Sunday Salon: Post Christmas

View out the back door of the Adams' home, Christmas morning

Weather: Raining and cold. Icky NW weather.

Christmas morning: Two family traditions that can't be missed: 1.  Playing the Halleluiah Chorus (Handel) on the stereo before kids can come downstairs for their stockings. This year our daughter, 24, insisted she couldn't come downstairs until the choir sang but we couldn't find the CD. Eventually I lured her downstairs by singing it myself. :) 2. Eating a big breakfast of crepes with all kinds of toppings and lots of whipped cream. And I mean LOTS of whipped cream this year because one of Don's gifts from me was a Whipped Cream dispenser with CO2 chargers. What fun!

Crepe recipe from the Joy of Cooking, 12th edition, cookbook:
3/4 cup flour, sifted
Resift with:
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking powder
2 Tbsp. powdered sugar
Beat:
2 eggs
Add and beat:
2/3 cup milk
1/3 cup water
1/2 tsp vanilla
Make a well of the dry ingredients. Pour in the liquid ingredients. Combine with a few quick strokes. Ignore lumps, they will take care of themselves. You can rest batter for up to 6 hours. Heat a greased 5 in. skillet and add a small amount of batter. When browned, turn. Serve with jelly, powdered sugar, lemon juice, cinnamon sugar, cherry pie filling, whatever you like. We always double the recipe.

Sunset on Christmas

Christmas Day: We drove toward the mountains to spend the day with our daughter's in-laws, thier family and friends. Rick and Nancy host a huge and elegant meal of prime rib with all the extras. Delicious. This year there was snow on the ground. Our granddog, Luna, had fun chasing snowballs and retrieving them, or attempting to retrieve them. She is so cute.

Luna looking for the snowball

Yesterday: we picked up after ourselves in preparation for the arrival of Don's dad and his wife later in the day. After they arrived, we had a good visit and a delicious Honey-Baked Ham (Thanks, Susie) dinner, which included the apple pie I had made earlier in the week.

Games: One of the best parts of the holiday season is playing games together. This year Carly got a few new games. Carrassonne is out new favorite an we have already had several tournaments. The first thing my mother-in-law said to me this morning was, "Where is Carly, so we can play another round of Carrassonne?" Fun!

Reading: My reading has gone onto the back-burner this break but I've done a bit:

• The Yearling by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings---this is my Classics Club Spin book. I finally found an edition I can read (not too small) and have made a bit of progress. On page 100 of 350.
• The Man in the High Castle by Philip K. Dick---We watched the mini-series and LOVED it. It is an alternative history. What if Germany and Japan won the war? We decided we had better read the book so we started the audiobook this week. Progress 1/4th complete.
• Next Big Thing---a fun book which covers topics about fads and the next big thing.  I just read the chapters about Rock-n-Roll and Teenagers this morning. Who knew that teenagers weren't teenagers before they became teenagers in the late 1930s?

Josh Groban: Bring Him Home from Les Miserables:

Next Sunday Salon will be in 2016. Have a fun New Year's Eve!---ANNE