It's The Holiday Season!

Answers to the crossword : pǝɹ - uʍop 0⇂ ; ʎɹoʇs/sɐɯʇsᴉɹɥɔ/ɐ - ssoɹɔɐ 6  ; snɐʅɔ - uʍop 8 ; sʇuǝsǝɹd- uʍop 𝘓 ; sǝᴉʞooɔ - uʍop 9 ; uǝǝɹƃ - ssoɹɔɐ 5 ; ǝuᴉu - uʍop ߤ ; ʎɐpuns - ssoɹɔɐ ↋ ; ɹɐǝɥ/oʇ/ʅʅɐ/ɹoⅎ/pnoʅ - uʍop ↊ ; sʅʅǝq/ǝʅƃuᴉɾ - ssoɹɔɐ ⇂

Christmas is just around the corner, and with the hauling of toys to boys and girls all over the globe, Santa's sure to be hungry! Do you have a favorite cookie to bake for him and your friends? If not, here is a sugar cookie recipe that was submitted by my classmate, Gisele, and passed down through the generations from her grandmother. Let's start baking for the upcoming holidays!

Ingredients: 

• 1 cup of butter

• 1 1/2 cups of sugar

• 3 eggs

• 1 tsp. of vanilla

• 3 1/2 cups of flour

• 1 tsp. baking soda

• 2 tsp. cream of tartar

• 1/2 tsp. of salt

Instructions:

1. Cream the butter and sugar in a large bowl with a mixer on moderately-high speed until well blended, fluffy, and pale yellow.

2. Add the eggs. 

3. Add the dry ingredients (flour, baking soda, cream of tartar, salt).

4. Cover the bowl with paper towels or plastic wrap and put it in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour. 

5. Remove the cover and roll out the dough on a floured surface.

6. Cut the dough with your favorite cookie cutters (angel, gingerbread man, snowflake, etc.).

7. Lay the cookies out on a greased cookie sheet about 1 inch apart.

8. Bake at 350° Fahrenheit (121° Celsius) for 5-8 minutes.

9. Take out and let cool for 5-10 minutes.

10. Enjoy!

Here are some extra links about how to bake the cookies if you're curious!

How to Cream the Butter and Sugar: Landolakes

All over the world, different holidays are observed shortly before the new year. Which holiday do you celebrate? Most Americans celebrate Christmas, while my family celebrates Hanukkah. Hanukkah is one of the many holiday traditions people celebrate around the holidays. I will discuss Christmas first, followed by Hanukkah and Las Posadas.

Christmas is probably the most celebrated holiday at this time of year. Many Christians decorate their trees with ornaments. They also put garlands on their mantles. Their little ones stay up to get a glimpse of Santa. Traditional dinner fare is similar to those eaten on Thanksgiving; turkey, stuffing, and so forth. The religious belief behind Christmas is the birth of Christ. Gift-giving is also ubiquitous. Christmas is always celebrated on the 25th of December each year. The Christians, you may know, stemmed from the Jewish people long ago.

On the contrary, the Jewish people celebrate Hanukkah each year on varying dates aligned with the Jewish calendar. We celebrate this to commemorate the miracle of Hanukkah. In this miracle, only enough oil was left to light the Temple for one night, but it lasted eight instead. The Jewish people attribute this to one of the miracles of God. For this reason, we celebrate Hanukkah for eight nights. We often decorate with blue and white menorahs, dreidels, and six-pointed stars, the Jewish Stars of David. We play with dreidels, a form of top, and we eat latkes (potato pancakes) and sufganiyot (traditional donuts).

There are countless other celebrations practiced in December by other religions. One holiday that interests me is Las Posadas. Las Posadas is Christian, but it is celebrated mainly in Mexico and Central America. It lasts nine days. The religious motive behind this holiday is to commemorate the search for lodging by Mary and Joseph on the night of Jesus’s birth. A procession often reenacts this. A feast, which consists of coffee, tamales, and the like, is eaten.

Now, I hope you know more about various holiday celebrations. I certainly have learned a lot, and maybe you have too. I have also discussed Christmas, which is the most celebrated December holiday. Merry Christmas! Happy Hanukkah! Happy Las Posadas, whichever you celebrate!

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We bet that being on top of your giving list this year is helping to spread good cheer. So, it only makes sense to do good deeds by helping those in need. Let us help guide you along your altruistic journey and soon you will be able to check this item off your list. The holidays are the time for giving, and it's best to give back to our community and help others in need around these chilly days. Ways to contribute goodwill this holiday season include: providing clothes, canned goods, and toys to charities.

In past years, AIS has been giving back to our community by organizing our own toy and food drive where students and parents can donate toys they don't use anymore or canned foods. There are also programs such as Hope for Christmas, where you can give to those who are less fortunate. The holidays are right around the corner, and providing practically anything brings joy to a person during the winter season.

Giving back to the community is essential, no matter what the time of the year. Whether it's the holidays or even the middle of summer, you can help your community by donating to charities or bringing canned and/or non-perishable foods to shelters and food drives. There are many community organizations you can donate to, such as Blue Santa. The Blue Santa organization is a group of police officers who can deliver your donations to families in need. You can also volunteer at Safe Austin where you can drop off donations and organize gifts.

Over the holidays, AIS has been helping families and their communities. AIS has raised over $1000 in meals, and one dollar equals four meals. Therefore, our school has helped to provide around 2000 meals. The school was also accepting toys and non-perishable or canned food items for donation. In the past, AIS has been able to raise $1500. AIS hopes to be able to reach its goal in the future and will continue to give back to the community as much as possible.

There are many charities to help those in need this holiday season. One is called the Brungot Farms company, where you can donate money for someone who can't afford a Christmas tree or meals. This is an amazing way to give back to not only your community but others all around America. It’s only $12 per meal and $12 per Christmas tree, but you can also donate higher amounts. You can find the website at Brungot Farms. 

There are many community organizations that you can visit to donate money and time to help others who otherwise would not be able to participate fully in the merriment of the season. You can visit the website Email Santa to learn more about different charities all over the world and how you can give back!

Our school has been doing our best these past few years and we’ve been able to provide many families with clothes, meals, toys, and many other items. By only donating a small amount of money, you can bring joy to someone’s holiday through a meal, clothes, food, toys, and even Christmas trees. December is the month of giving and there are many ways to give back and help your community now and in the future! 

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Everyone knows that the best winter drink is hot chocolate. This drink is so ubiquitous that we should know more about it! Hot chocolate is common in many Christmas movies, as the official warm holiday drink, and is even an important historical drink across the world - but where did it originate? Why is it so popular this time of year? Hot cacao is a warm drink that is shared with family and friends during the winter holiday season that you should know all about.

This warm winter drink is featured in many holiday classic movies. Sip this velvety brew and you will be transported to memories of Judy, the hot chocolate girl from The Santa Clause, and the Hot Chocolate Song from the Polar Express,when the hot chocolate makers come singing and dancing through the boxcar and give out warm cups of hot chocolate.

Hot chocolate originated in Mexico, as early as 500 BCE, with the Mayas who would drink chocolate made from ground-up cocoa seeds and mixed with water and chili peppers. This chocolate drink was much more savory and spicy than it is now. In the early 1500s, Cortez brought this chocolate drink to Spain. After the drink gained popularity in Spain, the Spanish stopped adding spices and made it sweeter. When hot chocolate arrived in London in the 1700s, chocolate houses became very popular. In the late 1700s, the president of the Royal College of Physicians, Hans Sloane, brought from Jamaica a recipe for hot chocolate with milk. The Dutch invented hot chocolate cocoa powder in the 18th century. Hot chocolate can be found on menus all over the world, albeit with different names and preparations, for example, Spain's thick chocolate a la Taza, Latin America’s spiced chocolate para mesa, and Italy's thick cioccolata calda. 

Hot chocolate is very popular this time of year, because it warms you up, after a cold day in the snow, or on the slopes. The warm, fuzzy feeling you get after sipping is not just sheer coincidence, it is steeped in science. Endorphins in your brain give you a feeling of calm. Scientists also recently discovered that theobromine, a chemical found in cocoa, can block the cough reflex. Also, up until the 19th century, hot chocolate was used as a treatment for stomach and liver diseases. Did you know that drinking hot chocolate during the hot weather can improve our internal systems? It can warm you up, which causes you to sweat, and sweating is very important during cold weather. You’d think that with all of these reasons for drinking hot chocolate, people would drink it all year round, but hot chocolate is still mostly enjoyed in the winter months.

Hot chocolate is now a very popular drink because of all the holiday movies displaying this classic holiday chocolate drink, and mostly because it warms you up from the inside out. As you now know, hot chocolate doesn’t have a simple history. It is more complex than anyone truly knows; from the Mayas to the Spanish, and the English to the Jamaicans, this drink has a diverse history. Hot chocolate is the quintessential warm drink of wintertime. So, grab a cup and cozy up with friends and family this holiday season.

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