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Southern Living, Dec 2002 by Thompson, Annette

Opening the Door to Christmas

Before gathering your family and friends for the holidays this month, click through the portal at www.christmas.com to welcome a season full of ideas and lore. The site is stuffed with fun activities. Under the "Entertainment" link, you can send holiday e-cards, download lyrics or music to dozens of carols, learn other cultures' holiday traditions, find seasonal dramas for budding thespian friends, and join the EIB-Elves in Black-a link dedicated to preserving the spirit of Christmas. The site also connects to handy last minute gift ideas.

Unwrap these holiday ideas packaged for you on the Internet. From pecans to gourd art, these items will score big with family and friends this Yuletide season.

Go Nuts

Act nutty in the kitchen this month. The aroma of a pecan pie baking can elevate anyone's mood, and there's good reason why. Go to www.ilove pecans.org/nutrition.html for details on why pecans are such a guilt-free food. Learn about their cholesterollowering abilities as well as how they provide healthy protein and fiber in our diets. You can definitely say that pecans pack great nutrition in a nutshell.

Before you know it, you will want to shake a few trees to harvest the powerful nut meats. But a far easier method is to click on the following Web sites that sell ready-to-eat shelled halves and pieces. For Louisiana nuts, try www. natchitochespecans.com from

Natchitoches Pecan, Inc. (that's "Nack-a-tish") of Cloutierville, Louisiana, or call them at 1-800-5725925. Order from Lyon, Mississippi's Heaton Pecans at either www. heatonpecans.com or 1-800-4516081. Durham-Ellis of Comanche, Texas, sells Lone Star nuts at www. durhams.com and 1-800-732-2629. Albany claims itself as the Pecan Capital of Georgia; look to www. schermerpecans.com for the Schermer Pecan Company's products, or call 1-800-841-3403. The folks at www.bobspecans.com sell pecans from all across the South. This nutty clearinghouse says it sells only the tastiest nuts of the season from "wherever the weather patterns have dictated producing the best."

Pie in Your Face

Tired of doing all the cooking? Is your idea of the perfect pie one that you eat rather than bake? Then cut into the Oklahoma City pastries from www.pioneerpies.com. Choose from pecan, Dutch apple, cherry crumb, rhubarb, and mincemeat. Each hefty pie costs $24.95 and is shipped to wherever you choose. Down south in Tampa, Mike's Pies keeps winning gourmet awards for their confections. Savor a taste of the tropics with a "Killer" Key Lime Pie from www. mikespies.com. A few other award-winners from Mike's include the Reese's Crunchy Peanut Butter and the Heath Bar. We also enjoyed the Orange Blossom with a light graham cracker crust and their basic cheesecake that's baked in a water bath-it's a tall slice of rich, creamy heaven.

Playing With Your Food

When you're tired of holiday feasts, ask some friends over, and let them do the work. Amy and John Franks of Virginia Beach devised a great plan to make this happen. Their board game, Convivium, from www.con viviumcooking.com, has everything you need to invite several friends to help you play the game, which results in a complete Mexican meal. After you play Convivium once with their recipes, we recommend adding favorites from the Foods pages of Southern Living. Now we're just waiting for the Franks to sell a version that gets the dishes washed too-that would guarantee good clean fun.

ANNETTE THOMPSON

Gourd Crazy

Get the family involved with a crafty project for the season. On a chilly winter day, stay inside and make something from autumn's oddest vegetable-the gourd. Create Christmas ornaments, rustic bottles, natural dippers and scoops, and purple martin houses from these vessels.

Buy organic gourds for fashioning birdhouses and crafts at www. welburngourdfarm.com. This company offers reasonable bulk buying prices, and all their gourds are dried and ready for use. Be sure to check out their link to The Top 100 Gourd and Craft Sites.

Drop in on the gourd lady of Missouri at www.just gourds.com. Melynda Lotven's site provides projects for every holiday. The "Gourd Info" section tells you how to clean, dry, and cut gourds, and also links to the American Gourd Society's chart of gourd shapes. We're sure you'll have a gourd-genus December.