Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! For several Christmases I've written about our need to be less materially focused and to seek out a more sustainable approach to Christmas. Well, it took me 46 years, but I finally found something wonderful to do to celebrate Christmas, that didn't cost much, but has the potential to bless many. In short, earlier this week I spent an evening with my parents and had my mom teach me how to make cassava pie! More on this after the Top 20.Ending the year in the only fitting spot for a song she performs is Rihanna with her hit, Only Girl In The World. The world and industry consensus is that she has replaced Beyonce as the top female entertainer on the planet. I don't think she's as fine as B, but she has an entire album full of hits. We haven't heard anything from Beyonce for a minute, but she is very competitive. Although her husband Jay-Z discovered and has launched Rihanna, there have to be conversations in B and J's bedroom which go like this: “When you gonna push me the way you're pushing Rihanna?” I imagine that's the softer, kinder, gentler version of the real discussions that take place! LOL! I'm just saying!Tumbling to #2 is DJ Got Us Falling In Love by Usher featuring Pitbull, which has had a phenomenal run for several months in the charts. Up to #3 is Just A Dream by Nelly. Improving to #4 is Bottoms Up by Trey Songz featuring Nicki Minaj. Falling to #5 is Just The Way You Are by Bruno Mars.Up to #6 is Can't Be Friends by Trey Songz. Sliding to #7 is Teenage Dream by Katy Perry. Down to #8 is I Like It by Enrique Iglesias featuring Pitbull. Improving to #9 is Holding You Down by Jazmine Sullivan. Tumbling to #10 it's Hello, Good Morning by Diddy.Up to #11 is Dirty Picture by Taio Cruz featuring Ke$ha. Her other single We R Who We R improves to #12. Advancing into the #13 spot is Champaign Life by Neo. This is a smooth, sweet sing along track. I find myself singing it as I hear it in the car, and for hours thereafter. Improving to #14 is Like A G6 by Far*East Movement featuring Cataracs & Dev, a bouncy dance track that is growing in popularity. Falling to #15 is To Paris with Love by Donna Summer.Improving to #16 is Raise Your Glass by Pink. Slipping to #17 is Ride by Ciara featuring Ludacris. Down to #18 is Deuces, by Chris Brown featuring Tyga and Kevin McCall.Improving to #19 it's What's My Name by Rihanna featuring Drake, last week's essential new tune. Tumbling to #20 is Dynamite by Taio Cruz.Now back to this week's word how to have yourself a merry little Christmas. Cool song. Well, this year, I'm on my way to having that cool kind of Christmas. The kind of Christmas where I do more things that are of a more sentimental and lasting nature than just buying and dropping off gifts.This year mom taught me how to make cassava pie. I encourage people to spend more time with family and loved ones this Christmas. I had previously only squeezed the water/juice out of the cassava and left moms to do the rest. But this year I decided to learn how to make the pie from start to finish, so that the tradition and recipe remain in the family.We had so much fun together. We listened to a bangin' Jazz Christmas CD whilst we mixed and kneeded the cassava, eggs sugar and other ingredients. Now I know why Bermudians have such a high rate of heart disease, diabetes and other health challenges! The stuff we eat is full of fat, sugar and is in many cases a heart attack waiting to happen.But, the fellowship and conviviality that ensued between parents and child that night was a joy to behold. At the end of the night, when the cassava pie went into the oven to bake, my peeps and I shared that we love each other and that we had thoroughly enjoyed the experience of cooking together, during a festive season, and passing on a family recipe and tradition.You can't buy that kind of joy and you cannot give it via a gift. It is earned, by spending time with family, friends and loved ones. The moral of the story is that the best gift that you can give someone is the gift of your time and your talent. To the enlightened among us it is far better and more gratifying than the most expensive piece of jewellery, gift certificate, sweater, tie or other gift that one might give to another.This, my dear readers, is an example of what Christmas should be about, instead of stressing about what to buy, maxing out credit cards, etc. Think about it? You're at home with family preparing food that you get to eat later, you probably will not get shot at or run over by a drunk driver and what you are doing is creating lasting memories, stories to pass on to future generations. That experience is worth more than a million dollars to me. In fact, you cannot put a price on it. It reminds me of a MasterCard advertisement that could go like this:Eggs: $6 (yup, but we still buy Bermuda)Sugar: $5Cassava: $30Other ingredients: $10Being taught to make cassava pie by the best mom in the world: PricelessSome things in life are priceless. For everything else; there's MasterCard!Happy Holidays….....……DJLT.