What are some of the gifts you are giving this Christmas?

[begin_within]

Some I have bought:

A set of 4 books called "Encyclopedia of Discoveries" (bought at Costco)
The "Planet Earth" DVD set
A fuzzy lavender bathrobe for my Mom
A 3-CD set of Glenn Miller music for my Mom
A package that has Bailey's Irish Cream, mugs, coffee and cookies
A set of WWII documentary DVDs
A Lego castle building set
A flip-movie booklet showing the moon launch and landing
Moon in my Room/Solar System in My Room
A picture book called "Cats"
A beading set with beads and small cabinet
Hannah Montana doll and stage with sound

[Rabrrrrrr]

1. 14 buckets of eel-based filth, the shriveled head of a gangrenous pygmy, and railroad spikes.

Christmas around the Rabrrrrrr household gets a little..... um...... odd.


Whatever you do, don't ask "What will your family do after dinner on Christmas?"

[LynzM]

17. How did I know this was you, before I saw your name?

:rofl:

Merry Christmas to you and yours, Rabrrrrrr :)

[Rabrrrrrr]

27. I have a singular style.

:rofl:

Merry Christmas to you, too!

[SeattleGirl]

2. An interactive globe for my 4 year old nephew.

An electric razor and some noise-canceling phones for MrSG.

Still working on the rest of the list.

[KitchenWitch]

3. For my daughter who will not be reading this (she is six)

Barbie Clothes
Clothes for her American Girl doll
A set of luggage (rolling suitcase, backpack and cosmetic bag) for sleepovers and her dolls.
a bunch of Hello Kitty stocking stuffers
The Little Mermaid DVD

For my son and husband, I will not say, because they could possibly read this.

For my parents, I sent them one of those Entertainment coupon books for the Twin Cities. And will be sending (on Friday) the DVD to my daughter's dance recital and her school photo in a nice frame.

[Connonym]

4. I had some good news this week so I sort of splurged a bit

I found out that my mortgage company will agree to a deed in lieu of foreclosure and so with the weight of that off my mind I felt a little more open to spending so I bought:
4 books for each of my daughters
1 video game for each
1 DVD for each
a PS2 for them to share
and a stocking full of dog toys for my dog

For my mom I'm chipping in with my sibs on a new kitchen sink plus I will be installing it. One sister is getting fancy candles and the other an enormous quantity of chai latte syrup from Starbucks.

:-) It's literally all wrapped and under the tree...except for the kitchen sink

[begin_within]

5. Have you tried the chai from Starbucks before?

I don't like the chai at Starbucks, frankly. The Chamba Chai sold at Costco is the same thing as "Big Train Spiced Chai" and is far superior to the chai at Starbucks, in my opinion. Made by Big Train.

[Connonym]

6. I don't really care for it but I know she orders it whenever she goes there

so I figured she'd like it. Besides :( we don't have a Costco

[Arkansas Granny]

14. I made a chai tea mix from a recipe I found online. It was a big

hit and, IMO, better than the ones I've purchased as it wasn't quite so sweet. You can always tweak the ingredients to suit your individual taste.

Chai Tea Mix

"Instant Chai tea mix. You can spice it up even further by adding 1 teaspoon nutmeg and allspice, and 1/4 teaspoon white pepper."

Original recipe yield: 36 servings



INGREDIENTS
1 cup nonfat dry milk powder
1 cup powdered non-dairy creamer
1 cup French vanilla flavored powdered non-dairy creamer
2 1/2 cups white sugar
1 1/2 cups unsweetened instant tea
2 teaspoons ground ginger
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon ground cardamom


DIRECTIONS
In a large bowl, combine milk powder, non-dairy creamer, vanilla flavored creamer, sugar and instant tea. Stir in ginger, cinnamon, cloves and cardamom. In a blender or food processor, blend 1 cup at a time, until mixture is the consistency of fine powder.
To serve: Stir 2 heaping tablespoons Chai tea mixture into a mug of hot water.
Note

You may choose to omit the French vanilla creamer, and use 2 teaspoons vanilla extract instead. To do so, mix the vanilla into the sugar, let it dry, then break the sugar into small lumps. Follow the same procedure as above.

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/chai-tea-mix/detail.aspx

[begin_within]

15. Thanks very much. I'll give it a try.

I may have to substitute Splenda for the sugar but it will probably taste just as good. I usually add liquid vanilla to almost any chai I get, because it seems to improve the flavor a lot. Most chai mixes I have tried have way too much cardamom, and the cardamom flavor dominates the whole thing. Cardamom is supposed to be the key ingredient in chai, but most companies overdo it and all you can taste is cardamom. The Big Train Spiced Chai / aka Chamba Chai is the only brand I have tried where the spices are balanced and no one spice dominates. But it's been expensive up until now, the best deal was usually at seriouschai.com, but now that Costco is carrying it as Chamba Chai it is reasonable there. I'll give your recipe a try - thank you.

[DarkTirade]

7. Damned if I know... haven't started shopping yet. :P

[Midlodemocrat]

8. I'm having a really hard time trying to figure out what to get

my teenagers.

The little one is getting an American Girl doll and some other stuff, but the teens have me stumped.

[MissMillie]

9. I'm making two afghans

one for a soldier who will be home on leave (he wanted a red/white/blue blanket) and one for my son's girlfriend.

I bought my son:
one of the Harry Potter books in hardcover (he's read them all, he just wants them on in hardcover)
the newest DVD of Pirates of the Carribean
a pair of pants
a new shirt
some underwear
(and I'm going to put a auto club membership in his stocking)


Everyone else gets fudge.

[Omphaloskepsis]

10. I'm almost done shopping..

Brother in law: Tools -- http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_00935154000P?adCell=A3

Sister: She wants some hippie dishes.. I just can't bring myself to buy my sister dishes for Christmas.. The hard drive on her computer died about six months ago. She only has 6 Gigs of storage right now (I tossed in a old one of mine). I think I might get her a new one. She complains about not having enough space to put photos on her computer.

Sisters son: Top of the line bearings for his skateboard and a USB to wall charger for his iPod.

Sisters twins: (My sister got them iPod Shuffles for Christmas) I bought them each a five pack of covers in girly colors. And another adapter so they don't need to plug into a computer to charge them.

Mom: Cash -- She is always broke..

Girl Friend: Might see this so I would rather not say.

[China_cat]

11. Not really for christmas. My husband's birthday is the 24th

He's getting a telephoto lens for his new camera. I'd love to be able to give him the really, really, really good one but $4,000 is a bit out of the budget for now.

Other than that, we don't do Dec. 25th gifts.

[lightningandsnow]

28. Your husband has the same birthday as me!

I'm a Christmas eve baby too! Turning 16 on the 24th. Tell him I wish him a happy birthday!

[Corgigal]

12. for the teenagers and young adult in my home

I purchased them all a Mood Beam and hopefully will be jamming this Christmas morning.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Too47kZfg-k

plus a bunch of other things, but this is the fun toy for the season.

[begin_within]

16. That's cute

[kentauros]

13. Nothing but homemade goodies, as usual :)

Biscotti
Truffles
Turkish Delight
maybe a cake, too, or some puff pastry treats.

[LynzM]

18. Mostly the same here, too!

A few things I'm buying or having made, but mostly it'll be Chocolate Chip Cookies and jar candles! :)

[kentauros]

20. Well, there are a couple of things I bought...

but they're minor compared to the making of the rest of the gifts. I'll lose sleep getting it all done, but I know everyone will love the goodies the most :D

Homemade items seem to get the most sincere thanks than anything else... :)

[porphyrian]

19. I'm broke, so I'm making gifts.

Depending on the person, they either get some of my digital photography or baklava (maybe both, depending on how long it takes for me to get sick of working with filo).

[kentauros]

21. And here I've got two packages of phylo dough in my freezer

that I haven't done anything with yet. How difficult is baklava to make? I'm sure I could handle it, but I have never attempted it...

[porphyrian]

26. It depends on who you ask.

First, there are as many different recipes for baklava as there are stereotypical little old ladies with their own one "true" baklava recipe they don't want to accurately divulge (just Google "baklava recipe" if you want to see how many versions exist). Really, the only hard part is working with the dough because it's so thin and easily dries out (or conversely turns to mush if you defrost or try to do the damp towel thing wrong. This problem is compounded by the various shapes and styles different baklava gets rolled/folded/layered into. But, since it is the holiday season and everyone deserves baklava, let me simplify it for everyone.

Basically, baklava consists of three things layered together: the filo dough, a nut and sugar combination and a syrup (actually, you pour the syrup over the rest after it's cooked. The dough can be, as I've mentioned, rolled or folded in complex ways or left in simple layered sheets, which is the easiest. The nuts can be just about anything you like, though pistachios and walnuts are the most common, but pecans work quite nicely, I've found (and I think I'm going to try peanuts in one batch this year, just to see). And the syrup is usually a simple sugar syrup, sometimes with Karo corn syrup, but my great aunt's recipe used honey, which is definitely yum. Regardless of what you choose, the hardest part is working with the filo, and I'm here to tell you the answer.

Butter. Real butter. Lots of it. Filo dried out and papery? No sweat, butter the hell out of it. Filo broken or torn? Just glue it together with the butter. You're supposed to brush melted butter on every sheet of filo, and you should. Baklava is not health food, and no one should try to skimp or make substitutions on or for the butter. If it kills you, at least you got to eat some baklava first. Now, don't use more butter than filo, you aren't making butter soup, but too much is better than too little if you ask me.

You could also make spanakopita (one of my favorites, which I can eat hot or cold like pizza) or tiropita with that filo, but those aren't exactly desert.

[Madrone]

22. I've only bought for one person thus far ....

And that would be the 19 year old addict I took in one year ago - whom I've had some problems with and no longer resides with me. BUT - I planned on doing a nice Christmas for her when she did live with me, and I've decided to make good on that plan, even if it means dropping her presents off somewhere and leaving. So far some of the things are:

A tripod for her digital camera
Some retro suede PINK adidas
A stereo speaker ipod docking thing - since she doesn't have a stereo to listen to anymore. The device will also charge her ipod.
Victoria's Secret lip gloss (pack of 4 different kinds)
A sled
7 or 8 really nice bras - and underwear to match
2 different body sprays FULL of glitter
A daily meditation book geared toward survivors of sexual abuse

[NMDemDist2]

23. hmmm not much this year

slippers and an old paperback of a beloved out of print book for hubby (most of the Xmas cash is going to new astronomy stuff)

a coffee club, gold fleck paperweigh (for her collection) and booze to stepmom

warm scarf and gloves to my favorite coworker for her trip to NYC

a bracelet and book for my best GF

bathroom goodies and towels to my other gf who just set up house on her own

that's about it so far, still need to bake a bit next week for a few neighbors

:hi:

[unsavedtrash]

24. I'm giving my ex plague and flesh eating disease.

She loves these things.

http://www.thinkgeek.com/geektoys/plush/6708/images/1797/

I've not really started shopping for everyone else.

[FloridaJudy]

36. Have you seen the things at Infectious Awareables?

They make ties and scarves with pictures of micro-organisms on them. You could give your ex Herpes...



..or Gonorrhea!

[ET Awful]

25. A huge 5-foot Comfy-Sack (Love Sac clone).

It's a huge foam filled beanbag like chair (with soft foam instead of those crappy styrofoam pellets).

The cool thing is that although it's a 5' diamater/3' high sack, it's compressed down to a 19x19x24 inch box thanks to vacuum packing :).

[Beer Snob-50]

29. giving to three skiers in our family

a thermometer that tells you what type of wax you should be putting on your skis.

"life is good" shirts

frozen pizzas

[Phillycat]

30. I knitted most of them.

Hats, scarves, stoles, ponchos...I was a knitting fool this year. :)

It's amazing how many men appreciate a good hand-knitted hat in a sober color.

[Seabiscuit]

31. I've been searching high and low for

a partridge in a pear tree.

I haven't been able to locate either.

[WolverineDG]

32. Like janesez, I knitted most of mine

mainly scarves, although I did make a hat too. :) I'm getting my cousin a thingy to put her quilting stuff in so she can take it with her when she runs errands & has to wait in waiting rooms. Other than that, gift cards.

dg

[seemunkee]

33. Where did you get the flip book?

I haven't done much shopping yet, only online. What I have bought so far
Rock Band for Xbox
Santuko knife
Shirts from LL Bean
Fruit from Harry and David
Ratatouille and Afro Samurai DVDs

[begin_within]

38. I bought it at the Flying Leatherneck Aviation Museum, which is

located on the base property at MCAS Miramar in San Diego. However, the exact book that I bought can also be purchased online at this page:

http://www.fliptomania.com/shop/product/144/25.html

[FloridaJudy]

34. A Tibetan singing bowl for my sister

I'm making a brocade pillow for a Tibetan singing bowl for my son (I gave him the bowl last year)
A $50 gift certificate from Northern Sun for my son
A $50 gift certificate from eQuilter for my sister.

That's it, thank the gods. I'm not that close to the rest of my family - either geographically or emotionally.

[NewJeffCT]

35. I think I have most of my shopping done already

plane tickets for my parents.

a bike for my daughter is her main gift, though she's also getting several books.

my wife got an upgraded diamond as kind of a combined anniversary (11/24) and Christmas gift.

home depot gift certificate for my brother.

Barnes & Noble gift cards for my nephews.

[GirlinContempt]

37. A lot of IOUs

because I'm not allowed to walk around and shop x(

[La Lioness Priyanka]

39. so far 2 ipods, one shirt and one scarf bought so far

[Samurai_Writer]

40. Here's my christmas list

Mom:
Rocky Mountain Tower of Chocolate

Sister:
Digital Photo Frame

Brother-in-law:
ZEN daily calendar

Little Kids (3 nieces, 1 boyfriend's daughter):
Three sets of erasable pencils
Beagle Webkinz
Illustory kit
How to draw animals book
Fairy cookbook
How to draw fairies and mermaids book

My kids (29 and 26 years old)
Comforter set
Bath sheets
Digital photo keychain

Boyfriend:
The Official Soviet AKM Manual
Tupperware
Whatever - Green Velvet CD

Everyone else got 2008 calendars that I printed of my 13 best photos of this past year. I send out calendars every year to aunts, uncles, and far-away siblings.

As you can see, I don't make an effort to 'give equally'. I have a total budget, and I stick within it. But I try to buy according to the person's needs. For example, my 26 year old and his fiancee just moved into a new apartment, so I gave them the comforter and bath sheets. But my brother-in-law is a very non-materialistic sort, so the Zen calendar was perfect for him. I try to buy mostly for the kids (big and little).

[YankeyMCC]

41. An original piece of art by Bob Eggleton

http://bobsartforsale.blogspot.com/ “Dragons Flying in Space Stream”

For my Ma a necklace with a hand carved piece of 1000 year old piece of wood from an Irish peat bog. And a gift certificate for a spa.

For my sister, some ear rings made from real maple leaves and a gift certificate for her and her husband to their favorite restaurant.

Remote control dragon for one nephew

Toy Space ship for the other nephew

[Pakhet]

42. not many gifts this christmas

my daughter wants (and is getting) a portable cd player and my niece wants a fountain pen. I'm cleaning my mom's living room carpet this weekend and she probably won't get anything else but a pot of homemade soup, but she likes my cooking :)

Pakhet
(meow)