Cookie Party!

Every year since I can remember my parents have hosted a holiday Cookie Party. Instead of everyone bringing cookies to share or coming over and decorating cookies my mom bakes all the cookies and then invites friends and family over to help diminish the supply. Starting just after Thanksgiving my mom’s Atlanta kitchen is filled with the sweet smell of baking cookies. Each year the supply of cookies is a bit different – a few have been around since the party started like the Forgotten Cookies, the Neapolitan and the Lemon Cheese Logs (my favorite)but each year we try a few new ones and retire a few old ones. (This year some healthier granola and raspberry options were added while old fashioned Rum Balls were retried.) Bringing your own cookies is strictly discouraged, but several new cookies have been introduced this way none the less. My now husband brought Buckeye Balls to his first cookie party and they have been on the menu ever since (this year they were all gone an hour into the party!)

Regardless of what cookies come and go the house is always filled with the whole family’s friends from the 30 some years my family has been in Atlanta. Many of our friends regard the cookie party as their family’s holiday tradition as much as we do. In 2009 the Cookie Party took a hiatus as we spent our first Christmas away from Atlanta in Mendocino, CA . We heard from many of our friends fearing they had been taken off the cookie party invite list – but in 2010 as we returned to Atlanta to celebrate the Holidays the Cookie Party was back in full swing.

Perhaps my favorite part of the cookie party comes the day before the big event when my two best friends, Mary and Catherine, come over to decorate the sugar cookie cutouts. Some years the cut-outs look better than others, but each year this is the time for the three of us to laugh as we get covered in sugar, trying our best to harness our creative side. A day later, our creations, always a favorite with the little ones, can be found half eaten strewn throughout the house.

Many of my fondest memories are from the Cookie Party – finding out about engagements, meeting new little ones as they run through the house picking up every cookie in sight and catching up with old friends we haven’t seen all year and isn’t that what the Holidays are all about!

Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow

Although Jeff and I try to avoid holiday travel, this year we hit the road to see both families for Christmas. Along with your typical holiday activities we also spent a bit of time exploring our hometowns.

Our first stop was the Newcamp house in Erie, PA. Lake Erie had quite a bit of snow earlier in the season so we were treated to beautiful views the shoreline blanketed in snow. With the whole family in town we headed to Peakn’Peak for some night time tubing – a Newcamp family tradition. On weeknights early in the season they do BOGO tickets – making it the perfect holiday activity for the whole family. Dressed in all the weather gear we had packed we headed out to the slopes. Peakn’Peak has 6 runs for tubing all equipped with scream inspiring moguls. The boys raced, the girls teamed up to try to bump each other on the way down and to end our night the whole family went down in one long chain. The best part – you don’t have to walk up the hill – they have a system to drag you and the tube to the top of the hill so you can sled all night without getting tired. We also had plans to visit the _ house to see the Christmas Decorations but they never picked up the phone to confirm the hours so we bagged the visit in favor or more family hanging out time.

A winter weather storm almost prevented us from getting to Atlanta but eventually we got there just in time to see the city (but not the roads) get covered with a thin blanket of white snow which lasted till we left the day before New Year’s Eve. This year we headed over to see the Carter Center and Presidential Library. My parents are presidential library aficionados and this is one of their least favorites. I, however, enjoyed it more than the Regan or Nixon libraries, which we all visited together in November. The library focuses mostly on Carters work toward peace and the work the Carter center is doing now. You also have a chance to see Carter’s Nobel Peace Prize, Grammy and Courage awards. There is also a large traveling exhibit space which featured an exhibit on “The Working White House” chronicling the many generations that have worked at the white house. After the tour we went over to Six Feet Under, one of our favorite casual restaurants in the city – My mom, dad and I all had the fish tacos, Jeff had the vegetable plate with soup and my sister ordered her traditional po-boy. If you ever get the chance this is a great place to stop and grab a bite.

It's Snowing in Tahoe

South Lake Tahoe is far from Edwards. It's really far. But if you've got a long weekend and want to escape Edwards in every sense of the notion, go! The 380 mile trek up Rt 395 should take you 6-7 hours and you'll probably consider stopping short when you pass the exit for Mammoth Lakes. But for those who make the drive, the scenery and outdoor activity opportunities are boundless.

On our recent trip, we stayed at the eco-friendly 968 Park Hotel in South Lake Tahoe (check website for deals). This was a perfect launching point because the Heavenly ski resort is across the street from 968 Park and all of the town's amenities are nearby.

We spent our first day with a driving tour from South Lake Tahoe NW to Tahoe City. En route, we stopped at Vikingsholm State Park (at Emerald Bay). There, we strapped on our snowshoes for a 2-mile roundtrip romp to a Scandinavian themed summer home. Edwards Outdoor Recreation rents good snowshoes ($4/day). Then we caught an excellent lunch at the Bridgetender in Tahoe City. Share the garlic fries appetizer.

We were lucky enough to be in South Lake Tahoe for the town's Christmas Tree lighting. It was a charming event, but their 150' tall tree was lit by only a handful of lights and looked pretty sparse. Then we crossed from CA to NV to see a mediocre improv comedy show at Harvey's casino. Look for coupons before going.

On day 2, we headed straight to Hansen's Resort, where for $10/hour you can tube down their hill. I was a skeptic, but after an hour I was both exhausted and satisfied with the cost. Just down the street, we found lunch at a Wolfgang Puck Express. After Mass, we found a solid local restaurant at the Red Hut Cafe.

We also went ice skating at the local ice rink. Ideally, we were going to skate under the night sky at the Heavenly resort, but $20 was no way to attract business. Plus, the town's ice rink was 3-4x larger. But, they did turn off the lights and turn on the disco ball halfway thru the skating session. And for anyone not comfortable on the ice, moving lights don't help.

There are a handful of ski resorts around Lake Tahoe - some offer free or reduced lift tickets to active duty folks. And if we get another chance to make our way to Tahoe, we'll definitely stop at the Donner Memorial State Park.

En route home along Rt 395, we stopped to see the Upside Down House in Lee Vining. Special Note: the Whoa Nellie Deli in Lee Vining is closed in the winter!

Cutting Down our Christmas Tree

Cutting Down Our Tree

We didn’t get a Christmas Tree last year so this year I decided we had to cut our own down. I went to the trusty uPick webpage that has yet to steer us wrong and found a nice place in Santa Clarita.

The Sunday after Thanksgiving we headed into LA to see family. We met them at the Santa Monica peer and walked around for a bit. There is a little known aquarium under the peer that costs only a $2 donation and you can touch just about anything in there. It’s a bit overpriced for adults – but if you have little ones it is the perfect afternoon distraction. The Pier has plenty of offer in stores, amusements and people watching. We grabbed a very late lunch at Bubba Gump's on the Pier – and while we typically avoid chain restaurants we were pleasantly surprised. The food was delicious and the service was great. I am not sure where the time went but before we knew it it was time to head back to Edwards.

We decided, despite the sinking sun, that we would hit the “cut your own tree” place on our way home. We pulled into the parking lot at “Nancy’s” which is just beyond the mall. Under giant power lines brining power into the city is a small tree farm. We were taken by surprise to find that while the already cut section featured Frasier and noble furs apparently only Monterey pines grow locally. We are all about buying local so we decided we would cut our own Monterey Pine. We chose a little one that would fit in the back of the Matrix without a problem. With the sun almost completely down Jeff cut down our tree. We were then offered a range of services such as fire proofing, needle shaking and bagging. We chose simply to lay the tree in the back of the car and head home.

The tree is now set up in our house – it looks lovely. Decorating it was a bit of a mess. The Monterey Pine is a longer needled tree that seemed to impale us every time we attempted to put an ornament on it. Regardless it looks lovely and we are excited to have a local tree. I’m thinking next year we will just follow the neighbors lead and pick our tree up from the Boy Scouts at the BX.

The Holidays - LA Style

Saturday we headed into LA for dinner and holiday lights. We were joined by a friends from base and LA for a fun holiday evening.

We met at Uwink for dinner. Uwink bills itself as “Social Entertainment Returant.” The idea is rather clever. Each table has a touch screen which allows you to order food, summon the wait staff and play games.

Uwink turned out to be a place where the ideals failed to meet the reality. Our video screens never really worked. We successfully placed our meal orders and that is where the system shut down. We were unable to link our multiple tables for group games and then most of the single player games broke down. (We did all partake in the “love match” game though to mixed reviews.) The food was mediocre at best. Uwink would be better to focus on a smaller menu or perhaps just be a burger place – since that is what they do best. The worst part however was trying to pay the bill. The system does not allow you to put more then one person on the bill – leading to LOTS of card swiping. So much card swiping that the system couldn’t keep up. The good news is that the group we went with is very laid back and all this rolled off them in an attempt to save the evening.

After finding our way over to the Griffith Park Zoo we headed toward the Griffith Park Lights. The show is actually officially known as the “Department of Water and Power Light Festival.” Its a 1.6 mile walk through lights show. Coming from GA I expected a light show to rival Callaway Gardens. I expected a nativity or at least non-denominational Christmas themed displays like the 12 days of Christmas or snow. Instead we were treated to an DWP advertisement. The show was best summed up by a member of our group who pondered if at the end they were going to ask us to sign up for water and power service with them. It was clear that without DWP Chrismtas would not be possible.

All kidding aside though – it was a nice group outing. The weather in LA at Christmas can’t be beat. It was just cold enough to wear a scarf and hat but not so cold as to make the walk unpleasant. The lights stimulated lots of laughs and conversation.

Would I go again? Probably not, but I’m glad we spent some time with our friends enjoying the holiday season.