Beautiful Christmas

How I love this holiday. I'm sad Christmas Day has come and gone, but I'm still basking in its warmth of family and relaxation and delicious food.

We gave and received some wonderful gifts, including the Wii Fit and Guitar Hero World Tour which NH and I will play with later today. I received the two things I had hoped for the most- a new bread machine (!!! with a bread already working this morning) . . . and a new camera!! A present from NH, I'm now the proud owner of a Nikon D60 Digital SLR camera, with a camera bag, extra lens, and a few other goodies. My hope of capturing Christmas on film was exceeded by the amazing quality. I have a few pictures on my old camera and the quality difference is amazing.

In honor of the new camera, I present Suite Apple Pie's Christmas (almost entirely) in Pictures.

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Mass on Christmas Eve

The table set for Christmas Eve dinner

Anchovy-stuffed olives, yum yum!

Pasta alla Carbonara, our traditional Christmas Eve dinner

Fireplace in our bedroom

Christmas Morning:
Cheese Eggs made by the Egg Master, my Dad

Mom and I, both in new aprons

First picture with the D60!
Just look at the colors!

Here is a comparison: With the old PowerShot,

and with the new:

The family cat Marmy with my brother Chris. She is 16 years old and still going strong.

A few more fun shots throughout the morning:

Hors d'ouerves at noon:
Cheeses (Mt Tam, Gorgonzola Dolce, Gouda, and a sweet Norwegian cheese), baguette, glaceed fruits, fig jam, olives, and hearts of palm with Prosecco. (Taken with the old cam.)

For Christmas Lunch, Mom prepared Beef Tenderloin with Seared Scallops, Sauteed Swiss Chard and Pommes Anna.
This picture of the raw swiss chard is my favorite of the day.

Pommes Anna is a classic French potato dish made with thinly sliced potatoes and butter. It's special so perfect for Christmas. It starts on the stove and finishes in the oven.

My contribution were Suite Pea Bundles I made two weeks ago and froze.
We had them as a first course with a shower of Parmesan cheese.

After the magnificent meal, we cleaned up and relaxed for a bit before tea at 5:00pm.

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For Christmas tea, we enjoyed a Chocolate Madeleine Trifle and Christmas cookies.

Mom made the trifle using leftover Chocolate Madeleine cookies, blackberry puree and raspberry jam, custard, and whipped cream.

The trifle was delish! Here is my plate. I left the whipped cream behind, but picked some chocolate madeleine off of NH's plate who was still full from dinner. Gone in a flash!

After such a happy day, we arrived home in the evening with full tummies and a full car.
Padma was very glad to see us.

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Today we are enjoying some time at home. NH is playing with his new gadgets, I am doing laundry and have a bread in the new machine. I'm really looking forward to learning more about my new camera.
It's the most wonderful time of the year!

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