Christmas feasting

 

We stayed put this year for Christmas, meaning we did not go back to New England to spend the holiday with family. We kept things very low key with just the two of us. This kind of Christmas is always lovely in its own way, but staying here and not spending the holiday with family always leaves me feeling restless and longing for new traditions. I think it's also part of getting older and realizing that Christmas will never have the same kind of magic as when we were kids - until you have your own kids and can live it vicariously. So for those of us too old to feel the magic and who do not have kids, I guess you have to create your own kind of Christmas magic.

This year I had lots of time on my hands and decided to plan a bunch of new recipes to try for Christmas day. Meal planning is one of the things I do for fun - nerd alert! I also really enjoy all the Christmas programming on NPR, so I had myself a grand old time, spending hours in the kitchen, listening to the programs and working on the new recipes (double nerd alert!). 

This was the first Christmas away from family that I felt very content and fulfilled (despite missing everyone back in New England tremendously). I think I finally found a new Christmas tradition worth holding onto.

Some of the fruits of my labor - from top to bottom: Aperol and Prosecco cocktails; beautiful brine for the chicken (from here); quick preserved lemons (from here); cheddar and canadian bacon strata (not my favorite, but satisfying - from here); sticky toffee pudding (from here - fantastically good!); preparing for Christmas dinner; seasonings for pan-fried butterflied whole chicken (for instructions, see here); roasted carrots with lavender honey; Voila - Christmas dinner. 

Also consumed, but not pictured: Lindemans Frambois Lambic; Rose Cava cocktails; hot mulled cranberry cider with rum; Mom's egg nog cookies and Chex Mix; Evan's Mom's sweet pickles; Jen's toffee candy; fingerling potatoes with shallot butter (again, not my favorite, but was really good once I turned it into smashed potatoes by adding lots of cream and butter! - from here). 

And yet, still no need for Tums (though definitely a need for a trip to the gym). :)

Merry Christmas, and happy feasting to you!

xoxo

Sully & Otto's Christmas morning

It started out like any other Sunday morning at our house - me awake and ready to get up before the boys. Unlike children of the 2 legged variety, these kids don't seem to understand that you are supposed to wake up at sunrise - sometimes before - sneak downstairs to make sure Santa came and survey the loot, and stomp around the house making lots of noise to wake up mom and dad to get the present opening rampage started. 

Maybe its because, in people years, Sully is about to turn 35 and Otto is almost 14 - too old and jaded to believe, maybe. 

 So I got up, snuck downstairs, and made sure Santa had in fact left the boys something special. He did. 

I stuck the treats up high in the tree to make things interesting.

Much sniffing and snuffling ensued, trying to find the package containing the source of the delicious smell of tiny, meaty gingerbread men.

Sully gives up, as Otto keeps searching. 

After giving up, patiently waiting for me to stop being cruel.

Ahh, so worth the wait. 

Otto sporting his new winter fleece. 

Merry Christmas!!

xoxo

Sully & Otto

twinkles vs. man flu

A tree full of sparkles and baubles, full view of neighbors' festive outdoor lights display, mug of hot mulled cranberry cider, dog at my side, and great recipes aplenty for Christmas dinner planning - sick husband aside, I'm feeling quite blessed this Christmas Eve Eve Eve.

I hope that you too are finding some peace and calm during this frenzied time of year. 

xoxo

(PS - speaking of a sick husband .... ladies, it's that time of year - my Christmas gift to you: watch this and read this thoroughly.)

o christmas tree

This weekend we had the privilege of getting our Christmas tree from our friend Dave's family farm in Orangeville, New York - a bit less than an hour southeast of Buffalo. Orangeville is home to many an iconic red barn, old cemetery, rolling hills of farmland and deer grazing in fields immediately along the road. 

The farm has a chicken coup, apple orchard, cider press, woods full of maple trees, a gorgeous creek lined and flanked by shale (complete with deep swimming holes and a very convenient adjacent grass clearing for a colony of tents...) and a patch of evergreens that were planted years ago for the purpose of providing family and friends with Christmas trees. 

The weather was perfect. Having no snow yet in Buffalo, it was a treat to see just a bit on the ground - enough to make everything that much more Christmasy and beautiful, but not enough to make it difficult to trek through the woods to the evergreen patch. The sun was out, and the air was crisp but not too cold for one wee two month old's first hike, in the most adorable little bear romper outfit ever. Eli, you handled the great wintery outdoors like a champ!

And our friend Dave, a brewer at Naked Dove brewery in Canandaigua, New York, kindly brought along a growler of their porter - a wholly appropriate brew for drinking in the woods at 11 am. 

 Posing with our tree!

This is the first year that we've had a tree with this shape - not the super dense conical shaped tree we normally get at the nursery around the corner from us. It made hanging the lights a little more challenging, but I love how I could hang ornaments all over the tree - close to the trunk and on the outer edges. It is my favorite Christmas tree yet!

It was by far the loveliest time we've ever had fetching a Christmas tree - can't thank Chrissy and Dave enough for inviting us along for the adventure!