On occasion I have offered last-minute suggestions to procrastinators waiting for last-minute sales before Christmas Day.
With online shopping off the option alternatives due to shipping limitations on the eve of the eve, here are some considerations to ensuring a pleasant day.
1) Choose culturally enlightening DVD’s as stocking stuffers. Films from the Caribbean region are in abundance and usually sold by vendors at pre-Kwanzaa outings and at local record, CD and video stores.
2) Engage the entire family with activities that reflect the sentiments of the holiday.
3) “Deck the halls with boughs of holly….” Many farmers’ markets carry them at $5 per bunch.
Also on sale this time of year are fresh magnolia leaves, eucalyptus branches, pine cones, poinsettia blooms and lavender.
4)Baking can provide a family activity as well as worthy gifts that could savor the palates of home-sick immigrants longing for a taste of a Caribbean Christmas cake—black cake, sweet bread, plum pudding etc.
5) It is never too late to make a batch of sorrel, ginger beer, mauby, peanut punch or home-made rum punch.
6) Tonight you will have an opportunity to sample the wonders of pimento oil during the Jingle Bells sale at VP Records in Queens. “Nurtured in Jamaica, Bottled in Brooklyn,” allegedly the product was created after a visit to the hot mineral springs in Bath Mountain, Jamaica. The location known for its therapeutic and miracle healing properties spawned Fountain Pimento & Mint Medley Imperial Bath Salts.
Promoters claim the product a “rich synergistic blend of sea salts, leaves and oils” which is guaranteed to enhance any home spa bath experience.
Pimento Oil might be the main ingredient to providing the “nutrient-rich bonanza (that) will transform your basic bath into a therapeutic oasis!”
The event begins at 5:00 p.m. at 170-21 Jamaica Ave. in Queens.
For more information on this product log onto www.pimentooil.com.
More than anything enjoy a safe and merry, merry Caribbean Christmas.
