losing control around them and bringing their wrath onto me.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I know this probably doesn't sound too terribly bad, but it hurts me a lot every single year and I would love to learn how to make it hurt less. Throwaway email is drunksmas@gmail.com.

Hotel Luz En Yucatan

uans — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 18:18:26 -0800

Hotel Luz En Yucatan , Mexico, sounds too good to be true. Is it? I would like to hear from anyone who has been there before. Thinking of going in January. Thanks.

Holiday Tipping for Server

MeetMegan — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 17:10:18 -0800

What kind of holiday tip/gift should I give a server I see regularly (once a week) and regularly tip 30%? I saw my favorite server last night, and he pressed me to schedule my next meal so that he could "see me before the holidays." That reminded me that I'd like to get/give him something for the holidays. What's the protocol on this? Should I just provide him a larger tip? Is a gift appropriate? If so, how much/what kind?

This is an upscale restaurant. Two of us dine together (myself and my brother) and we regularly spend $70+ and tip very well (30%+). We see Bill about three-four times a month.

Thanks for your help!

Brighten my yuletide

dchrssyr — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 16:53:34 -0800

I am spending Christmas Day alone in Portland, OR. What should I do with myself? I will happily volunteer somewhere and I am open to suggestions for good volunteer gigs (or better yet, actual leads/contacts) from PDXers. Volunteering isn't likely to take up the whole day, though, and I'd really like to keep myself busy and my mind off of being alone. Any and all suggestions welcome.

Jingle Noms - share yours?

Mysticalchick — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 10:38:30 -0800

Our office wants to give the UPS, Fed Ex and postal carrier food gifts this year. Any great suggestions? I have a catalog from Boston Coffee Cakes - looks yummy. What kinds of food gifts have you gotten that's been extra awesome? Thanks for the suggestions!

Have you ever been to a National Chorale Sing-in of Handel's Messiah?

cymru_j — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 07:38:40 -0800

Have you ever been to a Sing-in of Handel's Messiah? I'm looking into attending the National Chorale sing-in event at Lincoln Center (http://www.nationalchorale.org/) and gather that you need sheet music to participate. I love the idea of singing along, but how formal is the audience participation? I'm a huge fan of the music and I enjoy singing, but I can't sight read well, and I'm not familiar with the various choral parts.

Help me celebrate Eid and make it fun

tavegyl — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 04:42:11 -0800

Help a misanthropic lapsed Muslim celebrate Eid in London! Looking for ideas from all cultures and none, on manufacturing a better holiday than the traditional one I usually dread. Back in Pakistan, my family celebrated both Eids in much the same way: waking up early for the Eid prayer, followed by sheer khurma for breakfast. New clothes, a day spent visiting family and friends, with us kids hoping we'd get cash presents. Family lunch at my grandmother's. Then more visiting. That was the plan; actually we usually spent the entire day quarrelling and hating our extended families.

Now I live in London married to an Englishman and we can celebrate Eid as we wish. And I would like to insist on a fun twice-yearly celebration, full of new traditions, partly so that I can hold on to some of my own culture in a sea of British celebrations.

However, I'm stumped for what to do. All I can come up with is an Eid dinner for myself, my boy and a few close friends. This makes it basically a glorified dinner party, with resonance only for me. Metafilter, help me with your suggestions!

- If you celebrate or know people who celebrate Eid, how do you do it? What are the fun parts? Any special traditions, like cracking eggs on Greek Easter? If you don't celebrate Eid, any fun little customs I could steal, which wouldn't have other resonances for my English partner?

- No prayer/ mosque related suggestions please, it's not my style.

- Minimal sentimentality, maximum fun is my goal. So Thanksgiving style counting of blessings would not work here.

- In lieu of killing a goat, I've decided to make it a custom to decide as a family which charity we're going to support, and then making an equivalent donation on Eid. Still open to other charity-related suggestions, though.

- In Pakistan we get three days off to celebrate Eid. In the UK, not so much. Bonus points for suggestions on how to celebrate when it's still an ordinary working day, without postponing it to the nearest weekend.

For those unfamiliar with Eid, these are two important Muslim holidays. One Eid comes at the end of the month of fasting, Ramazan. The second, which is this weekend, commemorates Abraham's non-sacrifice of his son, Ismail in Muslim tradition. This Eid is the one where you slaughter animals and donate their meat to charity. Because the Islamic calender is lunar, the two Eids occur at different times of the year, about two months apart

Turkey Day is A-Okay?

Ash3000 — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 08:30:39 -0800

About eight years ago, I read this article on some radical-leaning progressive website, about how the author had come to love Thanksgiving, despite originally viewing it as a celebration of mass murder. This is what I remember about the article:

1. I'm pretty certain I found it on the Z Magazine website (though I haven't been able to find it now.)

2. The author originally took a Howard Zinn-like approach, and felt mixed at best about celebrating a day that had a historical association with genocide.

3. Eventually she started viewing it as an opportunity to reconnect with progressive values of community and true family, and assimilated it into her politics, including (I think) reading a poem or prayer about togetherness at the gathering.

I remember sharing it with several political friends, both conservative and progressive, and all of us finding it touching. Anyone have any idea what I'm thinking of? Wanted to send it to a friend. Thanks!

Help...traditional holiday party in jeopardy!

teg4rvn — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 08:58:45 -0800

What steps can company management take to minimize liability at an office holiday party where alcohol is served? I work in an office of approximately 30 people with 6 being the "management" who have traditionally (last 30 years at least) paid for an office holiday party/dinner at an outside establishment and allowed employees and their SO to order a couple of alcoholic beverages with dinner. This year, 4 of the 6 management-level employees said they will not participate with the event nor sponsor it because they are concerned with getting sued by someone or their family if an employee drives home drunk and gets hurt or killed. A reasonable concern, but the remaining two of us are willing to still throw the party. With layoffs and everyone else doing more work to make up for the lost employees, my boss (and I) believe the effect on morale will be devastating if we didn't have the party. The crux of the concern is that there is 1-3 problem drinkers amongst staff and their invited spouses. Our plan is to:

1) Issue two "tickets" for drinks per person and deem them non-transferable.

2) Be the last one's to leave so we can assess drunkeness.

3) Do this at a restaurant with a liquor license with "professional" waiters and bartenders.

Despite these precautions, the 4 other senior-level folk still do not want to participate because of liability issues. Frankly, I believe they don't want to spend the money, but the alcohol issue is a real, but, convenient diversion.

You are not my lawyer.....but is there anything else I can do to further safeguard us, allay the fears of others, and hold our holiday party as it has been for decades? please feel free to tell me that my stubborn colleagues are in fact right and that my traditional party need be updated to 2009 legal standards if that's the case.

The weather outside is frightful, but my drinks are so delightful

filthy light thief — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 10:28:47 -0800

Recipefilter - It's winter(ish) time in my town, and I love seasonal flavored drinks, but I want to make my own (from scratch would be fun). Please recommend hot cocoa / chocolate recipes, coffee flavorings and the like.

Walnut-Sized Gifts of Awesomeness?

Kattiara17 — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 18:21:32 -0800

I absolutely LOVE the idea of the walnut advent calendar that was mentioned here. Help me figure out what to put in them! Money is tight, and I've been looking around for various homemade gift ideas. There are some awesome threads, but what really jumped out at me was the idea of a walnut advent calendar. I've even managed to find a couple neat tutorials on putting one together.

Now my question is.. what should I put in them?? Most threads on fun gift ideas are either too expensive or (more often) just too large to fit in a walnut.

I'd love ideas covering all sorts of gifts.. if I can do different walnut advents for a couple different family members, that would be awesome!

Can I have your tips about entering into the holiday season right after my dad's death?

NikitaNikita — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 13:33:07 -0800

Death, mourning, family, and holidays: How to prepare for the holidays in a post-Dad world? Can I have your tips about entering into the holiday season right after my dad's death?

My Dad died a few weeks ago, somewhat unexpectedly. He was 71 and he had some heart problems for some time, but I didn't expect him to go now, since he had been so sick but then recovered many times in the past.

For the holidays, it was always my mom, my dad and I as a core unit (I'm an only child). For example, in recent years' thanksgivings we might have had one or two of my friends come out to dinner with us, but otherwise it was really just the 3 of us. The Christmas tradition was just the three of us meeting up in a random US city to spend time together, exchange gifts, eat dinner out and see a new city over the course of a few days.

I'm going through a lot/feeling really weird and out of sorts right now. I expect it to be worse over the holidays. Are there any tips on how to prepare ?

One Thanksgiving option is an invite from a family friend to join them, but I feel like this might make me more depressed seeing a happy "whole/complete" family altogether. If that makes sense? But then I wonder if it will feel even more lonely with just my mom and I. Additionally, it would be a good time around Thanksgiving to go to my parents' house and work on sorting out my dad's paperwork, etc, but my mom is torn between getting that done and getting away from the house to clear her hear.

Thanks in advance for any advice here.

Affordable Luxuries

Miko — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 12:45:30 -0800

What are some great gifts for Holiday Season that convey a sense of luxury, yet cost between about $25-75? Everyone's had a hard time for the last couple years, and nobody's got a lot of money in my family. In the past when in this position I would sometimes go for quantity in my gift-giving, and get a bunch of littler, less costly, sometimes kinda jokey gifts to really stretch my budget.

But this year I was thinking that the last thing most of us need is more piles of middling-to-cheap stuff, and that rather, it might be nice to get people some gifts that are true luxuries. By "luxuries" I mean things that are a level of quality up from the everyday/discount item - things you might look at, and consider for yourself, but then reject in favor of the cheaper and more ubiquitous version. Things you wouldn't splurge on yourself but would love if someone did it for you. An example might be a really nice pair of leather driving gloves as opposed to drugstore stretch knits.

Specific suggestions of things you love welcome. A variety is fine, given that I have men and women of varying ages to think about.

But even with this philosophy in play, I won't have a ton of $ to spend, so I'm willing to spend what I have on fewer items that feel like they contain a lot of value. I'm just wondering what might be out there that I can afford but will still make the recipient go "OOoooooh!"

Only Six More Weeks?! [redux]

carpyful — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 21:56:41 -0800

It's that time again.. What are some good online stores to buy cool, unique Christmas gifts? This old post is one of my favorite askmes and has been really useful in my holiday/birthday/other special occasion shopping. Basically, everyone linked to their favorite store that sells fun, funky, artsy, crafty, unique, cool things.

However, since it's 3 years old, I would imagine that there are some new great stores and new great members that have good ideas. For example, I really, really like my local 826 chapter's (826 Seattle) Travel Supply Store and I just found out about it a few months back.

Other sites that I really like include: the MoMA store, Mxplyzyk, Etsy,ThinkGeek, and Urban Outfitters.

What else can you add that is in a similar vein?

Need inappropriate office party behaviors

arniec — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 07:29:06 -0800

For Christmas Card art--what are some inappropriate workplace party behaviors that can be portrayed in a single drawing? I'm working on having an artist do our company annual Christmas card, and this year we're doing a Far Side-ish cartoon of an inappropriate office party. For example, there will be someone Xeroxing their behind, and some people making out in the office supplies closet.

What other types of activities can be/should be included here? The funnier the better. But it can't be too involved, a single frame of someone "in the act" needs to convey the whole bit. But our artist is very very good, so if you have ideas, please post them and he might be able to make them work.

Thank you for ideas!

(and would a lampshade on a head be a workplace thing, or is that specifically a house party type behavior?)

Giving the gift of deliciousness

sararah — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 07:32:56 -0800

In previous years I've made a lot of cookies to give away to friends and family around the holidays. This year I'd like to do something a little different, but still make it a gift of food. So I've done my holiday-cookie-palooza for the last three years or so, and I'd like to change it up a bit this year. For one, making all of the cookies tends to be a lot of minutiae since it is like 10 different recipes. Also, a lot of people (including yours truly) are trying to eat better, and there are more than enough holiday cookies that will make their way on to our plates throughout the season. I recognize not all of the ideas below are "healthy," per se, but some of them will last a lot longer, are used in small quantities, or are freezable for enjoyment after the holidays.

I'm not ruling out cookies entirely, and I may still make a few favorite batches. I'm not really interested in making the jars of brownie mix/cookie mix or whatever, I feel as if those often go unused.

Some ideas I have rolling around in my head:
-Breads: either a sandwich-type loaf or a sweet fruit bread
-Jams: I have recently learned how to preserve and have successfully made strawberry jam and apple butter. Considering making pumpkin butter, cranberry jams/chutneys or some sort of citrus jam/marmalade as oranges, etc hit their peak.
-Frozen baked goods: fully prepared pies, scones, chocolate chip cookie dough or cinnamon rolls that you would just have to bake.
-Granola
-Would be awesome but also a lot of work: homemade bacon

So I'm wondering what you would personally like to receive in a holiday-themed gift basket of food? Have you ever done anything like this or received one from a friend? Ideas on clever packaging are also welcome.

And a turkey in a cranberry bush…

fishmasta — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 22:46:39 -0800

Celebrating Thanksgiving by myself for the first time. Tips on making it meaningful and memorable? It looks like I'll be alone for Thanksgiving for the first time in my life and I'm wondering what to do. My friends and family will all be out of town, so it'll just be me. Thanksgiving's always been one of my favorite holidays aside from Christmas (always within a week of my birthday and full of good food and family) and I feel the need to celebrate it, but haven't figured out what to do yet.

I've thought about helping distribute food to the needy, which I've done before and enjoyed, but I always hear stories about how everyone does that on Thanksgiving and my help could best be used another time. Is that generally true (I'm in Los Angeles if that helps)? If so, what are some other options for celebrating that won't leave me cooking a Thanksgiving dinner for one?

People in Europa / Ciao ciao bella, Monaco

mippy — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 04:53:03 -0800

April. Europe. Our first proper holiday, and I haven't left the country in eight years. Where to go? On the shortlist are Amsterdam, Paris, Berlin, Barcelona, and, um, somewhere Scandinavian or Italian.

As the pound is worth little these days, and I have to pay £80 to renew my passport, we need to know cities and places to stay that aren't hugely expensive (hostels are fine as long as they're safe), and food too. We like museums, art and graveyards, interesting urban architecture and culture, shopping (ie. things that we can't get in the UK - we like crafts and boardgaming, and I like thriftshopping), pubs rather than clubs, nice cafes, things to see and do and photograph. Neither of us can drive, but I'm a beginner cyclist so we can get around that way.

Help us forge new holiday traditions!

PhoBWanKenobi — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 07:00:43 -0800

What are some traditions that we can incorporate into our first ~~Christmas~~ solstice together? Mr. WanKenobi and I just got hitched. Our families are in NJ--we're in Florida. To avoid conflict both between our respective families, and each other (he wants to travel to NJ for X-mas this year; I really want to try to get my family to come to me, after flying to colder climes every year for the past three), we've decided to celebrate the "real" holiday apart and to celebrate the solstice together, instead.

We're both agnostic half-Jews who loved Christmas as children. Both of our mothers celebrated only begrudgingly for most of our childhoods, but both my Christian dad and his Christian step-dad are gone now, so the past decade or so has seen serious degradation of any semblance of the holiday traditions that, honestly, once meant a lot to both of us. Nevertheless, there's still a lot of pressure to be with family, even though (especially in my case), this usually means little more than overwrought fighting about presents or what movie we're going to see. Yuck. Unfortunately, there's no way for either of us to get out of that without a lot of hurt feelings.

I'm hoping that celebrating in Florida on the 21st, instead, will give both the Mister and me a chance to inject some much need joy and fun into the holiday season. I'm looking forward to resurrecting some traditions from both of our childhoods, but I also realize that this is a chance to forge some new ones as well. Because we're not religious, they can be from any religious tradition, really, or they could even be wholly invented. So far, I'm thinking of a wassail bowl, a tree, and some Christmas movies burned to DVD, but I would love to hear suggestions for traditions or customs that make mefites feel warm and fuzzy about the holiday season!

It's almost holiday time - let the neroses begin!

pointystick — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 08:59:19 -0800

Holiday gift giving going out of my comfort zone but I don't wanna be a scrooge. Please hope me. Longish explanation inside. My family Xmas list is feeling unmanageable. I know some big families draw names, but I have 2 medium sized families (dad/stepmom's & mom's). It has been tradition in both families to exchange gifts between everyone with couples generally giving a gift jointly and sometimes receiving jointly and adults give gifts to the kids too.
Mom's side used to be manageable but family has grown. Xmas includes gift giving between all my grandmom's family (grandmom's kids and spouses, my cousins, and cousin's kids). Dad is remarried now (stepmom, half sister & kid, stepsiblings & spouses). So I'm up to 20 people or so without even getting into my close friends (my non-blood family). I'm the only single person (besides the young folk) and I have no kids and no full siblings so I can't even use the excuse of "only exchanging gifts with a nuclear family".

Now for the questions:

-How do I do gifts without being chintzy? I like to buy nice gifts (especially for mom & dad) but I can't afford to splurge on everyone. What's reasonable? I can't afford what I used to be able to when I was in a 2 income family.
- Am I scrooge? I do make a decent living and I could afford more gifts if I cancelled my upcoming vacation. (OTOH, since my divorce a few years ago, I have been enjoying traveling to places I enjoy & having hobbies so I'm loathe to do it. Is that awfully selfish?)
- I like to give gifts to my close friends, too. Is it appropriate to spend more on my best friends than on stepsiblings I see a few times a year?)

Yay, I got #1. Now what do I want?

rabidsegue — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 14:48:26 -0800

Please help me come up with a theme for our family holiday Yankee swap. Every year we gather 3 generations of extended family for our holiday Yankee swap (white elephant, dirty santa, etc). We limit gifts to at or less than $25, centered on a very general theme, so as not to leave anyone out. One year was photography, one was cooking, one was games, as examples.

Please help me come up with a new theme for this year. I'm having a Yankee swap mental block. Thanks!

Is it okay to lie to your parents to avoid seeing them on the holidays?

bananaskin — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 14:23:46 -0800

How can I handle my feelings for my parents during this holiday season? I am a 40 year old, single woman, without children. I have lived away from my parents for the past 15 years or so, but recently, they have moved to 1 hour away from me (not to be near me, but to be near relatives).

Although my past with them, both as a child and up to the past year, has not been the WORST, it has been extremely difficult. My parents were both very prominent in our church, yet did not do as they "preached" at home.

I try to limit my time with them as much as possible as I have felt, and still do, very anxious, even to the point of heart palpitations, headaches, sweating, stomach aches, when I have plans to be around them and then during the time when I am around them.

At the same time, I fear NOT going to Thanksgiving and Christmas as the fall out from that may be difficult as well (calling me on the phone to chew me out, talking badly about me to the relatives).

I am "past" the point of trying to work this out with them, as I have tried, but they just can not accept me as an adult with valid opinions. They still look at me as a child and treat my concerns as such. So, what should I do?

Usually, I give an excuse, a lie, to get out of seeing them on at least one of the 2 holidays, then spend it alone....which may or may not be too bad. (please do not tell me to go spend the holiday with "friends").

I just do not want to go. What should I do?
Thank you everyone!