Suggestions for my Winter Solstice party.

[sadbear]

I get to host the Winter Solstice party this year for the Bryan/College Station Atheists and Freethinkers group (in Texas). I've got mulled wine and a fire pit, but not much else at this point.

Has anyone else hosted or been to a Winter Solstice party? What else should I do or what else should happen at the party?

All suggestions are welcome.

Thanks!

[pokerfan]

1. Lots of light

Traditional winter solstice celebrations include having lots of light. Have candles all over your house and turn on all the lights to brighten the inside. You don't have to have real candles if you have small children and pets that may knock candles over as electronic candles are appropriate.

Having a fire is another way of celebrating the solstice. If you have a wood burning fireplace or wood stove in your house, light it and keep it burning all night long. Large bonfires outdoors are also a tradition as many cultures tried to keep back the darkness of the longest night by keeping a bonfire lit all night. Of course, only have a bonfire if you live in the country and have a large amount of land.

http://voices.yahoo.com/light-darkness-winter-solstice-party-tips-4930422.html

[cleanhippie]

2. While there may be some traditional solstice activities....

I suggest just doing what you like to do! It's your party, with your friends, so do what you like. Start something new and make that your Solstice tradition!

Good luck, and ENJOY!

[Arugula Latte]

3. I went to a W.S. party once and we wrote down

things we would like to be rid of and released into the darkness --then burned the pieces of paper in the fire. It's sort of cathartic.

Also, I would suggest serving a selection of soups with nice bread; very cozy and comforting. For dessert you can make smores over the fire.

Here's another suggestion: Have each person hold a candle and use them to simultaneously light a larger, central candle. The individual candles can then be blown out. Or hold the candles, blow them out together, and then sit in darkness and contemplation before lighting the central candle.

If children are involved, they can make a craft such as a sun ornament or a tissue-paper glass lantern, or they can make treats for wildlife such as pine cones smeared with peanut butter and rolled in seeds.

[brooklynite]

4. Wassail bowl

Traditional Wassail
By jenny Published: December 17, 2012

Yield: 1 pitcher (6-10 Servings)This traditional wassail recipe features hard cider, sugar-roasted apples, brandy and sweet spices. It is a simple, old-fashioned recipe.

Ingredients
■4 small apples ■1 cup unrefined cane sugar ■1 medium orange ■13 whole cloves ■2 quarts hard apple cider ■1/2 cup brandy ■1 tbsp powdered ginger ■1 tsp grated nutmeg ■6 allspice berries ■2 cinnamon sticks ■6 large eggs (separated)
■toast (optional, to serve with)
Instructions
1.Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

2.Scoop out the core of the apples without fully penetrating the apple – a melon baller works well. Fill each apple with about a tablespoon of unrefined cane sugar. Place the apples in the baking sheet. Stud an orange with thirteen cloves and place it in the baking sheet. Bake the apples and orange together for forty minutes.

3.While the apples and orange bake, pour apple cider and brandy into a heavy-bottomed stock pot and warm over moderately low heat. Whisk in powdered ginger and grated nutmeg. Do not bring the wassail to a boil.

4.Cut a small square of the butter muslin and place allspice and cinnamon into the square; tie with 100% cotton cooking twine and float this sachet of spices in the wassail as it warms.

5.Beat egg yolks until light in color and set aside. In a separate bowl, whip egg whites until stiff peaks form. Fold egg yolks into whites, then temper the eggs by slowly pouring one-half cup wassail into the eggs. Remove the spice sachet from the wassail and pour in eggs. Transfer to a punch bowl. Float baked apples and oranges in the wassail and serve by the mug, topping each much with a small slice of toast if desired.

[sadbear]

5. Mmmm....that sounds good.

I'll definitely have to make that for Christmas day since I don't have time to make it today. Thanks!

[progressoid]

10. Mmmm. Wonder how that would taste without the eggs?

I've never been a fan of drinking eggs. But the rest sounds great.

[onager]

6. Not one person recommended an orgy?

I'm disappointed in you godless heathens. Where is TEH EVIL?

[sadbear]

7. Well, the orgy is a given...there's going to be A LOT of booze.

No one had to recommend it.

[trotsky]

8. Is it proper heathen party etiquette to eat the babies before or after the orgy?

BTW, onager, being from the South I think you'll like this joke as it's one my Southern wife likes to tell:

Q: Why don't debutantes have orgies?

A: They can't stand the thought of writing all those "thank you" notes!

[JNelson6563]

9. lolz Oh snap!

I like how you always come around and catch us if we're slackin' on ye olde heathen ways.



Julie

[onager]

12. Thanks, trotsky and Julie!

HA! at the debutante joke.

Reminds me of another oldie: "Why don't Southern Baptists make love standing up? They're afraid somebody will see them, and think they're dancing."

Well, as y'all might expect, here in the Buckle of the Bible Belt I'm getting godded out...

1. Yesterday the Jehovah's Witlesses dropped by. My elderly Mom - sensibly enough - doesn't let them in the house. They asked if they could leave some literature. Mom said she had her own literature, and shut the door in their faces.

Elderly but feisty, that's Mom. This year her pre-school class contained 12 four-yr-olds. Four of the little demons are 2 separate sets of boy and girl twins. I don't know how she keeps them in line. I'd be going berserk.

And I've warned her that if I hear one more report from neighbors, of her getting up on the roof to clean her gutters, I'm having her committed.

2. We had a visit from some Mennonites, but they are friends/neighbors, not asshat proselytizers. They came bearing something a lot better than "literature" - hellishly delicious baked goods.

3. Dumbest Jesus-Hawg I've seen in a while: me and Mom were at the grocery store. I saw her talking to a well-dressed, older black man and assumed he was a friend of hers.

So I went up, shook his hand and introduced myself. He leaned in right on my ear and asked, "Have you accepted Jesus X as your savior?"

I don't understand that. Around here, the first question people ask is "what church do you go to?" (They don't ask me that, but I live in Los Angeles and am probably assumed to be a Backsliding Godless Heathen. Since I don't watch TV football, also probably assumed to be a Homoseckshul Communist.)

Actually, I understand it perfectly. He will go home tonight and tell Jesus he worked hard all day, trying to make converts in one of most God-sotted places in the USA. And expect some kind of extra-big mansion in Heaven. Douchecanoe.

4. Conversation between me and Mom, as she's reading the local paper:

Mom: "Hmm. Here's an advertisement for an Elvis impersonator show. I know this man playing Elvis. He's a preacher. Wonder what the Wesleyans think about that?" (i.e., Wesleyan Methodists)

Me: "All preachers are impersonators."

Mom: (dirty look)

[awoke_in_2003]

14. I was about to, Onager...

These young heathens just aren't keeping up

[svpadgham]

11. I have no suggestions, but I'll wish you a good time from Temple.

I'll be BBQ'ing because it's Texas, and it'll probably be warm...again.

[sadbear]

13. Thanks!

It was a great party. Drink flowed and food disappeared. The fireplace inside and the fire pit outside blazed the entire night.