Please join me in welcoming award-winning author Ann DeFee to our holiday party. Ann and I met in the Pacific Northwest at a conference many years ago. Ann gives us a peek at her family’s experiences when they lived overseas and had an English Christmas.
What do you make, bake, create or purchase for the holidays, Ann?
As an Air Force family, we’ve had our share of “interesting” Christmas celebrations. One I particularly remember was our first Christmas in England. Let me give you a little back story on this tale. We moved to RAF Lakenheath in August, and finding housing at that time of the year, in a very rural area proved to be an adventure. Too big, too little, too far out in the country, too haunted. As a last resort, we rented the gate house to a manor owned by a Lord and Lady–related to the queen and yes, I’m talking about that queen. It was bucolic, it was quaint, and it was like living in Barbie’s Dream House–everything was miniature, from the doors, to the rooms, to the kitchen. I kid you not, it was tiny, tiny, tiny, and to make matters worse, it was heated by a coal stove and a couple of portable propane heaters. Lord, I wanted a thermostat. I fantasized about a thermostat, instead I shoveled coal. Then along came Christmas. I moved furniture to make room for a very small tree. But I had forgotten about Christmas lights and the difference between 110 and 220. One by one, the lights met an untimely death. By that time the BX had completely sold out of anything resembling Christmas. On the morning of the 25th, we one tiny light. That was okay, but did I mention that our oven was the size of an Easy Bake oven? A turkey? Are you kidding–a small Cornish game hen was a stretch. As for a cookie sheet–no way. So I fell back on a goodie that our family loves–caramel corn. It’s hard to think of Christmas without remembering Cracker Jacks and the Gate House. Regardless of the time, place or situation, military families are incredibly flexible. We celebrate our faith, our family and our friends.
An English Christmas Cracker Jacks recipe
1 gallon popped corn
1 cup brown sugar
1 stick butter
1/4 cup white syrup (Karo)
1/2 tsp baking soda
dash salt
Combine sugar, butter and syrup – cook 4 minutes. Stir in soda and salt. Pour mixture on popcorn, coating every kernel
Bake on cookie sheet at 200 degrees for 1 hour. Cool and break apart. Careful–it’s totally addictive!
Check out the great excerpt Ann’s giving us from A Hot Time In Texas here.
Thanks for stopping by today, Ann!
Find Ann at the usual places:
Website: www.ann-defee.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/AnnDeFeeAuthor
Twitter: www.twitter.com/AnnDeFee
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