Sometimes a Lump of Coal isn’t a Bad Thing…Particularly if There are Naughty Nurses

Time leading up to the Fall and Winter Holidays seems slow in getting here and then rushes by so quickly. The Adventures last ended with Thanksgiving (both the holiday and the heartfelt thanks) and now we're about to welcome in 2011; with multiple adventures in-between—St. Lucia party, Winter Ball, Football, and a joyous Christmas.

The first weekend in December we hosted our annual St. Lucia party. It is not so much a party about St. Lucia, but a reason to welcome in the mid-winter with some Swedish food and a gathering of friends. This year the party expanded to over fifty guests with people from work, church, the neighborhood and some that are mixes of all, and our house once again proved itself to be the right size and layout for a festive gathering.

In the week leading up to the party Cheri was baking and making several dishes; with a goal of having very little to do during the party other than heating things up and visiting. She was busy preparing potatoes stewed in cream, saffron bread braided and made into a wreath shape, onion pies, fruit soup, and glögg spices.

I did a bit by making the sill salad (a favorite of mine—herring, beets, apples and walnuts that gets spread on crackers), Janssen’s Temptation (sliced onions, potatoes, herring cooked in cream), snow pudding and a custard sauce, and a sliced cucumber salad. In addition we had some smoked salmon that required us making mustard and dill sauce, a spiral cut ham that needed glazing and spritz cookies.

By Saturday, December 4th, we had the house and much of the food ready. Guests also brought both edible items—Swedish meatball, Almond Cake, salads—and some further libations—red and white wines. It was a great celebration and a nice way to welcome the shortening days; as well as look forward to the days lengthening again after mid-winter.

A little aquavit frozen into a block of ice helped with the outlook as well.

We recovered through the week to get ourselves ready for the UMass Memorial Second Annual Winter Ball. This black-tie event is a  fundraiser and we enjoy the chance to dress up and go out. Besides a very good meal, there is a live (and lively) auction for some large items and several really nice silent auction items. I have won some sports tickets in the past in the silent auction, but this year was not as successful. But, we enjoyed watching other people spend their money—a very successful fundraiser—and Cheri and I were even out dancing for part of the evening—a success that Cheri values highly.

For the second year in a row the Winter Ball takes place on Friday evening, and the Army-Navy Football game is the next day. I wasn’t going to pass up the opportunity to attend once again, so I was up at 3:30 am to begin the trek to Philadelphia—site of the game. Along the way I stopped at Deb and Scott Whitney’s in NJ to drop off my bag and join up with them for the game.

Besides Deb and Scott, Tim and Laura joined us for the trip and the game. As usual, the game was filled with pageantry, jabs at each other’s schools, football, and outstanding sportsmanship both during and then following the game; when the teams stand respectfully for the singing of each other’s alma mater.



Following the game we made the relatively quick drive back to NJ. It was Scott’s birthday—which made it seem nice that they scheduled the football game to coincide—so we enjoyed a little bit of good beef and some nice wine to celebrate the day’s events.

Timing then gave us a week-and-a-half to finish preparing the house…and ourselves…for the celebration of Christmas.

On the 23^rd Nana and Papa showed up to spend the first half of the weekend with us. Since we had the time and the oysters—just two gallons worth this year—Papa got to work making the Fenton family traditional oyster stew. As we took the oysters out of the refrigerator Papa said he could hear the earth moving from Gram Fenton rolling over in her grave. He said her idea of making and stretching oyster stew was, “…tie two oysters on a thread and swirl them around in the broth.” Seeing two gallons of oysters going into a stew would be too much for her to bear.

We did have a little taste testing on the 23^rd, just to make sure we had the mixture done correctly. That saved a good portion for us to have on Christmas Eve. There were also pies to be made and decorated and other foods to be prepared for the next several days.

Deb, Scott, Tim and Laura showed up mid-afternoon on Christmas Eve and we made panini pressed sandwiches to go with the oyster stew for a late lunch / early dinner prior to having our first round of Christmas gifts. As is usual when we let Cheri and Deb sit next to each other it wasn’t too long before they were both laughing and egging each other on to more laughter. We had a great afternoon and then sent the Whitneys on their way to Maine to be with Scott’s family while we headed out to a Christmas Eve service.

The candlelight service of carols and readings was very nice. Cheri played several roles as a deacon and a bell-ringer. She was handing out candles as we came in, played handbells during the service, was a reader and then collected used candles at the end. The service was one of joy and sending people out very upbeat…different from the Christmas Eve services of the past which
 
were more solemn and reflective. Both types of services are important and good reminders of what Christmas is truly about.

Christmas morning meant sleeping in for some…some of us just continue to be early risers…and then we checked our stockings to see if we’d been naughty or nice. Either we had been just nice enough or hidden our naughtiness, because there was no coal to be found in any of the stockings.

  

Since everyone had been so nice, I went ahead and prepared the traditional eggs benedict we enjoy on Christmas morning at our house. Then we opened our presents from under the tree…great gifts to and from everyone.

We shared gifts with them and tried to convince them…by displaying the Christmas feast beef…to stay through the evening, but they needed to move on.

Papa and I managed to get a 3½ mile walk in during the morning…to help justify the amount of eating we had already done and in preparation of what was coming. Soon after getting back to the house Dan and Monica Whitney stopped by on their way from Monica’s family in NJ and heading to meet up with the rest of the Whitneys in Maine. Soon after they left Dave, Karen, Derek and Anna arrived to spend Christmas evening with us. Dad came along with them and we stationed him near the fireplace to keep warm.

The feast was great…although the beef ended up a little too rare for some because I didn’t follow my own directions in preparing the meat…and we enjoyed the company around the table. Later in the evening we played some Left-Right-Center. 

A few days earlier, while getting some libations for the weekend, I found a combination of items that just seemed right.  One of them was a Naughty Nurse…and I figured if you are getting one you might as well get two.  Of course that meant you might end up with a Lump of Coal in your stocking…but this kind didn’t look to bad. 



So Dave and I managed to try them during some of our games.  We then tucked everyone in for another nice winter’s nap.
    
Sunday morning Nana and Papa got themselves packed up and headed off to NH before the predicted winter storm blew in. The rest of us finished more cooking and preparing another batch of snow pudding while awaiting the arrival of some more members of the Swenson family—excepting those in Florida, Denver, Australia, and in MA but already becoming snow-bound.
  

As people arrived we snacked on more of the Swedish food prepared for the day, as well as cookies and appetizers. There was football on the TV, sitting by the fire, visiting, and then we got everyone involved in a couple of rounds of Left-Right-Center. The events took us into late afternoon followed by  a Yankee Swap of gifts. Then it was another smorgasbörd of entrees and desserts.

With the snow storm heading up the coast the travelers did not want to tarry too long before heading north and away from the larger snow falls. We ended up with only a few inches on most of the ground although the snow drifted much deeper in some areas. More significantly the wind gusts took down many trees and branches in the area, including one in our back yard that woke us up in the middle of the night. No damage to the house, but loud enough to make you wonder what had happened.

As the Year’s Adventures are winding down it seems that it has been a good year.  Good times with Family and Friends…traveling…good food, wine, and spirits. It also looks like more great Adventures ahead with more traveling—Florida and Australia—more time together with friends—Valentines Day, Cinco de Mayo—and along with that should be more good food, wine and spirits.  HAPPY NEW YEAR to all as we continue the Adventures into 2011.