Christmas Day

In December of 1998, I cut out a recipe from Gourmet Magazine for a Chocolate-Orange Buche de Noel. It eventually gained the status of being my favorite (I've tried so many!) and I've come back to it again and again. It's both delicious and fun to make, especially now, when the many required steps can be spread out over Christmas Day, because the farmhouse doesn't really fill with the giggles and excitement of the little ones until in the afternoon, when the horse knows the way to lead the sleigh and to grandmother's (and Ed's) house they go. Well, no sleigh on this warmish day. But the spirit is the same: I cook, bake, prepare, they come.

First then, Ed and I have our moments together. Starting with very early in the morning, when we wake to the ringing of the phone -- our internet repair person has come to work on, well, everything! The wires had been dug up and replaced yesterday and some gizmo still had to be installed and then for good measure the modem was replaced. Ed swears that all that extra work was for nothing -- it was likely JUST the failed modem that caused the outage, but the guy last night was probably woozey from fog and interrupted holiday cheer and so he missed the modem check. Now we have wires outside that need to be dug in (running underneath my Big Flower Bed), but they wont do that until May because, well, the season for digging has ended. But but but... my flowers! I will worry about that in May. For now, we have internet and Ed is out there burying at least some of the wire, in places where we may otherwise trip over it.

(Dance and I wait for him to come in for breakfast) 

And then we eat. Pannetone. Ed will probably never warm up to this Italian sweet bread, but I am so reminded of yeasty breads with raisins from my home country that I forgive the unfortunate resemblance that it has to a fruitcake. And the one I bought this year only has raisins, so we're good.

And now comes dinner prep and buche making... Finished just minutes before the young family arrives. Only "the dusting of snow" remains.

Here they come, each carting a toy or two from the morning's faves.

I'm ready for them!  No, I did NOT wrap the skis! I love Christmas wrappings, but I have my limits.

They of course spot the skis instantly and they cannot believe they have their own skis!

Sparrow is the expert unwrapper.

Sandpiper discovers his love for the jumparoo... just as his sibs once did! (Indeed, it's their old toy).

So much excitement! Too much excitement?

Happy, happy day! 

(Playing restaurant -- always a favorite game, even though one has to think Sparrow remembers none of his restaurant outings from before the pandemic...)

Dinner's almost ready! Just a few cheese-and-crackers to stave off hunger... (Sparrow is a real cheese aficionado -- loves aged cheddar and soft ripened brie or a d'affinois)

Dinner is a simple roasted chicken, the kind you find everywhere in France (if you dont have a rotisserie at home, you can make do, as I did, by buttering the bird, seasoning it well, then simply baking it at 400 for an hour) plus the horribly fussy Hasselback potatoes (baked in a cheesy sauce) because my daughter loves them so. (Plus a veggie and a salad because I love me my greens!)

And of course the buche, being dusted here with "snow."

 

Sandpiper loves the orange whipped cream inside....

 

As I clear the table, Snowdrop gets very curious about the telescope launched today. Ed is full of explanations and videos...

And soon after, it's time for them to go home. But wait, I want a picture of me and with the kids!

And here's where we get ambitious... Do you think we can pull off one with the kids and the parents and me? Ed is happy to do the camera work and considering the lateness of the hour and the number of little guys below the age of photo patience, I think we did remarkably well!

Such a day! 

I truly hope yours, too was full of color and light and love, no matter how you feel about this particular holiday. We all need color and light and love. There's never too much of any of it. Really, never.

Merry Christmas, in these last minutes of the day... Merry Christmas.

With love...