Christmas 2014

I'm just emerging from the family and food frenzy that is Christmas.  It is always a fun and intense blast of activities and feasts and treats and traditions. Here's how it went down this year.

Christmas Eve

The fun starts on Christmas Eve day with our annual family outing. This year we decided to go to the Royal Ontario Museum as we hadn't been in awhile. There was a special exhibit of the Wildlife Photographer of the Year which was wonderful (and in case you don't live near a museum hosting this exhibit you can see the photos here). 

An addition was put on the ROM several years ago which serves as the main entrance. I still have a soft spot in my heart for the old entrance, though, with the grand doors and beautiful windows and inside the gold mosaic ceiling in the rotunda. I don't love the new addition - commonly referred to as the crystal - but it sure makes interesting photos with reflections in it of the city - old and new.

  

We always have tourtière for Christmas Eve dinner and this year it was made by my dear friend Kim (we did a trade-off - I made Christmas cookies for her and she made a tourtière for me).  It was delicious and just the right amount for all of our hungry selves after the museum. We had the tourtière with salads and pickles and relishes so it is a pretty simple meal, but oh so delicious.

  
Christmas Day
Santa visited and left some beer for all (well except Ruggles and me as we don't like beer - well, truthfully Ruggles has never tried it). Ruggles had some special dog food in her stocking instead.

Does your house end up looking like this every Christmas morning.  I thought it would be a little tamer as everyone got older, but there are still eight of us congregating for gift opening so that makes lots of mess. Everyone got stacks of books this year along with loads of chocolate (and beer!)

For Christmas lunch we used the tablecloth I bought in Bangladesh. It is hot pink with an orange and black design that certainly deviates from the Scandinavian look I was going for this year, but I love it so we use it anyway. 

Christmas lunch consists of fancy breads and cheeses and meats and we make the best sandwiches of the year. Of course, we start off the meal by popping Christmas crackers and then wearing silly hats and telling bad jokes in English and French.

We have Christmas dinner at my aunt and uncle's house in Toronto with all my relatives, but I didn't take my camera so there are no photos. I always take a cookie tray for dessert and my mom brings the Christmas pudding with its requisite hard sauce and hot brandy sauce. Dinner is followed by a magic show (my uncle is a magician ... and a lawyer) and a gift exchange.

  
Boxing Day
December 26th is a pretty quiet day around our house. We don't partake in the shopping frenzy, but instead just relax for the day. We did go for a walk at a nearby park and then came home and made sushi for dinner. 

  

How was your Christmas? I hope you had a wonderful time with family and friends. We are getting ready to go to the cottage in a few days time for New Years. We've had a warm Christmas this year so even up north they don't have much snow left and the lakes are not fully frozen.  It is supposed to get colder just before we go up and snow is predicted so we shall see.