The footbridge in Boston’s Public Garden all decked out for Christmas with the lights reflecting on the ice below. Merry Christmas to all
The past couple of days, I’ve posted images of some gorgeous Christmas lights in Boston. Today, I show you our little lights. This is the first year we’ve ever had lights outside. We bought two string of white lights and wrapped them around the split rail fence around the side flower garden. After running outside to plug them in at sunset and unplug them before bed, I splurged and purchased a device to do the turning on and off for me…a wise investment.
The holiday lights are on at Macy’s in Boston, but when I was growing up it was Jordan Marsh. It had the cool elevators with the glass doors, so you could see the cars move up and down. At Christmas, the windows were all decorated and they had an Enchanted Village, a kind of Santa’s village with animated figures. The Enchanted Village still exists but is now at a nice, customer-friendly furniture store in the suburbs. The windows still get decorated but are difficult to photograph due to reflections. They even have carolers out front.
But they don’t have the Jordan Marsh blueberry muffins. The old department store had a bakery that sold the best blueberry muffins. But, I have the recipe, which my friend Peter suggested I post to share with all of you as a public service. So here it is…Enjoy:
Jordan Marsh Blueberry Muffins
Ingredients:
1/2 cup butter
1 1/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk
2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 cups blueberries
Sugar to sprinkle
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Cream the butter and sugar together until fluffy. Blend in the eggs. Sift the dry ingredients together. Add the milk and dry ingredients alternatively to the creamed mixture. Add blueberries (1/2 at a time) to the mix and stir. Grease the muffin tins and fill to the top of the cup. Sprinkle with a bit of sugar. Bake for 25-30 minutes at 375 degrees.
Boston Winter is new this year. It is Boston’s answer to the holiday market idea. There is a huge skating track, lots of gift chalets, food for sale, and separate tents for wine tasting, a beer garden and hot chocolate. It opened on the Dec 7th and we went down to take a look last evening. The gift chalets are due to close after New Years, but the rest will remain open until the end of February. I have never seen this section of Boston look better.
Last weekend was not all work and no play on Milford Street. My wife and I took the wooden “scarecrow” sculpture I made last summer and dressed him for Christmas. I had seen an idea for a snowman, made using a basic form. I adapted it to be made with some wood I had from an old pallet project and we recycled a Harry Potter scarf we had around the house. Now, we need to start working inside the house.
The Christmas Tree in Boston’s Copley Square with Trinity Church in the background.
Beautiful lights line the walkway in the center of Comm Ave (Commonwealth Avenue) in Boston’s Back Bay.
Milford Street 