Sunday, December 22, 2013

365 Inspirations—356: Spending the Holidays with Family

early Christmas dinner at our house
We celebrated early this year. We had our Christmas today at our house. I cooked a delicious pot roast. I woke up at 6AM (very rare for me this time of year) and sprinkled the roast with fresh ground salt and pepper and seared it in olive oil before placing it in a crock pot.

I then went out to our garden in the dark in my polka-dotted pajamas and black boots to pick a fresh sprig of rosemary. I chopped carrots, onions and celery and covered the roast with these and beef broth, along with a little red wine, a can of cream of mushroom soup, and lots of herbs—fresh rosemary, thyme, sage, dried lavender, fennel seeds, marjoram, etc. The result was a bit like beef bourguignon. It was delicious and was done in plenty of time and so easy.

I decided to make mashed potatoes rather than putting the potatoes in the crock pot. My roast created lots of beautiful gravy for the potatoes.

My mom made a fresh green salad. The meal was divine and the beef was so tender, but the best part was the company.

It was so nice to all be at the table together and I felt so warm inside for having prepared a meal for my family. Yoon was a wonderful help with everything and he got me outside, which was really good.

We walked around Greenlake before our family arrived. It was so good to get outdoors and exercise, even though it was drizzling outside. I'm glad he suggested that we go.

After our meal, we all opened some gifts and then had hot apple pie and ice cream.









My mom and step dad went home. My nephews are tucked in bed in our guest bedroom.



 We babysat them tonight while my sister and brother-in-law went to see The Hobbit at a nearby movie theater. They are spending the night tonight because they plan to head to a cabin in the mountains for Christmas and Seattle is a good stopping off point.

I watched a movie with my nephews. I couldn't find The Grinch Who Stole Christmas, so we watched a Japanese animation movie my husband had called The Girl Who Leapt Through Time. It was good!

I feel happy and full from this lovely day.

Do you plan to see your family over the holidays?

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