At the Movies #72 – The Christmas Chronicles (2018)
https://media.blubrry.com/skiffyandfanty/dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/archive.org/download/SandFAtTheMovies72ChristmasChronicles/Sandf-AtTheMovies72-ChristmasChronicles.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Android | iHeartRadio | Podchaser | Podcast Index | Email | TuneIn | Deezer | RSSCrime, creepy Gremlin elves, and Marxist critiques of late capitalism, oh my! It’s the holidays, and that means it’s time to wax lyrical about holiday movies. This year, Shaun, Paul, Alex, and Mike join forces to discuss the brand new smash hit, The Christmas Chronicles. They talk about Netflix’s approach to the holidays, the film’s treatment of Christmas and Santa, the terrors of bad CG, and the cliched sappiness that makes the holidays as good as a nice warm cup of cocoa! We hope you enjoy the episode!
Month of Joy: Summer Holidays by Elizabeth Fitzgerald
I like to think that finding small joys is a strength of mine. So, when I was asked to write this post, I wasn’t quite sure where to start. There’s the obvious: books and tea. Food is something that consistently brings me joy. So do cuddles from my dogs. However, I wasn’t sure I could write a full post on any of these things (except books… and, well, you can hear my thoughts on that here every other month of the year).
Month of Joy: The Holiday Party by Mary Anne Mohanraj
Every year, we have a colonial Christmas tea, where I cook a combination of Sri Lankan traditional party food (rolls, chicken patties, mackerel cutlets, ribbon sandwiches, milk toffee, marshmallows, love cake, and arrack sours) with British traditional tea party / Christmas food (cucumber sandwiches, roast beef and horseradish sandwiches, mushroom sandwiches, scones with clotted cream and jam, berry trifle, fruitcake, mulled mead and mulled cider). Plus some extra sweets. I feel that I should get something good out of colonialism, after all, and traditional British holiday fare is delicious. Cooking a feast is an opportunity to put my day job as a professor aside, and even the SF novel I’m writing, and sink deep into food and domesticity, some of my own enduring sources of joy. Especially when I get to share the cooking (and then the eating) with my partner, children, and friends!
Month of Joy: Making Food and Feeding People by Cat Rambo
One thing that brings me joy is making food and feeding people. December is my favorite month accordingly: I bake cookies and make candy to send off in packages and plan a grand open house with all the care and deliberation (and spreadsheets) with which I would undertake a military campaign. My cookbooks, many of which have been companions of decades now, have plenty of notes to say which dish and accompaniments I served when, and to whom, jottings about what worked and what didn’t, and substitutions and tweaks. The binder which holds all my handwritten recipes, including ones from my mother, grandmother, and grandmother-in-law, also has a sheet of food likes: no eggs for Nona, Mom hates garlic, Sandra likes the lentil soup, Wayne hates pineapple and olives but loves squash.
