Yeah, sure, youbetcha!

Jesus, Mary and Joseph....

....have made an appearance in the neighborhood.

No, I'm not talking about someone seeing a likeness of the Virgin Mary in their oatmeal or in the wood grains of a door in their house.

I'm talking about the manger scene that is up in our neighborhood....along with lots of other holiday decorations.

Why am I writing about this?

Because, my bloggy readers, I have a strict rule. One holiday at a time.

We have yet to even roast the turkey to celebrate Thanksgiving. We haven't even turned on NBC to watch the coverage of the Macy's Day Parade. I haven't even taken the cranberries out of the freezer to make my favorite dish, Drunken Cranberries (recipe to follow).

It boggles my mind when I see folks doing the full scale decorating before Thanksgiving. In fact the local grocery store AND the local nursery already have their trees cut and in the lot ready for sale on Friday. The house that I'm referring to is no exception to the pre-Friday-after-Thanksgiving decorating. Here is a list of the things on display--that have been on display since the weekend of the 21st of November:

Large manger scene, complete with livestock
Two large, plastic candles, on either side of the front door.
Massive wreath (with lights) on the side of their house
Garland along the porch railings
The two young trees in their yard are covered in mini-lights
Lights along every edge of their house

Now, let me say this. I believe that the hanging of the lights takes the most time. I'm all for a little planning and getting those up early. I have hung lights outside and it is a pain in the butt. I'll even go as far as saying the the garland along the banister is OK too.

But for the love of Pete, do we need to turn on the decorations each night already?

And granted, I'll be the first to admit that I don't know their situation. Maybe they're out of town this weekend and won't be able to decorate. Or maybe there are some personal things happening that this was the best time to do it.

I'll give them that.

But again, do we need to turn on the lights to make a point to the neighborhood "I've decorated for Christmas!"

Seriously people...one thing at a time! One thing at a time!


Now, for the recipe for Drunken Cranberries. Actually I'm posting it here because I predict that my mother will call me tomorrow and say, "What's that recipe again?" Now she can just bookmark this post and have it forever.

Thank you to my dear friend Heather who gave me this recipe 5 years ago. I make it every Thanksgiving and the Big Guy's family LOVES it. Shhh....don't tell the Big Guy's grandma that there is spiced rum in it. We keep that a secret. ha!

Drunken Cranberries
1 bag of fresh cranberries, rinsed
1 cup of brown sugar
3/4 cup of spiced rum or brandy (for all that is Holy, don't use both!)

Preheat oven to 325.
Mix sugar and alcohol together in a bowl until sugar is mostly dissolved
Place cranberries in an 8 x 8 dish (glass or ceramic is best)
Pour sugar & alcohol mixture over the cranberries.
Bake for 1 1/2 hours. Alcohol will cook off, the sugar will reduce and the cranberries will "pop" and shrink a bit.

Serve warm or at room temperature.

HAVE A GREAT THANKSGIVING, EVERYONE!