I’m getting to it a bit late but Merry Christmas to all!
As you can see they’re pruning trees a bit more narrow this year. That’s a new Moravian star at the top of our tree. Our old star finally died. It was 40 years or so old—you can’t expect these things to last forever. The new star was missing a couple of pieces. I don’t think you can tell.
I took out a home equity loan and got a small (prime) beef roast. A couple of guests joined us for dinner. I also made Basque baked beans (an easy recipe that everybody but vegetarians like) and a green salad. My wife made the birthday cake she’s been making for the last several years for me. Gingerbread cake with ermine frosting. It was the best ever this year.
Probably my favorite present this year was my wife sent some of the ribbons that Kara won to a lady who turns them into beautiful Christmas ornaments.
Just a note on the tree. We just happened to stop at a Tractor Supply rather than go to a farm. (Lots of those here).
Amazingly, 8 foot tree with wonderful shape, fullness and uniformity. We thought it was a steal at $60. Perhaps the best tree I’ve (and she) ever had. Which is nice as we just got married on the 14th.
Well, if you bought beef that loan ought to be paid off in a couple years……. Traditional ham and turkey for us, although, reflective of our location in No GA just a mile south of the NC border we had a couple trout fillets for the group.
Was it local ham and was it any good?
I used to buy my holiday ham from an outfit in Arkansas near the border with Texas (it was fantastic). Since they closed I’ve been flailing.
Yes, Dave. Local. Lots of that around here too. And in season farm stands etc. No GA is interesting. Basically longstanding farms mixed in with second homes from the Atlanta, Knoxville and Greenville crowd. We are permanent. It’s Lake Chatuge if you are interested.
You want chickens? Gotm. Eggs? Gotm. Trout? Gotm. Venison? Yep.
I haven’t seen wild turkey offered. But they are everywhere.
No sugared up “spiral” hams here.
Everyone got sick and son’s car had issues so we canceled. I froze the beef and will have it for New Year’s. I did make a nice split pea soup using a smoked pork butt form our local farmer’s market. Have bought their smoked pork for 30 years and awesome for soups. Have tried wild turkey but think domestic is better. If you have access to trout highly recommend smoking it. Easy to do and surprisingly popular.
Steve