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At Home With Mary Louise – Season After Season!
Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire …
By Mary Louise
Soulcial Scene Contributor
This song always reminds
me of my childhood Christmases. My sister Lydia and I love
singing this song these days at Christmas time. As little
girls we remember sitting on the living room couch waiting
on our other sisters and our grandmother, Tudda, to finish
getting ready for church.
I remember the colorful
ribbons in the long ponytails and fancy dresses. Meanwhile,
as we waited, we could hear the Christmas music playing and
the smells of brown sugar, butter, coconut and nutmeg that
permeated the whole house. I can still smell Christmas.
I still remember gazing at
Tudda’s Southern Coconut Cake in that tall glass cake dish
with that red cherry on top. I still have memories of
telling her, ‘I can’t wait to have some coconut cake and
some ice cream.’
Of course, I could not
have any until after church. And church involved a Christmas
play in which my family would have a huge part.
On our way home, my
sisters and I would be looking out the window while Tudda
was driving. We would be urging her to drive faster. “We’re
hungry , Tudda … we want some cake!!” And when we arrived
home Tudda would have cakes and pies lined up on the buffet
– pecan pies, lemon meringue pies – you name it, we had it.
And the smells were outstanding!!
Before I share one of
Tudda’s outstanding holiday desserts with you, let’s talk
about décor first.
1.
Colors – use a lot of colors – reds, blues, greens – it’s
Christmas time – make it cheerful and colorful
2.
Theme – a theme is very important keep it going throughout
your home – family, memories, a place …
3.
Focal Point – for Christmas, it’s the tree – all eyes should
go immediately to the tree at a point of easy access to the
house.
4.
Pulling it all together – adding metallic silver or gold,
for example, will help everything mesh
While decorating your home
for the Christmas holiday, remember to always make your
family and friends part of the decorating process. It will
fill young children’s minds, especially, with lifelong
memories and keep family traditions alive to pass down for
generations to come.
Merry Christmas from my
home to yours!!
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