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Massive Downsizing In Oil Sector Brings Acute Pain For The Holidays

The price of oil is displayed in downtown Midland, Texas, in February. Across the state, drilling budgets have been cut and companies have laid off workers. Spencer Platt/Getty Images hide caption

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Spencer Platt/Getty Images

Business

Massive Downsizing In Oil Sector Brings Acute Pain For The Holidays

Houston Public Media News 88.7

The holiday season can be stressful, but for energy workers, December is turning out to be especially tough. Oil and gas firms have laid off close to 56,000 Texans in the past year.

Massive Downsizing In Oil Sector Brings Acute Pain For The Holidays

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Sending Your Holiday Mail By Way Of Rudolph, Wis.

Around Christmas, people around the world covet a Rudolph, Wis., postmark on their cards and letters. Carrie Antlfinger/AP hide caption

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Carrie Antlfinger/AP

National

Sending Your Holiday Mail By Way Of Rudolph, Wis.

For most of the year, the tiny town of Rudolph is best known for the cheese factory off Main Street. But around Christmas, people worldwide covet a Rudolph, Wis., postmark on their cards and letters.

Sending Your Holiday Mail By Way Of Rudolph, Wis.

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Holiday Shopping Ads Are Geared Toward Brain's Reward Center

Retailers' Black Friday ads and other parts of the holiday season are designed to tap into a very ancient part of our brains. Paul J. Richards/AFP/Getty Images hide caption

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Paul J. Richards/AFP/Getty Images

Business

Holiday Shopping Ads Are Geared Toward Brain's Reward Center

Black Friday and the whole holiday season are designed to tap into a very ancient part of our brains. What happens to our brain when we shop during the holidays?

Holiday Shopping Ads Are Geared Toward Brain's Reward Center

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Move Over Barbie, 'Frozen' Characters Are More Popular This Holiday Season

Disney's Frozen Castle & Ice Palace Playset is displayed at the TTPM Holiday Showcase in New York. In a recent survey, parents said they were more likely to buy Frozen toys for their daughters than any other present this holiday season. Richard Drew/AP hide caption

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Richard Drew/AP

The Two-Way

Move Over Barbie, 'Frozen' Characters Are More Popular This Holiday Season

A National Retail Federation survey says 20 percent of parents plan to buy toys from the film Frozen for their daughters. As for boys, Legos are the most popular toy this holiday season.

Halloween-Thanksgiving-Hanukkah-Christmas-New-Year Buying Begins

Candice Nelson fits her daughter Arya Kubesh with a Halloween hat at a store at Galleria Mall in Edina, Minn. Retailers are hoping Halloween will give them a good bounce into the peak spending time of the year. Elizabeth Flores/MCT/Landov hide caption

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Elizabeth Flores/MCT/Landov

Business

Halloween-Thanksgiving-Hanukkah-Christmas-New-Year Buying Begins

Most retailers are feeling optimistic as analysts forecast rising sales over this long shopping season. They are hoping Halloween will give them a good bounce into the peak spending time of the year.

For Some Tribes, New Year's Foods Provide A Sacred Link To The Past

Edna Kash-kash, a Native American from Oregon, sits in front of a tepee circa 1900. In Eastern Oregon, a tribal celebration of first foods offers a connection to ancestors. Lee Moorhouse/Buyenlarge/Getty Images) hide caption

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Lee Moorhouse/Buyenlarge/Getty Images)

The Salt

For Some Tribes, New Year's Foods Provide A Sacred Link To The Past

Northwest News Network

Native American tribes in Eastern Oregon recently marked kimtee inmewit, a ceremony that welcomes the sacred new foods of the new year. The tribes see these foods not just as nourishment, but as a connection to ancestors.

For Some Tribes, New Year's Foods Provide A Sacred Link To The Past

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Haitians Mark The New Year With A Belly Full Of Soup

Haitians celebrate their independence from France on Jan. 1 each year with a traditional squash soup called soup joumou. Courtesy of Whole Foods hide caption

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Courtesy of Whole Foods

The Salt

Haitians Mark The New Year With A Belly Full Of Soup

Each Jan. 1, Haitians commemorate independence by eating soup joumou — a dish their former French rulers considered too good for them. The soup is so beloved that it can land some in the hospital.

Haitians Mark The New Year With A Belly Full Of Soup

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$41 Billion In Gift Cards Unclaimed Since 2005

A gift card display at a Target store in Mayfield Hts., Ohio., last month. Amy Sancetta/AP hide caption

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Amy Sancetta/AP

The Two-Way

$41 Billion In Gift Cards Unclaimed Since 2005

They're enormously popular — an estimated $27.8 billion worth have been given this holiday season. But many also never get fully used. What to do? Swap them. Regift them. Invest them. Or, perhaps, give them to charity.

Paul Brown and Mark Memmott on the NPR Newscast

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Pride And Prejudice: For Latinos, Tamales Offer Up A Delicious Serving Of Both

Many Americans are familiar with cornhusk-wrapped tamales. But those aren't my favorite. Chicago Tribune/MCT via Getty Images hide caption

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Chicago Tribune/MCT via Getty Images

The Salt

Pride And Prejudice: For Latinos, Tamales Offer Up A Delicious Serving Of Both

Latin America has hundreds of interpretations of this Christmas Eve treat – tamales vary not just by country but often by region. So whose version is best? That's a question likely to elicit a fiercely partisan response.

Tourtiere: A French-Canadian Twist On Christmas Pie

Tourtiere is "one of Canada's better contributions to the culinary world," says Thomas Naylor, executive chef to the Canadian ambassador to the U.S. Larry Crowe/AP hide caption

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Larry Crowe/AP

The Salt

Tourtiere: A French-Canadian Twist On Christmas Pie

This Christmas Eve, many French-Canadian families will gather after midnight Mass for reveillon, a lavish dinner party that lasts into the wee hours. The traditional centerpiece is a savory, spiced meat pie called tourtiere. Thomas Naylor, executive chef to the Canadian ambassador to the U.S., teaches Lynn Neary how to make this delicious holiday dish.

Tourtiere: A French-Canadian Twist On Christmas Pie

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A Christmas Pudding In The Mail Carries A Taste Of Home

The pudding's dark glossy dome is flamed with brandy and carried to the table before the shimmering blue aura dies away. Chris Elwell/iStockphoto.com hide caption

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Chris Elwell/iStockphoto.com

The Salt

A Christmas Pudding In The Mail Carries A Taste Of Home

My mother always made Christmas puddings. Nowadays, my sister and brother-in-law send me one every year from England. They use a mid-Victorian recipe handed down from a Quaker. Unlike other Christmas treats, a well-made, properly sealed Christmas pudding will keep for a year, or more.