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hoping for peace for the holidays

holiday lights across our back fence, and the full moon above.

 

unpacked the mid-century modern / flamingo holiday house from past Christmases.

 

World Market had a gingerbread kit available this year, to continue the theme!  most items were in the kit, but I had to craft the flamingo lawn figures myself!

 

Craig got a beautiful lasting wreath for the front door.

 

then he spent a couple weekends putting out the front yard decorations.

Chanukah

 

     I started lighting the chanukiah at home, but then had to spend several days in the bay area for work.  for the eighth night I made it back home again. 

 

     while the band concert was postponed one week, I still got to see Janet play her bass in the strings concert.  unfortunately I couldn't make it back for the Express Band.  they carried on without me. 

 

     I stayed overnight not only for Janet's concert (and to give her her birthday/Christmas gifts) but to attend a team dinner, a team lunch, and our all-division team afternoon social where we had lots of games, including an ugly sweater contest.  for about the sixth or seventh time, I came in "second," because I can never seem to win in any of the categories they always make up the day of the contest.  I do think this is my most favorite of all my ugly sweaters though :-)  

     there was a local shopping center offering holiday carriage rides for a donation to the local animal shelter, so I signed us up for that!  our horses were Lady and Babe, who took a selfie with me at the end. 

   

     lots of cooking happening this month too.  I received the annual festive fruit platter from friends, and used the Asian pear to make a delightful spicey slaw, that we ate with glazed garden carrots, fresh baked bread, and Craig made teriyaki beef slices. 

     I found an inexpensive boneless leg of Australian lamb and made several meals out of that.  started out with roasting it, and making a citrus (from the platter) and pistachio gremolata to top it, sauteed garden chard, and the rest of the Asian pear slaw.  a couple nights later I made a West Indian lamb curry that was amazing. 

  

     to use the leftover apples, citrus and persimmon before they spoiled, I made an air-fried apple filling and put it into hand-pies and a "bubble-up" made with ready-made biscuit bites.  both were delicious and made good use of what we had in the house. 

     I hadn't yet cooked with this shuffle chef, because he's the pastry king, but he was making a meal of cheese souffle AND chocolate souffle for the holidays so I couldn't pass up this chance.  this was a more advanced course, and if I do say so, I passed with flying colors, and got several shout-outs from Chef Jeremy. 

     before the frost hits, I knew we had to pick the rest of the garden produce, which netted us a LOT of carrots.  I glazed a bunch to go with these grilled lamb chops that I smothered in a garlic, thyme and sherry glaze. 

     Christmas Eve morning I made a frittata with SPAM, a garden tomato and sundried tomatoes, two cheeses and a scallion.  I almost forgot to take a picture, and did so after the first serving was taken out. 

     the holidays are for spending time with family, and my family is spread across the US.  my dad's sister Aunt Maddie is on FB so I get to "see" and converse with her regularly, but my mom's sisters are not really FB denizens.  I called them both, Denali then Sylvia, on Christmas Day to wish them well, and spent over an hour talking to them!  I hope it made them feel as wonderful as I felt hearing them <3 

     Craig wanted surf & turf for Christmas dinner.  I served up remoulade to go with the asparagus, and the fresh baked bread was served with herb & garlic butter.  for dessert, I made carrot cake, which had our garden white carrots as the central ingredients, and pecans, so that I can actually eat it!  and the home-made cream cheese frosting always takes it to the next level! 

     getting adventurous again, I tried my hand at making dill pickle potato chips, since it's just too costly to order them from Canada all the time.  I sliced up the cute little rainbow potatoes - yes, there was another mandolin injury - and brined then air-fried them.  they weren't exactly like the ones I love, but they were yummy none-the less! 

     finishing out the year with yet another picture of the peacock morning glories.  here they are on 12.31.23 (waltz day) looking like they're getting ready for winter.  I will have to read up on if they come back in spring, or if I will need to replant.  they were so lovely most of the year! 

     back at the beginning of November I took this sunset photo of the sky over our back yard.  we had a lovely tree barrier between us and neighboring structures.  just before Christmas however the tree saws, bucket trucks and chipper/shredders were busy for several days and removed most of the pines and eucalyptuses.  we hope it was for useful purposes such as tree rot or prevention of damage from falling trees or branches during the expected storm season.   with the changes to our garden and the lack of trees beyond our boundary, it's quite a stark contrast after only seven weeks!

     I had found pink bubbly on one of my excursions into a store before the holidays, so it made an appearance for this night.  Craig made surf & turf again, supplementing it with risotto and sauteed mushrooms, and I made a Calabrian pepper aioli for the asparagus.  scrumptious as usual! 

 

happy new year to one and all!