Mellow Christmas

Merry Christmas! We had quite a different holiday than in years past. Early in the week we decorated cookies with our neighbors. These are good to look at AND delicious to eat, thanks to the classic Cook’s Illustrated recipe for Chewy Sugar Cookies. They aren’t designed to be rolled out and shaped with cookie cutters, but last year I discovered a way to make it work and they are totally amazing. (Secret ingredient: cream cheese!)

On Christmas Eve, we had the neighbors over for tacos and singing carols with advent candles. Having done this with family for many years, it was fun to have friends join in.

On the big day, we had a very chill day, just eating tons of treats and enjoying our presents. We got origami for the whole family, the kids got craft kits, and a couple of jigsaw puzzles. A and J have a sizeable collection of Tiny TY “beanie boos” and this year I gave them an Orca and a Narwhal. Cute! So much delight from a stocking stuffer!

For dinner I made pot roast. Man, was it good. I utilized a new toy (purchased a month or two ago but hadn’t used it yet): an immersion blender! It is the coolest thing. I’d been wanting one for ages, and it made such quick work of blending the cooked vegetables and jus from the pot roast into a smooth gravy. With effortless cleanup. I’m seeing pots and pots of creamy pureed soups in my future.

I also made Braised Red Cabbage from a recent issue of Cook’s Illustrated. Came out pretty good! And a very pretty color.

I am feeling sad that we missed out on the usual visits with our big extended families this holiday season, but I didn’t miss the long drive to California. We did drive up to Vancouver WA to visit my brother and his family and my sister on the day after Christmas. It was so good to be with them, sharing the joy of time with each other and sharing sorrow at missing the others.