Another year comes to an end. The past 10 days have gone by so fast, probably because time flies when you're having fun. Our first low-key Christmas was amazing and saw the start of new traditions. I insist on making our own traditions as we move on as a family.
On Christmas Eve, we had a traditional dinner with Larson recipes: standing rib roast, cucumber salad, broccoli salad. Also on the menu: Red Lobster biscuit mix, and sauteed yellow squash and zucchini. We used our wedding china, flatware, and wine glasses.
We then proceeded to make a gingerbread house [new tradition]. My first and our first one as a couple. It was so much fun to make and still sits on our coffee table. Martha Stewart's recipe with her template on the Swedish house worked for us. Christmas tree colors this year were red, gold, and green. By the time we were done, we were covered in powdered sugar and icing and it was 11:30 pm. We made the executive decision to skip midnight mass and watched mass on TV including the Pope's mass.
Wednesday morning was spent opening presents, calling family, being lazy, and watching Bruce Willis movies. Thursday, we met up with Melanie and Justin to watch the Hobbit (tradition: watch a movie at the theater during Christmas break). We then met with Kelly for dinner at Buffalo Wild Wings. Earlier that day, I went shopping and scored a great sale on coat that I adore. I can't wait to wear it.
CRAFT corner:
Friday, I looked for more deals and got a few groceries, but was overall lazy. I found a good deal on fabric to make curtains for the master bedroom (check that off the resolution list for this year). Could I have bought curtains, sure. But I couldn't find something I liked that would work with the room for the price that I wanted. So I channeled my inner Martha Stewart, my Mauritian aunts and grandma (who are seamstresses), and Olivia and Emily, and spent a whole day making these.Tom installed the curtain rods, built the small shelf, and de-cluttered his stuff. He also cleaned the floors and dusted. I couldn't convince Tom that the Big Lebowsky poster doesn't belong in the bedroom. Oh well, you pick your battles but the room looks definitely more grown up than dorm room.
I also wanted to deal with our wedding china (finally). We had bought a china protector set from Bed Bath and Beyond this summer, and we disappointed by how flimsy it was and the teacup holder even ripped. We had seen one for cheap at the Christmas Tree Shop but when I went back for it, it was gone. While we were picking up something at Hobby Lobby, Tom pointed out Christmas storage boxes that could be re-purposed as china protector. They were 50% off. I wanted to make sure that I had all the right dimensions, so when I went back to the store on Friday ruler in hand, they were actually 66% off. Add a few labels, and we're done. Yes, they look like Christmas boxes, but they're for storage and are pretty sturdy. Eventually will be stored in a closet or china cabinet in future house.
For Christmas, as a present to ourselves, we turned on the heat for the first time since we've been at the house. It's a nice 60 degrees as we speak. But to do this, we needed to somewhat insulate the house. Tom got to work and put window wraps in the living room and the master bedroom. One will go up on the bathroom window as well. The curtains also help with insulation but also to hide the plastic wrap. We were very surprised to realize how drafty the house was. The plastic wrap actually bubbles in, especially in the master bedroom. Tom also said that we needed one draft guard or as I call it, door snake, for the balcony door. So I made one. Yes, these are super cheap (<$5 sometimes) but ours was free since I had all the materials. Plus it looks pretty nice, doesn't it?
We save our wine corks and our receptacle (supersized Brandy cup) was getting full. So I made a letter. Currently Christmas decor but will find a place either in the living room or on the bar.
Other crafts: I added monograms to my lunch bag (gift from Tom for my birthday) and lengthened the necklace Tom gave me for our anniversary (it was too much of a choker but a few silver rings from Hobby Lobby fixed that).
On Sunday, we watched football and Tom wanted gumbo, which I obliged. I need to annotate the recipe to say that it takes 3 hours to make. I tend to forget that. We had a late supper, say around 10 pm but I think it was the best gumbo I made. It had shrimp, crab meat, and andouille sausage.
Another update from the kitchen, I made slow cooker ribs last Monday (recipe from America's Test Kitchen cookbook, a wedding gift from Zak and Megan) using a BBQ sauce that Mary and Dan got us last Christmas from the Mustard Museum. I almost forgot to take a picture. This one is after Tom had started digging in. It was very yummy and is definitely something that will go on rotation in the house.
The next big kitchen undertaking, is making a Mauritian dish. Since it was a Larson Christmas, it will be a Buck New Year. I will be attempting a beef briyani (Mauritian spelling for biryani) on New Year's day. It's a flavored rice dish with meat (recipe: http://confessionsofafoodaholic017.blogspot.com/2013/04/mauritian-beef-biryani.html). I will post pictures.
Other Mauritian traditions, we keep one present to open on New Year's day and we wear new clothes. We forgot to save a gift from the tree. And I think we have new clothes to wear (Tom definitely has them after Santa's visit).
Then I started to obsess about another Mauritian tradition: the house has to be super clean for the new year. So yesterday was spend cleaning. Think of it as spring cleaning in the winter. This also inspired me to finally create a chores chart, inspired by the girls from book club and yours truly, Pinterest.
Oh, and if somehow you didn't get our e-card, Happy Holidays!!
On Christmas Eve, we had a traditional dinner with Larson recipes: standing rib roast, cucumber salad, broccoli salad. Also on the menu: Red Lobster biscuit mix, and sauteed yellow squash and zucchini. We used our wedding china, flatware, and wine glasses.
We then proceeded to make a gingerbread house [new tradition]. My first and our first one as a couple. It was so much fun to make and still sits on our coffee table. Martha Stewart's recipe with her template on the Swedish house worked for us. Christmas tree colors this year were red, gold, and green. By the time we were done, we were covered in powdered sugar and icing and it was 11:30 pm. We made the executive decision to skip midnight mass and watched mass on TV including the Pope's mass.
Wednesday morning was spent opening presents, calling family, being lazy, and watching Bruce Willis movies. Thursday, we met up with Melanie and Justin to watch the Hobbit (tradition: watch a movie at the theater during Christmas break). We then met with Kelly for dinner at Buffalo Wild Wings. Earlier that day, I went shopping and scored a great sale on coat that I adore. I can't wait to wear it.
CRAFT corner:
Friday, I looked for more deals and got a few groceries, but was overall lazy. I found a good deal on fabric to make curtains for the master bedroom (check that off the resolution list for this year). Could I have bought curtains, sure. But I couldn't find something I liked that would work with the room for the price that I wanted. So I channeled my inner Martha Stewart, my Mauritian aunts and grandma (who are seamstresses), and Olivia and Emily, and spent a whole day making these.Tom installed the curtain rods, built the small shelf, and de-cluttered his stuff. He also cleaned the floors and dusted. I couldn't convince Tom that the Big Lebowsky poster doesn't belong in the bedroom. Oh well, you pick your battles but the room looks definitely more grown up than dorm room.
I also wanted to deal with our wedding china (finally). We had bought a china protector set from Bed Bath and Beyond this summer, and we disappointed by how flimsy it was and the teacup holder even ripped. We had seen one for cheap at the Christmas Tree Shop but when I went back for it, it was gone. While we were picking up something at Hobby Lobby, Tom pointed out Christmas storage boxes that could be re-purposed as china protector. They were 50% off. I wanted to make sure that I had all the right dimensions, so when I went back to the store on Friday ruler in hand, they were actually 66% off. Add a few labels, and we're done. Yes, they look like Christmas boxes, but they're for storage and are pretty sturdy. Eventually will be stored in a closet or china cabinet in future house.
Other crafts: I added monograms to my lunch bag (gift from Tom for my birthday) and lengthened the necklace Tom gave me for our anniversary (it was too much of a choker but a few silver rings from Hobby Lobby fixed that).
On Sunday, we watched football and Tom wanted gumbo, which I obliged. I need to annotate the recipe to say that it takes 3 hours to make. I tend to forget that. We had a late supper, say around 10 pm but I think it was the best gumbo I made. It had shrimp, crab meat, and andouille sausage.
Another update from the kitchen, I made slow cooker ribs last Monday (recipe from America's Test Kitchen cookbook, a wedding gift from Zak and Megan) using a BBQ sauce that Mary and Dan got us last Christmas from the Mustard Museum. I almost forgot to take a picture. This one is after Tom had started digging in. It was very yummy and is definitely something that will go on rotation in the house.
The next big kitchen undertaking, is making a Mauritian dish. Since it was a Larson Christmas, it will be a Buck New Year. I will be attempting a beef briyani (Mauritian spelling for biryani) on New Year's day. It's a flavored rice dish with meat (recipe: http://confessionsofafoodaholic017.blogspot.com/2013/04/mauritian-beef-biryani.html). I will post pictures.
Other Mauritian traditions, we keep one present to open on New Year's day and we wear new clothes. We forgot to save a gift from the tree. And I think we have new clothes to wear (Tom definitely has them after Santa's visit).
Then I started to obsess about another Mauritian tradition: the house has to be super clean for the new year. So yesterday was spend cleaning. Think of it as spring cleaning in the winter. This also inspired me to finally create a chores chart, inspired by the girls from book club and yours truly, Pinterest.
Oh, and if somehow you didn't get our e-card, Happy Holidays!!
