Monday, December 24, 2012

Happy Holidays

Christmas Eve and all is well. We are enjoying a quiet afternoon and it is snowing. Ella is downstairs practicing on her balance beam and Paul is up to something in the kitchen. A few nights ago, we had family over and he made a rich, traditional lasagna with home made pasta and crema voltiada (Peruvian flan) for desert.

Actually, the flan was made for a cultural celebration at El’s school, but since school was cancelled on Friday, so was the celebration. It rained all day (at least at our house) and we never got the huge storm people were panicking about--though my brother, who lives a few miles north and up on a hill, had a drifted-over driveway.

Ah, the beauty of micro-climates on the peninsula.

Rain eventually turned to slush and then finally snow overnight, but it never amounted to much here. 5 inches? Draco drama. Why do winter storms now need names? It snowed, that’s all. And the plows came and pushed it off the streets and we scraped off our cars and threw a few more chunks of wood on the fire.

crema voltiada (Peruvian flan)
Crema voltiada
Flan, cherry pie, cookies, cosmopolitans, wine we picked up earlier that day during a sampling with Becky Hemmningsen at The Wine Shop at Hansen's, a delicious baguette and a loaf of sea salt fennel bread from our friends at 9 Bean Rows, venison sausage from the U.P., a variety of cheeses, and a growler of hard cider from Tandem Ciders ... plus the lasagna and salad. Heaven. I always appreciate meals like this one shared with friends and family.

Home made pasta
Paul's nephews waiting to roll out fresh pasta for a side dish
After the kitchen was cleaned up and the kids ripped open presents and Skyped with their grandparents, we bundled up and headed outside for a few rounds of flashlight tag. It was a beautiful night: no wind, just the sound of giggles and small boots crunching in the snow.