“I never thought it was a bad little tree ..
Maybe all it needs is a little love” ~ Linus
Photo Credit: Tumblr.com – Victoria B
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The kids next door have been counting down the days
“Miss Alison, Miss Alison; Do you know how many days until Christmas?”
“I don't Sweetie, do tell.”
Sometimes in those moments, I find myself missing the years when I was little, or a young mom with children of my own. The years when Christmas felt like it was everything. The years of snowflakes and a Charlie Brown Christmas, strings of popcorn on the tree, and afternoons spent baking cookies.
But then it happened, so gradually I barely noticed. One day I realized, I'd simply lost the spark. Falling victim, it seemed, to the plot of so many holiday movies where the grown-up grows weary of the hustle and bustle. They fail to see the magic until a curly-haired child, dramatic event, or miracle provides a ‘Come to Jesus' moment.
All of a sudden, Christmas is real again. It's real, and it's here, and it's magic. Hark the Herald angels sing. Hallelujah and glory forever ..
amen
For me, the curly-haired child has been my grandson, and thankfully, it hasn't taken an event or even a miracle.
Every conversation we have reminds me there’s always an excuse not to celebrate, be it crazy schedules or shifted priorities. The truth is, we're not guaranteed a next year. So in the spirit capturing his enthusiasm and carpediem-ing the season, a bit of unabashed celebration it has been
‘Tis the season for the young at heart
‘Tis the season for the kids, and the kids who used to be kids
For the record, my husband has never lost his spark. Deep down I'm convinced he's an elf
Hanging paper snowflakes on the windows? “How cool is that?”
The Bing Crosby or Dean Martin playlist? “Whichever you'd like my dear.”
Another log on the fire? “But of course, let's make it two.”
Hot chocolate or eggnog? “Both” (he'll say with a twinkle in his eye)
For me, it's taken a bit longer.
Although I'm feeling a bit more festive this year, I haven't been rushing around town with a Christmas list in hand. Instead, we've been shuffling our feet to the beat of a different drum(mer boy). We've been quiet. Cementing some of our own traditions, those void of expectations and never-ending to-do lists. One of my favorites?
An Advent Calendar
Here's the thing, I've always loved advent calendars.
Growing up ours was made of felt and hung in the dining room of our farmhouse. A different ornament for each of the days. Every morning as I took one off, I'd think Christmas couldn't come fast enough
When I became a mom, I was no longer in such a hurry. Instead, I wanted to draw the holiday season out as long as I possibly could. Trickling the joy, little by little, like a trail of cocoa powder over a pan of fresh-baked brownies
I'd always start with the best of intentions. This would be The Year of the Advent Calendar. We were doing it and doing it right. Every day would be filled with holiday activities like ice-skating on a picturesque pond, hanging outdoor lights in wool sweaters or singing carols door-to-door with
rosy-cheeks and mittens
In all of those years, we never, not once, did any of those things. They exist only in my mind because each year I'd write them down, but we'd skip them all except for our favorite. Watching Christmas movies with a big bowl of
popcorn and mixed nuts
The kids and I were always good for movie night and eventually decided that this alone would be our holiday tradition. A Christmas movie for every day of the season. It wasn't quite deserving of Norman Rockwell, and it certainly won't grace the cover of a holiday card, but my goodness, did we ever enjoy it
It was simple and quiet and us
This year finds my husband and me with 3 puppies, 3 kitties, and an Advent calendar of our own. I'm still not in a hurry and am far smarter about over-committing. So we decided to continue a tradition that seems manageable, logging into Netflix and adding to our queue
a number of our favorites
A mix of classics, and even a couple of mistletoe-infused romantic comedies; because 'tis the season.
If you're in the mood for a good Christmas movie, I thought it might be fun to share a few
Frosty the Snowman
A Christmas Carol
A Christmas Story
A Charlie Brown Christmas
It's a Wonderful Life
How the Grinch Stole Christmas
Miracle on 34th Street
Planes, Trains & Automobiles
National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation
Love Actually
The Polar Express
Trading Places
We've already finished a number of our picks, and a few days out of the month we haven't watched any; opting instead for tree-trimming parties and cookie exchanges. But isn't that the point of a custom Christmas? To slow down just long enough to make a memory that works for your family?
To hunker down, or head out
To sing jingle bells or enjoy silent nights
To bring frankincense or myrrh
Because someday we may decide to don those matching wool sweaters and cut an evergreen from the Christmas tree farm. But that's for another day. For this year, on this sofa with a bowl of popcorn and nuts, on this night, all is calm
And all is most certainly bright
This year Bon Appetit has had some pretty incredible and different ideas for holiday pies. It's been fun to see pops of color and different flavor combinations amongst the standard holiday beige
This pie adds an unexpected tang to the table, which is such a nice counterbalance to the usual maple-pecan-pumpkin sweets. Sugary cranberry jewels on top make it pretty enough to distract and impress even the most challenging of relatives.
“The pink pie, which looks like it took a jaunt through a grassy meadow (lime zest!) and forgot to dust itself off, is holiday-ready—even decked in Christmas colors, if you're into that kind of thing. And it's doable in a way that won't make you regret raising your hand for dessert duty” ~ Bon Appetit
Enjoy!
xoxo
~ Adapted from Bon Appetit
Cranberry-Lime Pie with Gingersnap-Pecan Crust
Ingredients
- Crust
- 4 oz gingersnap cookies
- 1 cup pecans
- 4 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted
- 3 Tbsp brown sugar
- Filling And Assembly
- 1 (12 oz) package cranberries + 4 ounces (about 1¼ cups) for serving (fresh or frozen and thawed)
- 2 ½ cups granulated sugar, divided
- 3 large eggs
- 2 large egg yolks
- 1 tsp finely grated lemon zest
- 2 tsp finely grated lime zest, divided
- ½ cup fresh lime juice
- Pinch fine grain sea salt
- ¾ cup unsalted butter, at room temperature, and cut into pieces
Instructions
- Crust
- Preheat oven to 350° F
- Pulse cookies in a food processor until very finely ground (you should have ~ 1 cup)
- Add the pecans and pulse until finely ground.
- Add butter and brown sugar; pulse to combine.
- Transfer to a deep 9" pie dish.
- Press firmly onto the bottom and up sides of dish (the back of a measuring cup works well for this task).
- Bake until firm and slightly darkened in color ~ 10–15 minutes. (If crust slides down the sides, gently press it back up)
- Let cool
- Filling and Assembly
- Bring 12 oz. cranberries, 1 cup sugar, and ¼ cup water to a boil in a large saucepan over medium-high.
- Reduce heat; simmer until cranberries burst and most of the liquid evaporates ~ 12–15 minutes. Let cool.
- Purée in a blender until very smooth
- Cook purée, eggs, egg yolks, lemon zest, lime juice, salt, ½ cup sugar, and 1 tsp lime zest in a heat-proof bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water (bowl should not touch water), stirring with a rubber spatula and scraping down sides of bowl often, until curd thickens and coats spatula ~ 8–10 minutes.
- Let cool until just warm.
- Using an electric mixer on medium-high, beat curd, adding butter a piece at a time and incorporating after each addition until curd looks lighter in color and texture ~ 5 minutes.
- Scrape into crust and chill until firm ~ 2 hours
- Bring ½ cup granulated sugar and ½ cup water to a simmer in a small saucepan over medium heat, stirring to dissolve sugar.
- Add remaining 4 oz. cranberries and cook until barely starting to soften ~ 1 minute.
- Using a slotted spoon, transfer cranberries to a wire rack set inside a rimmed baking sheet.
- Chill until no longer sticky ~ 20–30 minutes.
- Toss remaining ½ cup granulated sugar and 1 tsp. lime zest in a small bowl.
- Toss cranberries in lime sugar.
- Top pie with cranberries; serve with whipped cream
30 Comments
Made this pie for Thanksgiving and it was a great compliment to the traditional apple, pecan, and pumpkin pies. It’s a bit time consuming, but not difficult and the crust is really easy compared to the standard pie crusts my grandma makes. My husband is a fan of key-lime pie, so this was an easy sell. Thanks for posting the recipe! x
I lost the spark a long time ago as well, I am not sure when either. It seems strange to think that the older we get the more attuned to reality and less to fantasy we become. On a positive note this pie looks so god damn good I swear!
I made this last year and it was amazing. I didn’t bother with the decorative cranberry topping, just made plenty of whipped cream to go with it. I also made it gluten free by using gluten free gingersnaps and it turned out great. Making it again this year for Christmas dinner!
Now this is my kind of pie. And it’s pretty too! My daughter will love the color. I like your list of Christmas movies. We’ve watched several so far.
I found myself losing the magical spark the Christmas season brings when my mom unexpectedly passed away. Christmas was her favorite time of the year and she made it pure magical for us. This is my 2nd Christmas without my mom and I’m trying to get the spark back as I think of those long ago Childhood Christmases and look forward to seeing the grandkids opening presents with wide, sparkling eyes.
That pie looks amazing and so festive. I’d love a huge slice right now! Merry Christmas!
Oh wow, I’m loving how pretty the pie is and those flavors sound incredible. I like you’re Christmas movie tradition. We’ve been watching one every day for the last week or so!
WOW, excuse me while I go get a napkin because my mouth is watering like crazy! That Cranberry-Lime Pie with Gingersnap-Pecan Crust looks AMAZING! My family does cookie exchanges too, it’s so much fun!
Cranberry Lime pie gingersnap pecan crust is a really neat combination. I love the color to it too. I will give it a try, why not!? Will be good for us to have on our New Year’s Eve fun night!
Hands up I don’t have the spark of Christmas, I find it quite a hard time of year, I put on this outside show of going along but quite often I just want to pretend it isn’t happening.
I am glad the spark has come back to you.
I am exactly the same as you, I often find it a difficult time of year, mainly because I am usually at my own at Christmas. But this year for the first time in years I will be staying with my aunty and celebrating it with her. The line that you wrote ‘But then it happened .. so gradually I barely noticed. One day I realized .. I’d simply lost the spark. ‘ is so true, I no longer get excited and find it difficult to get excited, Then again I am feeling more excited than I have in years previous x On another note my aunty is really good at baking and loves making things like cheesecake so this cranberry and lime pie is totally up her street! I might co-erce her into making this on Christmas Day. I would make it but I am not very good at baking haha x
I love Christmas, it’s my favorite holiday. I am struggling this year and finding myself just trying to stay put together for the sake of my youngest. The color of that pie is terrific.
So many feelings come up over the holidays. I’m such a nostalgic person I know I must tell the same stories over and over again. I think it’s because I don’t want to forget anything since I’m the only one left to remember them. I do love the color of that pie very festive.
Oh wow this pie looks amazing. I would devour it for sure- and I might share one slice with the family lol
I started losing the spark after my mom and dad passed because they loved the Holidays and would go all out for me and my siblings. It just felt dead inside and I had to pull myself together since I had kids but, even now some of them are older and it’s like I need a kick again to get me in the spirit now! That pie looks so delicious, it would be perfect for the holidays no doubt!
My dad passed away in early December two years ago. It has been hard to find the Christmas spark after that.
Not only does this pie look GORGEOUS but it sounds like it tastes amazing! I hope you have a very Merry Christmas!
Oh my goodness this looks amazing and perfect for Christmas. I absolutely love the colour of it!
Aww, I love that you’ve found joy in Christmas again! Recipe looks great – the ginger-snap and pecan crust sounds heavenly!
C x
Yes please!!! The combination of flavours sounds divine
The holidays have changed for us too. We moved 14 hours away from our loved ones and were used to hosting the family Christmas and Thanksgiving party every year. This year both holidays were small and quaint with just the four of us. I almost liked it more because it was less stress on me to make sure our house was perfect and that I had the right snacking items. We are enjoying our quaint holidays but my eight-year-old was sad the other night at dinner when he realized we wouldn’t be having our annual party. He almost started crying. I hadn’t known how much it meant to him.
Wow! That looks incredible the colour is so bright and vibrant! I’d love to give this one a try! It looks yummy!
I would love to make this Cranberry-Lime Pie with Gingersnap-Pecan Crust. It is sure to be a big hit in my house. It looks so festive for the holidays.
This pie looks so amazing! I would love to make this with my girls.
I think many people have the intention of doing so many things over the festive period but over commit as you said and end up not doing them. Our family always watches Christmas movies and goes to church, that’s our tradition.
Loving this pecan pie.
I really didn’t have much of the Christmas spirit this year until my brother in law suggested we have a taco night . Taco Night? Yep. He and my sis were running a little late and in walked my nephew. He’s been deployed for 9 months and he made it home before Christmas . We have one more who is due home from Iraq any day now. Spirit lifted.
Holidays for us is always a family time when we all get together eat, play games and catch up a years worth of news and gossip. I am loving your pie, the colour is amazing and I keep rolling your page up and down to take just one more look at it. I would say drool worthy and apiece of art
Everything about this dessert is festive, the colours, the flavours! It’s just stunning, and sounds really delicious! 🙂
I love how vibrant the dessert is, the flavours sound so delicious too so it’s a great visual and no doubt eating feast too- perfect!
We watched “Love Actually” last night. It was good. Of course, movie nights won’t be the same without popcorn and chips and cheese dip. I love this pie recipe you shared. The colors are so festive, and the crust is to totally die for! Hope you had blessed Christmas with your family.
I love home made advent calendars too – my mum sewed a fabric one for my brothers and I when we were kids, and inside each pocket there was always a different treat. But we weren’t allowed to sneak a peak on the next days’ pockets, or we wouldn’t get the treat hehe! I love the memories this post has brought back, so thank you Alison xx Ps – So glad you included my favourite Christmas movie in your list, National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation every day, forever! x