Here is one of my tries last night:
Exposure .7 sec f/2 85 mm ISO 200 (It says my exposure value was 0/2 - what does that mean?) I didn't change my settings from shooting the basketball games earlier - custom white balance, AI Servo autofocus, continuous drive
You can just see where the candle was on the left side. There was a present in front of the candle so that the light bounced back on the scene. I was really suprised at how much difference that made.
Edit: I was able to post to the gallery. I included a couple of starting point photos from last year and the year before. I can't wait to see everyone's photos! I would like to have a nice flame somehow. I'm not sure how to achieve that, though.