We had a very nice Christmas.
We had 9 people staying over, which was a bit more than usual, but we got through it without any fights or problems. We ended up doing our usual surf and turf Christmas dinner, and I didn’t overcook or undercook the prime rib, which was a miracle.
I had to pay my bread roll tax, however. Thanks to the spectacular bread machine, I have become very proficient with various artisan breads. I use the machine to make the dough, and then I bake everything in the oven. French bread, ciabatta, wheat bread, if it’s rustic, I’ve got it covered.
The bread rolls are my kryptonite. No matter how hard I try, they do no turn out. I’ve come to the conclusion that this is the holiday tax I must pay to the universe, so I faithfully make them and then serve the Hawaiian rolls I bought as a back up.
Special mentions must be made to Kid 1’s delicious mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, and her sweet potato casserole, which were smashing hits.
Also, the whole smoked turkey from Sams went over really well. It was delicious and not dry at all.
Everyone socialized and played games. There was a lot of talking and warmth. And of course, there were gifts.
I had requested a smaller Christmas this year. My wishes were soundly ignored. I’m now a proud owner of creams, masks, and perfume from my children. They bought me yarn and an incense burner, which almost made me cry. When I was in my twenties, I used to really love the cheap dragon-shaped, cheesy looking incense burners, and they would always end up destroyed somehow until I finally gave up on them. Kid 2 remembered, and she and her guy bought me one just like it.
Gordon got me something special, too. I really love it, but I’m going to keep it to myself. Heh.
This year people sent us gifts baskets. Some were from friends and family – Jeaniene Frost sent me a massive amount of nuts, and I’m low key wondering if she’s trying to tell me something – but some we didn’t recognize. Here is a picture of some of the loot.
Thank you so much. We really appreciate it. In the future though, unless you are friends, family, or a publishing professional, please don’t send us goodies. We can’t reciprocate and it makes us feel guilty. Thank you for respecting out wishes.
Well, this concludes our Christmas post. The house is almost back to normal. Guests are mostly departed, and we will be back to work shortly. We have a week until New Year to sort out the bag calamity, get the Kate series Bible to GA, and plan the work schedule for the next few months.
I worked. Hospitals never close. Then home to watch movies with my dogs.
Yay, Christmas Loot! Merry Xmas to House Andrews & a Happy New Year 🙂
Sounds like a lot of very nice holidays. We also had a very nice day, two out of three kids were home. Our oldest is in MI and lives with my sister so they had a nice snowy Christmas. My husband monitored the prime rib on his smoker and it turned out perfect. We had my brother and his family for dinner as usual and good time by all.
I was supposed to fly out on Christmas day*. My flight was cancelled. From everything I heard about the chaos at the airport, staying in my sunny cottage with my cats a couple of extra days was a blessing. So I took a long hot bath while listening to audiobooks, and used the orange cocoa butter sugar scrub. And listened to audiobooks. Then I ordered scallion pancakes, spicy string potatoes, and dumplings, and stuffed myself. After that, a nap with my cats, and then an evening of spinning.
I’ve spent a few days getting things done (but, uh, not revising my syllabus yet) and will fly out tomorrow. I’m looking forward to cooking for my sister and her partner – shredded chicken, for certain, probably crepes one of the mornings (and maybe eggs benedict another?) and the rest of it will probably depend on what meat my sister has on hand. Lamb, most likely…
And the itty bitty espinner that I ordered off kickstarter came! So I go it working, and now I can spin on the plane, and spin at my sister’s. The bobbins are only 2 ounces, but then apparently the 8 oz skeins of lace weight I’ve been spinning her are kind of hard to manage, so spinning and plying little skeins might be a help.
I was listening to Iron and Magic again, and remembered how much I enjoy Hugh’s character.
* I’m more of a solstice girl. Fares are cheap and airports quiet on Christmas, usually… and if I leave late, I can often connect with people who were out of town before I need to go back.
I am glad you had a plentiful Christmas. I must warn you to beware of the nuts. I love nuts! But they are hard on my toilet.
Regarding the gifts from the readers, they are trying to recipicate the gift of your writing. You bring us so much joy, we want to give you something in return. You have touched us all and brought us new worlds of wonder. And carried some of us through hard times.
I received my dream of dragons sweatshirt and I love it!! When I read the quote the first time it reminded me of my younger self’s belief and love of dragons. It says everything about their magic.
Glad You had a good Christmas! But don’t feel guilty about accepting gifts. The gift of your writing blesses everyone evry day of the year.
That being said : I didn’t send you a Christtmas gift. And I don’t feel guilty because I read and re-read your books often throught the year ( accepting your gifts to me)
Kate series Bible? Where? Will this be accessible to the BDH someday?
Sorry, brain went on a little vacation at the very thought. I am glad you had a fun Christmas. We hosted, too, but not nearly so many people so it was fairly quiet aside from noise created by the grandbaby enjoying the toybox we keep here for her.
Just wanted you to know that I discovered a Japanese milk bread recipe that makes phenomenal rolls. I double the recipe and make each roll 125 gm and it makes 12 ginormous rolls
s dnem rozhdeniya zavtra!
I am so loving these comments!! And hearing about Christmas experiences!
My most amazing and wonderful husband got me a gladius. A true live steel gladius! I’ve been wanting one for a while, but didn’t want to spend the money now, especially when it is something I’m not likely to actually need for real life. It is funny, I feel like Catalina channels my younger self. I don’t have the magic, of course, but her affinity for weapons is remarkably similar. And my husband and I have already discussed a weapons wall in our next home. Ummm, perhaps I should mention (before you think I am totally nuts) that I have trained for many years in martial arts, especially with edged weapons. The important thing is he knew it was important to me, even though impractical, and he loves me so much. This seemed like an appropriate post, not something I would put up elsewhere. Life is good.
My husband got me a t-shirt proclaiming me a member of the Book Devouring Hoard! He saw me mooning over the store! So he also helped crash the site. 🙂
I was hoping to buy that same decorative cookie chest shown in your picture. However, the shop was out of them. Chocolate covered gingerbread cookies are a tradition for us at Christmas.
There is a web site for the Nuremberger Lebkuchen: https://www.lebkuchen-schmidt.com/en/nuremberg-gingerbread/
I’m American living in Stuttgart Germany (my American house is in San Antonio, TX … gotta love HEB). I bought four different cookie chests for my family and shipped them back to the U.S. Also, I bought the contents of one of the chests for myself. I have access to US Postal services on an Army base, so shipping was reasonable.