CHRISTMAS EVE 2010

Another Christmas come and gone, our 6th one since being in California, and one of the best ones yet, aside from the first one in Taft, when Derek and family came down to spend it with us.

This year good friends celebrated the holiday with us and it was good fun! Carole (from LA) and Susie (from Carlsbad) came to the house after visiting their husbands at the Taft Camp. Caroles visit had been “terminated” early, she had been one of the first visitors to arrive at the Camp, around 8 am, and as the room filled to capacity and the lines at the door to get in got longer and longer, the guards started going down their list of those visitors who had come earliest. Sadly Carole wasn’t able to spend all Christmas Eve day with her husband. So she arrived at our house around noon and from there took off to the the MALL for some last minute shopping. Tis the season fa la la la la... ! Susie had not arrived at the Camp until around 9:30 am and what a difference that made, by then the lines had shortened and she and her husband never did have to terminate their visit early, she happily stayed and visited with Ron all day.

When Susie arrived she presented me with a lovely potted assorted cacti arrangement all tied up in a gorgeous maroon bow! How lovely! Also she had roasted an assortment of root vegetables to go with the roast pork loin I had in the oven. She had carrots, yellow beets, turnips and potatos seasoned and roasted to perfection. After appetizers and wine, we sat down to feast.

Unable to make up my mind as to which dessert to serve, I splurged and whipped up Ina Gartens fabulous (and oh so easy!) recipe for Eton Mess (I know, sounds weird but it’s a wonderful concoction of crumbled meringues, raspberries and whipping cream, YUM) as well as a new version of Tiramisu (a holiday “staple” for my family)…this used espresso flavored crumbled brownies, layered with tirimisu cream, espresso soaked ladyfingers, more tirimisu cream and topped with coffee flavored whipping cream and a dusting of cocoa powder.

Santa had generously filled all our stockings (that were hung by the chimney with such care) so we settled, in each to explore what he’d left for us all. Then it was movie time, served up with our “second” dessert of the evening, after which we all retired, full to the brim, sleepy and eager to get a full nites rest before our highly anticipated visit at the Taft Camp the next morning, Christmas Day.

Our hearts grow tender with childhood memories and love of kindred, and we are better throughout the year for having, in spirit, become a child again at Christmas-time. ~Laura Ingalls Wilder