We’re back from our Christmas trip! We spent it mostly holed up at my parents’ house, with a short expedition to Leavenworth when it stopped snowing for a few minutes. We cooked a lot. Here’s an abbreviated photo essay of the holiday:

First, for my mother’s birthday, there was chicken biryani (with a tofu option) and chocolate cake.

On Christmas Eve we amused ourselves by going into town. The weather was beautiful, amazingly enough, but most of the people downtown were crammed into the shops. Plenty of kids on the sledding hill, though.

For Christmas Eve dinner, there was lamb, with cauliflower gratin and salad. We drank a nice barnyardy pinotage with the lamb, a great combination.

And the annual sweet potato pie with bourbon. I somehow managed to forget to add milk to the custard, but it came out just fine. We put lots of whipped cream on top.

Christmas breakfast was ricotta/cottage cheese pancakes with maple syrup or rhubarb sauce, and sausages. And lots of coffee. And sparkling wine. And chocolate (you know it’s Christmas when you eat chocolate before breakfast).

Leftover lamb for lunch. We got the very last loaf of parmesan levain at Homefires Bakery on Christmas Eve.

For Christmas dinner I made a pork loin braised in milk and a romaine salad with a strong dressing of anchovies, garlic and red wine vinegar. My father made his famous buttermillk mashed potatoes with his brand new potato masher. This was a brilliant meal - I loved how the anchovies contrasted with the rich pork, milky sauce and potatoes.

We drank some good wine (no, not the vinegar). Man, that HazyBlur is tasty. Railroad Red wasn’t bad either. Mmmmm.

Then we came home. The pass crossing was thick with snow and fog – it was a relief to get home to a driving rainstorm.

I hope everyone’s Christmas was as fun as ours!  Now it’s back to work and on to the new year.