FROM THE DESK OF TRIXIE MATKOWSKI, OWNER
Hello Aunt Stella:
You know how much I love the holidays! I can’t wait until we decorate the diner and my house. I’ve been in Sandy Harbor for three-ish years now, and I don’t know if I’m ever going to get used to the massive amount of snow that New York receives.
But I love it!
The ice fishermen are out, the snowmobilers, the cross-country skiers…all rosy cheeked and bursting with fresh air. They want thick hot soups and stews along with coffee and hot cocoa by the bucket.
I’m happy to oblige.
It’ll be Thanksgiving in two weeks. As you know, I have a long-standing rule that there is no Christmas decorating until after Thanksgiving. So just after dinner, I’ll be getting my boxes of decorations out!
I can’t wait.
What is it about Christmastime that makes me feel like a kid again? Is it the nip of frost in the air, the glitter of snowflakes as they fall, the crystal-clear night sky with stars so close you can reach out and touch them?
At least with me, it’s all of that and more. It’s a special feeling that I get in my heart that radiates out. It’s just….Christmas!
So, when I get up on Christmas morning, I’m hoping for a red Ryder BB gun (I know, I’ll shoot my eye out!), but I know I’ll get a fuzzy pair of slippers, and a flannel nightgown, just like I got when I was a kid.
Just as sure as I know my mom’s Snowball Cookie recipe, I know that the box that she’ll send me from Tucson will contain said slippers and my annual flannel nightgown.
And when I open that box and tear off the colorful paper, I’ll remember every Christmas I ever had, and experience the wonder of Christmas.
Just like I do every year.
Hope your Christmas is merry and bright. I wish you could be here in Sandy Harbor for the holidays instead of in sunny Boca Raton. If you do find your way up North, a pot of soup will be on the stove and hot coffee will be in the pot. I’ll have batches of Christmas cookies, and there will be a lot of good conversation and Christmas cheer.
Miss you.
Kisses and hugs,
Trixie
Read about Trixie in:
“It’s a Wonderful Knife”
A Comfort Food Mystery
By Christine Wenger
An Obsidian Book
February 2, 2016
$7.99