Merry Christmas to the MyDD community! Although we don't celebrate the holiday, I do enjoy listening to Oy to the World, the klezmer Christmas album by the Klezmonauts (samples here). Their arrangements make the songs sound joyous, which is surprisingly rare in Christmas music. It's Jesus' birthday, after all.

Steve Sack of the Minneapolis/St. Paul Star Tribune brings you a Christmas card from the Republicans (NOel).

Following the example of an Iowa Republican blogger, I launched a haiku contest at Bleeding Heartland. (A haiku consists of "three unrhymed lines of five, seven, and five syllables.")

Let's see what MyDD readers can come up with.

My first shot was inspired by former Republican Governor Terry Branstad's recent campaign moves:

Ignoring record
the MasterCard governor
throws stones from glass house.

The idea for my second haiku came from a stupid robocall the NRCC began this week against Representative Leonard Boswell (don't ask me why they'd do political calls three days before Christmas):

For lack of ideas
or a fresh campaign message,
"Nancy Pelosi."

The kids helped me make gingerbread yesterday. I use the recipe from the Laurel's Kitchen cookbook: 2 1/2 cups flour, 1 tsp baking soda, 1 tsp cinnamon, 2 tsp ginger, 1/2 tsp salt in one bowl. 1 egg, 2/3 cup blackstrap molasses, 1/3 cup honey, 1 cup buttermilk (or kefir), 1/3 cup melted butter mixed in another bowl. Combine wet and dry ingredients, pour into greased 9 x 9 pan and bake at 350 for about 40 minutes (a few minutes less in my oven).

For elaborate Christmas cooking, read Asinus Asinum Fricat/Patric Juillet's amazing diary about Christmas dinner in Provence.

This thread is for anything on your mind today.