Or TV special.

I confess, I spent a long time thinking about it tonight while my kids watched A CHARLIE BROWN CHRISTMAS and Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and the Island of Misfit Toys. I’m having a hard time narrowing it down. Plus, I’ve been so focused on my work-in-progress that I’m too tired to think right now.

So you share yours and maybe it’ll spark my brain.

I hope your week has been great so far! I mailed out a bunch of packages today (I thank my lucky stars that I have a postage meter when I see the lines at the post office. I can just drop my packages in the bin and leave in less than a minute.) I still have another batch to get together, but I’m making good progress!

First off, thanks so much for all the holiday album suggestions! I only have two holiday cd’s — the Sinatra and a Mormon Tabernacle Choir one. I’d certainly love to have more, so I’ll be looking into many of the ones you mentioned.

Today, we’re talking about holiday appetizers. I love finger foods. Sometimes, I just order an appetizer sampler platter at restaurants plus a side salad and call it a meal. *g* Some of the favorites in our house are mushroom caps stuffed with sausage and cheese, jalapeño poppers, and queso dip. All pretty easy to make. We don’t just have them at the holidays, though.

For the jalapeño poppers:

* Get a bag of fresh jalapeños. Cut off the stems, halve them, and scrape out the seeds, etc. Set some seeds aside if you like your food hot.
* Take a softened block of cream cheese (or use a tub of the whipped kind)
* Mix in some shredded taco cheese. (the kind that’s already shredded, has four different kinds of cheese in it and some spices, too.)
* If you like it hot, add in some of the seeds you scraped out.
* Fill the jalapeño halves with the cheese mixture.
* Wrap a piece of bacon around the jalapeño. (we use the pre-cooked bacon when we’re in a hurry or need repeated batches ‘cuz they’re eaten so fast.)
* Cook in the oven at 350 until the jalapeño is soft and/or the bacon is cooked.
* Serve hot.

Yum.

What’s one of your favorite appetizers?

I’ve got a Frank Sinatra collection that I love to play during the holidays. (I tried to find the case so I could post the cover, but no luck. I’ll have to find it soon though…)

What about you? Do you have a favorite album that you play a lot this time of year?

I have a few, but the first one that came to mind and one I’ve loved for over a decade is THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS.

There are so many things I love about TNBC. Tim Burton rocks! Danny Elfman’s voice… OMG. I miss it. And his music… I’d love to have him compose a soundtrack for the MARKED series! (A girl can dream…)

We watch this movie so often in our house that every family member can sing along all the way through.

If you haven’t seen it yet, you should try it. I’ll be the first to say that it won’t be everyone’s cuppa tea. But in our house, it’s well-loved.

What’s your favorite holiday movie?

Today kicks off my 20+ Days of Christmas Giveaway! Every day I’ll be picking one commenter from that day’s post to win a book and some promotional items. The prizes are titles and goodies I picked up at conferences over the last year, so I can’t say what you’ll get (I’m just going to stick my hand in the box and pull stuff out).

The Rules:

* International winners — it will take much longer for you to get the prize. Mailing internationally requires a trip to the post office and at this time of year, it’s a zoo. I most likely won’t be braving the post office until January. I don’t want to exclude international winners, so this is the compromise.

* U.S. winners — I have a postage meter at home that I use to print up postage, so you won’t have as long of a wait. But I’ll be sending out the packages at the Media Mail rate, which can cause delays. Drawings and giveaways are fun for me, but the postage can be cost-prohibitive. With 20+ giveaways over the course of the month and all the shopping I have to do for gifts for my family, you might see why Media Mail is the smartest way for me to go.

* All Winners — must check back to see if they won, I won’t hunt anyone down. Prizes not claimed after 3 days will be awarded to someone else. This blog emails you updates, if you check the box before you post your comment.

* All Players — must answer the daily question. Sounds common sense, I know, but you’d be surprised how many people answer with things like “Sounds good!” or “Snoopy”. Nonsensical replies just to try and get free stuff. This is supposed to be enjoyable for both you and me, so the questions aren’t there just for filler. I’m hoping we have a good time talking about our favorite things. Plus, we’ll get to know each other better.

This is free and (hopefully) fun, so I hope none of this causes disgruntlement. If it does, don’t play. Thank you!