Christmas was a great day celebrating with family, drinking great scotch and champagnes, and eating, eating, eating. Appetizers were different types of noodles, a ham, dumplings, and pizza bread. It was hard to believe we still had to eat dinner in a little while.
It takes a small village to prepare the food.
My sister and her new husband, Mike, just got back from their honeymoon in Machu Picchu and were showing us their amazing pictures from their trip. They went on this fancy 10 day hiking tour where horses carried their luggage up the mountain. They announced right before dinner they were having a baby! So excited for them!
My cousin, David, taught the girls how to pillow tackle.
Then he spun them on the floor. He was a huge hit with the girls.
When we were in Boston for a family trip a couple months ago to visit my sister, we went to a churrascaria, Brazilian BBQ. This inspired my brother to put one of the prime ribs on the fire pit.
He is semi-obsessed with the fire pit so he also cooked the paella on it.
Doesn’t this look so yummy.
Aunt Martha and cousin James were in charge of adding the breading on the baked clams. This was our between appetizer and dinner snack.
For dinner we had prime rib two ways, BBQ’d and roasted. This was the roasted version.
Perfectly cooked paella.
And Aunt Alice’s corn casserole, Chinese leafy green vegetables, salad, and mashed potatoes. It was an amazing spread.
I lost a little bit control when plating my food. It was just a mess because I had so much on it.
Everyone feasted.
This was the kids table. It was a true kids table, two folding tables pushed together and covered with a table cloth. I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.
After dinner we opened presents. The girls helped hand them out. It took longer then normal because they would forget who it was for, or got side tracked and went to get one of Aunt Alice’s famous chocolate covered pretzels.
I love matching the girls. When is it not cool to do this? I don’t want to leave emotional scars on my children.
My Dad only gives us functional gifts. Our stockings had gum and a flash drive. And my sister got new windshield wipers!
After we opened gifts, all of the cousins got together to decide which charity we would donate to. A few years ago, we decided to make a donation to a charity instead of exchanging gifts. We propose charities to donate to and then vote. This year my cousin, Karyn’s, charity, Soil Born Farm, won.
Even though we were all still full, dessert was served.
I, of course, had a piece of my Aunt Alice’s chocolate cake. She only makes this once a year on Christmas and it is always delicious. She also makes the most amazing cream puffs.
I hope you also enjoyed your Christmas. Do you eat as much as we do?
Still full,
Chrissy xo