Christmas Celebration

What a wonderful slow-paced Christmas Day!  No one had to get up early to be somewhere for breakfast or gift openings.  No one had to cook a bunch of food.  It was the perfect first Christmas by ourselves.  We got up late, admired the 10 foot tree, lounged about, and enjoyed the morning.  Cinnamon Chip French Toast and bacon for brunch for Emil and a mushroom egg scramble for me!  We finally opened gifts in the early afternoon.  Emil was very surprised when he opened an envelope from me.  Ukulele lessons starting on Tuesday!

YAY!  I can learn from someone other than youtube.com!

After calls to family, I popped a bone-in ham in the oven (not spiral cut, they dry out) and did my mise en place for mushroom risotto.  The cranberry sauce was made yesterday, so my time in the kitchen was super short!  Once the ham was heated through, Emil brushed on the glaze, and I started the risotto.  Time to eat because we had places to go!

Maple Mustard Glaze

Thick slices

The real star of the show

After dinner, we headed over to Tim and Renee's house for games.  They had lots of family in town, so we played Apples to Apples and Sorry.  Everyone was super friendly, and they had traveled from Everett, Seattle, and the Bay Area.  On the way home, we cruised the neighborhoods and Eagle Crest looking at the festive lights.

Hope everyone had a good Christmas, surrounded by friends and family.  A special shout out to Brian and Tara - congratulations on your nuptials!  I'm so happy for you both!  I've known Brian since 2003, and all of our adventures started off with one of Brian's crazy ideas.  Remember that famous craigslist posting???