Bring on the December holidays … during a pandemic.
For many, it’s been a long time since we’ve seen favorite friends and relatives, and we’d so love to gather together at least once before we send this year packing. But with COVID-19 deaths at an all-time high, holiday decisions have taken on an ominous tone lately, haven’t they?
Below you’ll find our best guidance on whether travel is an option, plus how to celebrate at home, events around town, and holiday meals to make or to take out. And if you scroll straight to the bottom, you’ll find the Tribune’s famous gift guide.
Travel or stay home?
The basic question is whether you should travel out of the Chicago area at all for the holidays. Health experts warn that it’s safest to celebrate at home with the people you live with. Here’s what the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has to say, and here are tips from the state of Illinois.
The CDC also offers these guidelines for celebrating the winter holidays with families and friends in small gatherings.
Many Chicago area residents ate Thanksgiving dinner in their backyards with patio heaters roaring or in their garages with the door raised. We’re going to guess the garage is more likely than the backyard for Christmas, so we’re keeping an eye on the weather. Forecasters are predicting below-normal, bone-chilling cold for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, along with the possibility of light snow for the holiday. If you’d rather look backward than forward, data/visual reporter Kori Rumore has put together a chronological look at how the Tribune has covered the top 10 Christmas temperature highs and lows since 1871.
Christmas dining
Here’s a menu from columnist JeanMarie Brownson for dinner centered on beef ribs that you can make ahead of time and deliver to loved ones, so that everyone can reheat and enjoy together remotely. Brownson also has been baking desserts for the holidays.
And dozens of Chicago-area restaurants are preparing full holiday meals (Christmas goose?) and add-ons, such as cookie-decorating kits and bottled cocktails, for pickup or delivery. Check with restaurants for ordering dates; many have early deadlines. In many cases, you’ll find just as many festive decorations as in the past when you go to pick up your food or check out the way restaurants have reinvented themselves with holiday markets, seasonal pop-ups and other side gigs.
While you’re supporting local restaurants, consider helping out further by buying their cool branded merchandise and other food products for gifts or for yourself.
Kwanzaa feast
Kwanzaa begins Dec. 26 and ends Jan. 1 with a big Karamu feast on the sixth night. Keeping with its roots in African first-fruits celebrations, Kwanzaa is all about community, unity and culture. If you plan to host a Karamu feast this Dec. 31 to celebrate the year’s harvest, here are 15 dishes from across the African diaspora you can make at home.
Cookie contest
Fluffernutter sandwiches took first place this year in the Chicago Tribune Holiday Cookie Contest. Very merry raspberry spitzbuben came in second. And brown butter mulling spice sables were third. Bakers submitted a modern record number of entries. A total of 140 recipes ultimately received 6,295 votes. Try your hand at one or more of the recipes.
Home holiday decorations
For Halloween, we had candy chutes and over-the-top house decorations. (And some of us had Christmas trees up then too.) The December holiday decorations seem to be following the motto “Go big and stay home!” with giant inflatables and thousands of lights. Christopher Borrelli has written a deep dive into the area’s drive-thru lights displays — both residential and professional.
Fun things to do
Looking at the professional outdoor light displays sounds about right as a holiday activity this year. Kohl Children’s Museum is a newcomer to the field with its ambitiously named Kohlights: A Mesmertastic Holiday Lightacular. Another first-timer is Northbrook Court Mall with Let It Shine. Six Flags hasn’t been open all year until now with its third Holiday in the Park event. Here’s a roundup of some of the holiday lights shows around the area.
We might as well bring on the giant, outdoor Christmas trees as well. The Millennium Park blue spruce is a gift from Morgan Park resident Catherine Townsend, who planted the tree in 1985. It’s a sweet story. And La Grange’s tree is also a blue spruce.
We have an update on all the classic Chicago holiday activities, mostly downtown events, and another list of new, smaller or lesser known activities around the area.
There’s more about Chicago’s official tree lighting ceremony, which you can watch on YouTube, as well as info on other 2020 holiday activities organized by the city. And in the suburbs there’s plenty to do during this unusual holiday season, including official suburban light displays. A little farther, but still within driving distance of Chicago, you’ll find even more displays in Wisconsin.
Lots of families used to go to the movies together over the holidays. But as of Nov. 20, Illinois theaters were closed by order of the governor. We’ve rounded up some alternatives to in-person movie viewing across streaming services, on-demand platforms and virtual cinemas.
The Chicago Park District is offering family-friendly online activities you can do from home, including wreath-making, holiday arts and crafts, and storytime with Santa.
And it’s a Chicago tradition to debate whether the first week of November is too early for radio station WLIT-FM 93.9 to switch to holiday tunes, but everything seems to have started earlier this year, right? Kori Rumore details what the radio station has been playing since Nov. 5, as well as absolutely everything you’d ever want to know on the topic.
Visiting Santa
Many Chicago area malls are allowing visits with Santa Claus, but they look a little different this year. Kids can share their wish lists from a distance and pose for a photo, but they won’t be hopping up on St. Nick’s lap. But you don’t have to go to the mall to visit Santa. Like everyone else, he’s available via Zoom too. Here’s a Zoom Santa guide, comparing hometown favorites, a Black Santa, a Hollywood Santa and a Santa who teams up with Mrs. Claus.
Hotels
Area hotels are getting into the holiday spirit with decorated guest rooms and special meals perfect for a mini staycation with lots of safety precautions. Radisson Blu Aqua Hotel has partnered with pop-up bar Frosty’s to create Frosty’s Christmas Pop-up Hotel, offering seasonal cocktails and a holiday dinner in your room. The new Nobu Hotel Chicago has put together a Japanese-inspired Christmas Dinner Feast for takeout and a holiday bento box meal to share in the Sake Suite or Nobu Villa for small groups. The Kimpton Gray Hotel is offering a Nutcracker Package that includes a virtual viewing of Ballet Chicago’s performance, cocktails and in-room dining.
Gift guide
Gift giving is not canceled this year. We’ve put together our best gift guide ever, with cool suggestions for fashionistas, broke millennials, teachers, new cooks and everyone else on your list.
Tribune Content Agency contributed.
