Beyond the South End

Christmas by Magazine

The inspiration for this story came from of all places, Delta Airlines. Let me explain. I got this letter in the mail from the airline for which I am a frequent flyer. Only thing is I don’t fly but once a year usually, therefore, my frequent flyer miles don’t add up to very much. If I only had to fly over a mud puddle of maybe a couple miles, I’d be O.K.; but of course that’s not the case.

But Delta in their wisdom recognized my plight and they have a solution. They offered me free subscriptions to several magazines for which they provided a list. So, using the list and the number of frequent flyer miles I have, I chose seven magazines. Great, right? What was I thinking?

I’ll never keep up with all these magazines plus the ones I already get, TV Guide, Entertainment Weekly, and Maine, Boats, Homes & Harbors. My house looks like the reading room in a library at this point. The magazines I ordered were: All You, Martha Stewart Living, People, Southern Living, Time, and Travel & Leisure.

Back to the inspiration. My subscriptions to these new magazines all fell within the current holiday season so I thought, “Why not try to make a holiday-themed story out of them?” Easier said than done, but I did come up with a few things I thought you might enjoy.

Except for Time and Travel & Leisure, all of these magazines have tips on how to prepare for the best Christmas ever. From recipes, to decorating, to gift-giving, they cover them all. The price ranges go from the easiest and cheapest craft projects to entertaining at a lavish holiday dinner.

If you had all the time in the world; plenty of people to help you; money and more money; you could pull off everything in these magazines. That’s probably not going to happen, but let’s go through a few of the tips and suggestions these magazines have to offer. If something appeals to you, go out and buy the December issues of the magazine I’m talking about.

From all you:

How to make you own snow globe; recipes that are low-cost including 3 Christmas cookie recipes that you can make with one dough; how to make over your Christmas tree; solutions to difficult wrapping of odd items; gift suggestions, which I will discuss further later on; holiday treats for your pets. I was especially intrigued by the recipe for “Roasted Vegetable—Goat Cheese Tarts” which has 11 ingredients and which they claim can be made in 30 minutes. Really?

From Southern Living:

Don’t even get me started on this one. There is so much to see that it is definitely a keeper for years to come. Here’s a look at some of the topics in the Table of Contents:

The Gift Guide; making garlands and wreaths, decorating trees; transforming your childhood home for the new generation; dressing for the holidays; outdoor decorating, floral arrangements; recipes, including Jewish holiday recipes.

The oddest thing I came across, however, among all the Southern travel suggestions, was a one-page ad for the American Cruise Lines, the cruise ship that makes foliage trips along the coast of Maine. Seeing a bright red lobster in a southern magazine was a shock to be sure.

From People:

Even this magazine has Christmas recipes including recipes from the stars. The one for “Shaved Brussels sprouts salad with pecornino cheese” did not look too appetizing. What the heck is pecornino cheese? There is also a recipe from Sophia Loren, “Ricotta Pie” which has 13 ingredients, 9 steps, and which takes 2 hours to make. Interested? I did find a recipe for Fried Green Tomatoes, one of my favorite Southern recipes, which I will keep for sure.

This issue also had decorating ideas including party favors and decorating with lights.

As far as all these recipes go I found a perfect answer to them in today’s Sunday comics. It's what I usually end up doing. Here is that strip:

 

The best gift ideas can be found in Entertainment Weekly, People, all you, and also from Parade in my Sunday paper this week. You need go no further than these magazine malls or you could look them up on the internet. The best way to shop in my opinion.

Gifts for under $50 can be found on all you. They include a web site with codes for reduced prices: www.rumbatime.com. I see a robe, slippers, manicure set, necklace and watch here.

You can tell what century it is by all the geeky techno gifts pictured in several magazines. Parade has a robot for $100 from www.bestbuy.com which obeys up to 100 commands and is compatible with a smartphone. Also offered is a 3-D printing pen for $99. From www.hammacher.com. It uses hot glue. I wouldn’t suggest it as a gift for a kid. There is also an At-Home Drone which takes pictures from an aerial viewpoint for $100 and which are then viewed via a USB connection from: www.bloomingdales.com. I’ll take all three, thank-you.

People has gift ideas from the stars including Britney Spears; Gwen Stefani, Mark Cuban of Shark Tank, Mel B, and others. People also suggests their stocking stuffer gifts for under $10 at www.peoplecom/presents.

Entertainment Weekly has gift suggestions for your entertainment: books, earphones, a video camera and fun gifts for kids.

I haven’t mentioned Martha Stewart Living because I haven’t received that one yet. God help me when I do.

The last magazine I would like to mention is one of my favorite magazines: Maine Boats, Homes & Harbors. In the holiday issue they always include a separate catalog of nautical-inspired jewelry which is way out of my price range; but they sure are beautiful. My wish list, however, is one of those Amphicars pictured on this issue’s cover. It’s a car that runs on fresh water like a lake or on the road. The one here is owned by a couple who drive it over the lake up at Megunticook. They say that if you can still find one they cost up to and over $60,000. Their’s is not for sale. Oh, well, I can dream, can’t I?

So there you are. I hope you’ve found something you can use for your holiday planning. Have fun and try not to stress out too much. O.K.?

Thanks for listening.