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Tag Archives: Christmas

Christmas windows in Boomer Life Today

20 Friday Dec 2013

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Christmas, Department store, Kiwi Christmas, Metrosideros excelsa, pohutukawa tree, sausage sizzle, Smith & Caughey's, window dressing

20131216_105635Most cities of any significant size have department stores which lavishly decorate their windows at Christmas time. Auckland is no exception and once again, Smith + Caughey’s does not disappoint. The theme this year is Grandma’s Kiwi Christmas with each window populated by cleverly animated characters, diminutive pohutukawa trees, miniature bbqs for the iconic “sausage sizzle” and much, much more. Delighting adults and children alike, they are a must-see for anyone who finds themselves in central Auckland this holiday season. But don’t stop there – continue inside the store to see more beautiful decorations, visit Santa or choose gifts from the wonderful array of merchandise on offer.

Until next time,

Your Boomer Life Partners

Disclaimer:  Smith + Caughey’s did not solicit or pay for inclusion in this Boomer Life Today blog post.

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Decking the halls in Boomer Life Today

08 Sunday Dec 2013

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Christmas, Christmas tree, family traditions, Holiday, holiday traditions, Nativity scene, natural Christmas decorations, natural Christmas ornaments, teasel, Tree, Wreath

Each year on Dec 1, my mother would bring the Christmas decorations up from the basement. The wreath went on the front door, the nativity scene was carefully arranged on the pine shelves, the hurricane lanterns with their holly “skirts” dressed each end of the mantle and the small teasel Christmas tree, which my Mom and Dad made, took pride of place on the antique drop leaf table in the living room. To make the teasel tree, my parents collected teasels from along the side of the road.  My father fashioned the round  base and central pole from wood. A styrofoam cone  was fashioned and ” threaded” on to the central pole.  With gloved hands, my mother then carefully pushed each teasel into the foam, trying not to get any barbs in her fingers – not any easy task!  Once the basic tree was completed, she spray-painted the tree a lovely vintage green, dusted it lightly with artificial snow and decorated it with miniature glass balls. Magical!

This Dec 1, Mr. Boomerlifetoday brought our Christmas ornaments out of storage. The wreath went on the front door and in place of the teasel tree, I decorated our small artificial tree with small  birds. The Christmas sheep adorn one of the tall boys in the bedroom and our large tree is decorated in red and gold this year. It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

Until next time,

Your Boomer Life Partners

Click here to see a cute teasel Christmas tree.

Boomer Life Today : Back on track

02 Saturday Feb 2013

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baby boomer, Boomerlifetoday, boomers, Boxing Day, Canada, Christmas, Family, friends, holidays, Montreal, New Year, New Zealand, Saudi Arabia

Near Grand Bend in southwestern Ontario Canada

Near Grand Bend in southwestern Ontario Canada

Can’t believe how fast time is flying!  And speaking of flying, Mr. Boomerlifetoday and I flew to Canada for the holidays and had a wonderful time. I hoped for a white Christmas and my wishes came true on Boxing Day with heaps of snow and icy cold temperatures.  Montreal was hardest hit with 45 cm of snow in one day (record-breaking) and when we arrived there more than a week later, they were still digging out! Temperatures were a breathtaking (literally) -28 C!    We have spent most of our Christmases in warm climates (Saudi Arabia and New Zealand), so I was really looking forward to winter and it didn’t disappoint.

Of course the highlight was seeing family and friends and by the end of our vacation, we had managed to catch up with everyone.  I didn’t realize how much I had missed them. Alas, after 3 fabulous weeks it was time to say a bientot!

Back in New Zealand it’s been a whirlwind of de-cluttering/cleaning and tidying as part of a New Year blitz.  It feels good to bring some order to the chaos! Particularly important as Mr. Boomerlifetoday heads back to school next week and I face stressful times at work.

Until next time,

Your Boomer Life Partners

Boomer Life Today : Christmas pudding icecream?!?

20 Tuesday Dec 2011

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Almond, baby boom generation, boomers, Christmas, Christmas pudding, Cooking, Dried fruit, Home, Ice cream, Jo Seagar, New Zealand

Photo courtesy of Bord Bia

Sounds impossible, right?! But, believe us this ice cream is delicious! The recipe comes to us from Jo Seagar, one of New Zealand’s most popular food television personalities and bestselling cookbook authors.

You can make your own vanilla ice cream or use store-bought.  This ice cream can be made in advance and stored up to 6 weeks in the freezer.

Christmas Pudding Ice Cream

  • 1 packet of each red and green cherries
  • 1/2 cup sultanas
  • 1/2 cup currants
  • 1/2 cup chopped raisins
  • 1/4 cup finely chopped dessert figs
  • 1/2 cup brandy
  • 10 plump, dried apricots, chopped
  • 2 litres (or quarts) good quality vanilla ice cream, softened
  • 50 g dark 70% chocolate (small chocolate bar)
  • 1/2 cup flaked almonds, toasted

Step 1 – Combine dried fruits.  Add brandy, cover and soak for 12-24 hours.  Stir occasionally.

Step 2 – Mix soaked fruits, ice cream, chocolate, and almonds.  Spoon the mixture into a loaf pan lined with plastic wrap.  Smooth surface and cover with overhanging sides of food wrap.  Freeze until firm.  To serve, turn on to chilled serving platter.  Decorate with fresh berries of the season or holly.  Enjoy!

Until next time,

Your Boomer Life Partners

Boomer Life Today : Give generously

18 Sunday Dec 2011

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baby boom generation, boomers, Charities, Christmas, Donations

At this time of year, many of us are distracted by gift shopping, party-going, baking, making travel arrangements, etc.  It’s easy to forget that charities still require our help and in this economic climate, they are even more in need.  We have our favourite charities and give throughout the year to those soliciting contributions at malls and supermarkets throughout the country.  One Christmas we gathered together housewares and clothing and donated them to a local church-affiliated op shop.  Someone we know used to go every year to the City Mission and serve Christmas dinner to the homeless.  Others give donations instead of exchanging gifts.  There are so many ways to spread good cheer during the festive season, so if you can, give generously this year.

Until next time,

Your Boomer Life Partners

Gallery

Boomer Life Today : Christmas trees around the world

10 Saturday Dec 2011

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baby boom generation, boomers, Christmas, Christmas tree, Frankfurt, Germany, Gubbio, London, Madrid, Moscow, New Zealand, Paris, Prague, Tokyo, Vatican, Venice, Washington

This gallery contains 19 photos.

The Capitol Christmas tree in Washington, D.C is decorated with 3,000 ornaments that are the handiwork of U.S. schoolchildren. Encircling …

Continue reading →

Boomer Life Today : Christmas gift ideas

09 Friday Dec 2011

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baby boom generation, boomers, Christmas, exotic car driving experience, flight simulation experience, gift ideas, golf package, ice cream machine, IPad, iPhone, makeover, manicure, Microsoft Flight Simulator, Nintendo Wii, raclette grill, spa treatment, weekend retreat

Have you received a great gift lately?  We gave it some thought and asked a few others and here’s a list that might give you some inspiration for Christmas prezzies:

For the woman in your life

Spa treatment

Manicure Pedicure

Image makeover (hair, makeup, clothing)

Handcrafted jewellery

Specialty lessons e.g., cooking, craft, art, creative writing

Weekend retreat centred around an interest e.g., yoga, meditation, etc

Special cookery equipment e.g., ice cream maker, food processor, raclette grill, etc (great for foodies)

For the man in your life

iPad

iPhone

Exotic car driving experience

Microsoft Flight Simulator Software

Golf package at a premium course

Flight simulator experience

Nintendo Wii

Feel free to add to our list…….we need ideas ourselves!!

Until next time,

You Boomer Life Partners

Disclosure: No products mentioned in this Boomer Life Today blog post were  solicited or paid for by companies in New Zealand or abroad.

Boomer Life Today : It’s official, summer is here and it’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas

06 Tuesday Dec 2011

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baby boom generation, boomers, Christmas, cicada, e-cards, Jacqui Lawson, mincemeat tarts, New Zealand, North Island, recipe, summer

Photo courtesy of L Tindenbaum

On the weekend we heard our first cicada, a harbinger of summer on the North Island of New Zealand. After 2, 13 or 17 years below the ground, in November or early December the mature nymphs bore to the surface. They climb onto nearby shrubs or trees (in fact any vertical surface). They then molt into winged adults. To listen to a cicada recorded in Lower Hutt, New Zealand, click here.

At the same time, it’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas.  Today, we put our wreath on the front door and wrote out our Christmas cards –  we sent “real” cards this year for the last time because we have found a very good site for animated e-cards, which we’d like to share with you (see the link at the end of this post).


Photo courtesy of A Lau

Tomorrow we’ll be making our favourite mincemeat, Mincemeatless.  If you’d like to try it, we’ve included the recipe at the end of this post. It’s divine, especially with  mascarpone pastry. Closer to the day, we’ll make a delicious Christmas ice cream, more befitting of the hot Christmas temperatures in New Zealand.

Until next time,

Your Boomer Life Partners

Postscript: For beautiful animated e-cards, visit Jacquie Lawson.

Disclosure: The website mentioned in this Boomer Life Today blog post was not solicited or paid for by companies in New Zealand or abroad.

Mincemeatless

  • 3 lbs. apples, cored, peeled and chopped
  • 1 large, or 2 small oranges, juice and peel
  • 1 large lemon, juice and peel
  • 1 pint (or about 1 1/2 bottles) apple cider
  • 1 lb (2 2/3 cups) brown sugar (suggest Demerara)
  • 1 tbsp. ground cinnamon
  • 1 tbsp. grated nutmeg
  • 1 tsp. ground cloves
  • 1 lb. (2 2/3 cups) raisins
  • 1 lb. (2 2/3 cups) currants
  • 8 oz. (1 1/3 cups) glace cherries – halved (optional)
  • at least 4 fl. oz of dark rum.

In a saucepan, (you’ll need about a 5 qt. Dutch oven or similar for this) bring apples, juice and rinds of citrus (peeled thin or with the white skived off with a knife) to a boil in the cider, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 10 to 15 minutes.

Stir in sugar, spices, raisins and currants. When sugar has dissolved, simmer about 20 to 30 minutes, or until enough liquid has steamed off to reduce mixture to a desirable consistency for a pie or tart filler. Remove from heat and stir in cherries (if using) and add rum. Taste when cooled and adjust rum, and/or add a little brandy.

Source:  http://www.VegWeb.com

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