Christmas 2010

Here it is the last day of December. Guess I'd best post about Christmas before the year ends!

Singing ten concerts with the Conchords, rewarding as it was, was terribly intrusive on the time I had to prepare for and enjoy the season. I have to figure out how to find a better balance next year.



I was able to get the house decorated, though, inside and out, and I'm pretty happy with the outcome. Garlands on the front are a natural with the design of our porch.



This year, I decided to use smaller pine cones on the banister; still not sure which I like better. The result was nice, though, and I like the ornament I added at the front.

 

 Last year we started bringing in fresh-cut greenery from our back yard to decorate the mantels. I love the effect - and the fact that I can avoid cedar, which seems to trigger my allergies.

We cut down our tree early this year, and finally got it up and decorated on my birthday. Squeaked it in with one week to spare! It does look pretty.

We decided to try something new this year, and hung ornaments on the light fixtures over the breakfast and dinner tables. I rather like it! Perhaps a new tradition has been born!

This year's cookies were of six varieties: peppermint, chocolate (a bit of a mocha flavor - guess what the secret ingredient was?), ginger spice, peanut butter with chocolate kisses, cranberry-coconut (new this year, and definitely a keeper!), and my old stand-by date, coconut, and pecan concoction: porcupines. Nearly killed me trying to get them all done in two days, but they made for a pretty platter.

Gifts got wrapped in due time, and Xeda really enjoyed climbing around on them in front of the tree. She really isn't hard to please! The family enjoyed unwrapping them on Christmas morning, too.

Emily suggested we have a menu for our Christmas dinner that included typical foods of Northwest origin. Eager to rise to the challenge, I solicited her help in planning, shopping, and preparation. Together, we made a great team! Our final menu consisted of:

Dungeness crab chowder

Roasted beet and hazelnut salad with goat cheese


Salmon Wellington

Garlic mashed potatoes


Brussells sprouts


Multi-grain rolls

And for dessert:
Blackberry crisp with vanilla ice cream

Time for a nap!

Thanksgiving 2010

We were kindly invited to spend Thanksgiving with the Overholsers again this year, and gladly accepted. This was our third year with them, and it's always a real, traditional meal with lots of family - and a few orphans like us!

As befits any true Thanksgiving feast, the table was groaning with the amount of food on it. Besides the requisite turkey and dressing, there were mashed potatoes, gravy (made on site by moi!), corn, sweet potatoes, lots of bread, and pies, pies, and more pies for dessert. I brought a green bean casserole and some Brussells sprouts.

 

I was really afraid the Brussells sprouts would not be appreciated, but I'd just gotten them from my CSA, and they were so beautiful and fresh, I couldn't resist. Turns out everyone loved them - they were so popular, there were none left over! (Larry and the girls liked them so well, I bought more and fixed them again a week or so later.)

One of the Overholser traditions is to play a game after we eat. This year's game was a crazy survival trivia game that we played in teams. Lots of fun while waiting for room for dessert!

Back home, I watched the movie version of Alice's Restaurant. Not that great, but I had to get our tradition of listening to the song in somehow!

Wonderful as it was to avoid the stress of Thanksgiving preparations, I did miss the aroma of roasting turkey wafting throughout the house (and the leftovers), so on the following Saturday, I prepared a turkey breast and all the trimmings just for us. I used some CSA sweet potatoes for my own savory sweet potatoes recipe, and it was pretty yummy.

 








CSA pears contributed to a pear crisp that was great with ice cream. 

 

 Hey, if one Thanksgiving is good, a second has to be even better, right?

Sarah's 17th birthday

Sarah turned 17 on November 14th, and I wasn't here for it!   :-(    I went to Mobile for my mom's 80th birthday (the day after Sarah's), but left Sarah in her dad's and sister's capable hands. They had a lovely dinner at Newport Bay, and plenty of presents to open (compliments of my pre-trip shopping and Emily's wrapping!).

Sarah really wanted to celebrate her day with her friends by attending the opening day of the latest Harry Potter film - Harry Potter and the Deathly Horrors, Part I - and I was home in plenty of time for that event. It opened on the 19th, so we purchased tickets ahead of time and prepared for 7 girls to descend on our home afterward for cake and gifts.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I think they had fun! Happy Birthday, Sarah!