Have Yourself a MAUI Little Christmas

Have Yourself a MAUI Little Christmas

Aloha Family & Friends
For the past few Decembers, a favorite newsletter project has been to take well-known holiday songs and turn them into Maui-specific parodies. This week we sat down to enthusiastically create another one for you. Which classic tune should we use? Oh, the best idea came to us immediately: Turning Hugh Martin’s 1943 “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” into “Have Yourself a MAUI Little Christmas” seemed like the perfect way to go for 2024. Out with the old, in with the new, right?

We pulled up the lyrics: “Have yourself a merry little Christmas. Let your heart be light…” Perfect. After the devastation of 2023, we are now seeing a number of those proverbial lights at the end of the tunnel. We ARE regrouping and moving forward. That first line was so right, we couldn’t change it.

Okay, moving to the second line: “From now on, our troubles will be out of sight.” Oh wow. Not 100% where we are, but certainly our community is moving forward. So, leave that one alone too. Maybe there’s something to change in the third verse? And that’s when the thought hit us … change is inevitable, true. But occasionally we come across something that is so right, so poignant that the best course is to appreciate it and to leave it as is.

So, in this season that celebrates giving, please take a moment to read the words (to the tune that is playing in your head, no doubt!) and know that this is our wish for each of you. Regardless of how or what you celebrate, may your heart be filled with thoughts of warm locales, family, friends and fun, and may you have yourself a Maui Little Christmas now.

“Let your heart be light
From now on Our troubles will be out of sight
Have yourself a merry little Christmas
Make the Yule-tide gay
From now on Our troubles will be miles away
Here we are as in olden days
Happy golden days of yore
Faithful friends who are dear to us
Gather near to us once more
Through the years we all will be together
If the fates allow
Hang a shining star upon the highest bough
And have yourself a merry little Christmas now”

Aloha, Greg & Leah

These delicious cookies are like snowballs in that when they are left out they disappear quickly. No, they don’t melt, but it seems that they attract little menehune (Hawaiian elves) that just love to gobble them all up when you’re not looking!

Tropical Hawaiian Snowballs (Hawaiian-Style Russian Tea Cookies)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and line 5 cookie sheets with parchment paper, or spray with cooking spray.
2. In a large bowl, cream together butter, sugar and vanilla and coconut extracts.
3. Sift together the flour and the salt.
4. Slowly add to the butter mixture.
5. Add nuts. Mix until blended well.
6. Roll into small, bite sized balls. (about 3/4 of an ounce or 2 tablespoons). I like to use a small #40 portion disher (small, 3/4 ounce sized, ice cream scoop) and place 1-inch apart on prepared cookie sheet.
7. Bake for 10-13 minutes, or until slightly golden.
8. While still warm, (not hot, not cold) roll through powdered sugar.
9. Keeps about a week (but they won’t be around that long) in an air-tight container.

Enjoy!

Tropical Hawaiian Snowballs (Hawaiian-Style Russian Tea Cookies) recipe from Food.com