Welcome to the 8th annual installment of the State Street Showdown, a yearly tradition here at SteveandAmySly.com. This series was started in 2003 to evaluate the holiday windows on State Street here in Chicago. Of course, back then we had numerous stores showcasing their art. Today we're down to just one… Macy's.
Amy & Steve at Chicago's official Christmas tree
Before we jump into the windows themselves, I like to use this introduction post to take a look at Christmas in downtown Chicago.
Culinary Christmas - December 16: Pine Cones and Holly Berries
Featured Foods: Berries, popcorn, apples, candy, nuts, tea, figgy pudding
I had never heard this song before this year's edition of Steve's 25 Days of Christmas Music, which is funny, because according to my iTunes logs, I added it in 2006. Go figure!
Pine Cones and Holly Berries is 1965 vocal delight by the Living Voices, with a medley of not only the title track, but also "It's Beginning To Look Like Christmas" and "We Wish You A Merry Christmas" performed in a round. Not to mention, there are quite a few food items listed. Let's hear it for popcorn!
Culinary Christmas - December 15: A Marshmallow World
Featured Foods: Marshmallows, whipped cream, pumpkins, sugar
We've got two classics colliding in a Culinary Christmas bowl of fun today. First off, it's Brenda Lee, who is probably best known as the vocalist on "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" (which we featured way back in 2002 — on this EXACT day, in fact). Take her distinctive voice and overlay that with the fun found in A Marshmallow World… and we're talking good times!
Culinary Christmas - December 14: Wassail, Wassail All Over the Town
Featured Foods: Wassail
Wassail is both a noun and a verb. "First and foremost wassailing is an ancient southern English tradition that is performed with the intention of ensuring a good crop of cider apples for the next year's harvest. It also refers to both the salute 'Waes Hail', meaning litereally 'good health' or 'be you healthy'. The drink of wassail is a hot mulled cider traditionally drunk as an integral part of the wassail ceremony."
Today's beverage-ladden contribution of Wassail, Wassail All Over the Town joins our Culinary Christmas theme during the 25 Days. It's sung by The New Christy Minstrels, an American folk music group that has been around since the early 1960s. Kenny Rogers was actually part of the group for a short time.
Continuing a yearly Christmas tradition here on SteveandAmySly.com as well as the TannerWorld Junction discussion forums…
A Charlie Brown Christmas debuted on December 9, 1965, as the very first Peanuts television special. It's no surprise that it continues to air today!
"Linus, I wish I had some Charlie Brown audio!"
This special came to be thanks to none other than Coca-Cola, which approached the creators of a Charles Schultz documentary called A Boy Named Charlie Brown about doing a Peanuts Christmas special. While this documentary never aired on TV, it featured work from folks we now associate closely with Charlie Brown television specials… produced by Lee Mendelson, animation by Bill Melendez, and music by Vince Guaraldi. So ironically it was commercialism which brought the special to air!
Culinary Christmas - December 13: Baby, It's Cold Outside
Featured Foods: Swiss Kriss, drink of wine
It's another Monday during Steve's 25 Days of Christmas Music… welcome back! Our Culinary Christmas celebration brings us two "firsts" today. The first "first" is the use of a song that we've previously featured, but this time around it appears again in a "remixed" form. And oddly, the second "first" is that the song mentions a laxative, which I'm going to include as a food item during this 25 Days.
Back in 2008 during our Dueling December Ditties, we featured a version of "Baby, It's Cold Outside" sung by Louis Armstrong & Velma Middleton. Today we're back with the same performers, but this time they anchor Baby, It's Cold Outside (Mulato Beat Remix). Someone dropped some beats on the original tune and edited it to give it a different flair, which I find a nice diversion every now and then.
Culinary Christmas - December 12: Santa's Coffee
Featured Foods: Coffee
Here's an oldie from 1960. Yup, someone actually wrote a song called Santa's Coffee. In this case, it's performed by a child vocalist, Billy Beau.
Now, it would seem that coffee is a much better beverage for the jolly old man, after all he's putting in some long hours on Christmas Eve. Can milk really give you the kind of buzz you need for all that work?
However, there's still the issue of where the bathroom is located on his sleigh…
Culinary Christmas - December 11: Christmas Cookies & Holiday Hearts
Featured Foods: Christmas cookies, holiday hearts
It's all about food today with our song, Christmas Cookies and Holiday Hearts by The Caroleer Singers and Orchestra. It completely fits our Culinary Christmas theme except for one thing…
What in the world is a "holiday heart"?
Culinary Christmas - December 10: The Nutcracker Suite
Featured Foods: Nuts, sugar plums
We now happen upon one of the few instrumental tunes featured during this year's Culinary Christmas. It's The Nutcracker Suite by the Appalachian Christmas Quartet. Given that this is based on "The Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy", the way I see it, we get both nuts and sugar plums out of this song that has no words. 
Today is my Dad's 63rd birthday. Last year, we had the fortunate opportunity to spend a week at Walt Disney World during the holidays and celebrated his birthday on Disney's BoardWalk. (Note the unique Disney trash can in the background of this video!)
If you recall, back in 2009 Disney was running their "What will you celebrate?" promotion where you got free admission to the theme parks on your birthday. Since we already had park tickets, they offered Dad other benefits. We chose the "Birthday Fastpass"
Dad shows off his Fasspass Birthday Card
This allowed the birthday recipient and 5 other guests to get what was basically a universal Fastpass to any attraction, selected from pre-defined groups at each park.
