h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

An exceedingly large douglas fir has been placed near the butler's hatch and entrance to the gallery by CLI bots, who have also done the grunt work of stringing about 500 twinkly lights amongst the boughs.

Now the habitues of the salon are bringing ornaments, skulking off to guest rooms to wrap presents, trading seasonal recipes and consuming seasonal forms of alcohol and tea.

All ornaments are welcome! Join us, bring something traditional and/or interesting, and describe it and its historical or sentimental significance.

Or not. You are also welcome to just arrive and hang out.

All right, arrive I have, and hang out I will.

Marv

*brings candy canes for the tree*

We always had a tree at the churches when I was growing up (can anyone say PK? ) and all of the kids were allowed to get one when the X-mas Eve service was over. My father believed heavily in the bribery of children that weren't his. Regardless of how it started, this is the one tradition that I cling to now.

Loony - I'm sorry I never answered your question yesterday. My 'puter decided that I didn't need it anymore and tried to go on holiday earlier. Prarie dogs in the American West are very similar to rabbits in NZ and Aus. Pests that can destroy an entire crop without blinking.

BTW, prarie dog tastes like greasy chicken.

G7

Kiwi rabbits taste like gamey prarie dogs. I fing it best to cook them in a stew, with carrots.

I also find that the carrots should be no thicker than a fing..er

For candy, we always had small bags of chocolates hanging from the tree - to be handed out when the decorations came down on the twelfth night.

Matina, I hope you've got all the ingreduiants? I'll have a double.

Old Fashion Eggnog
Submitted by Mrs Claus

Eggs, separated 12
Castor sugar 6oz (170g)
Milk 40fl oz (1 litre)
Bourbon 20fl oz (600ml)
Dark rum 10fl oz (300ml)
Chilled double cream 40fl az (1 litre)
Nutmeg For on top

Beat egg yolks slightly, adding sugar a little at a time. Beat with a balloon whisk a little at a time until smooth and creamy. Add milk, Bourbon and rum. Blend mixture well and leave to stand for at least two hours. Beat egg whites and cream separately till they stand in soft peaks. Fold egg whites together and then into yolk mixture, gently but thoroughly. Serve chilled with freshly grated nutmeg on top.

That should show the dodgy cholestral who is boss.

That is a great recipie Loony. I made it last year for the family get together. Homemade eggnog is the best.

[sea] i've never tried homemade egg nog. i didn't know you could make it yourself... hmm. well, happy holidays everyone!

And happy the holidays should be for all!
Has anyone heard from Ioreth?

I was just thinking of Ioreth this afternoon when NPR was talking about the tourism disaster in Jerusalem, that is the economic disaster through lack of tourism. Nice to see you back ox, where've you been, re-counting ballots?

sea, I believe this is your first visit to the atelier -- welcome! Have you brought an ornament or ornaments for the tree? We're holding Odra's tinsel back till we have some more things.

*smell of eggnog being made in kitchen by Matina*

*reaches into a carton and gets out another small box. This one contains half a dozen ornament in the shape of carousel rides, complete with striped pole up the middle. There is a horse with a fish tail, an elephant, a giraffe, a zebra, a camel, and a lion*

I got one of these each year, during the 90's.
*hangs ornaments*

*emerges from her room surreptitiously toting several packages, which she arranges 'neath the tree. One in particular is rather odd-looking, being about knee-high and having air-holes punched in it at regular intervals...*

Matina, can l have an eggnog but without the egg, milk and cream?
l suppose it's just a nog, that way...so you can make it a double...

l've some ornaments too...

*produces two old-fashioned-type blown ornaments, jewel toned, very baroque, that sort of style: one a monkey colored gold, with a silly grin holding a banana, the other a highly colored rooster with fabulous plumage*
These are two of my favourites at home.
And this was my very favourite one as a child; l always used to grab it from the tree and carry it about the house as a toddler, for reasons that rather escape me now, but still...
*hangs on the tree a soft-sculpture blue satin star*

*tries not to look too hard at the parcel with the air holes* That's really cool to have ornaments from as far back as you can remember!

CChick, what is "rasaquache"?

Matina, I'll have eggnog with all the g's, please. It's cold down in central Florida -- there was ice on the birdbath this morning!

And a parcel arrived from England with several prezzies in it, from Mike A and his family! *opens second carton and takes out wrapped presents, placing them around Odra's packages* I had to laugh at the Christmas card. The chief player wrote "Have a slaytanic Christmas, Me". So underneath that it was signed:
Margwyn (Me's mum)
Roger (Me's dad)
Mark (Me's brother)

which cracked me up.

The one with the holes is yours, Lil...and that's all the hints l'm giving about it...
lf only the RL shopping were done...alack...

lt's currently about fifteen degrees out, here...*shivers involuntarily*
A mulled wine please, Matina?
*holds up a sack*
l've chestnuts for roasting if anyone's interested...they go nicely with this wine...

*regarding the hootoo Season's Greetings banner rather puzzledly.*
Genetical alteration resulting in a dragonfly-Christmas light bulb hybred? That's my best guess...

[URL removed by moderator]
Here's an idea for aids to holiday merriment in years to come -- for those of us who haven't workbots!

A glowing Christmas tree. That talk about injecting adult trees -- can you imagine if the gene got loose? A walk in the woods would be quite unnerving -- and think what the planet would look like from space!

Then again, no tripping over logs or roots if you forget to bring along a torch on a dark night's walk in the woods...

l wonder if the gene could mutate and spread to other plants? Day-glo salad greens could be interesting...

l seem to recall hearing, though l didn't bookmark the page, of similar experiments involving a rabbit named Alba, who now, under blacklight, glows green. "The GPF Bunny."
So that's Easter and Christmas covered...

My contribution to the Christmas Haikus:

The stockings were hung
By the hearth with greatest care.
The largest? Basho's.

*sips wine, stirs chestnuts*

If decked halls can glow
Then how long before the tree
becomes a fungus?

Don't even think about eating GPF salad greens. Your fat cells would start to glow, next! Do you want that to happen? *shakes her head emphatically*

*Odra hits the lights; the salon is suddenly darkened, except for a human form, glowing faintly green*

You were saying?

*Matina quietly switches the lights back on*

That was Chloe. Don't you play with my head now.

Anyway, the fact that you glow has nothing to do with such healthy habits as eating salad.