Still eating!!!

Well, it's the holidays and boy, are we EATING!! Every night I get so totally stuffed and vow to eat healthy (or not eat at ALL) the next day and then boom! We're eating more!!! Craziness! That's what happens when you're visiting family, though. Not much to do but eat, sleep, watch movies, visit people, go shopping, and eat some more! :)

My sister made this CRAZY GOOD snack the other day: crescent rolls stuffed with American cheese and hot-dogs! Seriously!!! You bake them and the dough gets all flaky and gooey and the cheesy melts and it's heaven!! Great party food, but we just had it as an afternoon snack watching a movie.More Christmas cookies... our neighbor's delicious shortbread thumbprint cookies with jam!We headed up to Glastonbury a few days ago to visit my aunt, uncle and cousin. They ordered pizza from Luna's and it was awesome! I love ricotta cheese, and this pizza had lovely little rosettes of ricotta cheese on each piece! Great thin crust, too.Served with a salad.Their cute animals: Sisters Nora and Chloe, and their "little" brother, Lucas!Light, yummy breakfast the next morning: Life cereal with raspberries.Mom made an awesome dinner last night of acorn squash and pumpkin ravioli with alfredo sauce.
This morning Mom and I had whole wheat English muffins with American cheese and a fried egg.After a fun afternoon shopping at the Clinton Factory Outlet with my cousins, we headed back towards Noank for dinner at The Seahorse.My sister really wanted fish n chips before heading back to San Francisco tomorrow.I got the spinach fettucine with lobster, scallops, and asparagus.We all had bowls of clear clam chowder to start, but it had WAY too much tarragon in it!While at the Clinton outlets, I couldn't help but stop into the Le Creuset, even though Mom got me the soup pot for Christmas. I fell in love with the paella pan! It was gorgeous, and marked down to $175 from $270!!I still made out pretty good, though, without the paella pan. I scored a gold, leather, Kate Spade wallet, 2 pairs of Kenneth Cole leggings, and from Banana I got a black dress, a green sweatshirt with tortoise shell buttons, and a gorgeous long necklace with black beads and a golden chain!

Waffles, Cute Animals, and Wicked!

The day after Christmas, we slept in and then made waffles with our new fancy, schmancy rotating waffle iron! Way better than going to the mall with the crowds.For some reason, most of our waffles came out really weird looking, but I'm sure we'll get the hang of it next time! There was always too much batter or too little, so the waffles were either full of holes (kinda pretty though, like lace), or totally overflowed over the edges of the iron making a mess. They were REALLY yummy, tho.Later we headed over to my Godmother's house to eat her homemade Lebanese cookies (baqlawa- which is the Lebanese version of the Greek baklava, and ma'moul which is made with a really yummy dough shaped by a mold, and stuffed with nuts or dates, some sugar, and some orange blossom water) and cranberry cake. Ma'moul mold

We also opened our presents and played with the pets: puppies Emmy, Sophie and the kitty Mia.They are such super cute pets!!Tonight, we're going to Providence to see WICKED!! I have taught the music for this Broadway show for years, and I wasn't sure I would ever see it, but my Mom bought us all tickets for a Chistmas surprise, so here we go!

Gotta go eat a little snack and get ready!
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Just back from Wicked, and it was really great!! It was such a relaxing change to be in the AUDIENCE for a change! I couldn't help but keep wondering what it must be like to be on a tour like that, performing the same exact show sometimes 8 times a week, for months on end! The most I ever repeated a performance was about 10 times, and that was highly unusual. Do they get bored? Do they mess up a lot? Do they get homesick, and tired of living out of a suitcase and eating in restaurants? I have a hard time handling small bits of travel here and there, but I can't imagine a tour of the same show for months and months. I'm sure you make really really good friends, though, and have a lot of fun!

Eloise is so glad we're back. We've basically been home for 4 days straight, so tonight was the first evening she was left alone in the Connecticut house for a long period of time. She's on my bed now, and wants some company! I think she misses J, who is back in Boston working.

Christmas Dinner

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

We're just waiting for the prime rib roast to rest before we dig in! Christmas dinner tonight includes:

-an $88 10 pound roast of prime rib with demi-glace
-pop-overs (super cute little individual portions of Yorkshire Pudding)
-roasted veggies (sweet, purple and fingerling potatoes, carrots, onions, and garlic)
-mashed turnips

YUM!!

My plate:Our table:

Prime rib:Pop-overs!For an appetizer, my sister and I put together a really awesome cheese plate with crackers, garlic baguette, and whole wheat pita chips. The cheeses were Manchego, Camembert, Brie, Port with nuts, and also we had a really yummy duck pate.For breakfast this morning, my sister put together an awesome platter with berries, clementine wedges, toasted bagels, lox, zucchini bread, and whipped chive cream cheese.For Christmas, we scored some pretty awesome culinary gifts!! Our family received a rotating waffle iron from a family friend (thanks, Linda!), and my sister gave us a nice Oster blender.I scored the Le Creuset soup pot with a pretty black iron trivet.
Ok, I gotta go rest by the tree, watching Christmas movies- until I have room for pie!Merry Christmas to all my friends and family!!

J's Early Christmas

J has to work on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and straight through next Tuesday, so he came down to CT for a day of early Christmas! :)

Last night my Mom put together a big feast! We had a ham, a roasted chicken, mashed potatoes, creamed spinach, rolls, and for dessert we had Mrs. Allyn's Apple Crumb Pie! Sooooooo good!! Plus lots and lots of wine and prosecco.


The house is all decorated!!



Here are some of my favorite ornaments... and yes... that's me!


This morning, J came with me to church for my rehearsal of "O Holy Night" with the organist for tonight's 11pm Christmas Eve service. Afterwards, we found this tiny restaurant in Preston, CT: Parke's Place. We sat at the counter! :)Today's special: Biscuits with Sausage Gravy, Scrambled Eggs, Home Fries, and ToastBacon and Cheddar OmeletteWe played hangman while waiting for our food- J guessed mine pretty easily (Christmas Carol, Biscuits and Gravy), but it took me a LOOOOONG time to guess his (The French Revolution). Who picks that for a hangman clue on Christmas Eve???? Whatev.... :P

We're back at the house, and J has to drive to Boston pretty soon to get there in time for rehearsal tonight. Before he goes, he has to open all his presents!!!!