Christmas

Another Christmas has come and is just about gone.

Today was a fairly quiet affair with just family for much of it.  The girls emptied their Christmas stockings in the morning. Then we had a kind of a French toast casserole for breakfast. This was followed by the unwrapping of gifts.

The girls got a number of little trinkets, clothing items, books, and games. A couple of the games were ones I purchased at a bookstore when we were in Juneau. The clerk said they were good, and we were not disappointed. Both girls got new capes from their grandmother in Oregon. Their old ones had long since become too small and worn out.

“I” got Elise a Norwegian sweater. I say “I” because I don’t do clothes shopping. Yesterday, when Elise was out, she found the sweater, half off, and called me saying it would be a gift from me if I wrapped it. Okay, sounds good to me! I also got a little space heater so that she could keep warm in the guest bedroom, which also serves as a sewing room and a nap room.

The neat item that I got was a hydroponics garden kit – AeroGarden – with an add-on kit of Japanese herbs. It’s a good thing I didn’t pick one up for myself or for Amy. I had looked at it and thought about it.

We had a couple from church over for dinner this evening. The menu was…

• Garlic and herb roasted prime rib
• Potato and mushroom gratin
• Braised greens (red chard & mustard greens)
• Dinner rolls
• Spiced cranberry sauce
• Green salad
• Apple-cranberry mocktail
• Deep-dark chocolate cookies
• Apple pie (courtesy of Mrs. Smith)
• Vanilla ice cream

Elise and I baked the cookies two nights ago. I started preparing the prime rib last night. The gratin was done this morning. The rest was put together this afternoon, while the prime rib was roasting in the oven. After that came out and the oven freed, the dinner rolls went in, the pie went in, and the gratin went in for reheating.

Everything came together right on schedule. We had dinner, dessert, and Elise didn’t have to rush too badly to get to work.

CLICK HERE for photos from my birthday, a backyard snow scene, and unwrapping of gifts today.

[Edit: Added 11:20 pm]

I forgot to mention that I used my new filet knife to carve the prime rib. Even though the blade isn’t long enough to be considered a carving knife, it worked very well for getting the meat off the bones. It’s slenderness and sharpness were fantastic.