As it is Christmas Eve, I think it is worth just posting some photos of the surroundings and letting things lay around a bit. It has been a pretty long year and a difficult few months, so it is okay just to take some time out and chill. And since this is our "off year" for Christmas, we were at my sister-in-law's place, and she did the majority of the work. We all took something, but not having to host at all, took a lot of the pressure off, plus, the group is smaller. Next year, we will have the older kids and their respective partners with us at our place, and fingers crossed (for me at least) I am hoping for a little baby from one of them to hold.
Last night I also did something that I don't think I have seen in Finland to date. I made a pomander. I don't know much about them, but it was a thing when I was a kid, and I had an orange and some cloves on hand, so why not. According to my daughter though, an elf made it in the night.
But more my style were the non-alcoholic drinks on offer. Every year my wife's sister makes these really nice and fresh drink mixes, and this year was one of the best. It had ice cubes decorated with star anise, orange, rosemary and a cinammon stick - and the mix was a citrus soda with a glögi (mulled wine kind of thing) base.
And everything looked great.
They have a lovely apartment in the city, and it is always well decorated for whatever season it happens to be, with bits of the forest brought inside, whether it be flowers in the spring, or fir tree branches in the winter. It had a very nice and relaxed Christmas feel this year, without it being too fancy.
And my mother in law made one of my favourite breads - saaristolais leipä, which I enjoy with a lot of butter. It is a sweetish bread with dark syrup, sour milk, and a number of grains - and tastes fantastic. Especially with a bit of baked ham on it.
And speaking of ham...
That was not ours. My wife made our 7kg ham yesterday, and we like it just a little bit drier, so we let the core get to 80C. But weirdly and for the first time ever, it literally fell off the bone when we were moving it from one tray to another. It is going to taste great still, and we will have it tomorrow and on Boxing Day (26th) when my wife's parents visit us for lunch, but it looks like a dog's breakfast.
And speaking of a dog's breakfast.
This was my gift to my wife and Smallsteps.
Git cards are lame.
But this one is a little different, as it is a voucher that is redeemable for a dachshund in the future. Yes, I finally caved and decided that they can get another dog. It won't happen immediately, but it could be that there will be one boy puppy available next autumn, which would be the sibling of the one we dogsit now. I'd be happy if we can get one with a similar temperament.
We don't do gifts for the adults, except a Secret Santa that is randomly assigned and we have a spending limit. I got my wife's brother-in-law, who is a specialist doctor who is often on call. So for him, I went slightly over the spending limit and got him a nice bottle of cognac and a satin sleeping mask. On the card I wrote, "I am not on call tomorrow". And, for the second year in a row, he got me, so the gift I received was a stovetop espresso maker, that is made for an induction stove. This is good, because I was actually looking at getting one in the summer, but decided against it - but wanted it.
So yeah, it was a nice day and evening spent in a place where I didn't have to talk much, because not many spoke English. And, while they sang Christmas songs at one point, I didn't have to sing, as they were in Finnish too. Score. Tomorrow, it is even more my style - a pyjama day. We are just going to chillout, talk to my brother, eat more Christmas food, play some games and watch Home Alone 2, because my daughter got to watch the original yesterday and thought it was funny enough. It is my wife's favourite Christmas movie, and she watches it every year.
How's your Christmas looking?
Taraz
[ Gen1: Hive ]
Oh did I ever let out a squeee when I read about your new (in the future) pup. I know your ladies have been wanting one and you have made them really happy! Your Christmas venue looks wonderful....and those drinks are magazine cover gorgeous. Enjoy your remaining Christmas festivities :)
At least, it was the best gift for my wife - though Smallsteps was pretty happy with a lockable diary! :D
Outstanding!...she's gonna need that diary to document the puppy's escapades lol. You gonna peek?
Say it is the time of getting some weight for you. I would like to taste that cocktail :)
Definitely putting on a little bit of weight, but not today as much. It is all the gingerbread and chocolate the last few weeks!
I remember you had Christmas at yours last year? It's a great idea to alternate between families every year. Hosting is such a lot of work.
Happy Christmas!!
Yep. That is the correct - it is a lot of work to host, and do all the "chores" before, during and after.
It sounds like you had a great day. How exciting about the dog! I am sure small steps will be counting down the days! We just finished up our big night a little bit ago. I am wiped out!
Did you have a good time?
I am excited about the dog too, a bit..... But, one of the rules is that it isn't mine :)
Yes, it was a great time thanks!
Maintaining a home that feels close to Nature is something of an endgoal.
I'm content that our daughter liked the what I would refer to as an educational game. A popular real estate acquisition franchise adapted for juniors and mixed with a popular cartoon franchise involving animals who love jumping up and down them mud holes, etc.
She crushed us. Twice.
:D
Board games are always a great gift. Generally, "board game families" tend to be pretty smart folk! I am not from one of those families...
Our church did not switch to the Gregorian calendar 5 centuries ago, so we have Christmas on January 7th. But our biggest holiday for children is New Year.
What do you typically do for new year?
We go to the square, to the New Year tree, and set off fireworks.
😁
Sad.
Hehe, it's lovely 🎄
Merry Christmas and the best wishes for the new year!!
You too mate!
This is the first time I've heard of Pomander. It looks like a nice drink, I don't know how it tastes of course.
The bread looks delicious too.
It's nice that you celebrate Christmas with your family. There is no Christmas in our culture. We only get together with friends on December 31st and have fun. This year, that might not happen either.
The Pomander is the orange with the cloves :D
Will you do something special for new year?
Most likely not.
Wow, beautiful photos! And your sister-in-law's idea of a non-alcoholic drink is so incredible, I'm going to research more about it. Although I drink alcoholic beverages, sometimes I want to drink delicious non-alcoholic drinks, but I don't find many options. Oh, and what you did with the orange, they usually do it in Brazil to scare away mosquitoes, but we only use the peel and put a candle in the middle.
There were kids there, so they get included for this round. During the meal there was wine and then cognac for dessert :)
Let me say your pics are splendid. Nice shots. It reflects the well understood elegance and thr Christmas eve spirit. Loved it!
Thanks.
Seems you had a great time, Merry Christmas!
Merry Christmas to you too.
I would have never guessed that that was a ham. What is the coating on the outside?
The drinks look and sound really nice. I like the idea of freezing fruits and spices in the ice cube. Cool idea. I'll have to try that one day
Merry Christmas
The boys think gift cards are lame too.
Yay for getting a thing you wanted XD
Sounds like a nice time :)
Christmas is uneventful for me. Just doing random stuff around the house, and chilling at home with some cakes and lattes. A restful one for me. :)
Awesome. lots of nice food. Today reached 1000 HBD in savings. A few days ago I started making digital art. It is completely new challenge so I have a lot to learn. Most importantly for a while now we have water so that is great. Happy holidays!
I'm glad you had a good time and relaxed. It was a busy year, so well deserved that good night with the family. I hope you had a Merry Christmas, the pictures are really beautiful, a visual delight for us who read you...