Christmas lights in Mexico City's Zócalo
Photo by Daniel Wheeler

December is filled with holidays, beginning with the feast day of Our Lady of Guadalupe and continuing past New Year to Epiphany. For just over four weeks, Mexico celebrates "Guadalupe-Reyes."

Beginnning with the posadas,   Dale Hoyt Palfrey describes Making Merry in Mexico.

New to Mexconnect, but not to Mexico, Allyn Hunt spins a magical story of a Christmas miracle.

Why not enjoy a festive Mountain Feast with Jenny McGill? Karen Graber brings us nine nut recipes for a Mexican holiday banquet. Kudos to our Mexican Kitchen Forum Moderator Cristina Potters ("Esperanza"). Her blog was named number one food blog in the world today by the London Times. Well done indeed!

Travelers will identify with Gerry Soroka's Border disorder as he crosses the northern frontier into Mexico. And they can join Jane Ammeson in discovering the charm of Jerez, Zacatecas.

A successful Hollywood artist returns to the village of his birth to give something back in Javier Zaragoza: Artist with a Mission by Rita Pomade.

We're proud of all our writer's achievements. May we suggest some of their books as holiday gifts?

• Our own Tony Burton's newest book, Lake Chapala through the Ages: an anthology of travellers' tales. Also available -- in English and Spanish -- is Burton's Western Mexico, A Traveller's Treasury.
  
  
• Food Editor Karen Graber's newest cookbook, The Cuisine of Puebla, features more than 75 recipes plus sections on ingredients and cooking techniques.
  
  
• Drama & Diplomacy grew out of Jenny McGill's experiences in Puerto Vallarta when the town was home to Elizabeth Taylor, John Huston and a series of colorful characters.
  
  
• Julia Taylor's e-book Mexico: The Trick is Living Here is a comprehensive guide to living in Mexico while Molly McHugh's e-book, Viva La Baja!, focuses on relocating to Baja California.
  
  
• The Line/La Línea by Beldon Butterfield is "a story filled with sex, violence, and drugs, even love...."
  
  
• To start the New Year right, Enrique and Belva Velázquez's My Beloved Mexico Calendar for 2009 features 12 new watercolors of the Chapala Lakeside.

Wherever you are, Mexconnect wishes all our readers a Muy feliz navidad!

Columns:

Perspectives: Marvin West - "WestWords" Ask an Old Gringo, Part 7 Maggie Van Ostrand - "A Balloon in Cactus" My First Christmas in Mexico Alvin Starkman - "A Voice from Oaxaca" Manuel Reyes: Part 2 - Photographs of His Work Home Construction & Maintenance in Mexico: J. Brad Grieve Water Pressure Systems vs. the Rooftop Tinaco Tank "Did You Know that..." ...despite its name, the turkey originated in Mexico?"	La Cocina: Karen Hursh Graber "Mexican Hot... Or Not" Nuts Star in Mexican Holiday Cooking Books & History: James Tipton - "Book Reviews" Lake Chapala through the Ages: an anthology of travellers' tales Edited by Tony Burton Ronald A. Barnett - "Mexican History: Perspectives" New Spain: The Right of Conquest Tony Burton - "This Month in Mexico's History" December

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David McLaughlin Publisher/Editor Give a Gift Subscription now! Perfect for those interested in Mexico - trip planning, Mexicophiles, researchers, adventurers and to those who are dreaming of living a new life in Mexico. Belong to Mexico Connect - Here's how. - Here's why. A nativity scene lights up the square in Mexico City Photo by Daniel Wheeler The Most Comprehensive Resource About Mexico, On the Internet or anywhere, in English.