Noel

Last week was the first time Jon, E and I hosted, and celebrated, Christmas together as a mini family of 3. We had guests over, and that was a whole thing unto itself that I don't feel like going into, but it ended up being an enjoyable two days of celebration and food. For the main entree, we had beef tenderlion that I had ordered from Baumann's the week before. It came pre-seasoned and all there was left to do was cook it. This became tricky of course, when I also had to juggle the other dishes.

For Christmas Eve, the appetizer was Cream of Mushroom soup, while the main was the Tenderloin with Red Wine Gravy, Roasted Veg, Mashed Potatoes, and Shrimp Scampi. Dessert was a Molten Chocolate Lava cake and some Mixed Berries, that came from a box mix we had bought from Sam's Club some time ago. Christmas itself was pretty much the same, except instead of Shrimp Scampi, we had King Crab legs, and Balsamic Vinaigrette Roasted Brussel Sprouts, and I think dessert was Ben and Jerry's ice cream. 

I am now trying to figure out what to make for New Year's Eve. We still have 1 lb of King Crab legs, and I'm hoping that tomorrow I can find a reasonably small sized ham at Aldi. We have some random Charcuterie that I suppose could act as an appetizer, but would that then be too much cured meats? I don't know. Somewhere this week I am also planning to make Sausage Stuffing, since I missed that during Thanksgiving, and perhaps also a Japanese Cheesecake (because I got a weird craving for it a few days ago, and didn't wait to pay $34 for it from a local bakery, although that's still a reasonably good price for a whole cake). 

Anyway, in early December I started work on a Christmas themed cross stitch pattern than spelled out Noel, and right until Christmas night itself I got as far as NOF. As of today I have finally finished the E, so looks like I won't be done with this until the new year. Hopefully it will be a calmer year ahead for all.