Christmas 2011

Christmas Eve

In part since I would be cooking a large meal the next day, on Christmas Eve Dad, Ben and I went out to Ethiopian food. Ethiopian cuisine is shared communally on a large round platter of spongy bread, and eaten (without silverware) using additional pieces of spongy bread. We tried a range of items by ordering a meat sampler and vegetable sampler, and they were delicious!

Back at home, it was time to open presents by the tree. We ate homemade peppermint bark and drank hot chocolate (served with a candy cane, of course). Amid dinner and presents we found time to discuss such topics as bilingual education and the Post-World War II economy, so all in all a successful evening.

Christmas Day

I was up a bit late Christmas Eve getting things ready, but still got out of bed Christmas morning to go to yoga with mom. It was a very crowded class--Christmas yoga is apparently quite popular--and afterward they served a range of handmade treats.

Back at home, mom had accidentally bought the wrong bag to cook the turkey in, so we had to figure out how to--gasp--cook the turkey without a bag! We stuffed it and covered it in foil, and then began preparing side dishes. Soon Ben and Cindy arrived bearing homemade hummus, which was perfect since we were hungry and the turkey was going to be a few hours. We ate the hummus with vegetables, along with chestnuts, marzipan cookies that I had baked the night before, and gingerbread that I baked that day.

We took a break from cooking to open presents and stockings, which included turmeric powder and sea weed along with dark chocolate (Santa shops at Whole Foods now).

Unfortunately, this engrossed us so completely that we forgot about our goat cheese-stuffed, bacon wrapped prunes in the oven until the fire detector alerted us to the fact that they were ablaze! We managed to save a few, and they were very tasty.

When it was time for Christmas dinner, we enlisted Ben to make gravy from the turkey's juice. Though he had never made gravy before, he rummaged through my spice collection and found what he needed to make the highlight of the meal. We put the gravy on our turkey, mashed potatoes, and stuffing, which we ate along with cranberry sauce and sauteed brussels sprouts.

We had apple betty and sweet potato pie available for dessert, but we had filled up so much on appetizers while waiting for the turkey that we didn't want any, and decided to take them home as leftovers.

By the end we were all pretty tired, but we had had a very enjoyable, relaxed Christmas together.

Christmas 2010

Christmas Eve

I had the living room decorated and ready by Christmas Eve, complete with a pyramid-shaped advent calender and the St. Nicholas that you gave to Mom.

Among the ornaments on the tree were the angels that Mom remembers from her early Christmases.

As well as all of the ornaments that were "mine" growing up, such as those that Kim used to make for each of us every year.

Mom's stocking was there too, ready for filling.

The holiday festivities began with Mom and I meeting up the afternoon of Christmas Eve to pick up the food for the next two days. We felt like traditional Europeans as we went to get the venison at the specialty shop (the same one frequented by Julia Child when she lived in Cambridge), and then to the cheese shop for something to augment the fondue mix.

After food shopping we went to a candlelight yoga class before returning to my place to heat up the fondue.

We enjoyed it so much that we were too full for the chocolate fondue, which we postponed until the next day.

Of course, the night wouldn't have been complete without a lively reading of "'Twas the Night Before Christmas," a family tradition.

Christmas Day

Ben stayed in my living room for the night, so we were both ready when Dad came at 10am the next morning. We had quite the mountain of gifts to get through, so we got right to it.

We went around clockwise, beginning with presents from Dad to us and from us to Dad.

Ben got his first fancy writing pen.

Courtney received a screwdriver set petite enough to accompany her if she is in the Peace Corps.

Meanwhile, when Dad had put together a request list on Amazon's website (where you can list things you might want for others to see), Ben and I had both rushed to get him his helicopter--before he had a chance to figure out which one to keep on the list! Fortunately, returns are easy, so he got to pick his favorite.

We waited until Mom arrived at about noon to open our stockings and exchange presents between siblings. In our stockings were sweet clementines, along with the personalized ornaments that you sent!

I hear that they were your first online purchase, which allowed you to tailor them to our interests.

I love having ornaments that commemorate different occasions, as I think of the memories each year when I put them on the tree.

This is also when we opened the larger of your two lovely packages. We didn't initially realize that the smaller package contained the bookmarks for Karen, but we figured this out just after Dad left and so sent it home still wrapped with Courtney.

Dad left at about 1pm, and we opened presents back and forth with Mom. The piano then called for us to carol for you!

Finally, it was time for dinner. I set the table in Christmas colors, of course, and the day before I had had a chance to purchase flowers from a local flower shop a block down the street. They carry a limited variety but of very high quality; their flowers often last two weeks or more.

I had never cooked venison before, and it was surprisingly difficult to find a consensus online about how long to leave it in. Fortunately, it turned out to be very resiliant; we tried two different cooking methods (on the two different sections of meat), and both turned out very well! We covered the venison in a blackberry sage sauce and served it with leeks and mushrooms sauteed in red wine, warm goat cheese and apple spinach salad, and wild rice.

We thoroughly enjoyed it!

After dinner we had the chocolate fondue, along with many sweet and savory dipping options. We also enjoyed the amazing baklava that Ben had brought (though we had to be careful that Mom didn't abscond with all of it!).

By this time it was late and the hour was near for everyone to return home to their beds, but we certainly had a Merry Christmas.

Post-Christmas

Though we didn't exactly have a white Christmas (only a little snow left from several days before), we certainly had a white day after Christmas--a near-blizzard hit! This is the view from my porch two days after Christmas:

I also set up my new piano bench from Mom, which suits the piano perfectly.

Sitting there, I could play the Chopin Prelude that I learned from your music (just click on the "play" icon in the image to hear it; you may need to turn the volume up fairly loud).

Nights Out

Every winter the graduate school hosts a Waltz, where students dress up and attempt to Viennese while the graduate student orchestra plays classic favorites. Jon took this one of me from the balcony.



This is a photo from last spring when we were celebrating an anniversary. They blew bubbles our way and brought out a frog candle that we had to kiss for good luck.

Thanksgiving 2010

We were so intent on eating the 20+ pound Turkey that we forgot to take pictures until it was time for dessert, but we still had our favorite decorations on the table.


And pumpkin and apple pie to choose from.


Ben, Courtney, mom, Bill (head of the table), my roommate Marie (standing in the bottom photo) and I all enjoyed them with or without vanilla ice cream.

Christmas 2009

For Christmas Eve, Ben, Amy, and Courtney joined me in Somerville for Thai dinner out and then a movie with hot chocolate, popcorn, and some delicious dark chocolate peppermint bark (and apricot nut bark) that Amy made and we all polished off. Courtney then drove back to the house in Acton, while Ben drove Amy home and returned to stay the night with me.

On Christmas day, Ben drove me to the Acton house in the afternoon, where the family festivities began.


Chapter 1: Opening Ceremonies

We arrived to stockings hung with care, and dad soon started a fire to accent them.


All three of us kids still have the stockings that our Aunt Karen made for us when we were very little, but for some reason mine is the only one to have shed letters.


We actually helped decorate the tree on Thanskgiving, but now I added my presents (in silver) to the mix.


Karen loves to set an elaborate table, and so ample dishes and cutlery awaited dinner.




Karen was out picking up Larry (her ex husband, current friend) when we arrived, so Ben, Courtney, dad and I talked over hors d'oeuvres laid out in the living room until Karen and Larry joined us.



Chapter 2: Opening Presents

Once everyone had arrived, we could get down to business and begin gift opening. Since I have traditionally cared most about making the most of the process (and making it organized), I have long been the family present-time organizer. We began with the stockings, which is a free-for-all (all of us simultaneously opening and admiring). As a result, it was all a blur.


Then it was on to the main course: the presents from under the tree. For this section, I pass out gifts in rounds (one for everyone), and then we take turns opening them around the circle.

I'm not sure what Ben is opening here:


But his theme for the day was all things that might maximize enjoyment of his new car, including window scraper and cleaning "sponge."




My main gift was an external hard drive with a terabite (!) of space, but I also received some additional useful gadgets, including an apparently fascinating LED flashlight.



Courtney has some fun and games in her future, one involving magnets, and another that will take advantage of her archery skills.



I gave Ben and Courtney Amazon Gift Certificates, and they returned the favor (sometimes pragmatism trumps creativity).



Karen received a classic pearl earring and necklace set for which she had been hoping, and likewise a Panini sandwhich maker from Williams and Sonoma (a company that apparently has a pineapple theme?--there are tiny ones on the wrapping paper and a pineapple cookie cutter on top) that she dubbed "her dream."




Courtney and Ben got her matching sauces from the same company to "paint the bread" before pressing it in the grill.

Since she owns and loves birds, I got her a multimedia book that features 200 bird calls. There is a page about each bird (organized by area of the world), and then a number on the page that corresponds to the number you select to hear the call.


We inundated my dad with WWII documentaries, mathematical puzzle books, and this fat volume on Einstein:



Meanwhile, my siblings had plenty to chew on.



Chapter 3: Feasting

Dinner was a Cornish game hen for each, plus vegetables, stuffing, and an elaborate salad (including avacado and sunflower seeds). Sadly, we were all too busy consuming to capture the process in images.


Chapter 4: Digesting and Enjoying the New Toys

After dinner, there was much to be done with what we had accumulated.

Courtney and Larry lingered at the table to engage in intellectual discourse,


while Dad and Ben figured out how to reconfigure my new hard drive so that it would work with a Mac computer.



Since Ben had brought his hard drive to watch a movie the night before, once they accomplished this I was able to copy music and movies from his to mine.


After they had sorted out my hardware, Dad helped Ben put his new hubcaps on his car.


Look at the difference!


Hoping for some exercise, I encouraged dad to set up his computer version of dance dance revolution, a game where you follow arrows (which are in time with the music) with your feet.


As we were hopping, Dad took a spare moment to browse his new expert-level sudoku.


And of course, no evening would be complete these days without sharing some of the delightful things we had recently found on YouTube.



Chapter 5: Pie and Goodbye

Karen had baked an apple pie, and used some cookie cutters to cut out apple shapes on the top crust. She had also picked up a vegan raspberry chocolate cake at Whole Foods (friendly to her lactose intolerance since vegans avoid dairy).

After dessert and more congenial lounging, we finally headed out late into the night. Ben drove himself back to Amherst, and Dad and Karen returned Larry and me. And to all a good night.