How was your day? I’m pooped (and a bit hungover). Todd and I spent Christmas Eve with his family and Christmas afternoon with mine. I got some totally fabulous gifts, including every book from my Amazon wish list!
- Gourmet Today (I might need to pull a Julie/Julia and make every recipe).
- Ad Hoc at Home (amazing, I recommend, and Todd’s brother-in-law had to hit three stores to find it).
- Fish Without a Doubt, a book about sustainable fish, with recipes.
- Shop America, this totally rad book about mid-century storefront design.
- A book about the elements, which is super cool.
- The Elegance of the Hedgehog, Three Cups of Tea, Why We Buy and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.
- A donation in my name to Planned Parenthood.
- A gift certificate to my favorite restaurant.
- A gift certificate to my salon.
- A stocking full of goodies.
- Coffee from Peet’s and Stumptown.
- An electric toothbrush!
I bought Todd a book about restaurant and bar design (his fantasy job) and a weekend trip to San Luis Obispo, where he went to college. He’s been dying to take me there since we started dating, so I bought us train tickets and we’re staying at a B&B. We bought his sister books on green home remodeling, his brother-in-law a sweater from J Crew and their new baby, Alma, some perfect classic letter blocks (perfect for a family who loves Boggle and Scrabble). His dad got a bottle of Johnnie Walker Black and a book about our national parks. His mother got a Build-A-Bear (I can now confess, this is where I was interviewing for a director position, and I had built a bear while visiting a store) and a scarf. For my family, we draw names, and I got my mother. She also got an electric toothbrush :-)
On Christmas Eve, Todd’s dad made this fabulous pork tenderloin with a pomegranate sauce, asparagus and a barley risotto with wild mushrooms. We had a great bottle of wine that my boss gave me for the holidays.
I made some great appetizers to bring to my family’s house–asparagus wrapped with prosciutto (and pan fried), polenta with carameized onions and sausage and baked brie with mushrooms. My family is INSANE with the food, it’s a wonder we’re not obese. My uncle, the meat lover, made two turkeys (one deep fried) and two hams. He is the master ham griller. In any case, we have a lot of leftovers.
Of course, I didn’t take any photos. New year’s resolution number one, take more photos for the blog!
I did receive a book that I already own, The Road. It’s amazing, albeit a bit of a downer. Instead of returning it, I figured I’d just do another giveaway. Let me know how your Christmas went in the comments and it may be yours. I will draw a winner in the new year.
xoxo
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Sounds like you had a fantastic Christmas! For me the holiday is always great when the whole family gets together. This year, it was just us= my mom, dad, and sister. We slept in and woke up to a not-so-white Christmas. It was actually drizzling rain! I took my puppy for a long walk then came back in to start the food madness at my house.
I spent the entire day in the kitchen. I had been so inspired from the movie Julie & Julia from a couple nights before that I ended up helping with a lot of the cooking on Christmas day. I whipped up some Ricotta Pancakes (Giada de Laurentiis recipe) for breakfast. They were a hit for sure.
I blogged about Christmas dinner on my Tumblr, watched all my favorite Christmas movies on television, and ate all the delicious dessert after it was all over.
My friend dropped by for a taste of my mother’s famous cakes. We played a round of UpWords (we love word games) and then went out to a late night screening on It’s Complicated. The movie was a fantastic ending to a “Just Us” Christmas. I came home and pulled on my new pajamas, which were at the top of my wish list this year, and into the flannel covers. It was a fantastic Christmas.
Elegance of the Hedgehog and the Girl with a Dragon Tattoo are on my reading list, too! Along with Pride and Prejudice and Zombies – I have heard it is campy fun.
Your Christmas sounded lovely. Ours was quiet, just me and the man and the pups. We did cioppino on Christmas Eve and yesterday we lounged in pajamas with coffee and Bailey’s while opening gifts. I got new shearling-lined boots for the nasty weather, a necklace and ring from J.Crew and a gift certificate to Blue Mercury from the husband and some work clothes from my parents and sisters.
Today is a cleaning kind of day, but I think I will tackle a baking project later tonight – cardamom coffee cake. Your appetizers sounded tasty!
Your resolution is a good one; I’m awful at taking pictures, too. I need to think on my resolutions…
Merry Christmas everyone!
Sounds like everyone had a lovely day, so nice to hear.
I’m in Australia and was looking forward to a really hot sunny day, but it rained. It was just my mum, sister and I this year, on Christmas eve I made Bloody Mary’s and we played Uno. On Christmas day we stayed inside and watched 3 seasons of 30 Rock. It was pretty fun.
We made LOADS of food but the highlight is definitely the Coke baked ham I made, it is a Nigella Lawson recipe. It took about3.5 hours, in the end though the ham was so tender and beautiful, I will be making it again for sure.
The mere fact that nothing went horrifyingly wrong made it a great Christmas, by comparison to my history of holidays.
My Christmas was simple, but that’s exactly how I like it. Friends, food, family and wine = perfection. But now I’m battling a head cold, so I just need to get over that before the New Year!
Have so much fun in SLO! The Central Coast is my favorite part of California. Stop in Pismo Beach if you get the opportunity!
Your Christmas sounds lovely. I had a wonderful Christmas with my family/late Hanukkah celebration with my husband’s family. I got lots of great clothes that I can massage in and a bunch of stuff for my new massage studio. My mom got me some fabulous boots and a great new coat. Most importantly, I ate lots of fantastic food! Have a wonderful New Year!