Christmas was such a blast this year with three families mushed together. It was like in the movies!
Everyone had lots of great conversations and of course we had delicious foods.
Even Lily! She told me she wanted to start a blog so Matt and I got her a placemat and sardines bowl for Christmas
And Aunt Karen brought her some albacore tuna!!
This afternoon Matt, Andrew, Candace (Larbs’ Matt’s mom!) and I did a Dave Farmar Yogadownload in my bedroom complete with space heaters and lots of zen.
We did a 60 minute podcast and I was so impressed that they all stuck around for the whole hour. It was quite a good workout!!
Afterwards we did some wild hula hooping with my mom’s hoop!
We came down from yoga around 6:00 famished from not eating since noon! Thankfully the rest of the family had gotten a head start on cocktail hour with leftover snacks and drinks
I had 2-3 slices of cheese on crackers and a few chips, but since dinner was less than an hour away I didn’t want to spoil my appetite.
I also made a mocktail with POM, soda, lime and cherry. I don’t miss alcohol when I have this in my hand, but I do still like to have wine with dinner.
We were all getting ready for our big Christmas Dinner
Dad let the wines breathe. The Clay Station is the last bottle from our wedding rehearsal dinner and the Red Rock is from Larbs’ college graduation.
Because we had 11 people to fit around the table, we served dinner buffet style.
Ham + pineapple
Cranberry sauce, brussels with bacon and corn pudding
October beans (with salsa for topping)
Karen’s oyster pie and sweet potato casserole
Plus Great Harvest Virginia rolls!
The food was so very delicious!!
My blogging lighting station 🙂 My family knows to call me in first to photograph the meal before anyone starts to serve
With dinner I had about 2 glasses worth of various wines
And water in silver goblets
I had some prosecco with dessert
We had a very special dessert tonight. Larbs and Matt brought this Party Favors cake all the way from Brookline, Mass on the airplane because they just love the icing.
We also had some holiday ice creams
I could have easily eaten seconds on dinner, but this cake was smiling at me throughout the meal and I knew I wanted to save lots of room!
I took Matt Allen’s advice and smothered my mum icing onto the cake part
And then had to try the ice creams as well. LOVED the pumpkin one!!
OK, OK, I couldn’t stop with just one slice. It was fabulous and I had more – plus a taste of mint chocolate chip!! ‘Twas incredible all around.
To family, friends and blog readers!
Kristine says
Merry Christmas, Kath! My family is also starting to get a hang of me taking photos before everyone eats! I think it’s awesome! Glad you had a great day with family!
Kaite says
Everything looks amazing but I loved that last picture with the candle.. so perfect! Merry Christmas!
Mae says
Kath, everything looks beautiful. Merry, merry Christmas! 😀
Heather @ The Joyful Kitchen says
Wahoo for hula hooping!
Kath says
THanks for reminding me it’s HULA and not HOOLA!! Lol.
Sam (Merit to the Carrot) says
Looks like you had a marvelous day filled with fun & delicious food!
Ashley says
Super cute! Love the photos!! I steamed brussel sprouts for the first time and they were EXcellant!! xo
lynn (The Actors Diet) says
wow – hula hooping skills! was never good at that. glad you had a wonderful holiday dinner.
Jenn (www. j3nn.net ) says
Fabulous pictures!! Your Christmas looks memorable. 🙂
Bacon makes greens of any kind taste AMAZING! Yum!
Jenn
Mastering Public Health says
Beautifully recapped.
Allie (Live Laugh Eat) says
Love your big family celebration (like the movies) and quite jealous! I’m impressed you all did yoga for a whole hour without silly laughing or anything 🙂
Justy2003 says
Merry Christmas!
Looks like you had a beautiful one!
Heather @ Health, Happiness, and Hope says
What a wonderful Christmas Kath!!! Love the impromptu yoga session… definitely something I would do. 😉 And all that food looks AMAZING! Gotta love the holidays!
Cynthia (It All Changes) says
I love that you did yoga before dinner. 🙂
And that cake looks so good and sweet. I have a sugar high just looking at it.
Becky says
I love Party Favors!! I grew up in the next town over and have eaten many a delicious slice of cake from there!!!!!!!!
Christy says
Everything looks great! 😀 And those silver goblets are awesome!!!
Mama Pea says
What are October beans and is it legal to eat them in December?
Hillary @ Nutrition Nut on the Run says
Looks like a fun & festive evening. We too had ham and pineapple (well, turkey for me) and brussels. Good for you for fitting in an hour of yoga on Christmas =)
Amy says
Absolutely gorgeous photos! I also love the hula-hooping. I haven’t tried it in years, but think I might have to find a hoop. Thanks for such a wonderful glimpse into your Christmas. Have a great New Years as well. Amy
Karla says
What a beautiful Christmas meal! Merry christmas!!
Alison says
what a beautiful christmas you had. we appreciate all the time you take to photograph everything for us. merry christmas!
BroccoliHut says
That cake looks amazing–plenty of frosting, the way I like it:)
Merry Christmas, Kath!
Simply Life says
Looks like a wonderful holiday!
Susan says
Gorgeous looking meal!! Funny, my family called me in first to take photos yesterday too 😉 I think they secretly love the blogging thing, they’re always making sure I got a pic of everything 😛
MelissaNibbles says
How did they get that cake on the plane?!
christie @ honoring health says
I was wondering the same thing about the cake?
Looks like like you had a lovely holiday and hooray for your family rockin the Dave Farmar!
Jenna says
Dinn looks fab!
Jenny says
Looks like a lovely Christmas! And how nice to have some special wines to celebrate with at dinner!
Iris says
Such a beautifully set table! Merry Christmas!
Susan says
LURV the candle snifter! Also jealous of your Mom’s excellent selection of stemware! Thanks for sharing your holiday! Enjoy the rest of the trip!
Tracie @Hollafoodzone says
Your pictures are beautiful! I love the lighting and all of the formal dinnerware – you captured a very “traditional” Christmas setting!
klm says
mmmmmmmm CAKE + BUBBLY!! Heaven!!!!
I hope we see you guys sometime soon!!
Patricia says
October beans…special recipe? special variety? they look yummy.
Do you have a recipe? thanks
Carolyn says
Beautiful Christmas!!
Kath says
October beans are just the kind that they were called. They’re a boutique bean (so Karen says). She made them from scratch (they came dried).
Baroque Diva says
Merry Christmas- wow, that’s nuts! I live around the corner from Party Favors and always buy my students cupcakes there at the end of a school year. That’s so cool!!
Gena (Choosing Raw) says
Beautiful Christmas dinner you had, sweetheart. Merry belated Christmas to you and Matt 🙂
Mom says
Laura said they asked if the cake was cream filled, which it wasn’t. Otherwise, I think she just put it through the machine.
Baking N Books says
Wow – just looking through this old post (Christmas caught my eye 😉 ). And even though this was 2 years ago – the photos are stunning. I feel like I’m in a Charles Dickens novel. You and your family are Blessed Kath!