Post Christmas
Christmas is over for another year. We were hit with a major blizzard that started Christmas Eve and lasted until Boxing Day. I didn’t mind. I like being cozy with nowhere to go. Unfortunately, my eldest son got stuck in a snow drift on his way to see us. It was a big drift across the main road into our community. A lot of cars got stuck, but a lot of people were helping each other out. It’s a good community sometimes.
It was a nice Christmas. We had family come to stay for several days, so it felt like every day was Christmas, which was nice.
I couldn’t find a turkey for our big Boxing Day meal. For about forty years now, my family has been doing appetizers on Christmas Day and the big meal on Boxing Day. Christmas morning comes very early and everyone wants a nap. Plus, everyone nibbles on the goodies from their stockings and presents, and no one is hungry enough for the big meal. So my mom moved the meal to Boxing Day and it’s been that way ever since. Low key Christmas Day with appetizers is great.
I should say, I couldn’t find a reasonably priced turkey. Ten pound turkeys were selling for $50. So I got a hickory ham instead, baked it with a pineapple and brown sugar glaze, and served it with scalloped potatoes, carrots, and my famous Brussel sprouts that even the most stalwart Brussel sprouts haters try and love. I shred them and fry them briefly in bacon fat, add the bacon and fried onions, and finish with a little lemon juice. The key is to undercook them. Brussel sprouts only turn sour when overcooked. (I’ve also come to love eating shredded Brussel sprouts raw and tossed in Rene’s Caesar salad dressing.)
I was spoiled with gifts, as I am every year. Is there anything better than warm socks?
Even Freya gave the whole family the gift of a new vacuum cleaner, which we really needed. The old vacuum is really old and falling apart. I doubt they make replacement parts for it. The new one is a much better vacuum, smaller, not as heavy, and designed to handle pet fur. Great Pyrenees shed a lot.
And now it’s back to work.
