In the Brooklyn world of my childhood, Ireland seemed especially close at Christmas. While we kids looked forward to Santa, Mom and Dad were looking back to Ireland. Cards would arrive and Mom would cherish each and everyone, especially those from her sisters, my Aunts Una and Joan, who would include letters for her to linger over, her eyes growing all teary. My parents left … [Read more...] about A Child's Christmas In Brooklyn
Christmas
Sláinte: Let Them Eat
Irish Christmas Cake
Not so long ago, when my daughter was a child, life was very different. The world moved at a slower pace and I had time on my hands. It was the era before cable TV and the internet. The phrases "fast lane" and "couch potato" and "net surfer" had yet to be coined. Time stretched like soft taffy, begging to be filled and I industriously did so – especially in the weeks preceding … [Read more...] about Sláinte: Let Them Eat
Irish Christmas Cake
Sláinte: Christmas Is Coming & The Goose Is Getting Fat
Christmas is one of those words that immediately brings thoughts to mind. First, and foremost in these troubled times, is the hope for peace on earth. Hard on the heels of our heartfelt sentiments come the tumbling images of gifts and feasting. Deluged by jolly Santa Clauses, decorated evergreen trees, and twinkling light displays during the holiday season, it's easy to forget … [Read more...] about Sláinte: Christmas Is Coming & The Goose Is Getting Fat
Christmas was Magic and Magic was Mother
One Christmas was so much like another in those years, to borrow a line from Dylan Thomas. Mother, who celebrated every feast day with aplomb – Shrove Tuesday with specially prepared pancakes, Halloween with monkey nuts (peanuts in the shell), bobbing for apples, and Barmbrack – saved her most elaborate plans for Christmas. And I do mean saved. We had a farm but money was far … [Read more...] about Christmas was Magic and Magic was Mother
The Ideal Christmas Gift for Joyce Fans
How's this for a stocking stuffer? On December 14 Christie's New York will offer a newly discovered manuscript of a chapter of James Joyce's Ulysses. The manuscript is an early draft for the Circe episode, the longest and arguably most important of the novel's 18 episodes. It consists of 27 large sheets covered with dense handwriting, with additions on the back in Joyce's own … [Read more...] about The Ideal Christmas Gift for Joyce Fans