Going Domestic

Attack of the Marshmallow People

cute little s'mores!
Originally uploaded by goingdomestic

Well, we made it to London, the kids are asleep, and my husband is at a Paul McCartney concert. I might as well delve into the backlog of photos I have. This one is of my favourite ornaments - little s'more people in festive attire. Chris and I found the first ones in Calgary when we were looking to buy an artificial tree back in 2005, and I, in particular, was smitten. They're so cute! The one in the middle of the photo is the newest in our collection - Sadie's "first Christmas" ornament.

what else can I say but yum?

Peppermint Bark - Teacher Gifts 2009
Originally uploaded by goingdomestic

This year, I discovered Paula Deen. I've never seen her on television, but ever since one of my dear friends introduced me to her banana pudding recipe, I've found myself drawn to her recipes. When I got an urge to make split pea soup and jambalya, it was with a hope that there would be a Paula Deen recipe to lead me in the right direction.

My original plan for holiday gifts for Madeline's teachers was to make a batch of maple cinnamon spiced almonds, but I realized with a few days to spare that the nut-free snack requirement probably would apply on campus, so I needed an alternative plan. Our little grocery store had a good supply of candy canes, and last year I used them to top brownies. This year, I wanted something even simpler to make, so I grabbed a few baking bars of white chocolate to go with my box of candy canes, and went home to google recipes. And found this Paula Deen one.

So yummy.

sometimes a person needs privacy

only in Thailand - a napping stall at the mall
Originally uploaded by goingdomestic

I was planning on posting a photo of some of the wacky Christmas decorations up in my community today, notably the really sexy Mrs. Claus that is on display by the grocery store, but I forgot my camera when I was out today. I did have it with me when Madeline and I ran an errand yesterday, which is why I was able to photograph this very unusual stall in a washroom at one of BKK's shopping centres.

christmas in the kingdom

Last Saturday, I took my camera with me when we ventured into the city. When we moved to the BKK area two and half years ago, neither Chris nor I expected to see any sort of recognition of Christmas. Thailand is a Buddhist country by a landslide, after all. What we didn't count on was that a) the city gets a little decked out in December because that's when the king celebrates his birthday and b) western holidays are seen as great fun to the locals. So, there are plenty of trees and tinsel about ... and traffic, of course.

The really weird thing about the Christmas decorations in central BKK is the presence of the dwarves. Could it be that the word for dwarf and the word for elf are strikingly similar in the Thai language?