Jappy Jaladays begets a number of other punny greetings:

• Merry Mojitos!
• Merry Margaritas!
• Tijuana celebrate? Hope you do.
• Party tortilla tired!
• Don’t let the season tequila.
• Salsa nice having you in our lives.
• Let’s go singing Christmas Cuervos!

Ok, the truth is that at MaisonBisson we celebrate all holidays with a drink. Since we take cocktails quite seriously, I wanted something very pretty for the little Fourth of July soiree we were having. I have found that the secret to a perfect strawberry daiquiri is using frozen strawberries. I also use lots of crushed ice and a ripe banana — it adds a nice creaminess. I garnished with whipped cream, blueberries, and star fruit.

It’s an easy and delicious recipe.

• 2 cups crushed ice
• 1 cup rum (light or dark depending on your preference)
• 2 cups (a 16 oz tub) of frozen strawberries (thawed)
• ripe banana

Combine all ingredients in a large blender that can crush ice. Blend, pour, and garnish.

Warning – this is a delicious drink and goes down really easy. If you are not careful you could find yourself standing by the bonfire and singing Yankee Doodle Dandy in your birthday suit.

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The holidays are long since past, here’s a drink to carry you through ’till Spring.

Rusty Nail

• 3 parts Scotch
• 1 part Drambuie

Serve over ice in an old fashioned glass.

Please enjoy it responsibly.

By the end of it, all the wrapping paper and other material affects of the holidays really do take on air of violence. Well, at least they do in PES’s Kaboom.

And if you’re amused by that, you might want to see how it was made.

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The Bellagio is all done up for the holidays, Vegas-style (which means it’ll give you a headache).

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Snow, thick and heavy because of the thaw these past few days, covers Warren. Our rocket stands tall for all seasons.

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I like Christmas as much as anybody (well, anybody who likes Christmas), but I’m a “happy holidays” guy. Why? because Christmas and the holidays aren’t about me, they’re about the way we spread happiness and joy to others, no matter how they celebrate. So while I quietly hope for my own merry Christmas, I resist the urge to wish everbody else a happy Festivus and opt for “happy holidays.”

That’s why I can watch this video and get quite a chuckle. Yes, Russell Arch and Lisa Kushell are reporting on the war on x-mas and all its bloody gory.

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I don’t work for central IT anymore, but they still invite me to their holiday party. And no office holiday party would be complete without a yankee swap. I brought a sort of crappy battery operated screwdriver that seemed to be popular (but keep in mind that we have really low standards for these things), but I was pretty happy to unwrap a martini set with four glasses and pitcher for myself.

Jo Ann drew next and unwrapped a book, which she promptly put in my hands while she walked off with the martini set. That didn’t last for long though, because Al wanted that set a lot more than whatever trinket he unwrapped.

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There is, supposedly, some historical meaning to our Thanksgiving holiday, but all I can figure out is that I wasn’t there and it probably didn’t go as I’ve been told. Thing is, Thanksgiving isn’t so much about what we were, but who we are. Thanksgiving celebrates the two most important things in life: food and family.

Almost unique among US holidays, retailers haven’t yet found a way to commercialize it. International readers may wonder how a US holiday can exist without commercial involvement, but they should know that we make up for it in the way we eat. We will stuff ourselves, then get seconds and perhaps more. We will tell stories or play a game. Then we will have desert; apple and pumpkin pies are the tradition. After that, it’s back to the turkey again.

tags: apple, desert, eat, family, food, holiday, holidays, meal, pumpkin pies, stuffing, thanksgiving, thanksgiving holiday, turkey