During the 12 days until Christmas break, the King Street Chronicle will again present staff favorites from the holiday season. This eighth edition will not include eight maids-a-milking, but beloved Christmas songs, memories, recipes, movies, and activities.
Song: “Holly Jolly Christmas” performed by Mr. Michael Bublé.
Recipe: Reindeer Rice Krispies
Total Time: 30 minutes
Quantity: 15 servings
Ingredients:
- Six cups of Rice Krispies cereal
- One ten-ounce bag of mini marshmallows
- Six cups of butter
- Candy eyes
- Red M&Ms or other red candy
- Dark cocoa candy melts
- Craft spoons or regular popsicle sticks
Instructions:
- Melt the butter in a large pot and add the marshmallows.
- Stir until the marshmallows are completely melted.
- Take the marshmallows off the heat and add the Rice Krispies cereal.
- Spoon into a buttered 9-by-13-inch pan.
- Let them harden and cut into rectangles to make reindeer shapes.
- Carefully push the craft spoons into the treats.
- Melt the chocolate and then spoon it into a plastic bag.
- Cut a small hole in the corner of the bag to make the antlers.
- Use a small dot of chocolate to attach the candy eyes and M&M nose to the Rice Krispies treat.
Movie: National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation
“As the holidays approach, Clark Griswold (Chevy Chase) wants to have a perfect family Christmas, so he pesters his wife, Ellen (Beverly D’Angelo), and children as he tries to make sure everything is in line, including the tree and house decorations. However, things go awry quickly. His hick cousin, Eddie (Randy Quaid), and his family show up unplanned and start living in their camper on the Griswold property. Even worse, Clark’s employers renege on the holiday bonus he needs,” courtesy of rottentomatoes.com.
Activity: Popsicle Stick Gingerbread House Craft
Supplies:
- Popsicle sticks
- Acrylic paint
- Paintbrushes
- White glue
- Scissors
- Printable ornaments
Steps:
- Paint the popsicle sticks with acrylic paint.
- Once the popsicle sticks are completely dry, start assembling the gingerbread house.
- Line up the popsicle sticks in a row, face down.
- Use three popsicle sticks to hold the wall together. Glue one at the top, another one in the middle, and the third at the bottom.
- Let them dry while you work on the roof.
- Take two popsicle sticks and cut one-third of one stick and one-half of the other.
- Arrange the sticks from small to big.
- Use the one-third piece on top, followed by the one-half, then the two-thirds, and finally two full-sized sticks.
- To hold them together, glue the remaining one-half piece to the back and let it dry.
- Carefully flip over the roof and the wall and place them next to each other.
- Glue two sticks at the sides of the roof to attach it to the wall.
- While the house dries, stock up on ornaments.
- Glue the decorations with regular white glue and the help of a paintbrush to distribute the glue evenly.
Memory: Miss Karen Panarella
“So my parents melded traditions for my brothers and me growing up. My mom always opened Christmas presents on Christmas Eve, and my dad always woke up on Christmas morning to open presents. So, my parents created their own tradition for us. We always went to Mass on Christmas Eve and then returned to have a traditional Italian (seven fishes) feast. We would use our own fish that we had picked. Growing up, the tradition in the Panarella house was to open our Christmas presents around 2 a.m. We were put to bed and woken up around 2 a.m., after Santa came, and we came downstairs to our tree filled with presents. We would open presents till whenever and then head back to bed. The family would sleep in and have brunch on Christmas Day around 11 a.m. So, one Christmas, I remember coming down the stairs in my mom’s arms to see a doll house under the tree. This doll house was not from Santa but from my Aunt Maryann–who built it from scratch. It was the most wonderful gift I had ever gotten. So much so that, as an aunt to my nieces, I did the same thing and got them a dollhouse.”
Featured Image by Caitlin Leahy ’25
