This Christmas: the best food we have ever eaten; a frenzy of presents; hilarity. Stories galore.
It was our first Christmas together, the Chef and I. My family adores him. My mother adores his cooking. I can't believe my luck, again and again. We just couldn't stop giggling.
Certainly, my dear nephew Elliott was the star of the show. My favorite moment is when he opened his plastic, pretend chainsaw, which Santa brought him. A few weeks earlier, he had cried when Daddy said it was too expensive to buy. After his initial surprise and delight, he looked up from his chainsaw and said, "But I think this is too expensive for Santa, too."
Oh, that kid.
Prime rib with veal stock-port-balsamic reduction sauce. Roast pork loin with mustard sauce. Gluten-free bread. Fingerling potatoes roasted in duck fat.Sugar cookies. Chocolate blocks. Ginger bites.
Oh, and some hilariously competitve games of Apples to Apples
I could go on and on, but I must go back to the book. I'm writing it for all of you reading.
We hope your holidays have been restful, and filled with the delight of a little guy discovering that it is finally, actually Christmas morning.
15 comments:
I can't believe you played Apples to Apples, I love that game. I've been telling everyone I know about it and they are clueless that it exists.
Merry Holidays...and Beaucoup d'amour!
Yay, your holiday sounds fabulous! I echo Alison's comment about Apples to Apples; we played it, too! My mom won with hoots of triumph, which was great. At the end, we pretend that the cards we won were self-descriptions, and I was absurd, meek, delicate, and glorious! My dad was sexy. :)
Good luck finishing up your book!
I also played Apples to Apples on Christmas with my little nieces/nephews and family! This game is apparently sweeping the nation.
What is Apples to Apples?
Sounds like you had fun and the food sounds delicious. Ypu could almost tempt me away from the turkey!
yum... I love potatoes in duck fat!! Have you found a place in Seattle to buy duck fat? Or is it left over from some duck?
Looks like you've had a wonderful Christmas! Thanks for sharing the pictures:) Have a wonderful New Year!!
Shauna - I just stumbled across your blog - we must be running in parallel universes! I live in Seattle too. Four years ago I fell (madly, absurdly, permanently) in love with a gluten free man. Food is love in my family, and my culinary background is italian, and lots of baked goods. Gluten bombs are prevalent. I remember the first thing I cooked for him - the winning key lime pie recipe I'd tested with 3 others a few years back with my coworkers. When I presented it to him, he bowed his head - "Oh doll. I can't eat that. Well, maybe I can scrape out some of the filling." We married last year. He loves food as much as I do, and together we've experimented our way along and have had a ton of fun re-inventing our food life together. We've tested all the prepared stuff (a good selection in our foodie city), and have a decent cookbook or two. But we're fussy. I've tuned a few fabu baked good recipes, but crave more. So I'm thrilled to have found your site. I'm trying the chocolate financiers and the lemon olive oil cookies first. We can't wait to see your book, and would be thrilled to help you 'test' any new inventions. Seriously. Christine & Pete
Your Christmas sounds wonderful. We spent Christmas with our nephews, ages 3 and 5, for whom Christmas is magical.
I hadn't heard of Apples to Apples, but now want to try it. The game of the moment here is Tier auf Tier, which both boys and adults love.
Sending lots of good writing thoughts your way for the next few days.
Christmas sounds like it was wonderful! I am so happy for you and the Chef. We had a gluten-free, dairy-free ham with an o.k. glaze (will work on for next year), gf/df mashed potatoes, gf/df green beans, and of course gf/df homemade xmas cookies. Sending good writing vibes your way!
So glad 2006 was such a great year for you and I'm equally sure 2007 will be even better!
All the best.
Happy Holidays! Happy Writing!
Paz
I absolutely love your blog – I'm a sucker for three things in life: love, food and humor (of which Apples to Apples always brings). Happy New Year!
Happy New Year!
I've been gluten-free since last January so this was my first holiday season as a diagnosed celiac.
My whole Italian family gave me so much grief over not eating the artichoke casserole or the stuffing or the gravy or the baked macaroni...AARGH!! I kept hearing "can't you just eat it this once?" or "This only has a little breadcrumbs, it won't hurt you."
How do you deal with that?
For New Year's dinner...I'm cooking. I've invited the whole family for Butternut Squash Bisque, Corned beef brisket, smothered cabbage and black eyed peas with corn bread and they'll never believe it's all gluten-free. Especially when I bring out the blackberry cheesecake!
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