Top 10: Christmas Movies

Because I have a touch of the OCD, one of my favorite things to do is make a top 10 list of various things. I love counting down to my favorite song ("Everything Will be Alright" by the Killers), books (To Kill a Mockingbird), ridiculous Groupon offers (60% off Brazilian waxes!), people named Mick (Foley).

Some of my other favorite things are Christmas movies. I mean, I love Christmas and I love movies and I love having an excuse to watch the same things over and over again, so c'mon. It's like MADE for me.

So here is a list of my top 10 favorite Christmas movies. These are chosen based on my own personal taste, nostalgia, and how much I have a crush on Rachel McAdams (a lot). Feel free to add your own!

10. The Family Stone

The first time I saw this movie, I didn't like it. I think it was because I went into it thinking it would be kind of a goofy family fun movie. Ha-ha-ha, nobody likes Sarah Jessica Parker! So I was completely unprepared for the gut-wrenching twist at the end. A couple years later, I came across it on TV again and because I love me some Rachel McAdams, I gave it another shot. It really is a terrific movie. It's funny; it's warm; it's about Christmas; and not only is my girlfriend in the movie, but she kind of plays me (i.e. the annoying little sister), although I hope I'm not THAT bratty. Plus, I'm not someone who cries at movies a ton, but the ending here makes me cry every. Single. Time. Damn you, McAdams!

9. How the Grinch Stole Christmas

 I'm talking about the cartoon version here, and not the Jim Carrey version. I don't hate that version, per se, but it's not really the same story. It's understandable; How the Grinch Stole Christmas is a small picture book. They would have to embellish to make it a full-length movie. But the cartoon is where it's at, both for fun and for nostalgic purposes. And not just because Max seems to get more adorable every year.

8. Miracle on 34th Street

I was just the right age where I actually saw the 1994 version of this movie first. That version was just fine; Mara Wilson had just stolen everyone's hearts in Mrs. Doubtfire and it was back when Dylan McDermott was charming and handsome and not the modern-day incarnation of Bloody Face. But when I finally got around to seeing the real deal, I couldn't stomach the newer version any longer. Mostly because the change the ending (why???) but also because while Mara Wilson makes a fine Matilda, she is a sad replacement for Natalie Wood. And Edmund Gwenn would make anyone believe in Santa.

7. National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation

If movies like Miracle on 34th Street or The Christmas Carol are how we imagine and dream Christmas might be, Christmas Vacation is how they really are. The annoyance/pride you get from decorating your house; the expectations for a perfect holiday ruined by insane distant relatives; the joy of drinking eggnog out of moose mugs.

6. Home Alone

There is a certain generation of people (of which I am a member) where Home Alone is THE definitive Christmas movie. Sure, we all watched Miracle on 34th Street on Thanksgiving and It's a Wonderful Life on Christmas Eve, but those movies were older than our parents, not to mention some of our grandparents. Kevin McAllister was us - he was our age, he fought with his parents and siblings, and he got to be the hero that saved Christmas. There are certain parts of this movie I quote year-round, and it's one of the few that I will continuously turn on whenever it happens to be on TV, no matter when I last watched it. Kevin, you're such a disease!

5. A Charlie Brown Christmas

Oh, Charlie Brown, will you ever win? This is the Christmas special that stands the test of time. As a kid, I never missed Rudolph or Frosty, but nowadays, even though I have fond memories of them, I definitely feel old while I watch them. That will probably change when I have kids of my own, but for now, I guess we'll be on a break. A Charlie Brown Christmas still makes me excited. Sure, it's a little (a lot) preachy. Sure, Linus kind of comes off as a cult leader for parts of it. Sure, the allure of multicolored Christmas trees is a little out-dated ('60s, anyone?). But we've all had those moments of utter anguish at the commercialism of Christmas, and who wouldn't want to break out of that by singing Christmas carols outside with your buds and your best dog?

4. It's a Wonderful Life

Watching It's a Wonderful Life at Christmastime is not a question of "if" but rather "when." It's got to happen. No question. Occasionally, the viewing is more Mystery Science Theater 3000 than not. I mean, if you pay attention, especially during his interactions with his wife and kids, George Bailey is kind of a jerk ("Say, brainless! Don't you know where coconuts come from?"). But most of the time, you can't help but get a case of the warm-hearts when the whole town comes together to help out their crusty loan officer. Plus, we have this movie to thank for our beloved Bert and Ernie.

3. Mickey's Christmas Carol

This was my absolute favorite Christmas special when I was a kid. I loved the story (it was the first version of The Christmas Carol I ever knew), I loved Mickey, I loved how old-timey-London everything felt. In addition, it wasn't as popular as the other children's Christmas specials, and so finding when it aired each Christmas was a process. Lots of times, I would go a couple years before seeing it again, which made the times I DID see it extra special. It will shock nobody that I have not one but TWO picture-book version of this story.

2. Love Actually

I think this movie is appropriate to watch any time of year, but technically it is a Christmas movie. It has a little bit of everything - humor, love, sadness. As warmed as you are to see the prime minister hook up with his servant girl (aw?) and little Sam get kissed by his dream girl while bonding with his loving stepdad, you're continually disappointed by the straying of Alan Rickman's otherwise sweet Harry or Laura Linney's brother butting in while she's ready to get down with Carl, the enigmatic chief designer. Every time I watch the movie, I hope Emma Thompson's gift contains that gold necklace and that maybe Laura Linney's brother DOESN'T call to ask about Jon Bon Jovi performing an exorcism (although, side note: that would be an awesome sequel). I think what I like best is the fact that so many of the love portrayed in this movie isn't romantic: an aging rocker and his best friend/manager; a grieving widow and his stepson; a supportive sister and her mentally unstable brother. That's the kind of love most people find themselves surrounded with during the holidays, and Love Actually portrays it in a realistic, sweet, and hilarious way.

1. Scrooged

Like Home Alone, I could watch this movie over and over for days and not get sick of it. Heck, I could probably quote large swathes of it to you right now. Want me to? Don't challenge me. This movie is just pure fun, it's Bill Murray at his comedic best, and you get a glimpse of Lee Majors starring in The Night the Reindeer Died (not to mention a Goulet Cajun Christmas). I realize it's not the most heart-warming entry and maybe I should have stuck Love Actually or It's a Wonderful Life at the top, but hey. This is my list. And if all 10 of these were on TV right now, I'd be watching the Solid Gold Dancers, nip-slips and all, and Marylou Retton perform The Christmas Carol.

Candy Cane Cookies

Pretty much all of my free time at home over the past couple of days has been devoted to cookie-baking. I know, it's a tough life I lead. I've already made multiple batches of four different types of cookies and last night was the fifth: candy cane cookies.

(Recipe originally from the Betty Crocker Cookbook, with alterations.)

1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened
1/2 cup shortening
1 cup confectioner's sugar
1 egg
1 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon red food coloring

Heat oven to 375F. Mix butter, shortening, confectioner's sugar, egg and flavorings. Blend in flour and salt. Divide dough in half and blend food coloring into one half. Shape 1 teaspoon of dough from each half into a 4-inch-long rope. Press ropes together lightly and twist. Place on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 9 minutes or until set and lightly brown.

I'd also suggest sprinkling the cookies with sugar before baking them. Despite the multiple forms of flavorings, the taste is actually not very strong.

I've been baking long enough to know that the estimate of just how many cookies a recipe will produce is an overexaggeration; that or I make the world's most ginormous cookies. But this is the most ridiculous one yet. According to Betty Crocker, this recipe should yield four dozen cookies. That is baloney. I'm always lucky to get two dozen; last night, I wound up with about 26 total (minus the broken one I disposed of orally).

These cookies are a funny tradition in my family growing up. The recipe came from my mom's 1970s-edition Betty Crocker Cookbook and were always a big hit with me, my dad and my brother. They tasted good - light and almondy and not overpowering, perfect with a cup of tea or coffee or as a chaser for a richer, more chocolately dessert. Plus they're fun-looking. Candy canes! Yay, Christmas! But they're a huge pain in the butt to make. The process of rolling out the dough and twisting it is one thing; there is also the cookies' consistency: soft and flaky, which is yummy to eat but comes with a propensity to break apart in many pieces. My one casualty last night was actually kind of impressive. So, with that debate raging every year, whether we actually made them at Christmas or not was really a toss-up.

Betty Crocker no longer puts this recipe in her book (and yes, I realize Betty Crocker is not a real person, but she is to me so LAY OFF), a fact I was extremely disappointed to discover when I moved into my first apartment and got a copy of my own. What the what, Betty?! Frankly, the only reason I bought the book was because of this and her apple pie recipes (which is still included). Thankfully, I was able to copy it out of my mom's book and now make them every year.