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Emerson Publications
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The Family First
Newsletter In this issue: Holiday Gift Card Warning Is Your Christmas Getting Out of Control? Holiday Shopping Tips Pam's Cinnamon Rolls & Banana Cream Pie
Good morning! I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving Day and were able to enjoy a few days off. We had our traditional meal on Saturday out in the woods. Our daughter and her husband went camping on their property and invited the family out for a wilderness Thanksgiving! They had quite a camp set up out there, and I told them that if I ever had to evacuate, I'd want them with me. They had pots boiling over a pit fire, and a turkey fryer fueled by propane. They even had a shower and toilet rigged up for the three families and extras who joined them. My daughter cored apples and filled the centers with brown sugar and raisins. She wrapped them in foil and heated them over the fire, and they were delicious. My only suggestion was that I'd like to try that with a caramel or two stuffed inside next time!
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Is Your Christmas Getting Out of Control? We’re coming down to the wire. How’s it feeling to you? Why do I ask that? Well, whatever you’re celebrating, and whatever your religious orientation, Christmas is a celebration, a celebration that for many has a spiritual basis to it. That is, it’s supposed to be merry, at the least, and meaningful at the most. What’s it for you this year? There may not be much you can do to put on the brakes now, but note how you’re feeling so you can see how it’s working for you. This has to be tested against the purpose of this celebration, which is personal to each of us, but surely it isn’t to be exhausted, stressed, hateful, resentful, materialistic, imprudent, overwhelmed, obligatory, or “just going through the motions.” If you’re feeling “the thrill is gone,” it’s time to get mindful. Don’t be the victim of your own holiday. Remember, it’s all about choice. Intentionality is the EQ competency for the holidays. What do you intend? How do your intend to feel? What do you intend to accomplish? If you feel like you want to stop the world and get off, take note. When Christmas is over, process. Ask yourself: 1. What worked and what didn't? In other words, what make you feel good. Feeling good can be pleasure, joy, but also the feeling of a job well done. 2. What did I do out of obligation, or to keep up with the Joneses that needs to be let go next year? 3. Did I feel the way I wanted to? If not, what will I do differently next year? 4. Take each element and analyze it - - did you really enjoy it, or were you just going through the paces? Was it “because we’ve always done it this way”? 5. Is there some traditional that's outworn it's welcome? If so, eliminate it. Kiss it goodbye, remembering it fondly, but let it go. 6. Whether you're a parent, grandparent, or uncle or aunt, there are children around. What kind of example are you setting? If you yell at your kid because you're stress out over Christmas, ho ho ho? 7. How materialistic were your gifts? How much did you bust your budget? Change this next year. 8. Did you spend time the way you wanted to? Did you spend time with the people you wanted to be with? Whether or not its family, you have a choice. 9. Did you actually have time to enjoy each thing – the smells, the touches, the sights, the sounds? Or were you like a hamster on his wheel? 10. What part of the negatives was due to your attitude rather than external events or circumstances? Controlling your mood and emotions with emotional intelligence can add tremendously to your life, not just at Christmas time. The best gift in life is to be able to learn from your experiences and this is a great time to apply this. If you don’t like what’s going on, don’t be a victim of your own circumstances or attitude. Change one or both! ©Susan Dunn, MA, The EQ Coach. Individual coaching, Internet courses and ebooks around emotional intelligence for your personal and professional development. Business programs. Coach certification program (no residency requirement). Mailto:sdunn@susandunn.cc for more information and fr** ezine. Susan Dunn, MA, Professional Life Coach may be contacted at http://www.susandunn.cc or sdunn@susandunn.cc
Holiday Shopping Tips I confess that holiday shopping once felt like an enormous, energy-draining chore, and it was one that I dreaded all year. Now I have found a way to really enjoy it. Here are some tips to help you take pleasure in it, too. 1. Make it fun. Do whatever you need to do to make the prospect of holiday shopping more enjoyable. Some people get energized by the mall, but, for me, the mall is a big energy drain. Instead, I love to sit curled up in a big fleece blanket with a cup of cocoa and a stack of catalogs. For weeks now, I've been tearing out pages and circling gift ideas for my favorite people. It's fun to get inspired in this way. Then, I'll make my list and search for online coupons for the stores I've selected (since I hardly every make an online purchase without a coupon code.) Whichever method of shopping is most fun for you, do it. Maybe you'll go on a special lunch date with your spouse and power shop for the kids. Maybe you'll make a daytrip to the most festive outdoor mall with some girlfriends. Shopping can be one of the most enjoyable parts of the holiday season. Just make sure you are doing it in such a way that it doesn't feel like just one more thing you have to do this time of year. The key is planning ahead and asking yourself what you really enjoy about the process of finding gifts. 2. Start with a budget. What is the dollar range that you wish to spend for each person? Make sure you stay in a range you can afford. Nothing takes the fun out of holiday shopping more than knowing you will still be paying off the bills next Christmas. 3. Plan ahead. I know that many people have all of their holiday shopping completed in July, but I never have – and probably never will. However, I can get myself to jot down notes throughout the year (in the back of my Daytimer) about things that my family members have mentioned they like or would like to have. Make notes of each of your loved ones' favorite things to do, favorite places to go, favorite brands of clothes, favorite games, favorite possessions. Sit for a minute and brainstorm the possibilities. You might be surprised at the good ideas that pop up. 4. Shop online as much as you can. You can save significantly at the online discount stores, such as Overstock and SmartBargains. Some sites will save you sales tax; others will have items you wouldn't find in your local mall. And you can generally find a coupon code this time of year to save even more. After you've been shopping online for some time, you may find (like me) that most of your gifts come from the same two or three websites each year – and that can save you money on shipping, too. 5. Save for the holidays throughout the year so you're not crunched come December. It's easier for me to stay in the Christmas spirit if I don't have to feel like I'm searching for the best bargain on every single item. I would rather find the exact perfect gift and then use a coupon code when purchasing it online, rather than running all over town (or all over the world wide web) to find it cheaper. That probably costs me a little more in the end, but it saves me a ton of time. 6. Look for quality and personality, not quantity. Nothing squashes my Christmas spirit more than focusing too much on the price tag…Have I spent enough on this person, have I bought her enough gifts? Will I give their family as many presents as she will give my family? When shopping takes on the air of competition, it's no good. Look for things that are beautiful, lasting, heartfelt, and sentimental. Sometimes it helps to supplement something store bought with something handmade. Buy or create a gift while trying to imagine the look on their faces when they open the gift. Susie Cortright is the founder of Momscape.com and Susies-Coupons.com, where she hand picks only the very best online coupons. Check out her blog for great deals of the day.
Susie Cortright may be contacted at http://www.momscape.com or susie@momscape.com
Do you want time with family? Safer
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Pam’s Cinnamon Rolls & Banana Cream Pie Recipes By: Joyce Moseley Pierce
This is a wonderful recipe given to me by my sister-in-law, Pam. I know you’re going to enjoy it just as much as the banana cream pie recipe that follows.
Pam's Cinnamon Rolls
2 eggs 3/4 cup sugar 2 pkg dry yeast (soak 10 min in 1 cup warm water) 1 cup Crisco 2 cups water (1 cup in addition to the water used for the yeast) 2 tsp salt 6 cups unsifted flour
Instructions:
Beat eggs. Add shortening, sugar, yeast and 2nd cup of water and salt. Add 2 cups of flour at a time. Chill for several hours or overnight. Divide dough into two portions. Roll into thin rectangle, brush with melted butter, sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon mixture. Roll up and slice into rolls 1" thick. Place on greased pan. Let rise about 2 hours.
Bake at 350 degrees for about 15 minutes.
Ice with powdered sugar icing.
Pam's Banana Cream Pie My husband's favorite dessert is banana cream pie. Anyone who knows him can tell you that. His mother used to make it for him by using the Jello brand vanilla or banana instant pie filling and Cool Whip. That was pretty simple to duplicate, and for years that's what I've made for him. However, I'm trying to get away from all the manufactured ingredients made to taste like real foods, and decided this weekend to make a pie with his sister's recipe. Pam is known for being a great baker, so I knew it had to be good if I just didn't mess it up! To show you how conditioned I am to mixing up the Jello and milk in a bowl
and dumping it into a pie crust, the hardest part of this recipe was trying to
figure out how to cook it! With egg yolks, I knew it had to be cooked, but
I couldn't imagine mixing the ingredients and pouring them over the sliced
bananas and then baking it in the oven. Finally, after a day or two of
thinking about it, the light bulb went off. You cook the mixture on the
stove and THEN pour it over the bananas in the pie shell. While Pam makes
hers with a Graham cracker crust, I used a Pillsbury roll out pie crust that I
cooked first. Here it is: Bake a single pie crust or use graham cracker crust This mixture thickens quickly so don't turn the heat up too high. I whisked it the entire time and it took less than 5 minutes. Pour this mixture into the pie crust and cool. When you're ready to
serve, add Cool Whip to the top. I went all the way and used real whipped
cream, but you're adding 50 calories per tablespoon, so if you're trying to cut
calories, and don't mind the artificial ingredients, use Cool Whip.
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