During the 12 days until Christmas break, the King Street Chronicle will again present staff favorites from the holiday season. This tenth edition will not include ten lords-a-leaping, but beloved Christmas songs, memories, recipes, movies, and crafts.
Song: “Winter Wonderland” performed by Ms. Amy Grant.
Recipe: Reindeer Chow
Total Time: 15 to 20 minutes
Quantity: 28 servings
Ingredients:
- Nine cups of Chex cereal
- One cup of chocolate chips
- Three-fourths cup of creamy peanut butter
- One-fourth cup of unsalted butter
- One teaspoon of vanilla extract (optional)
- One-half teaspoon of sea salt (optional)
- One and one-half cups of powdered sugar
- Three cups of mini pretzels (divided)
- Ten-ounce bag of Christmas M&Ms
- One-half cup of Christmas sprinkles (optional)
Steps:
- Add the Chex cereal and one cup of the mini pretzels to a giant mixing bowl.
- Combine the chocolate chips, peanut butter, and butter in a medium-sized microwave-safe bowl. Microwave in 30-second increments, stirring after each, until you can stir it smooth.
- Stir in the vanilla extract and sea salt.
- Pour the chocolate mixture over the cereal and pretzels and gently stir to coat the cereal entirely with the mixture.
- Transfer the cereal to a large gallon-sized ziplock bag and add in the powdered sugar. Shake it all up to cover the cereal completely in the powdered sugar.
- Pour the mixture into a large clean bowl, and stir in the remaining pretzels, the M&Ms, and the sprinkles.
- Spread the reindeer chow onto parchment paper and allow it to set till the chocolate hardens for about 20 minutes.
Movie: The Holiday
“Two women, one (Cameron Diaz) from America and one (Kate Winslet) from Britain, swap homes at Christmastime after bad breakups with their boyfriends. Each woman finds romance with a local man (Jude Law, Jack Black) but realizes that the imminent return home may end the relationship,” courtesy of rottentomatoes.com.
Activity: Christmas Sock Gnomes
Supplies:
- One patterned crew sock
- One solid color crew sock
- One 9-inch foam cone
- One 4-by-4-inch piece of faux fur
- One 1.5-inch wood bead
- Hot glue gun
- Holiday decorations (such as buttons and felt piece)
Instructions:
- Cut off the bottom (toe part) of a solid colored sock, just past the heel.
- Pull the sock over the bottom of the cone and pull it up so it covers the lower five inches of the cone. Use hot glue to secure the top of the sock to the cone.
- Draw the beard shape on the back of the fur and then cut the beard about 3.25 inches tall and 2.75 inches wide. For the beard, either use a razor blade or exacto knife and cut from the back of the fur, cutting through the backing only.
- Place the beard on the sock at the 4.5-inch mark or halfway up the cone. Hot glue the beard to the sock.
- Hot glue a bead onto the beard, as shown below. Note that the bead is only touching the beard, not sock.
- Turn the patterned sock inside out. If sewing, pin a diagonal line, then sew along it and trim about 0.5 inches away from the sewed line.
- Alternately, if not sewing, mark a diagonal line. Cut about 0.5 inches to the right of it. Glue the right sides of the sock together along the cut line.
- Turn the sock right-side-out, then place them over top of the cone as a hat. Once set on, the sock will stick to the cone, which will take a minute to pull on. Decorate the hat with holiday-shaped buttons, felt pieces, or jingle bells, if desired.
Memory: Bridget McGrath ’24
“Every Christmas, I look forward to my family’s annual Christmas party. Every member of my extended family gathers at my house once a year, and for many of us, this is the only time we see each other. Somehow, every year is better than the last, and it is an event I look forward to all year long. It is a great reminder of how important family is, especially during the Christmas season, and how lucky I am to be a part of such a loving family and community.”
Featured Image by Caitlin Leahy ’25
