What a lovely week and yet…
The news is still shocking and horrifying on the outside while on the inside we are making merry the best we can under the circumstances. Our family holiday was last Sunday. My son and his family, (who have already had covid) came over and my daughter surprised her nieces and nephew by showing up to partake in the festivities… she works from home so we felt fairly safe in her attendance. But honestly, it was all about the grandbabies whom I haven’t seen in months. My son brought eggnog cream brulee, and we had a Christmas ham. The Grande Marnier chocolate cake turned out lovely as did the cream brulee. Highlight of the day was watching my grown children walk like penguins around the kitchen island with the grandchildren. I have no idea why…
Monday was the Solstice which we celebrated with homemade eggnog and Monte Cristos. Mom retired early and hubby and I spent several hours of quiet time reflecting on the year past and what we wanted for the upcoming year. We answered a series of questions and laughed when we answered the very opened ended questions identically. For fun, we counted all the trips made to the Powder House since we bought it in May. All totaled, we made Twenty-two trips either alone or together. That’s a lot of driving!
Tuesday was my birthday and it was spent quietly at home and we had a charcutier dinner with a great bottle of wine. Since it was my birthday, I was in charge of the TV and we binged several episodes of Escape to the Château… I am obsessed with that series. Renovating my 1910 bungalow is nothing compared to renovating a 45 room French Chateau built in 1886!
Last night, I went all out on the food. My daughter and her boyfriend came to celebrate the season… Chris works with the public so om retired to her room to watch movies and we spent most of the time outside at the firepit. I made a coffee/spice rubbed brisket, mashed potatoes and roasted brussels with prosciutto and cranberries. The brisket, served with pomegranate and parsley was amazing. For desert, we had an olive oil walnut cake with crème fraiche and spiced orange syrup. So good. It was cold outside but I decorated the picnic table anyway with greenery and candles. It felt festive, if freezing.
The weird thing this year is no cookies… I haven’t made a single batch. I usually give away a bunch, but I didn’t know if people were doing that during a pandemic, so I switched over to Christmas cakes instead, just for the family. It’s been a fun departure for me and the results have been delicious.
So that is pretty much it. The holidays have been orchestrated from my computer and my kitchen this year. And it’s okay. Happy holidays friends! Be safe, be happy.
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