Day 1: A Crawfish in a fig tree.....minus the crawfish.
So, I send my sister and her new hubby a fig tree. When it arrived, my sister didn't know exactly what it was she was looking at. She called me up and asked in this accusatory tone, "You love me so much that you sent me some poison ivy? What's this about?" I just responded, "Sis, it's a FIG TREE!" Still sounding puzzled, she says, "A fig tree? What am I gonna do with a fig tree?" To which I answered the obvious, "Plant it!" Then I went on to explain that I couldn't find a crawfish to send with it (As a matter of fact, I found a crawfish TODAY at Hobby Lobby!!!) and would she just accept the little fig tree and plant the thing in her back yard. It took her a minute before she exclaimed in my ear....."Ooooooh I get it!!!" I swear, some people are just sooooo slooooow!
Day 2: Two voodoo dolls. So I sent them these in honor of their new marriage. My new brother in law phoned to say he'd never rec'd a voodoo doll from a Baptist before! LOL
Day 3: T'ree stuffed shrimp. Well, now, here I drew a blank. I had no clue what to do for 3 stuffed shrimp. I toyed with the idea of phoning a restaurant in her area and just having 3 stuffed shrimp delivered to her office for lunch. Then she went and took 10 days off from work so she could decorate her house. So much for having lunch delivered to her office....and I couldn't have it delivered to her house because I had no idea whether or not she'd even be there. Then her cat would end up eating the shrimp. Oh, yeah, she has a CAT!!....so I purchased 3 little pkgs of Meow Mix, Ocean Explosion, for my sisters kitty. I later rec'd a text that said, "You're a nut!" followed shortly after by another text telling me that she treated kitty with one of the little morsels and he was going crazy looking for the rest of them. Awww, sweet puddy tat!
Day 4: Four pousse cafe'. For this one, I had to do some internet research. I didn't even know what a pousse cafe' was! I learned that it is a sweet, striped drink made from a series of liqueurs poured in succession so that they float upon each other. It's a "chaser" to enjoy after dinner and after your last cup of coffee. I also learned that bartenders absolutely HATE to make this drink as it requires a bit of tenacity and patience. Since it's layered, the alcohol must be poured with care, the heaviest liquor first, then lighter liquors poured over the back of a spoon so it doesn't mix with the previously poured layers. The end result is a lovely looking layered cordial. Personally, I think it's too pretty to drink....not that I would or anything. However, my daughter tells me that it will knock your socks off! She also says that when she ordered an 11 layer pousse cafe, the look on the bartender's face was absolutely priceless! Anyway, the fourth gift my sister received was pousse cafe cordial glasses I found on Ebay for $10! Woo Hoo!
Day 5: Five poules d'eau....a.k.a. American Coot. Another gift I had to do some research on. This little bird looks like a cross between a chicken and a duck. It has a white, duck like bill but not webbed feet like a duck. It can also be found in stews and other southern Louisiana cuisine. On Ebay again, I found a collector's plate (Only $5!) with 5 of these critters on it. I bought it and sent it on to mah sister.....since I didn't know how else I would fulfill this particular gift.
Day 6: Six cypress knees. Now here's a little story. First of all, I don't know if there's a law against this or not, but I sent hubby out to cut the tops off some tiny cypress knees. I needed them to be about 4 to 5 inches in heighth. I wasn't sure at first what I was going to do with them. I'm not a wood carver or even a very good painter so I debated whether or not to deface these beautiful pieces of wood. Anyway, I finally decided that they'd be the perfect heighth to make unique Louisiana Christmas ornaments for her tree. I started out by boiling the cut knees in order to peel the bark off. This is my first time ever crafting with cypress knees so this entire craft was quite an experiment. To my surprise, the bark just slid right off the wood, leaving a perfectly smooth surface eliminating the need for sanding to paint or polyurethane. I sat them out in the sun for a couple of days to get good and dried out before I sealed them. Then I sat them up on my kitchen counter and..... Do you see what I see?
I see the nativity. Now the really cool thing about this is that these knees were just randomly picked and cut by my hubby down in the woods behind my house. I imagine when he was looking at them all covered in mud and bark, he didn't see the nativity. It was only after they were cleaned that the nativity was revealed. My sister thinks this is the coolest of the 12 gifts so far and instead of hanging them on her tree, she opted to set them up like in the picture.
See Cajun Christmas Gifts, pt. 2 for the rest.
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