‘Twas the Day After Christmas and all through the house, not a creature was stirring because we were so stuffed from three days of fabulous fun and food!
The festivities started with the annual Cookie Baking on Sunday. Normally, this happens earlier in the month, but the stars and schedules didn’t quite align earlier.
It’s semi-organized chaos and confusion with two mixers going and constant trays of cookies in and out of the oven. The table is covered with a disposable plastic table cloth and everyone goes wild with the decorations.
We have learned to bake ours at home – in advance – to free up a bit of oven space and time. And at the end of the night, everyone gets to bring home a ton of different cookies!
Totally win-win!
We had a day of rest and then it was Christmas Eve!
Christmas Eve was massive hors d’oeuvres and presents! We used to do a Pollyanna White Elephant, but this year, it was suggested we do a Secret Santa.
It was set up on a website – for free – and people were randomly matched. Folks could list gifts they were interested in and it was set up so spouses couldn’t draw one another. The beauty of it was people actually got things they wanted or could use. I got a 10″ cast iron skillet and Victor got an instant-read thermometer.
Totally cool!
The hors d’oeuvres ranged from lumpia to cheeses, meatballs to chicken wings, filo cups with a tzatziki-type filling, chips, dips, outrageous short ribs…
Yes… as per usual, we ate well.
And 18 hours later, we were back!
Christmas Dinner was a showstopper! Beef Wellington, Garlic Mashed Potatoes, Green Beans, Mixed Green Salad with Pears, Walnuts, and Gorgonzola, and a Chocolate Peppermint Cheesecake, for dessert.
I definitely overindulged, but not to the point of overly-over-stuffing myself. My weight-management class made me more mindful of the totally delicious calories I was consuming and I semi-almost-paid attention. Not an easy thing to do when absolutely everything around you is totally delicious!
You will notice that I completely cleaned my plate!
So… my 73rd Christmas is under my belt – literally. I’m already looking forward to the next one. The Littles will be 5 and we’re going to have TWO MORE Littles – who will be roughly 10 months and six months.
Let the chaos begin!