Tag Archives: Holiday Life

Eats & Treats: Homemade Cookies for the Holidays

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By Destiny Padilla

With the holiday season approaching, the mouthwatering desserts catch my attention! Brownies, cookies, pies… the more the merrier! Here’s a delicious Christmas cookie recipe you can make at home.

CHRISTMAS M&M COOKIES

For this recipe you will need…

  • 1 and ½ cups of flour
  • ½ tsp baking soda
  • ¼ tsp salt
  • 2 tsp cornstarch 
  • 1 cup red and green M&Ms
  • ½ cup room temperature butter
  • ¼ cup white sugar
  • ¾ cup brown sugar
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 egg

Follow these quick and easy directions for the tasty cookies!

Step 1) In a bowl, cream together the sugars and room temperature butter until fluffy and light. 

Step 2) Next, mix in the vanilla extract and the egg. 

Step 3) Once everything is mixed, pour in the dry ingredients and the M&Ms, and mix until everything is combined. 

Step 4) When finished mixing, put portions of tablespoon sized cookie dough balls onto a baking pan and put them in the freezer for 10 minutes. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees while you are waiting.

Step 5) After 10 minutes, put the pan of cookie dough balls in the oven and bake at 350F for approximately 11 minutes.

Step 6) Eat the cookies and enjoy!

Favorite Christmas Traditions at JGHS

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By Kelly Catap

Christmas Traditions are a way for people to celebrate Christmas and spend time with their family and friends! This upcoming holiday, people around school were asked what their favorite Christmas traditions are. 

Decorating the Christmas tree, listening to Christmas songs, watching Christmas movies, giving gifts, and putting the Elf on the Shelf are traditionally appreciated by others. It brings the holiday spirit and makes everyone feel content.

Students mentioned cutting the Rosca de Reyes bread. It is a fun traditional Christmas activity. Every member is given a sweet bread, but only one contains a baby inside it. Whoever finds the baby in their bread has to be the one to cook tamales for everyone next time! 

A special Christmas tradition is celebrating birthdays. Christmas birthdays are considered to be rare and lucky. 

A favorite Christmas tradition that everyone can agree is most important is spending time with family and friends. Christmas wouldn’t be fulfilled without them. It’s good to cherish your loved ones and express your gratitude for them. You can spend time with family by praying together, cooking dinner, eating tamales, and visiting each other for the holidays! 

Have a Merry Christmas! 

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Film Review: Violent Night

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By Andrea Alfaro

New R-rated action-comedy, Violent Night, was recently released in theaters this December 2nd.

David Harbour, known for his role as Jim Hopper on Stranger Things, portrays a beatdown Santa Claus ready to throw in the towel and give up on Christmas, but an unexpected hostage situation leads him to becoming a family’s only hope of survival.

 

Violent Night was recently released in theaters, and I can tell you now it caught me by surprise. I stepped into that theater expecting to watch the usual action film full of cringy one-liners and the same old boring action sequences. Instead I was pleasantly surprised to be met with an action-comedy that featured some genuinely funny moments and action full of creative kills, perfect for this holiday season.

Not only did it have Christmas themed mayhem, but it had a wholesome message of understanding one’s self worth and forgiving ourselves for our past mistakes, because the steps we take to repent is what really defines us. 

This movie is worth a rating of four and a half stars. Besides the occasional one-liner, this movie was a refreshing take on the usual oversaturated action-comedies we see in the cinema nowadays. I recommend catching this in theaters this holiday season, because nothing says happy holidays like watching Santa Claus smash in the heads of those on his naught list

Opinion: Avoid Consumerism and Black Friday

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By The Grinch

It feels sad to me that all we care about now are the sales and online purchases for the holiday seasons and not the fact that we get to enjoy the holidays. 

I try my best to avoid holiday shopping, but my family is so consumed by the sales of clothes and toys that it’s hard to avoid. Even seeing the Christmas commercials in November brings an icky feeling to my chest. I find it upsetting that Christmas lost its meaning, and it really is like the movies with the people rushing around grabbing all the toys from the shelf. I described Black Friday and holiday shopping as “ridiculous.” It is such a hassle to get the items you want for Christmas and since people every year decide to start shopping early, now everyone is deciding to shop early. If we continue like this we might as well start Christmas shopping in September.

I’m not saying that the gifts I have received in the past years have been terrible; the shopping itself is a nightmare. In the time during Covid when we bought everything online it felt even worse. There are many issues with Black Friday starting with the hours, employees availability, and now the shopping experience. 

Employees will probably have the hardest time getting through work when the holidays come by. During the holidays I experience so many employees rushing and going through all the aisles to deliver the shoppers items or even stock the shelves. I have tried my best to avoid shopping in stores to avoid conflicts like pricing and the risk of it being out of stock by the time I have the money for it. I watch as my family bargains and rushes to get gifts out of the way due to their past experiences with Christmas shopping. Even though their techniques are effective, soon enough other people will follow. Like this recent month, Thanksgiving hadn’t even passed and there were deals, trees, red, white, and green everywhere. It boils my blood to see so many people rushing through the holidays just for the deals.

I asked multiple sources how they felt about the Christmas season starting early and this is what they said:

One of my friends had a very enthusiastic opinion that Christmas shopping early was “good,” but that was because they were able to buy more at an affordable price. 

Another anonymous source notes, “I think it’s good to shop early because of the sales and that you can save money. The only thing that makes it ridiculous is dealing with people at the store and the lines.”

Holiday shopping, especially so early, feels like a lot of stress and planning that is only gonna last until those kids tear into those presents.

If there were any solutions to avoiding the conflicts of holiday shopping it would be to shop online or do pick-up in the store. If you wanna avoid the rush of people and store sales, online shopping will always have deals going on until the holiday season is over.

Avoid the rush, people; and please don’t start holiday shopping during August next year.

Events in the Norwalk Area for December

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By Muna Agada

Event: CHRISTmas Services and Fellowship Meal

Date: Saturday, December 17, 2022 from 6:00 pm – 9:00 pm
Location: Boys & Girls Club of Fullerton, 340 West Commonwealth Avenue Fullerton, CA
•The Fullerton Boys and Girls Club will be hosting their annual holiday event. Families will be able to drive around the community for treats, crafts, and most importantly, toys! 

Event: Long Beach’s Ugly Sweater Pub Crawl 

Date: Sat, December 17, 2022, 4:30 PM – 9:00 PM
Location: Downtown Long Beach 300 The Promenade N. Long Beach, CA 90802
Tickets: $12-$20
•Drink specials with no cover charge with purchase of a wristband. Enjoy contests, games, and chances to win prizes.

Event: RGE Cares 3rd Annual Christmas Giveaway

Date: Saturday, December 17, 2022, 11:00 AM – 4:00 PM PST
Location: 961 W Alondra Blvd, Compton, CA 90220
•Event will help the countless families that might struggle during the holiday season.

Event: Once Upon A Holiday 

Date: Sunday, December 18 2022 from 09:00 am to 2:00 pm
Location: Liberty Baptist Church of Norwalk, 12029 Pine St., Norwalk, CA
•Regular church service with a Christmas-themed lunch 

Event: An Irish Christmas 

Date: Sunday, December 18, 2022 at 2:30 pm
Location: Downey Theatre, 8435 Firestone Blvd, Downey, CA
•Showcases some of the great Irish holiday traditions. Christmas carols you know plus some high energy Irish Dancing

Event: City of Compton’s 67th Annual Christmas Parade

Date: Monday, December 19, 2022 11 AM – 1 PM
Location: Along Compton Blvd., Compton, CA 
•The city of Compton will be holding their annual Christmas Parade, starting from Compton Boulevard and Bullis Road and ending at Alameda Street. 

Event: Bellflower Farmers Market

Date: Monday, December 19, 2022 at 9:00 am
Location: Simms Park parking lot, 16614 S. Clark Avenue, Bellflower, CA 90706
•Vendors will be selling fresh fruits, vegetables, and holiday treats.

Event: Las Posadas 2023

Date: Saturday, Jan 7th 2023, 6-9pm
Location: Norwalk City Hall Lawn, 12700 Norwalk Blvd, Norwalk, CA
•A candle lit on the city hall lawn. Will have caroling, light refreshments, and performances from mariachis and ballet folklorico dancers. 

Toys for Tots at SEA

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By Jawan Moreno De Souza

The Toys for Tots event at Southeast Academy has been happening for two decades now. Toys for Tots is an event that allows students to consider what we have and be grateful for what we have and give back to the less fortunate by donating a toy or two. Other than just benefiting those less fortunate, you are also benefiting yourself.

Southeast Academy finds ways to motivate their cadets to participate in this event. There are six boxes placed in the front office. Each box has a different platoon name, and whichever platoon gets the most toys in for the drive wins a mini prize, either having a platoon day at the beach, or a small gathering for a pizza party. Another prize that has been added for individual cadets is that if you buy a toy for the event that is a value of $15 or more, you qualify for a ribbon. Ribbons are colorful tabs for acts of kindness, courage, or skill that a cadet receives in order to decorate their uniform.

With that being said, Southeast Academy will always care and strive for a better future for those less fortunate, and keep striving for excellence.

Christmas Traditions from Mexico

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By Betsy Carranza and Rigo Macias

During the Christmas season, the weather is warm and mild in Mexico. This is the time of year when the Mexican celebration of Christmas, called Las Posadas, takes place. Candle-lit processions, beautiful nativity scenes, Spanish Christmas carols, dancing, and fireworks are all part of the festivities. While Christmas trees and Santa Claus have made an appearance in Mexican celebrations, the holidays are deeply rooted in Spanish and indigenous cultures.  

Christmas is celebrated in Mexico from December 12th to January 6th. Children usually perform ‘Posada’ processions or Posadas from December 16th through Christmas Eve. Posada is a Spanish word that means “inn” or “lodging.”

There are a total of nine Posadas. They commemorate the time when Joseph and Mary were looking for a place to stay, according to the Christmas myth. The outsides of houses are decorated with evergreens, moss, and paper lanterns during the Posada celebration. A Posada party is held in a different residence each night.

On Christmas Eve, at the final Posada, a manger and shepherd figures are placed on the board of a Nativity scene. After finding the final Posada house, a figurine of baby Jesus is placed in the manger and families attend a midnight church service. Following the church service, there are usually fireworks to welcome the beginning of the Christmas season.

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