Tag: Christmas

Seasons

Once more, with pictures

 

We started the day with stockings. Stockings, in my world, must be opened before breakfast, with everyone in their jammies. It’s a warm and cozy tradition, with the smell of Christmas coffeecake wafting from the kitchen. This coffeecake equals Christmas. I only make it once a year. I can’t have Christmas without it. Buttery brioche pieces dunked in more butter and rolled in cinnamon and sugar and baked in a ring over caramel sauce. Mmmmm… And this is where we deviated from tradition. It’s a mostly vegetarian house; while Caitlyn and I might eat some meat on occasion, apart from …

Seasons

Favorite Moments

 

…never feeling panicked about how the flow of Christmas Day was going… …Caitlyn being so very enthusiastic about her presents but nearly always remembering to say “Thank you” without prompting… …my guests declaring they might never order tiramisu at a restaurant again, since it wouldn’t possibly measure up to what I made… …and the best one: Caitlyn giving me a star sticker for a job well done: “You did a really good job cooking, Mama.”

Seasons

(Almost) First Christmas Tree

 

This is the first year we’ve bought a tree for Christmas. There’s only been one Christmas since Caitlyn was born that we stayed at home, and getting a tree never made much sense those years. The year we didn’t travel, we decorated the Norfolk Island Pine (which still needs a new home); it made a strange-looking Christmas tree and it meant that Christmas more or less got confined to the sunroom. Not the most ideal set up. We don’t have a large house, though, so finding a tree that wouldn’t render the living room unlivable for the next three weeks …

Caitlyn, Seasons

Inventing Traditions

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I enjoyed Christmas as a kid – what child doesn’t like presents and a party? But it’s only recently (yes, and belatedly) occurred to me that I haven’t really done anything to make sure Caitlyn will be able to say the same in 20 years. Traditions, apparently, don’t make themselves. After moving out for college, I always went back home for Christmas. I wasn’t responsible for shaping the holiday there, and by then the patterns were pretty much set. When we didn’t go to my family’s home, Ian and I went somewhere else where we still weren’t responsible, leaving the …

Caitlyn, Seasons
 

Sometimes Caitlyn likes to read (she turns the pages and makes up a story which may or may not have anything to do with the pictures she’s looking at) to me at bedtime, instead of the other way around. Last night, it was The Legend of Lao Tzu and the Tao Te Ching, complete with special appearances by Pooh, Cinderella, Christopher Robin, and several cats. Tonight, she opted just to sing along with her lullaby: “Rock-a-bye-baby cradle of leavesSing me lullaby of dweamsTuck clouds under my chinBlow that moon out – pfoo – please.” She’s not in tune or on …

in the kitchen, Seasons
 

We hosted the Christmas festivities this year, something we’ve never done before. Here’s what I learned: three pies is excessive for eight people calculate serving portions based on the weight of the chicken breasts, not on the number of chicken breasts if serving a large breakfast to the assembled masses, reduce the scale of dinner – don’t overstuff everyone twice hot spiced cider may have been more popular than wine at 4pm when menu planning, figure out not only how much of what ingredients to have, but also plan baking times so that you don’t end up with a completed …