The best of baking and seasonal Christmas tales grace this month’s magazine
The generous have left their blinds and shutters open, offering passers-by a glimpse of their Christmas tree. A glowing beacon of bonhomie as we walk home on a dark night. Sometimes, you will spot a sprig of spruce with a single row of white lights; in other homes, trees grand enough to grace a Victorian dining room, dripping with ribbons and glass icicles. Christmas rituals, from the roast and plum pudding to the gifts and music we play, are as individual as the way we decorate our trees. Christmas, it seems, is not one tradition but many. Each family, each person having their own way of celebrating. That is what makes it so special.
This sprang to mind after reading the story Kathleen Alcott has written for us. In the years after losing her parents, the author found herself involved in a series of nomadic Christmases at the homes of friends and boyfriends. Each one different from the other. She writes in this, our second celebration of the season, of how she found her own traditions and nurtured her own, very personal, Christmas spirit.
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