My wife and I don’t normally give each other Christmas presents- I mean, we do that all year long, so spending extra money at Christmas seems like overkill.
This year, though, we’re stuck in another country (Canada) due to immigration delays, so we can’t see family yet again. We’ve been feeling really isolated, since we don’t really have any friends here, so we decided to have a bit more of a traditional Christmas.
Ok, now you have my attention. What is this mysterious recipe you entice us with? Snails and mushrooms?
Our traditional Christmas Day breakfast has become oysters and bacon on toast. I know what you’re all thinking, but you’re just going to have to trust me on this one.
I currently have a gas engineer fitting my new range cooker downstairs. It has been touch and go whether I could get the cooker installed before Christmas. I had visions of doing the turkey on the gas grill outside.
Because of worries about shipping, we set Thanksgiving as our present buying deadline, and we mostly got it done by then. Since we have Christmas at our daughter’s in Indiana, we had everything shipped there. I’m in the middle of wrapping now.
We came last Thursday, flights not too crowded. We left Oakland on a 5:20 am flight - no delay at TSA, none at all at 4 am. (Thank Og for Lyft.)
Better than presents is that I get to play with the grandkids, 2 and 5.
We had some really warm weather right before Thanksgiving, so I took the opportunity to put a few strings of outdoor lights then (didn’t turn them on until the day after Thanksgiving). The weekend of Thanksgiving I decorated the house and tree. We love the lights in the evening.
Christmas Eve will be at my sister & BIL’s house as usual. We used to draw names for a gift exchange. This year we’re going to do a dice game of some sort instead. On Christmas Day, my MIL will come over for a couple of hours (less I hope! 
) and we’ll have a simple dinner.
Our big Christmas celebration with grandkids will be done on June 25th again this year. Last year we did it because of COVID and we could be outside instead of cooped up in the house. We decided to keep this new tradition. It’s easier for everyone. My daughter and her family come from 200 miles away. So driving that distance in June vs December is a huge difference. We never know what the weather will be - blizzard, icy highways, etc. Also, the kids have such an overload during the regular Christmas season. They have numerous relatives to visit, meals to eat, and presents to open. It’s too much for them and for their parents. Christmas in June means finances aren’t stretched so tight, a simple cookout meal, the kids can play outside and no one is risking life and limb on the roads.
Tips: You can never have too much garlic… in anything. Use more garlic. Use more parmesan too. Bake in an escargots dish instead of a baking dish. [Full disclosure: I’ve never made them in a regular baking dish. They probably come out fine. But I have a 12-hole escargots dish.] I like Roland escargots. Don’t skip rinsing and covering the snails in cold water for five or ten minutes. It gets rid of the ‘canned’ taste.
Delicious!
They are. My wife says mine are better than the ones we get in restaurants. I think it’s the cream and the cheese. The only thing that would make them better would be to put a little puff pasty on top of each one. (But there’s no room, and I don’t want to.)
My 55 Christmas cards: mailed
My tree: located in our woodlot, sawn down, dragged home, erected, lit, decorated (almost; I’m still painting the little wooden horse ornaments I thought would be a cute idea months ago)
Presents for 3 people: bought, not yet wrapped
Christmas Eve we are all four going to church, I think that’s the only thing on the agenda. Except maybe soup and bread.
Christmas Day is for opening presents and lying around. We have started a habit (far too recently to call it a tradition) of having potato pancakes with fried ham, sauerkraut, home-made applesauce and yogurt on Christmas Day. This is the meal I would like to have waved under my nose before I am put in my coffin, to test whether I am really dead.
Idk how typical we are for empty nesters, but here goes:
Minimal but cool looking exterior lights strung around the windows
We’ve stopped doing trees
This year we got no surprise presents for each other but oddly we’re wrapping them all anyway
Planning a rack of lamb, some fresh green bean/shallot/bacon/mushroom thing, idk what else yet
Family is too far away to assemble, we stopped exchanging gifts decades ago.
Son and daughter in law from SF were here already for Thanksgiving
First Xmas together we’re both retired, don’t have to be away working for the holidays, unique!
Christmas really isn’t my favorite. I would happily just skip it if it weren’t for family obligations. So, no tree or decorations at my house.
I just ordered all my Christmas gifts yesterday. I know, it’s way late. I started back full-time at work about a month and a half ago and basically all the energy I have available goes to my job. It just got away from me. Not everything will be here by Christmas, but… it is what it is.
Went out and picked up wrapping and some French truffles today. And a couple supplies to make some little origami earrings for my sister (she asked for them, so they’re not really a Christmas present). I’ll wrap things as they arrive.
I’m working Christmas day, but considering taking the Tuesday after off (I work Tues-Sat, so it would make it a 3-day weekend.) I put out a little newsletter every Tuesday and I have to be there for that, but it probably wouldn’t be the end of the world if it went out on Wednesday instead. It would be nice to have a sort of post-Christmas chill-out day and a shortened week.
Workwise, this is a busy time of year for me. I try to keep things simple on the holiday front.
Like @susan, I celebrate Solstice. I love putting up a tree, but it’s a lot of work now I’m on my own.
So in place of a tree, I have now for years decorated the Solstice Rake with fairy lights, unique ornaments and garland. It’s the perfect amount of Festive to go with a merry fire in the wood burner and lit candles all around. All is readied for this year.
Friends are coming for dinner the day after Solstice to drink lots of wine celebrate the lengthening days. They’re getting grilled salmon, lemon risotto and roasted asparagus for dinner with a chocolate pudding pie for dessert.
I am joining them for dinner on Christmas. Their meal will probably be more traditional.
And we’re done! Last day of virtual court today ended at lunch; co-counsel and I went out to the Keg for steaks to celebrate. And tonight, right on schedule, big fluffy flakes of Christmas snow are falling.
I’m ready. Just hoping I don’t get COVID before my vacation (which would make it impossible to board the plane.)
We had plans. All three kids had arranged enough time off that we could travel to see Son #1 and the grandbaby, along with Son #2. Then Son#1 called to tell us an unvaccinated maskhole he works with came down with Covid, exposing him, and he wanted to pull the plug on everything and quarantine through the possible incubation period. This led to a fight with Son #2, who’s in the same city, now in year 6 of graduate school, and only gets to see us about twice a year. He and his girlfriend had already spent $350 on food to entertain all of us. He pointed out that all the adults had been vaxxed and boosted, and if anyone was going to give the baby Covid, it would be Son #1.
Meanwhile our daughter, who had also planned to travel with us to see them, is stuck at home committed to using all her vacation whether she goes anywhere or not.
Tomorrow I’ll head to the store to replenish our food, since we had skillfully arranged to use up just about everything before leaving. We’ll spend Christmas Eve and Christmas with our daughter while our sons aren’t speaking to each other.
I wrapped Wifey’s electric lap blanked today. And… Done.
For the first time in twenty years, we’re at home for Christmas rather than travelling the length of the North Island (NZ) to be with relatives. Consequently, a tree has been put up and decorated, and presents all bought and wrapped. In addition, just today took delivery of a Christmas Meal Feast hamper (all the ingredients for an easy to prepare but still proper turkey and ham) and (amazingly) fitted it into the fridge.
Still to visit the neighbours to take them their little gifts, but mostly looking forward to the eating, drinking and merry-making business. After a tough year, this is all about having some stress-free time together, catch up on the reading, mindless dross on TV and enjoying the festive treats.
You can’t still go see Son #2?
I’m feeling too fried to work, even though I have a lot I need to do. It’s raining and chilly outside, and I’m discovering our new house isn’t much better at keeping us warm in the winter than it was at keeping us cool in the summer. The house is a mess and I still haven’t collected many of the addresses I need for the rest of our Christmas cards, because I’ve been working 14-hour days for months now. It’s not quite noon here and I’m already thinking about pouring myself a drink.
But on the other hand, we finally got our gas fireplace set up, and I have a couple of new Scotches to try when I do give in to temptation. I have a warm kitty snoozing on top of me, and tomorrow I’ll be going to see my parents (whose company I actually really enjoy.) I was able to squeeze in a beach dive before the storm arrived, and knock on wood, I’m still successfully dodging this Covid thing. So I’m alright.
As my family likes to say, Merry Christmas; God help us, every one.
I usually work on Christmas. I actually have the day off this year, and no idea what to do with it. I think my mother and I will probably have turkey TV dinners.
I am scheduled to get my Covid booster shot on the 24th. If I have a reaction like I did to the second dose, I may spend the day curled up in bed whimpering.
The office closed just over half an hour ago. I logged off three minutes ago, so it’s officially the holiday.
I guess I’d better shop for Christmas dinner.