Christmas is coming, despite the warm weather

A valuable lesson was reinforced for me this weekend: Martha Stewart and I could be friends, but not best friends.

No matter how much the people at work kid around about it, she and I have big, unsurmountable differences.

Yes, we both like to entertain and we both like to cook and garden and we both have dogs.

But the similarities end with holiday decorating.

Martha is all about centerpieces, holiday trees and wreaths and decorations. I, on the other hand, have to practically be forced to put up even a Christmas tree.

Don't get me wrong, though. I like celebrating Christmas and what it stands for. I just don't like putting out seasonal towels, lights, snow globes, stockings, knick-knacks and all that jazz. It's just not worth the time and effort. Plus, it's a pain to store the stuff all year.

With that said, I decided, like I do every year, to go with my mother to the Southern Christmas Show in Charlotte. I don't particularly care for the holiday theme, but I do like all the free samples. (Martha, of course, would frown on that because it's so common, but I like them all the same.) We don't usually buy a lot while we're there, but it's a mother-daughter bonding thing that has turned into a yearly tradition over the last six or so years.

This year, there was an extra bonus -- I wrote in my last blog that I hoped Jenny Cartee would be at the pottery festival on Saturday (which was great), but she wasn't there. She was, however, selling pottery at the Christmas show.

Evidently a lot of people from the area have gone as well. Residents of Cleveland Pines in Shelby went on Tuesday and came back tired and in good spirits.

Are you thinking about going? It ends this Sunday. Want to know more? E-mail me at emilykillian@shelbystar.com or call me at (704) 669-3331.

On the Web: Southern Christmas Show at the Charlotte Merchandise Mart

Pottery show preview

It's around 5:30 Friday evening and potters from around the state and even the Southeast should wither be headed to Shelby or be here already. Potters will be setting up tonight for the annual Carolina Pottery Festival, which begins at the fairgrounds at 10 in the morning.

Never been before?

Here's what it'll be like:
People from Cleveland County and beyond will be lining up shortly before the sale starts. They'll go through Dorton and Goforth Halls, looking for the right pottery piece at the right price. One tip for buyers: If you like it, get it before it someone else does. There's nothing worse than reverse buyer's regret (also known as the regret of the person who didn't buy what they wanted). Another tip is to go in with a list of things you want to buy. It'll help you from getting into pottery buyer's overload (that's when you buy so much you can't physically carry it out).

But seriously, there are a lot of things you should check out while you're there.

June Miller's leaf platters are a thing to behold. She takes giant leaves and uses them as her inspiration. They're really cool. Stop by Doby Wright's booth. She's a great conversationalist and I enjoyed meeting her this week. Annie Thompson's work is super-detailed and is certainly worth checking out. Hal Dedmond does traditional Catawba-Valley style pottery and his wife, Corrine Guseman does really cool garden rattles. Other potters to check out include Allen Griffin, Vickie Halloran, Kaye Lowery, Bobbi Black and Vicki Gill. My favorite person is fellow GWU graduate Jenny Cartee. Although I'm not 100 percent sure she'll be there, I'm going to make sure to look for her. I'm also going to look for fellow Isothermal students and teachers. I'm sure there are more that I've left out... I'm getting too psyched up to think...

As for me, I'm looking for a few items: some sort of big bowl or platter for my aunt, a small bowl with a chopstick notch for me and I want to look at anything with fern leaves. I need good art for my small living room.

(The photo is of some of my favorite pieces from June Miller's studio)

Molasses recipes

I promised on Wednesday's Food page that I'd have more molasses recipes on here... so here you go...

Christmas Ginger Snaps
1/2 cup shortening
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1/3 cup molasses
2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons ginger
1 teaspoon cinnamon
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Put shortening and sugar in a large bowl. Beat well. Add eggs and molasses and beat until light. Stir flour, baking soda, ginger and cinnamon. Roll pieces of dough into small balls. Place into a greased cookie sheet. Sprinkle the tops with a little white sugar. Bake 12-14 minutes. Let cool and enjoy!

Dark Gingerbread
1/2 c. shortening
1 c. molasses
1 egg
2 tbsp. milk
2 c. plain flour
1/2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. ground ginger
2 tsp. baking powder
Heat the shortening until it is hissing, pour it into a bowl in which the molasses has already been measured, add the egg and milk and mix lightly. Sift together the flour, salt, ginger and baking powder, and stir into the liquid ingredients, beating and stirring only enough to blend. As soon as smoothly blended, pour into two shallow, well-greased pans and bake 15-18 minutes in a moderately hot oven (400 degrees) (From an old Rumsford Baking Powder cookbook)
The following glaze works well or you can use your own:
Add 1 tbsp. grated orange peel to 2 tbsp. melted margarine, stir in 1 1/2 c. powdered sugar, 1/4 tbsp. vanilla and a few drops of orange juice, only if needed to thin. Drizzle over warm gingerbread.
Recipe courtesy of Lydia Elliott Hamrick

Molasses Drop Cookies
1 c. raisins, plumped (soaked in warm water and drained)
1/2 c. chopped pecans or almonds
2 c. all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. ginger
1/2 tsp. cloves
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 c. soft butter or margarine
2 tbsp. shortening
1 egg
1/2 c. molasses
1 c. buttermilk
Grease baking sheets. Start over 10 min. before baking; set oven to 400 degrees. Wash raising and plump, then cool. Chop nuts. Sift flour, measure, resift four times with next five ingredients. Press brown sugar through a coarse sieve to remove lumps. In a 3 quart mixing bowl, cream butter and shortening with a wooden spoon until smooth, add sugar and cream well. Scrape off spoon, remove. Beat in egg with a rotary beater until fluffy, then beat in molasses until satiny. Remove beater and use spoon. Stir in flour mixture and milk alternately in two or three portions, beginning and ending with flour and mixing until smooth after each portion. Stir in raisins and nuts until well distributed. Drop by heaping teaspoonfulls onto prepared sheet. Bake about 10 minutes until delicately browned. Remove at once from sheet to cake rack. When cool, store in a jar or box with tight-fitting lid with sheet of waxed paper between layers. Makes about three dozen. This recipe takes some time but it is well worth the effort. Shared by Lydia E. Hamrick

Art of Sound

I thought I'd take a minute on here to plug the Art of Sound festival this weekend. After working on Art of Sound advance coverage for the greater part of three workdays this week, I feel like I know way too much about the festival. I won't, however, be able to make it to the actual event because of out-of-town plans.

Judging from the variety of musical styles, I think this year might be one of the festival's best. There are a lot of new performers and a lot of interesting groups. I would have loved to have been able to attend the traditional music/dance workshop, but such is life, I guess.

Is anyone planning on going? If so, share your experience in the comments section.

Halloween coverage preview

I thought I'd sneak all of you some of the things we're going to be doing for Halloween in Lifestyles land...

Doggie Halloween - costumes and safety tips
I've had several people from the community bring in their pooches in Halloween costumes... it's been quite the experience... Here's Becca, Maureen the copy editor's step-dog. (I like to call her Bacon, though.)

Scary movies - there are several local people with ties to the movies (Think Haunted Pyramids)

Ghost stories - I have a few tales from the Zion community and Allison Flynn is working on a project with the Paranormal Scene Investigators. Anyone else know any local ghost stories? If so, post them in the comments section.

Odd news

Smoke wakes up South Carolina firefighter who battles blaze at own fire station
BISHOPVILLE, S.C. (AP) — Firefighter Brian Eargle is accustomed to waking up to fight fires.
But Tuesday night, Eargle said he was jerked from sleep by coughing and quickly ended up having to fight a blaze at his own fire station.
Eargle managed to escape the fire, call for help and drive two trucks away from the burning building. He then pulled a hose from a fire truck parked outside to fight the blaze for about 10 minutes until his fellow firefighters could arrive and get their equipment on.
The fire, which started in the lounge of the station, did about $30,000 in damage, Lee County Fire Chief Mike Bedenbaugh said.
But it could have been a lot worse. Bedenbaugh said he is glad Eargle wasn’t hurt or killed and that he managed to save the vehicles from the blaze.
“If this fire had happened at any of our other stations, then we would have lost vehicles and the entire building,” Bedenbaugh said. “This is the only station where we have someone on duty 24 hours a day.”
The State Law Enforcement Division is investigating the fire.
———
Information from: The Item, http://www.theitem.com


Our photographer said something like this happened in Cleveland County once? Can anyone confirm or refute that?

Workout songs

I did a page for Health this week about workout songs. Here are some that I like... but they weren't good enough for my list.

FOR MY BLOG ONLY
Here are a few of the other songs I considered for my list.
"Best of You" – Foo Fighters
"Beast of Burden" – The Rolling Stones
"Are you gonna go my way" – Lenny Kravitz
"Bonnie & Clyde" - JayZ and Beyoncé
"Lose Yourself" - Eminem
"London Bridge" - Fergie
"In Da Club" - 50 cent
"We Got the Beat" - The Go-Go’s
"Touch the Sky" - Kanye West
"Pump Up the Jam" - Technotronic
"Ain’t No Other Man" Christina Aguilera
"Check on it" Beyonce & Slim Thug
Fergie "Fergalicious"
"Another One Bites the Dust" - Queen
Panic! At the Disco "I Write Sins, Not Tragedies"
Nickelback "If Everyone Cared"
Chris Daughtry "It’s Not Over"
Nelly Furtado "Say It Right"
Fall Out Boy - "This Ain’t a Scene, It’s an Arms Race"
James Brown – "I Got You (I Feel Good)"

FOR OTHER PEOPLES’ LISTS, go to http://alexking.org/blog/2005/10/18/workout-music

REPACE YOUR MUSIC FOR YOUR WORKOUT at http://www.bestworkoutmusic.com/

Things to come

I thought I'd give you all an early look at some of the things I'm working on in the next few weeks. (I'll be a little vague so I don't give away all the details, though)

• There's a first-grader following in his family's footsteps. Nothing unusual about that... unless he's going 65 mph.
  
• What's the classic Halloween decoration that doubles as a Thanksgiving treat? Yep, pumpkin. Trivia, a quiz, recipes and who will and won't have them this year.
• Happy howloween - for your pets, that is. Pet costumes and how to keep them safe on the big night. (The photo is Sadie, who I dressed up last year for Halloween at my mother's house.)
  
• Top workout tunes
• Allison and I are also going to take a look at some local ghost stories. Who are we gonna call?
  
• Church doesn't necessarily have to be in a formal sanctuary.
  
• I'm also working on a story for sports about a powerlifter from Cleveland County.

Another house pic

Here's what I've done so far in the master bedroom. Although you can't see it in the photo, there are sparkles in the burgundy paint.

Dining room

Here's what the dining room looks like so far. It still needs some work, though.