Growing up, moving away and spending that first Christmas far from home really makes you realize how much work the holidays can be, assuming you even want to try and recreate the same kind of holiday you used to enjoy at home.
There’s a lot of baking and decorating involved, but somehow we also had everything we needed in the fridge, pantry and liquor cabinet to get through a long week. My mom even made note of when our favourite TV shows were on, like A Charlie Brown Christmas, The Grinch Who Stole Christmas, and Jim Henson’s Muppet Christmas – which was the ultimate because it put all the characters from Sesame Street, The Muppet Show and Fraggle Rock in the same house over the holidays.
I haven’t even come close to replicating a Christmas at home while living in Whistler. Lately I don’t even have room for a tree, and sometimes I get a little homesick.
But every year I try to do something traditional, whether it’s baking Christmas cookies, making some rum and eggnog, watching my favourite Christmas specials, or eating myself into a persistent vegetative state.
You may not have your mom’s recipe cards handy, but there’s plenty on the Internet to help you out.
All Recipes – www.allrecipes.com
Although this site is fairly self explanatory, the one drawback is that there are literally too many recipes to choose from. I went here once to get a recipe for waffle batter, and came up with about 10 different "basic" waffle recipes that were very different from each other. Still, this is the first place to go to find recipes and directions for everything from making gingerbread houses to cooking the Christmas turkey.
Bar None Drinks –
www.barnonedrinks.comWhether you’re looking for directions for Hot Buttered Rum, rum and eggnog mix, martinis, spiced wine, or specialty coffees this is a good place to find those elusive drink recipes.
Christmas Stocking Stuffers –
www.christmas-stocking-stuffers.comIn my house Christmas was always about the stockings. We got other big gifts, toys and things under the tree, but I probably spent two whole days playing with the little toys, puzzles and gadgets crammed into my stocking. I even ate the oranges. This site has a wide range of ideas for stocking stuffers for all ages and interests.
iTunes –
www.itunes.comIf it isn’t Christmas without Bing Crosby trying to draw out the phrase "I’ve been dreaming of a white Christmas" for what feels like six minutes, you can download pretty well any Christmas song or album you want to hear from the iTunes music store for 99 cents. If you want to lively up your Christmas collection a little I recommend Christmas in Hollis by Run DMC, Green Christmas by the Barenaked Ladies, anything from James Browns’s Funky Christmas, Stevie Wonder’s What Christmas Means to Me, Merry Christmas Baby by Otis Redding, Merry Christmas (I Don’t Want to Fight Tonight) by The Ramones, and the Hannukah Song by Adam Sandler.
And after the holidays…
‘Tis the season to be jolly, and what can be more jolly than gaining 10 pounds from following the recipes at AllRecipes.com?
There’s a reason gym memberships typically soar in the New Year.
But it may be possible to kill two birds with one stone this year, and give a fun Christmas gift that will leave you healthier in the long run.
Dance Dance Revolution, the now classic arcade game where people dance against the computer and each other by following a sequence of steps, is finally a home game with special mats and games for the GameCube, PC’s, PS2 and Xbox.
It’s a fun game for kids and adults, and the best part of it is that it gets you hopping and stomping for as long as you can stay on your feet.
You can check out the pads and find retailers at
www.ddrgame.com . It’s also a safe bet that the game will have a few sequels and that companies will be working on some more games to make the initial investment worth it.If you can’t afford the real Dance Dance setup, a cheaper option is the EyeToy for PS2. There are about five games already out for the EyeToy, including Dance Dance Revolution, all of which involve getting off your duff and moving around a little.
B.C. adds to cybersecurity teams
In the movies, getting assigned to a desk is punishment for a police detective that plays by his or her own rules and upsets the chief.
However, given the escalation in cybercrime around B.C. and Canada, maybe putting cops behind desks is a good thing.
Last week the B.C. government announced 10 new officers for the Integrated Technological Crime Unit and Integrated Internet Child Exploitation Team, a group of cyber-savvy investigators that battles issues like child pornography, identity theft and hacking.
"Pedophiles and other criminals are using computers to reach into our communities and homes and victimize British Columbians," said Solicitor General John Les on Dec. 12.
In addition, the units will also support investigations into crimes such as drug trafficking, money laundering and credit card fraud, or any crime computers are used for. In addition to other tools, the police now have the technology and expertise to recover data that has been deleted from any hard drive.
Adding five new officers to the Integrated Internet Child Exploitation Team brings that department up to seven full time members. The Technological Crime Unit now has 21 members, up from 16.
