Christmas Dinner 2011 (or "Dutch Goose", Hog Maw, or whatever else you want to call it but it's still Pig Stomach)

We enjoyed a wonderful Christmas day together. Started off at church and then home to do some cooking.

Here is the James making a Grilled Crostini with Brie, Prosciutto, Arugula and Figs.

We made the bread earlier - an italian bread called pugliese. We started Christmas eve making the biga and finished it in the morning before church. Very good.

He made a few with a pesto brie (that I had gotten at Jungle Jim's) and the rest with regular brie, and truthfully I didn't like the pesto brie, so I won't be trying any more fancy bries - give me plain and I will dress it up myself or eat it by itself.

I made soup, a spinach tortellini soup. I made the tortellini Christmas eve, so it was pretty easy to throw together. The broth was just a boxed broth labeled tuscany broth, but it was very good and then I just tossed in the tortellini and topped with parsley. Delicious.

Janelle made a "dutch goose" or hog maw or whatever you want to call it. Straight up it is stuffed pig stomach. We have been talking about having pig stomach for Christmas dinner for a number of years so strange as it may seem, it was with great excitement that it was served up this year. It was good and served with a gravy and garnished with parsley, cranberries, and orange slices. Tasty.

We had gotten it pre-stuffed, and decided sometime we will have to stuff it ourselves. This stuffing had sausage, potatoes, onions and bread stuffing, which I think I would prefer it without the bread, so some day we will try it ourselves and I think I will try it with cabbage too.

Mom fixed a rhubarb raspberry roly-poly and english custard sauce. Fabulous.

Dad meticulously made red velvet cake, which he cut into 4 layers and frosted with a delicious buttercream frosting. Decadent.

The first course of soup and grilled crostini.

Second course of stuffed pig stomach.

Third course of Red Velvet Cake and roly-poly with custard sauce.

And for something different a little chai bubble tea.

Note: This post was written by Kristin and copied here. It was a good time with family and some wonderful food, that's for sure. 

Christmas Eve 2010

We joined together to make our annual Christmas dinner this year on Christmas Eve day. Again it was fun and a learning experience to spend time in the kitchen together and then savor the results of our efforts.

James preparing the Beef Wellington

Beef Wellington -delicious

Roast Duck with Currant Glaze

Welsh Rarebit. Kristin served this over Rye Toast topped with asparagus spears and shitake mushrooms. It was awesome.

Flaming the dried cherries and figs for the Figgy Pudding

The fare was tasty and delicious and we enjoyed savoring the flavors of food and family togetherness.

Menu: Beef Wellington, Roast Duck with Currant Glaze, Welsh Rarebit served over rye toast with asparagus spears and shitake mushrooms, Gem Salad, and Figgy Pudding.

Christmas 2009

Christmas eve at the Whitehouse found us dining on elegant fare prepared in the traditional manner for our "Christmas dinner". First course, Cream Soup in Acorn Squash prepared by James.

Tuna sushi prepared by Evelyn (definitely not an expert).

Spatchcocked turkey with Chili-rub prepared by Janelle

Aunt Fannie's sugar cookies baked by Jim. Antique cookie cutter used to cut out rabbit cookie.

Kristin torching the Baked Alaska dessert. It was a delicious ending to a sumptious meal.

The August Kitchen

Almost 32 years to the day from when we moved into the house, we moved into our new great room. (8/7/76 and 8/8/08)



A few views of the kitchen





Back toward the hallway

Basement Patio

A few more fews of the finished patio down underneath the deck.

The stone bench to the left of the double doors


To the right of the double doors


A view of the back of the house as well as the deck and the lower patio. The two staircases open up to where the concrete patio used to be.

Inside Changes

Inside things are shaping up as well!

The brick front for the fireplace going up...



All finished! Just needs the mantel yet.



Getting the trim finished up



Installing the cabinets



With a close up of the wood


Everything put together, ready for the appliances and for the tiling to begin




The new kitchen table has been picked out but has not arrived yet, so here is a photo of the demo table. It is in the mission style, same as the windows. (The previous one has been in use since Jim's single days more than 35 years ago and is now being relegated to the new basement.)



And last, but not least, Jim getting comfy in his new favorite spot.

Outside Changes

Things are going along relatively swimmingly at the summer kitchen, and the end of all the construction is beginning to feel like a near possibility. Here's a glimpse of things on the outside...

You can see the deck up above and the start of the retaining wall down below



The stones for the retaining walls are from the foundation of the part of the house that was torn down.

Bringing the stones over....



closer...



Putting it in place



the almost finished wall to the left of the basement doors



the start of the wall to the right of the basement doors


The deck is also finished enough to be a comfortable place to rest and relax. Here is what Evelyn had to say about it...

This morning we again enjoyed the relaxation of coffee on the deck. It isamazing that after living here for 30 years we can enjoy "our Corner" of theworld from a different vantage point.sitting there we can watch the sun riseand hear the birds singing in the trees from a slightly different angle.