1. Our family Christmas celebration began around 10:30 this morning with brunch at Carol's. Christy made a delicious breakfast casserole featuring elk sausage and she brought some pumpkin and banana bread one of Everett's daughters had given her. The Deke made a terrific fruit salad and we were all offered a morning champagne cocktail called a Poinsettia and Paul and Carol had a generous pot of Christmas blend coffee ready to drink.
2. It was fun, then, going around the room opening gifts. All kinds of fun surprises emerged: a sewing machine, yarn, books, Carol giving Paul a book of coupons representing twelve ideas for dates over the next year, blouses, shirts, hats, a milk frother, knitted neck warmers, jigsaw puzzles, bottles of wine, truffles, and a variety of other thoughtful presents spread out among the ten of us. I am looking forward to reading and cooking out of the cookbook Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat that Christy and Everett gave me. Maybe one day I'll wear my new Hill St. Depot T-shirt while redeeming our Radio Brewing gift certificate. I think the bottle of Merlot might pair well with my birthday dinner on Wednesday, the 27th, and I look forward to enjoying the bottles of 208 Session Ale from Grand Teton Brewing. I have hot chocolate to enjoy, chocolate truffles to eat and share, beer bread to bake, and pictures of Christy and Everett to hang on our wall or display another way along with a gorgeous calendar that Christy made.
3. We all took it easy in our own ways in the afternoon: naps, knitting, jigsaw puzzle, listening to classic rock, setting up the Harry Potter version of Clue, reading. Around five o'clock we got together again at Carol and Paul's and dove into the leftovers from our Cuban Christmas Eve dinner and our brunch. I worked on trying to figure out what I'd like for my birthday dinner and, by the time the Deke and I returned home, I had it figured out. I know I want cornbread and then I thought that since we have a lot of black bean soup left over from Christmas Eve, we can have that soup and cornbread with salad and I asked for some kind of a cinnamon cake for dessert. Now we just need to know who will participate and, once we know that, whose house will host my birthday dinner.
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