Parades, light displays and a host of other events across county
Christmas is just around the corner, and you know what that means! All kinds of events to celebrate the season are in store for holiday revelers.
From holiday markets to tree lightings to Santa sightings to a holiday buffet of programs sure to get kids of all ages in the spirit.
Here’s a sampling of what’s up ahead in the days leading to Christmas:
Whobilation
Pell City Public Library, Dec. 5, 5 p.m.
Giant snow globe, hot chocolate, Christmas crafts and cookies. Photos with Grinch, Elsa from Frozen and Santa.
7th Annual Holly
Jolly Market
Dec. 13, Moody Civic Center, 10 a.m.-4 p.m.
Free admission, but shoppers encouraged to bring canned or boxed goods for Shepherd’s Supply Food Distribution Center in Moody. Vendors, crafts, homemade goods. Santa 11-2.
Lights in the Park
Pell City Lakeside Park, daily now through Dec. 31 after sunset.
Businesses, churches and individuals light up the park with special Christmas displays visitors can drive through to see.
Tree Lighting Festival & Holiday Open House
St. Clair Courthouse parking lot, Pell City, Dec. 6, 6 p.m.
Candyland Christmas theme featuring live dance performances, musical entertainment, Santa, candy bags for kids, hot chocolate and apple cider. Downtown businesses have open house at 11 a.m. with special sales, treats and more!
Gingerbread house building
Pell City Public Library, Dec. 6-7 (Multiple Times, registration required)
Children build gingerbread houses in one of three free sessions.
Pell City Rotary Jingle Bell 5K, 10 K & 1-Mile Fun Run
Dec. 13, registration, 7 a.m., race, 8 a.m.
Run through beautiful Lakeside Park along the banks of Logan Martin Lake. Supports St. Clair Sheriff’s Boys Ranch, The Arc of St. Clair County, Ann’s New Life Center, The WellHouse. Santa, family fun, medals and cash prizes. Register: pellcityrotary.org/jingle-bells-5k-run/
Vintage Country Christmas
Dec. 19, 7 p.m., Pell City Center for Education and Performing Arts
Classic country Christmas songs from Willie Nelson, Dolly Parton and more featuring Rose Colored Glasses. Tickets: pellcitycepa.com/vintage-christmas
Don’t let the parades pass you by!
Throughout the region, parades of all shapes and sizes take to the streets with all the fanfare, music and wide-eyed excitement that go with them. Here’s a glance at when and where:
As the number of rooftops, restaurants and retail shops continues to grow in Pell City, local entrepreneurs are expanding the options for residents looking to shop and find personal services close to home.
They are also a sure-fire way to draw more business to town from across the county and region.
Three relatively new businesses are part of that momentum. Stonehouse Antiques and Mercantile offers a mix of antique, vintage and new merchandise for customers updating their homes or looking for one-of-a-kind pieces.
Little Stitches & Co. specializes in children’s clothing for newborns, toddlers and children up to age 8, giving families a local option for boutique-style apparel.
Inside Little Stitches, customers will also find Heirloom Salon Studio, which provides hair services in the same convenient location.
Here’s a glance at each of these new holiday stops:
Stonehouse Antiques & Mercantile 3440 Martin Street South, Suite 12, Cropwell
Becky Anderson has always loved to dabble in antiques and restoration, painting and refinishing furniture. The former surgeon’s assistant first indulged that love at an antique mall in Illinois. Now, she shares that passion at her Cropwell shop, Stonehouse Antiques & Mercantile, which opened in late August.
Her love of antiques and vintage items was born of necessity. “When I was young, we didn’t have a lot,” she said. “I knew I wanted the house to look nice, so… I refurbished and repainted and restored on my own. You remember that show, ‘Design on a Dime?’ I’ve been designing on a dime my whole life, even before the show was popular.”
At Stonehouse, shoppers can browse 2,100 square feet of antiques, vintage items and some new items. Two or three vendors also have spots in the store, offering more variety.
“I’m always proud of the furniture I bring in,” Anderson said. “I try to pick real quality. Whether it’s vintage or antique or some new or fairly new piece. I try to make sure that it’s quality and I’m not passing along junk to somebody.”
There are times in her hunt for antiques that she finds an item that her post-purchase research reveals to be worth 10 times what she paid. It’s a moment straight out of PBS’ Antiques Roadshow. But the cornerstone of her pricing is fairness.
“I don’t try to put that kind of price on it,” she says. “I put a price on it that’s reasonable. But the piece is worth the price that I put on it.”
An example: She once found a pair of colorful Asian Foo dog bookends – symbols of good fortune – that she found that were worth $200 to $500. She sold them for $85.
“I still made money, and the customer got something that was really worth something,” she said.
Along with the larger items, Stonehouse also carries small gifts, perfect to give to teachers, classmates or friends. Watercolor print greeting cards are also available.
On Wednesdays, shoppers can purchase fresh loaves of homemade sourdough bread from Brittle Heaven, the wildly popular candy and baked goods shop.
“It’s usually gone by the weekend,” Anderson said.
It began to look like Christmas even before the calendar turned to December. Stonehouse is set to host a Christmas open house in mid-December.
“Some people have theirs in October or November,” she said. “I’ll have Christmas inventory out then, but to me, a Christmas open house ought to be special. I’m not knocking anyone who does it early. But as far as food, or something to eat or drink, mine will probably be after hours.
The store may also stay open later during the holidays.
Stonehouse is not a giant antique mall, and that means personalized attention.
“We’re quaint. We’re not some big antique mall that takes all day to go through,” Anderson said. “We’re a store that people can just pop in and get a little gift, greeting card or a loaf of homemade bread. We won’t pressure them into buying something else while they’re there.”
She added, “We have people who come in all the time just to look, and that’s fine, too. People will come back if you treat ‘em nice.”
Jon and Abbye Grimes
Little Stitches & Company Children’s Boutique Heirloom Salon
1801 1st Avenue South, Pell City
Two of Pell City’s newest businesses have taken families to another level in a unique concept. Sisters-in-law Abbye Grimes and Tina Dailey operate two distinct shops under the same roof on First Avenue South.
Grimes owns Little Stitches & Company Children’s Boutique, and Dailey owns Heirloom Salon. Both shops had their grand opening in October. Little Stitches is an ideal spot for quality children’s fashions, and Heirloom can add its special styles for customers for holiday events or any time a woman wants to look her best.
While there’s an old adage warning against going into business with family, Grimes and Dailey make it work – joyfully.
“Honestly, we love being together every day,” Dailey said. “Most of my customers shop with (Abbye) anyway, so it just clicked.”
Grimes agreed.
“We’re living a girl dream, I guess you could say. We get to be together every day even though our jobs are completely opposite. It’s fun being together.”
At Little Stitches, after four years of selling kids’ clothing online from her home, Grimes decided to move to a brick-and-mortar shop.
“We really just ran out of space in my home office,” she said. “I was looking for places to rent and found this place. The timing was perfect.”
She added, “When I was looking for places, I wanted to be open by Oct. 1 because of retail season. We’re in prime shopping season. … It really just worked out.
Grimes carries children’s clothing from newborns to size 5 and a small selection of children’s sizes 6 through 8. Grimes hopes to expand her inventory in 6 through 8 “as soon as we can.”
Among the brands Little Stitches & Company offers are Paty, TRVL, Noodle & Boo, Warmies and other top brands.
Noodle & Boo offers skin and laundry care products for babies and new mothers with sensitive skin, including shampoos, soaps and detergents.
Warmies are stuffed toys that bring comfort and joy not only to children, but to people of all ages. After being warmed in the microwave, the toys ease stress and anxiety.
Tina Dailey
“They’re really big,” Grimes said. “We completely sold out of them and had to restock.
Paty offers timeless baby clothing from onesies to gowns and dresses made for softness and comfort. TRVL Designs offer quality accessories for babies and the entire family.
Grimes wants to create a warm environment in the store. The same is true at Heirloom.
“We want everyone to feel welcome,” Grimes said. “I want people to come in here and feel happiness and joy. That’s the goal, also to feel loved and wanted.”
Among the many special items at Little Stitches are those “coming-home” outfits for newborns coming home for the first time. That outfit becomes a timeless keepsake.
“A lot of that is what we specialize in,” Grimes said. “It’s very sentimental to be a part of that.”
The store also features popular “gender reveal” festivities. “That’s really special,” Grimes said.
At this time of year, Little Stitches offers outfits for the holidays and beyond.
A former teacher, Grimes started the online clothing business as “something to do, and it just kind of took off,” she said. “It’s never too late to start something different, never too old to do something you want to do,”
Like her sister-in-law’s store, Tina Dailey’s Heirloom Salon wants to create an inviting environment. Her mom was a hair stylist for four decades, and Dailey has done hair for 10. She calls her shop, separated from Little Stitches by French doors, “a luxury color and extension salon.”
She specializes in hair extensions and coloring. In fact, she’s offering 50 percent off all extension hair.
Like any beauty salon or barber shop, Heirloom is where customers can hang out and visit with friends old and new while having their hair done.
What does Dailey like best about the work she does?
“That I get to make women feel beautiful every day,” she said.
It’s somehow fitting that the Howard Family Holiday Farm in Moody has quickly become a go-to destination for folks hoping to create wonderful family memories. After all, the farm, which opened in September and was a celebration of all things fall before getting decked out for Christmas, is the culmination of a dream that grew from the childhood memories of owner David Howard.
“When I was 14, I told my grandmother I wanted to start a business,” Howard said. “She asked me what I wanted to do, and I said, ‘I’m going to sell Christmas trees.’” He set up a stand at a gas station at Moody crossroads owned by a family friend, Clemons Macon, and got to work.
“He had an old produce truck that sat out front,” Howard said. “I would ride the bus there and sit inside that old produce truck and do my homework and sell Christmas trees until my parents (Charles and Mary Ann Howard) came to get me at 8. My dream was that I would become a Christmas tree farmer, and it stuck with me all my life.”
Forty years later, Howard has turned that boyhood job into a way of life. And the best part, he said, is that after living and working in other places for 25 years, his dream brought him back home.
“Moody helped create the foundation of who I am today,” he said. “To be able to come back and do this and bring something wholesome and family-centered to the community is amazing.”
All the holidays
Although Christmas trees, wreaths and garland are getting top billing now, Howard opened the farm as a pumpkin patch. More than 5,000 visitors came through between opening day on Sept. 20 and Oct. 26, when they closed for a few weeks to gear up for Christmas.
Fall visitors could pick their own pumpkins from the patch or choose from a variety of gourds offered in an assortment of sizes, colors and shapes. The hayride was a huge hit with the kids, and the cut-your-own-flowers field of zinnias and sunflowers was a big draw, as well.
The farm reopened for Christmas on November 22, and two days later, Santa Claus arrived in dramatic fashion. He landed at the farm in a helicopter just in time for “Ice Cream Sundaes with Santa,” something Howard plans to make an annual event.
Santa’s arrival by helicopter on November 24 is just one of many events planned
Guests had their pick of flavors, thanks to the Hershey’s Ice Cream bar located inside the farm’s country store. In addition to the 24 ice cream flavors, which Howard plans to expand to 36 next Spring, there is an array of toys, gifts and assorted jams, jellies, and other treats sold under the Howard Family Holiday Farm label, including pickled okra, candied jalapenos and peach halves.
“We have sold out of the apple butter so many times, it’s crazy,” Howard said. The peach butter, blackberry preserves and fig preserves are favorites, too, and the offerings also include muscadine grape jelly, red pepper jelly, green pepper jelly and peach preserves.
“We provide our family recipes, and a company produces it for us,” Howard said. “These are all flavors that I grew up on and helped can, pick or both.” They also offer GunRunner Gundog Honey, made by Howard’s cousin, Kenny Armstrong, a beekeeper.
The big draw now, though, is the Frasier Fir and Black Hills Spruce trees that were cut and shipped from farms in Michigan and N.C. Howard hasn’t given up on his dream of being a Christmas tree farmer, however, and he plans to plant a field of Murray Cypress trees so visitors can cut their own.
“It’s a variety of Cypress that’s specifically bred for Christmas trees,” he said. “We’re going to plant some real mature trees so we can speed up the process. We hope that in two years, we’ll be cutting 7-foot trees.”
The plans don’t stop there. They’ll take a break after Christmas and build an outdoor pavilion before reopening in March for the rest of the year. Howard said they’ll offer Alabama-grown produce, some of which will be grown at the farm. “Our first crop will be watermelons, cantaloupes, and various peppers, and then we’ll grow from there next year,” he said. “We’ll also plant Silver Queen corn, and ultimately, that will be a corn maze.”
Howard said they’ll offer seasonal potted plants and three acres of flowers, including zinnias, sunflowers, dahlias and peonies. “Folks can come pick flowers for their special events and have photo shoots in the field,” he said.
“We’re going to do anything we can that’s community-driven,” Howard said. “We’ll just see what the community will support, and that’s what we’ll morph into.”
The road back home
Howard and his partner, Gary Perkins, are thrilled to be back to their rural roots. Perkins, a pharmacist, grew up on a tobacco farm in Kentucky, and they both were ready to get back to a slower pace of life.
After graduating from Moody High School and then college, Howard worked in the RV industry, in marketing and advertising, and owned a martini and sushi bar. He’s also worked in the residential construction and real estate industries. For the past 15 years, he’s owned Panama City Beach Properties, a full-service real estate brokerage company that he recently sold. “I would build five houses, keep one in my inventory of rental properties and manage properties for other people,” he said.
David Howard and Gary Perkins have Christmas trees ready to sell
While he loved his career, having a heart attack three years ago at age 51 changed his perspective. “Being faced with the possibility of something catastrophic, I felt like there is so much more for me to do,” he said. “At the beach, there’s constant tourism and everything is always ‘on.’ You can’t just go out to dinner without waiting at least an hour. Something just clicked, and I said, ‘I’m done.’ We were both done. I didn’t have to convince Gary; he was ready to make the leap to farm life long before I could get the words out of my mouth.”
Although his new venture is a far cry from the fast-paced world of real estate, Howard said he and Perkins couldn’t be happier. “We’re here to stay,” he said. “I’m back home. I think about that, and I get emotional.”
Family has always been important to Howard. “My grandmother owned multiple restaurants, and she instilled that entrepreneurial drive in me,” he said. “My first job when I was 12 was washing dishes in the restaurant because I wanted a dirt bike. When I sold the Christmas trees, I got a taste of making a few bucks, turning that into more bucks, and I was hooked. I’ve been working for myself ever since.”
Now he’s thrilled to be doing just that back home. “Moody helped shape me,” he said. “I love this city, absolutely love it. I wouldn’t have wanted to grow up anywhere else, and our commitment here is community.
“When we did this, it was a leap of faith, and we didn’t know what would come of it,” Howard added. “Seeing all the families and the smiles makes it all worthwhile. Everybody comes in and says, ‘I hope you’re successful.’ We already are, and we’re having a blast.”
Cooking up the holidays: Area chefs share seasonal secrets
Story and photos by Elaine Hobson Miller Contributed photos
Christmas time’s a-comin’, and you can almost smell the aroma of holiday foods. Cakes, pies, scrumptious side dishes, standing rib roasts and turkeys take center stage, or should we say, center table, in homes throughout the world.
It’s not just homes that feature holiday dishes, though. Many restaurants, including several here in St. Clair County, also bring out holiday foods that add a touch of festiveness to their daily menus. Discover managed to gather up a few that their chefs were willing to share. Many of them, like those on our readers’ tables, were handed down from mothers and grandmothers, making them extra special at family holiday gatherings.
Special dishes The St. Clair’s signature
Chef de Cuisine Sean Fincher at The St. Clair in Pell City developed an amazing appetizer recipe called, “Spiced Red Wine Braised Sausage Rolls with Caramelized Onion Fig Jam.” In fact, it could be used a side dish, too. It takes a little work but is well worth the effort. Co-owner Rebecca Robinson says the item isn’t on the menu yet but may be during the holidays. Or, they may add it to their catering menu.
The restaurant and The Tavern at The St. Clair are the brainchild of Rebecca and Carson Robinson, business partners for nearly two decades. Their menu is a mix of steaks, seafood, game, chicken, lamb and pork and a variety of appetizers and salads. Offerings are upscale, but not pretentious. This white-tablecloth restaurant doesn’t care whether you dress up or wear jeans, and patrons can be seen in both.
Always something good at Greasy Cove
Greasy Cove General Store’s contribution, Cranberry Salad, is a recipe handed down from owner/manager Donald Reeves’ grandmother. “She made it at family gatherings,” Reeves said. He also said he may be serving it in his Gallant-area restaurant, affectionately known by customers as the Greasy Spoon, during the current holiday season.
Greasy Cove
“The store building was in our family, but it was falling in, and I wanted to do something difficult,” Reeves said regarding the development of his business. “I always wanted a general store with a produce market and kitchen in it. We opened in 2019, but it took another year to get the restaurant open.” Prior to running a general store and restaurant, Reeves was a machinist. “I like hole-in-the-wall places with really good food,” he said.
Head to The Grill for palate pleasing dishes
Maple Bacon Brussels Sprouts will make a vegetable eater out of hard-core meat and potatoes folks. Contributed by The Grill at the Farm, in Cropwell, it is part of a menu 75 percent of which was created by owner Wade Reich, his son/manager Eakin Reich, and Chef Patrick.
Wade Reich says part of his reasoning for opening The Grill (formerly Louie’s) was a lack of properly functioning synapses in his brain. This may be attributed to his having grown up in his family’s hotel business, which started in 1894 in Gadsden, as well as in the food business, with chefs out of New Orleans and 100-year-old recipes. “You get the food business in your blood, and you can’t get it out,” Reich said.
He wouldn’t have done it by himself, but his son joined him. “This used to be Louie’s Grill at the Countryside Farm,” Reich said. “We have 62 acres, and we’re trying to figure out how to develop the rest of the property.”
Besides its 100-seat restaurant, The Grill offers a 140-seat party room and a 40-seat sports or oyster bar. “Then there’s the Residence Inn and a barn we’re trying to do something with,” Reich says. “I also own Butts To Go on May’s Drive. The Grill at the Farm is at 230 Hamby Road, off US 231, then the Dam Road.”
What’s for dessert?
For a sweet-salty ending to your holiday meal, try Peanut Butter Pie, contributed by Scott Holmes, owner of Charlie’s BBQ in Odenville. In 2016, Charlie’s beat out nine other barbecue joints across the state to be selected Best Barbecue in The Dives division during Alabama Tourism’s Year of Alabama Barbecue.
Holmes thinks his location at the corner of US 411 and Alabama 174 South, in front of the Piggly Wiggly grocery store and adjacent to a service station, probably placed him in the right category. “If you’re a barbecue place in Alabama attached to a service station, you’re probably a dive,” he said.
“Briskets are our signature dish,” he added. “We smoke six a week. A brisket is the chest muscle of a cow, and it’s hard to do. We cook them up to 16 hours to get them tender.” There’s a different special every Monday, such as the popular Soul Bowl, consisting of a bed of garlic cheese grits layered with turnip greens, pork and a cornbread muffin on top.
Look what’s cookin’ in Ragland
Anthony Soles and his business partner, longtime City Councilman Carl Byers, opened Chef T’s (for Tony) in Ragland in 2010, building on the success of their original Alexandria location. Chef T says he inherited his love of cooking from his mother, and he has used that “inheritance” for years as he worked his way up in the food industry.
For the holidays, Soles chose to share Apple Dumplings as the go-to favorite.
The mainstay of his everyday menu is the barbecue pork, and they offer a small-chopped pork sandwich for just $1.25.
The barbecue sauce is homemade and is described by Byers as a “sneaky heat, but not overpowering.” The signature Chef T’s burger is served with a steak knife holding it all together.
In addition to running a Southern, home-style eatery, catering is an aspect of the business and is supported by two food trucks. They cater for many of the large corporations and businesses in the surrounding areas.
If these recipes aren’t enough to inspire your holiday cooking, maybe you should pick up Christmas dinner at one of these St. Clair restaurants.
Holiday recipes
Spiced Red Wine Braised Sausage Rolls with Caramelized Onion Fig Jam From Chef de Cuisine Sean Fincher at The Tavern at The St. Clair (Pell City) Ingredients for the Braised Sausage:
8 – 5” Lengths of Conecuh Mild Sausages (or your favorite link sausages)
2 Tbs. olive oil
2 cups dry red wine, such as a Cabernet Sauvignon or Pinot Noir
1 cup beef broth
1 stick of cinnamon, whole
8 whole cloves
1 sprig of fresh rosemary
1 orange, peel only
Salt
Directions: Add oil and sausages in a small braising pan (or other pan with 2” sides) heated on medium-high. Brown links on each side, then add cinnamon, cloves and rosemary and saute lightly for 2 minutes. Deglaze with wine, adding the beef broth and orange peel. Cover with a lid and braise for 1 hour. Remove sausages and allow to cool to room temperature, then chill thoroughly. Reduce braising liquid by half and strain through a fine mesh strainer. Reserve for jam preparation. While the sausages cool, begin making the jam.
Ingredients for the Jam:
4 red onions, thinly sliced (Julienned)
2 Tbs. olive oil
4 cups fresh figs, chopped*
¼ cup balsamic vinegar
1 Tbs. sugar, or to taste if you prefer it sweeter
Reserved braising liquid
Directions: In the braising pan after straining liquids out, add onions. Cook the onions on low heat, stirring often until they are caramelized. They should have a deep brown color to them. Deglaze with reserved braising liquid and scrape the bottom of the pan from all the fond (brown bits) that has developed. Add figs, balsamic vinegar, and sugar. Bring the mixture to a bare simmer for 1 hour and stir often. The mixture should have thickened with very little residual liquid left in the pan. Taste for salt and sweetness and adjust to your personal taste. Remove to a storage container and allow to cool to room temperature. Serve warm.
Bring it all together: Ingredients:
1 package of puff pastry, thawed
1 egg + 1 tsp of water for egg wash
Cut puff pastry into 8 equal pieces with a sharp knife. Place each sausage in the center of the pastry horizontally. Lightly brush egg wash onto the back edge, furthest from you. Fold the pastry closest to you over the sausage and then onto the back edge, leaving the seam side down on the cutting board. After completing all the sausages, place them on a parchment-lined sheet tray. Brush each roll with the remainder of the egg wash. Bake at 400* F for 25 minutes or until the puff pastry has turned golden brown. Enjoy the Sausage Rolls with the Jam *When fresh figs aren’t available, replace with ¾ cup of fig preserves. Don’t add sugar to the jam because the preserves are going to have more than enough.
Clara’s Cranberry Salad From Donald Reeves at Greasy Cove General Store (Gallant) Ingredients:
2 small boxes raspberry Jello
1 can whole-berry cranberry sauce
1 small can crushed pineapple, drained
1 pint sour cream
1/2 cup chopped nuts
2 cups boiling water
Directions: Put 2 cups boiling water in a large bowl and add Jello. Stir until dissolved. Stir in cranberry sauce. Let set in refrigerator until syrupy. Add cranberry sauce, pineapple, sour cream and nuts, and fold in. Put in refrigerator until set.
Peanut Butter Pie From Charlie’s BBQ (Odenville) Ingredients:
16 oz. jar of natural peanut butter
8 oz. reduced-fat cream cheese, softened
¾ cup of honey
8 oz. Cool Whip
6 oz. chocolate pie crust
2 Tbs. semi-sweet chocolate chips
½ Tsp. shortening
Directions: Beat together cream cheese and honey until well blended. Stir in peanut butter and mix well. Gently fold in Cool Whip. Spoon into crust. Heat chocolate chips and shortening over low heat until melted, drizzle over pie. Chill overnight or freeze. Serves 8.
Apple Dumplings From Chef T’s (Ragland) Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 cups water
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon divided
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg divided
1/4 cup butter
2/3 cup sugar
2 (15 oz) packages refrigerated pie crusts
8 med apples of your choice peeled and cored
3 tbsp butter cut up
Directions: Boil 2 cups water, 1 1/2 cup sugar, 1/4 tsp cinnamon and 1/4 tsp nutmeg in saucepan on med high heat stirring constantly. Reduce heat to low simmering and stirring occasionally for 10 min. This will turn to syrup. Once it does add 1/4 cup sugar and set to the side. In a separate bowl mix your leftover cinnamon, nutmeg and 2/3 cup sugar. Cut pie crusts quarters and roll out into circles. Place an apple in the middle of each circle sprinkling each evenly with your cinnamon sugar mixture. Dot each evenly with butter. Fold dough over apples, pinching each closed. Place in lightly greased baking dish. Drizzle with syrup. Bake dumplings at 375° for 45 minutes. You can always find a way to cut corners and use canned fried apples for a sweeter simpler dish. Serve hot or cold. Goes great with a scoop of vanilla ice cream! Hope you enjoy this great dessert like we do.
Maple Bacon Brussels Sprouts From The Grill at The Farm (Cropwell) Ingredients:
2 pounds Brussels sprouts, halved
2 pieces thick-cut bacon, such as Nueske’s
Applewood smoked bacon
3 Tbsp. maple syrup
1/4 tsp. Kosher salt
1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
Directions: Heat oven to 400 degrees. Line a large-rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil. Place bacon on sheets and cook until beginning to crisp, about 7 minutes. Remove bacon from oven and transfer to a paper towel- lined plate; reserve 2 tablespoons of bacon drippings. Chop bacon into small strips. Discard aluminum foil and return rimmed baking sheet to hot oven. Meanwhile, fill large stock pot with water and bring to a boil over medium high heat. Add Brussels sprouts and boil until leaves are dark green in color, about 4 minutes. Transfer Brussels and any loose leaves to a large bowl filled with ice water. Drain, pat dry and transfer to medium bowl. Add half of the chopped bacon, 2 tablespoons of maple syrup, reserved bacon drippings and salt and pepper to the bowl; toss to combine. Remove baking sheet from oven and evenly spread mixture over sheet; cook Brussels sprouts until caramelized and bacon is crisp, about 20 minutes, stirring halfway through. Transfer Brussels sprouts to a serving bowl and drizzle with remaining maple syrup and bacon. Serves 6-8
When Christmas comes to the Logan Martin Lake home of Sandra Mullinax and Randy Royster, it comes in a mighty big way.
The halls are decked with at least five Christmas trees, and some years there have been as many as 13. Factor in all the other decorations, including snow globes, quilts, whimsical Santa figurines and stuffed animals, and there’s a whole lot of jolly happening there.
“When I was young, my mother did a lot of decorating, and I always thought it was magical,” Sandra said. “It gives me a lot of pleasure.”
For her, the joy begins in mid-November when she first heads for the room devoted entirely to her decorations, a space that’s filled to overflowing. Despite the thrill she gets when she opens each box, she starts slowly and doesn’t get into full Christmas mode for at least a few more weeks.
“Randy doesn’t want me to rush Thanksgiving, so I start in the rooms he doesn’t see much,” she said. “It usually takes three to four weeks to get it all decorated, so we’re a few weeks into December before I call a halt to it. I tell myself, ‘Don’t forget you’ve got to take it all down.’”
Although she’s always been full of holiday cheer, Sandra didn’t necessarily set out to have Christmas in every corner. “A lot of things have been given to me by family and friends who know how much I love Christmas,” she said. “Most people would think it’s out of control, but it’s all special to me.”
Signed Frykman figure
It started fairly innocently. Sandra has always loved Mickey Mouse and other Disney characters, so in the late 1970s or early ‘80s she decided to devote a tree to them. Although she had a few ornaments she’d gotten while visiting her mother, who lived near Disney World at the time, she needed more to make it work.
“There weren’t that many Mickey ornaments available,” she said. “This was before people started spending more on Christmas.” Instead of giving up, Sandra got busy instead. She found some wrapping paper featuring the famous mouse, cut out his face and made lots of Mickey ornaments with inexpensive gold frames. She also cross-stitched ornaments featuring several of the characters, including Minnie Mouse and Donald Duck.
Many years and themed trees later, the Mickey tree remains her favorite. Now her whole den is devoted to the crew, with stuffed animals and figurines adorning the mantle and other areas while a display of snow globes has a place of honor on the coffee table. “It just makes you smile and gives you a lighthearted feeling,” she said of the collection.
That’s the same reaction she had when she saw her first David Frykman figurine. Sandra, a retired account executive for Levi Strauss, traveled a lot for work and was at a hotel gift shop in Arizona when she fell in love with a whimsical resin Santa. “I just loved his sweet face,” she said.
Since then, she’s collected more than 100 Frykman ornaments and figurines, many of which are signed by the artist. In addition to the tree devoted to them, there’s an assortment of mischievous Santas, as well as reindeer, polar bears and other creatures.
“I have two nieces, and every year for Christmas I would get them a Frykman,” she said. Although the girls, who were young children when she started the tradition, weren’t always thrilled with the gift, they love having a collection of their own now. “They’re older now and both have a child, so now they appreciate them,” Sandra said. “It’s fun to see them in their homes and see how proud they are of them.”
Chances are, they love the memories as much as they love the figurines, a sentiment Sandra knows well. Many of her decorations are touching reminders of trips they’ve taken or the friends and family members who have added to her collection, including Randy’s mother, Betty.
“She loved Christmas, as well, and she was generous to a fault,” Sandra said. “Anytime she’d go somewhere she’d buy something for one of my themed trees.”
Silver and crystal table pieces
There’s the white and silver tree in the dining room that features 25 or 30 Waterford crystal ornaments, a perfect complement to the table’s centerpiece of crystal Christmas trees and Lenox silver bells. A tree on the screened porch may be a salute to America one year and decorated with birds and nests the next. She’s also had a nutcracker tree and a Dalmatian-themed tree in honor of a dog they once had.
Perhaps the most special tree, though, is a “half tree,” which is flat on one side, hangs on the wall of the guest bath and is adorned with handmade felt ornaments that she and her mother, Mignon, crafted. “I made them many years ago when I was living in an apartment in New Orleans,” Sandra said. “I talked my mother into making some, and she signed the backs of them. Those ornaments are old and precious.”
Although Randy doesn’t want Thanksgiving to get lost in the shuffle, he loves the Christmas decorations – and the memories they hold – as much as Sandra does. He bought a farm in Clairmont Springs near Ashland not long after retiring and selling his trucking company, and that’s where they head the day after Thanksgiving.
“We always go there and cut two or three fresh trees,” Sandra said. “The more trees that are up, the more Randy enjoys it.” Not surprisingly, the farmhouse is decorated, as well. “The whole house is done in snowmen there.”
Although it takes weeks to set up her displays and just as long to take them down, Sandra and Randy love celebrating big. “There’s just something about Christmas,” she said. “It makes you feel younger and puts a smile on your face. Everyone has a nicer spirit, I think, this time of year.”
That’s why they will keep on decorating, despite the time and energy it takes. “We love sharing the holiday with family and friends, and they seem to enjoy the atmosphere and like looking at everything,” she said. “When we have younger children here, there’s just awe. So yes, it’s worth it.”
It’s a tradition believed to be as old as Grimm’s popular fairy tale, Hansel and Gretel, and it’s making its holiday debut at Pell City Library this month.
The Library Guild is presenting a children’s workshop Dec. 8 and Dec. 10. The object of the lesson and ultimate sweet tooth? Their very own gingerbread house.
Children will be able to decorate pre-assembled gingerbread houses for Christmas on Dec. 8 at 6 p.m. and Dec. 10 at 10 a.m. and 1 p.m.
Register by calling the Pell City Library at 205-884-1015.
Christmas in Park brings community together
Returning to Lakeside Park Dec. 17, Christmas in the Park brings along with it an entire community.
From Rotary Club to St. Clair Realtors to Community Garden to high school sports teams to local book clubs and Sunday School classes to the St. Clair County Airport, it is a true coming together of community in service to community. They come from all corners, backgrounds and faiths to make sure that St. Clair County families do not go hungry at Christmas.
Two hundred and fifty boxes from the Christian Love Pantry are filled with holiday fare as well as essentials – flour, cornmeal, crackers, jam, preserves, fruits, canned vegetables, stuffing mix, dry pasta, sauces, soups, fresh produce and turkeys.
It’s 95 pounds worth of good food and good wishes.
In recent years, St. Clair County Airport has stepped in to provide toys for the children, and Debbie Parmenter and Sue Turton had high praise for Airport Manager Wendy Watson, who coordinates securing nearly 300 high quality toys for boys and girls of all ages and helping distribute them the day of the giveaway.
Bags of candy are also created by Seventh Day Adventist Church to be given out to the children.
It represents an opportunity, Turton and Parmenter said, to share the gift of food to those in need during the holidays and bring the community together to make it happen.
In November, the Love Pantry did likewise for Thanksgiving, packing and giving out 150 boxes of food to qualifying St. Clair County households. And at Easter, those in need are served as well.
Throughout the year, Love Pantry ensures St. Clair County residents who qualify are able to get help through their emergencies up to twice annually. “We provide enough food to them through crises,” Turton said. “It is not a grocery store.”
Instead, she noted, it’s an act of kindness and a helping hand when they are needed most.
