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Keeping Pace
A TIME FOR FAMILY Opening a Gift on Christmas Eve
DECMEBER 2019
and we’d have a fantastic dinner — without oyster soup —and decorate the tree. However, while my parents were very adamant about getting a real tree each year, I’ve always preferred having an artificial tree that we can string our lights and ornaments on without worrying about pine needles getting everywhere. Since my brothers and I are all grown now, we don’t have Christmas at our parents’ house. But we always take some time beforehand to decide who will host the year’s celebration and make plans to travel to their home. Sometimes travel can be tricky this time of year, but whenever we can, we all make sure we spend Christmas with each other. Last year, we all got together in Kansas City with my brother and his family. All of us had a really fun time; we visited a shopping center plaza that the city decorates with hundreds of lights. This year, my family and I are planning to stick a little closer to home for the holidays. The day after Christmas, we’re changing it up a bit by heading to New York City to spend the day there. I’m hoping we’ll have a chance to do a lot while we’re there, such as see the Rockettes for a holiday performance. We’ve never done something like this for the holidays before, and we’re all pretty excited for this new experience. -Dr. Steven Schulte
Christmas is a time for family and tradition. Every year, my family comes together to celebrate both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day with good food, pleasant company, and holiday cheer. When it comes to Christmas traditions, my family always made sure to have a great big Christmas tree that we’d set up in the living room to decorate. We’d all help put up the ornaments and garland, which I wasn’t too thrilled about as a kid. One celebration I always thought of as unique was our small celebration on Christmas Eve. As a kid, my family had oyster soup on Christmas Eve, and all the kids were allowed to open one present. I remember being very excited about opening my one gift among the many that were strewn under the tree’s lower branches, but not so much about the oyster soup. I was never fond of it. The best present I ever opened pre- Christmas was in junior high when my older brother and I unwrapped our first stereo. It was really neat to have, even if we had to share, and it lasted for a long while.
“EVERY YEAR, MY
FAMILY COMES TOGETHER TO
CELEBRATE BOTH CHRISTMAS EVE AND CHRISTMAS DAY WITH GOOD FOOD, PLEASANT COMPANY, AND HOLIDAY CHEER.”
Today, we celebrate Christmas in very much the same way. I continued the tradition with my own kids when they were younger of opening a gift on Christmas Eve,
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Everything You Didn’t Know About This Holiday Tradition Of the many seasonal traditions that sweep our nation, few are as creative, delicious, and satisfying as building your very own gingerbread house. Whether you’re looking to create a simple table decoration or bake a tasty treat to nibble on, everyone can enjoy this holiday activity! THE ORIGINS OF GINGERBREAD Ginger was first cultivated in ancient China, then traded into medieval Europe. There, Europeans incorporated it into culinary traditions and used it to bake cookies into elaborate shapes and works of art, including figures of animals and people. The gingerbread house first appeared in the early 19th century in Germany. Although historians don’t know an exact date, it’s speculated that it gained popularity around the same time that “Hansel and Gretel,” the popular fairy tale recorded by the Brothers Grimm, was published. THE LARGEST GINGERBREAD HOUSE In 2013, the world record for the largest gingerbread house in the world was broken. The house, topping out at 21 feet and covering 2,520 square feet, was built by Traditions Golf Club in Bryan, Texas, to raise money for a local Level II trauma center. To construct the house, builders created a recipe that required 1,800 pounds of butter, 2,925 pounds of brown sugar, 7,200 eggs, 7,200 pounds of flour, 1,080 ounces of ground ginger, and a few additional ingredients. BUILD YOUR OWN! While you don’t have to challenge yourself to beat the Guinness World Record, you can still have fun creating your very own gingerbread village. Starting your gingerbread house from scratch can be a fun activity for the whole family to enjoy. Give the kids a chance to mix the ingredients, roll out the dough, and set out plenty of candies and frostings to use, and remember to have fun! If you’re looking for unique gingerbread house ideas, take a look at 20 gingerbread house ideas at TasteofHome.com/collection/ gingerbread-houses. THE JOY OF A GINGERBREAD HOUSE
DON’T FALL FOR THE COMEBACK TREND The Risks of Extra Sparkle Everyone wants a smile they can be proud of. A bright smile gives people the confidence they need for a job interview, a family portrait, or spending time with a group of friends. However, even with dazzling teeth, many people look for ways to give their smiles something a little extra, such as tooth gems. A tooth gem is a small rhinestone that is attached to one or more front teeth. This growing fad became popular in the ‘90s and, like many current trends, is making a fierce comeback among the younger generations. Celebrities such as Kendall Jenner, Adwoa Aboah, Drake, and Katy Perry have been seen sporting one or more tooth gems, which has left many people clamoring for the same. While these small pieces of jewelry have become a desired commodity, they’re also risky. The ingredients in the adhesive used to attach the jewel can cause discoloration in the teeth and wear down the enamel. A tooth gem can also collect food debris and be an ideal spot for harmful bacteria to grow. The results of these problems can lead to much more worrisome issues, such as infection and tooth decay. These risks only increase when a person uses an at-home kit to apply a tooth gem. Inexperienced hands can damage teeth, and the adhesive used in these kits often lacks the strength required to keep the jewel in place. A tooth gem is more likely to fall off and be swallowed, and it can get stuck in the airways or stomach. Having a gem professionally installed can be rather expensive, but it significantly reduces these risks.
Ultimately, the best way to keep your smile bright and healthy is to not add anything to your teeth that your dentist advises against. By brushing, flossing, and
getting your teeth cleaned regularly, you’ll ensure your oral health never waivers.
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CAROL GYHRA Ensuring Client Satisfaction
Dr. Schulte and the rest of the team at Auburn Dental, and I’ve been here ever since.” Her passion in dentistry only grew from these key moments in her life, something that she enjoys completely. “What I love about the dentistry field is talking with people and helping them with their smiles. We have some patients come in so embarrassed of showing their teeth. But when they leave, and they’re smiling and almost in tears, it really makes me proud to be here. We’re all about making people’s lives better.” When Carol finds herself with some free time outside of the office, she enjoys spending time with her husband, her two daughters, Shalee and Addison, and her two dogs, Ruger and Nola.
and she was always very mean. She was rough and never seemed to care about me or any of the other patients who came in.” Despite the unpleasant experiences with this particular dental assistant, Carol became increasingly motivated to do something about it. “I remember thinking that she didn’t have to be mean to do what she did. That’s when I knew I wanted to be in the dental field, to help people who might have had similar experiences with other dentists. I wanted to give them a better experience.” Over the next several years, Carol enrolled in dental school, worked with several dental orthodontists, and then found herself in Auburn, Nebraska. “All the major stressors were done in one job,” she laughs, going on to explain, “Right after my husband and I were married, we moved into Auburn, and shortly after that, I joined
We love our community and its continued support! Thank you for your referrals to our practice and for trusting us with your care! Thank You! Everyone here at Auburn Dental Center gives quality service and puts the utmost care into their work. We know how important experience is with our patients, and we strive to ensure each visit is as comfortable as possible. Our very own dental assistant, Carol Gyhra, is an exemplary team member who expresses this with every interaction. Through a childhood experience, Carol realized she wanted to be involved with the dentistry field. “I grew up in a city just outside central Nebraska,” she recalls. “Whenever I went to the dentist, I always dreaded it. Every time I had an appointment, I had the same dental assistant,
Cranberry GINGERBREAD
Gingerbread is a holiday classic of the very first order, but it’s often a construction material rather than a treat. This recipe, on the contrary, is purely for eating.
INGREDIENTS
DIRECTIONS
1. Heat oven to 350 F. 2. Grease a loaf pan with canola oil. 3. In a large mixing bowl, mix together 1/2 cup canola oil, molasses, brown sugar, eggs, ginger, and cranberries. In a separate bowl, sift and combine flour with baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, and salt. Mix dry ingredients into wet ingredients until blended. 4. Scrape batter into loaf pan and bake for 50 minutes. 5. Transfer to a rack, let cool for 20 minutes, slice, and serve.
• 1/2 cup canola oil, plus more for greasing • 3/4 cup unsulphured molasses • 3/4 cup packed light brown sugar • 2 large eggs • 1 tbsp fresh ginger, peeled and finely grated • 1 1/2 cups fresh cranberries, coarsely chopped • 2 cups all-purpose flour • 2 tsp baking powder • 1 tsp baking soda • 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon • 1/2 tsp ground cloves • 1/2 tsp kosher salt
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1 2 A Slight Change in Christmas Tradition Building Your Own Gingerbread House The Risks of Adding Bling to Your Teeth Meet Your Team! Cranberry Gingerbread The History Behind Christmas Lights Inside This Issue 3 4
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LIGHT UP THE NIGHT Why Do We Hang Christmas Lights?
declared in the Detroit Post and Tribune, “One can hardly imagine anything prettier.”
The first string of twinkling lights illuminating your neighbor’s house is always a telltale sign of the upcoming seasonal festivities. Christmas lights are a holiday staple, but have you ever wondered where this beloved tradition started? The tradition of hanging lights on the tree originally started with candles. Because this posed an immense fire hazard, Edward Hibberd Johnson, a close friend of Thomas Edison and vice president of the Edison Electric Light Company, vowed to find a better way to decorate Christmas trees with light. In December 1882, three years after Edison’s invention of the lightbulb in November 1879, Johnson hand-wired 80
Johnson continued this tradition, increasing the number of lights each year and eventually putting them up outside. But because electricity was still a new concept, many years passed before the fad took off for regular Americans. In 1923, President Calvin Coolidge began the tradition of lighting the National Christmas Tree, which spurred the idea of selling stringed lights commercially. By the 1930s, families everywhere were buying boxes of bulbs by the dozen. Today, an estimated 150 million Christmas lights are sold in America each year, decorating 80 million homes and consuming 6% of the nation’s electricity every December. Whether you’ll be putting up your own lights or appreciating the most impressive light displays in your neighborhood or town, let the glow fill you with joy this season. Just don’t leave them up until February!
red, white, and blue lightbulbs together and wound them around a Christmas tree in his parlor window. A passing reporter saw the spectacle and
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