Season's Readings

A charmed Christmas

If you're in Baltimore for the holidays and can't get into the spirit, consider yourself a Grinch -- no city does Christmas like this city. Nearly every neighborhood gets into the act: From modest rowhouses in Highlandtown to large homes in Guilford, lights are strung, lawn displays are erected and an annual decoration overdrive commences.

No frowns when Santa's in town

Harford Mall in Bel Air has played host to Santa Claus since its first Christmas 35 years ago. This year, the mall is expected to have more than 12,000 youngsters come and sit on Santa's lap.

A 1900s Christmas celebration

With pitchforks and heavy coats, three teenage cousins brave below-freezing temperatures and learn how to pitch straw into a sheep pen - something their teacher, 27-year-old Matt McClain, has been doing since he was a kid.

Going un-green for the holiday

If the author of the holiday carol "O Tannenbaum" were to see Ted Frankel's Christmas tree, he'd surely be baffled.

Getting the hang of it

It's holiday crunch time. Time to dig out those last ornaments. Time to bake cookies for Santa. Why not save a little time, and make ornaments out of cookies?

Annual holiday party celebrates a nurturing community

Surrounded by more than 50 dancers, Steven Beerman, 55, grooved with his sister, Lisa Singer, to Gloria Gaynor's "I Will Survive" last night in a large ballroom in Martin's West.

It's the curse of the season: dreadful music

This is the season of peace and joy and good will toward men, yet it's also a time when we experience the dark side of the holidays: bad Christmas music.

Creating a tradition

About four years ago, Jeanne Rowell decided she wanted to create a formal Christmas tree decorated entirely with Maryland-themed ornaments for the holiday showroom at Homestead Gardens.

Stumped for a Christmas tree?

For some people, picking out that perfect Christmas tree and cutting it down themselves is the only way to go.

Kitchen treasures

With gourmet food available to buy around every corner and on thousands of Web sites these days,you have to admire the folks who still go to the trouble to make gifts from their own kitchens.

Rob Kasper: Holiday sips: The joy flows

Giving the gift of alcohol can be tricky. You have to be reasonably certain that the recipients enjoy imbibing. You should have a rough idea of their tastes, and know that they are over 21 years old. Then there is the matter of money. How much do you want to spend on these people?

New cookbook titles worth giving

Thinking about giving cookbooks this year -- or asking for them? On the bookstore shelves, you'll find a "bible" of Spanish recipes, a glossy volume devoted to bacon, a crop of vegetable books and a double dose of Martha.

So pretty, but handle with care

As you're decorating the house for the holidays, you might notice a little warning label on the strand of lights you're hanging on the window.

Revisiting our favorite holiday cookie recipes

It's one thing to win that coveted title of Top Chef. It's another when you're back to compete against the winners from past seasons, each eager to claim ultimate bragging rights.

Music Column

Tim Smith: Hear 'Messiah,' watch 'Messiah' or sing it yourself

It's Messiah time again, when choral groups large and small tackle Handel's stirring oratorio. Looking around at this year's many performances, some offer extra points of interest.

Holiday shoppers spending carefully

Discounted sweaters, laptops and personal GPS navigation systems drew large crowds during the Thanksgiving shopping weekend, according to several early surveys, but customers also appeared to temper their spending amid concerns over the economy.

Price of gifts listed in 'Twelve Days of Christmas' carol hits $78,100

While the origins of the Christmas carol "The Twelve Days of Christmas" may be a mystery, one thing is certain: It's getting more costly to buy your true love all the items mentioned.

Maryland Journal

Deck a street in bows, holly

While many people are envisioning where to put the tree or how to hang garland, Dorothy Maurer will be decorating an entire downtown.

No writers? Luckily, it's Christmas

Shrek the Halls, a new Christmas special featuring that cash cow of an ogre from the big screen, has yet to be shown on TV, but ABC is already calling it an "instant classic."

The present trap

When did it get so stressful, something that was supposed to be so much fun? When did the joy of finding just the right gift for someone and wrapping it in bright paper and ribbon turn into such a chore?

Time to flip the switch

The lighting of the Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center in New York is probably the most famous celebration of its kind, and this year it will take place from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. Wednesday. If you're not among the thousands crowding in to watch the event live in midtown Manhattan, you can watch on TV or stop by through Jan. 3.

Bizarre bazaars

"Cute" is a seasonal verity, particularly at holiday bazaars. What's a Christmas craft fair without precious pine cone rings, crocheted tea cozies or knitted kittens wreathed in boughs of holly?

Holiday movies are star-crossed

The muscular send-off for the movie holiday season was the soulless technological breakthrough Beowulf, whose computerized "performance-capture" technique wrapped its actors in the digital equivalent of cheese-cloth.

Helping make the holidays go 'round

Justin Thillman started setting up the platform before Halloween. Georgette Robertson painstakingly created display scenes for two weeks. Bill Gough bought electrical wire and bulbs, and helped assemble the display.

Tchaikovsky ballet dances on

Tchaikovsky's The Nutcracker ballet, which premiered in 1892 at the Mariinsky Theater in St. Petersburg, Russia, has been a holiday tradition in the United States since the New York City Ballet's performance of it in 1954.

Taking a holiday from the holiday stresses

"Holiday blues is the feeling of loss or sadness that you have over the holidays when, for whatever reason, you can't be with those people who have been or are special and significant. And holiday stress ... is when you have to be with some of those people!"

People & Places: Kick-start Christmas with the Rockettes

Get in the holiday spirit with the 75th anniversary production of the Christmas Spectacular at New York's Radio City Music Hall.

Dan Thanh Dang: Holiday pain eased when seller does right thing

I am already dreading the holiday gift-giving season.

Where to head for the holidays

It's time to get moving for the holidays with this week's deals:

Santa gets a sprucing up

On her way to meet with Santa Claus about her Christmas wish list, 8-year-old Ashley Hof of Columbia stopped to find out her status on the big guy's list of who's been bad and who has been good.

Manufacturers tint this year's toys with a rosy glow

Toy makers and toy retailer Toys "R" Us Inc. are banking on pink as the new green this Christmas.