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We're back with more tips and tricks for a fantastic festive season, including a fruitcake recipe that everyone will enjoy, tips for putting a holiday twist on classic cocktails, unique local shops you can support this season, the story of a longstanding family tradition and ways to create a calm Christmas.
And that's not all — scroll down to find out how you can have Santa read you a bedtime story every Friday night until Christmas!
Jill, SaltWire Audience Team
Weekend weather
The lingering low west of the region has snapped off from the frontal wave; all that means is the rain will soon end. We are in for cooler and drier weather but, believe it or not, there's more rain and some snow in store for the weekend. Get Cindy's latest forecast here.
The ultimate holiday debate
You either love it or you hate it. Families divide over this debate. Which side are you on — Team Fruitcake or Team No Fruitcake? I, for one, am on Team No Fruitcake, but could that just be because of the type of fruitcake I'm used to? This recipe for chocolate and cherry fruitcake could very well change my mind. Renee Kohlman sells it well in the accompanying article and has convinced me to give it a try. Who knows, maybe it'll change your stance on the holiday staple too.
Seasonally sip worthy
Tantalize your tastebuds with these five classic cocktails that have been given a little holiday twist by SaltWire Network's creative director of food and drink, Mark DeWolf.
Stories with Santa
In this exclusive interview, SaltWire Network's chief meteorologist Cindy Day chats with Santa Claus about Atlantic Canada's December weather and what it’s like in the North Pole.
They also discuss the Santa Reads series that will soon be starting on SaltWire.com, in which Jolly Old St. Nick will read a new book to kids every Friday.
Get your Christmas cookies and hot cocoa ready, pull up a chair and a cozy blanket and get ready for the first Santa Reads tomorrow, Friday, Dec. 4 on saltwire.com/holidays.
Carrying on tradition
For 40 years, Carol Beaton of Ben Eoin, Cape Breton has been handmaking advent calendars to delight kids of all ages. Having young children at home, Beaton began to sew as a form of work she could do at home. With two friends, they formed the Tinker Tailors, making everything from hanging bookcases with pockets for their children’s books to mitt totes designed for people living in older homes with radiators. That’s when the idea to make Advent calendars developed.
Tinker Tailor partner Joan Reid, formerly of Sydney and now of Baddeck, came up with the design. The Advent calendars were well made from heavy, red canvas fabric. The women would sew six strips across the bottom, then sew down six rows, creating 24 little pockets.
Now Beaton’s 40-year-old Advent calendars are hitting another generation: her grandchildren in Ontario.
Learn all about the Tinker Tailors and the history of the advent calendar here.
Christmas or stress-mas?
After the year we've had it's no wonder many of us are embracing a more low-key Christmas. The stress of obligations, concerts, travelling, shopping, hosting, baking, cooking can all be too much, and this year we deserve a bit of a break, no? Click here for tips on how to create a calm Christmas.
Thinking local
On the hunt for the perfect gift? Check out this list of 10 ways you can support East Coast businesses and put a wrap on your holiday shopping.
Local reads
Viola Parsons takes readers back more than 100 years to a time when many African Nova Scotians lived in self-built, multi-generational rural homes; homes with small plots of land and gardens, usually clustered around a church, in communities where they relied on their faith in God, each other and their own hard work to survive.
In her short book, My Grandmother’s Days, Parsons records, in great detail, what daily life at the time was like for African Nova Scotia women, the agricultural skills they needed to be self-sufficient and their devotion to their families, church and community.
