Be safe, @emglow101!
Hope your power comes back soonest and you get to your friends and back without any adventures.
You are braver than I am: I would just have stayed home, or gone to the nearest friend or motel who has everything working.
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Unfortunately, a baguette needs to be eaten pretty immediately otherwise it’s useless. So if your host is serving a meal where a baguette has no place (Asian, South American, etc) it becomes a pain in the neck and potential insult.
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Absolutely. There’s a reason most cultures and religions have holidays and celebrations involving lights and delicious food during the darkest months of the year in the Northern Hemisphere.
Do the Christians among us (I’m a somewhat lapsed Catholic) really think it’s a coincidence that we celebrate baby Jesus at the darkest time of the year?
Secular people need lights and carbs during the bleak midwinter, too.
I hate when people try to make the December holiday season about all about religion. The lights, trees and plants are about coping during the darkest months. It is a difficult time for many people, whether they’re religious or not.
I’m pro-anything to make life a little more bearable.
The evergreen has a nice symbolic message for all cultures. Keep on truckin’. Spring is around the corner.
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I feel your pain. My power was out for 8 hours yesterday, wind and rain storm. No pump here either. I hope you’re like me and keep jugs of water and tea teapots full during the winter.
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Those are actually beautiful pictures.
Maybe send them a framed print of the winter scenery sometime after the dinner party?
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No need to apologize, although you certainly could’ve phrased your comment in a less judgmental manner - especially since manners seem to be Very Important to you.
I wasn’t implying that a guest should bring a bottle of wine to known alcoholics or tee-totalers, as that seems rather common sense.
You also conveniently omitted the rest of my post, which boils down to the following: know your audience. I know mine, so it’s not a mystery for me. Ever.
My comment was a direct response to the OP’s question, just like everyone else’s suggestions.
ETA: I see now that the OP wrote the hosts had “way too much wine.” My comment still stands.
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I am aware that there are non-Christians who celebrate Christmas and Christians who don’t celebrate Christmas . That’s why I said to make sure that the recipient celebrates Christmas. I didn’t say to make sure that the recipient is Christian.
Man, with all this banter, I hope emglow101 has a great time at dinner tonight!
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Please read Phoenikia’s post above. They made the perfect response.
I would crawl in a hole and hibernate until it went away.
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There are two of us. One doesn’t drink wine at all and the other generally prefers white wines. No guest has ever brought a bottle of meursault, unfortunately. So, if a guest brings me a bottle of red wine, it’s quite possible the wine will be used in sauce pan rather than a wine glass.
I usually bring something when invited to a friend’s house, whether it’s a backyard picnic or a formal dinner. A six pack- or now a four pack- of craft beer if I know their preferences is appreciated by beer drinkers. I tend to stay away from giving wine, flowers and chocolates. I like to bring breakfast for the next morning. Things like assorted pastries, coffee cake, quiche, freshly squeezed OJ from a French bakery go over well.
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It is widely believed that setting Christmas on December 25th was to have it coincide with pagan holidays. Thus pagans could convert and still follow some of their traditions.
As the myth goes, the reason the inns were full so Jesus was born in a manger was that tax collectors were out collecting taxes. No government would send people out on foot during the middle of winter.
Considering the Christmas bullying, people who decry the “War on Christmas” and get their knickers in a twist when wished “Happy Holidays” instead of “Merry Christmas” (These people would never say “Happy Ramadan” or “Happy Passover”.) it would be nice if folks would respect others’ wish to not participate.
OMG!! All that snow, WOW!! That is one of the reasons I moved from the East Coast.
Come on out to the desert; its a dry heat!!
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A snowblower or a shovel could be a good thing to bring in this case
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My thoughts exactly. And depending on the forecast, maybe jammies and teddy bear.
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Plenty of people do say have Happy Passover when it’s Passover, as well as Happy Hanukkah when it’s Hanukkah.
I live in Canada, and while there are some Militant Merry Christmas types somewhere apparently, and I’ve seen a little bit about this in the American news from time to time, I have never encountered anyone like this.
I’m not Muslim. It’s my understanding that Ramadan is a little more like Lent, in that there’s a fast and it’s a solemn religious holiday leading up to a holiday that involves a feast. There are Muslim holidays that are happy, obviously, and people do say Eid Mubbarek, etc when it’s that time of the year.
Plenty of non-Christians get it wrong when they wish Christians a Happy Lent or Happy Good Friday. It doesn’t bother me when this happens. It comes from a place of wanting to say something nice, even if it isn’t appropriate.
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Maybe best not to generalize about what other people will or will not say.
I wish people Happy Holidays when I don’t know what their beliefs are. If I know their beliefs or what they celebrate, I alter my holiday wishes to match the holiday.
If someone wishes me a Happy Hanukkah , I reply with “Thank you, Happy Hanukkah to you, too.”
My Jewish friends often wish me a Merry Christmases and I wish them Happy Hanukkahs. With my closest friends, and my friends with mixed cultural or religious upbringings, I wish them both. Then we trade stories about our holiday meals and whatever else.
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Well said. The holiday will still be celebrated by someone even if it’s not you or me.
I usually reserve the Merry Christmas for Christmas eve and day, and use Happy Holidays for a general salutation in December.
I would do exactly the same. I’m not Jewish and don’t formally celebrate Hanukkah, but I do make and enjoy brisket and latkes during the holiday. I would also never be insulted if someone I didn’t know was trying to wish me well. It happens less and less frequently these days so I do appreciate the thought and effort.
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I started making tzimmes 2 years ago, which I wasn’t familiar with, and we love it. It’s become part of our winter food rotation.
I also kind of love how Xmas Crack, Matzoh Crack, Saltine Candy, Graham Cracker Crack and Breton Brittle is all pretty much the same thing. It also makes a good hostess gift!
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