Holiday travel, New Year's Eve plans, fresh-baked cookies and football

While strolling, I wondered whatever happened to Peggy Cochran.

We hope you had a merry Christmas. Gas prices remain low, and a lot of people decided to hit the road for the holidays. We invite you to share your travels and guests with us.

Hopkins and homestays

Former resident and now longtime San Diegan and Charger fan Jae Hopkins and his wife Akiko traveled to South Carolina to spend Christmas with their sons, Joe and Andy, and their families and brother Mark and his wife Ruth Ann. Joe, his wife Rose and Andy are optometrists and operate several clinics. The year 2015 will be Jae's 28th year in the homestay business of providing international students housing accommodations with American host families. They have more than 1,200 host families in their network between Los Angeles and San Diego and host an average of 800 to 1,000 kids each year.

Richard and I stayed in Texas but my sister Ruth Ann flew to Washington, D.C., to visit her son Travis. My other sister, Carolyn, and her husband traveled by car to Ohio to visit their daughter Kristin. Sister Jo and her husband Don enjoyed a white Christmas at their Wisconsin home.

As I was turning in this column, I began working on my next annual challenge -- Richard's birthday! He has requested my sister Carolyn's coconut cake and I am one step ahead -- the cake mix is in the pantry!

There are lots of New Year's Eve events. Do you have your black-eyed peas and collard greens ready for good luck?

New year's eve

Back in the day as well as today, the tradition of many families is to attend church on New Year's Eve. Our family always brought in the New Year at the First Baptist Church, and I remember everyone holding hands and singing "Auld Lang Syne" and "Bless Be the Tie." Later it was Jo and I celebrating in Dallas with our beaus at the time, and now, it is hoping we, along with our sweeties, can stay awake to watch the ball drop at Times Square. Oh, the days.

The senior center will serve its New Year's Eve dinner at noon Wednesday. The center will be closed for New Year's Day but will reopen Friday for its popular catfish dinner. They also will be at the Chaffee Nursing Center Friday for blood pressure and sugar checks at 10:30.

Looking forward to 2015, are you thinking about your signature word for the New Year? Let us know what word you have chosen that will set the tone and inspire you throughout the year.

Delicious edibles

The holidays are a time of giving but they are also a time of indulging in edible treats that we limit throughout the rest of the year. We are enjoying lots of cookies, some of which were the date nut pinwheel cookies my Mother used to bake. I always liked them but rolling the date nut-filled dough into logs was for me, labor intensive. I was pleased with the end result of what was my first attempt of my Mother's recipe.

Using our fresh pecans from our Dallas trees made a big difference. We took in 45 pounds and picked up 25 pounds of cracked and blown pecans from our nutcracker. Richard does a great job roasting pecans, but we especially enjoy those from a friend whose signature recipe includes a secret ingredient -- Jack Daniels!

Pigskin playoffs

There are still lots of college bowl games to watch. It is hard to believe that today is the last game of the regular NFL season! The Rams have had some impressive games and how about those Cowboys clinching the NFC East? Fans, many of which are in Southeast Missouri, are thrilled with their turnaround. Bring on the playoffs!

The controversy surrounding killings by policemen, rightful or not, prompted a long-time reader to pass this along: If a policeman stops you, do exactly as he says and do not argue; just do it. The retired attorney adds you can always state your case later in a courtroom in the presence of a judge.

We wish you a happy and safe New Year's celebration and a terrific 2015! We thank our readers for your input and look forward to another year of Chaffee Chatters.

Special words

Remember to tell those special people in your life you love them -- those three words mean so very much.

Our thoughts and prayers are with those of you who are missing loved ones and continue to be with our homebound, those in hospitals and nursing homes.

And then ...

Then there was the year 2014.