How Christmas looked in our home........

I must confess, I was all set to be a real Grinch about Christmas this year. With Max's surgery closely followed by Grandpa's death, it has been a bit harrowing, and I was exhausted and not in the mood to rush around stressing to do decorations and fancy meals. But luckily, K talked me into making some effort, because of Ethan. And it was fun in the end!

(I have uploaded small pictures to save storage space, but they are clickable if you want to see details!)
K decorated the table with all sorts of bling, and little alyssum seedlings in tiny white flower pots at each place setting added a delightful touch. We even had tomato juice in champagne glasses, not because we particularly wanted to drink it (there was yummy fruit punch full of fresh strawberries for that!!) but because the colour looked so good on the table!



We spent the day before Christmas making all sorts of goodies, and then ate them cold for lunch on Christmas day, so that it was easy and flexible.









Because K is allergic to gluten and dairy, and Max and I are doing the whole "look after your heart" thing, we had to be quite creative about adapting traditional recipes, but in the end it turned out to be quite a colourful and delicious spread! Individual salmon pates, asparagus with ham, drizzled with mayonnaise and paprika, turkey and stuffing made from rice cakes and onion and garlic, with cranberry sauce, bean and tomato salad, and tomato aspic with ham....yum. This was followed by gluten free, dairy free trifle, which K made.

And miracle of miracles, I even managed to bake 2 Christmas cakes without burning them!! 1 gluten free, 1 normal but cholesterol free. I decorated them with yummy candied ginger and melon, and almonds, with a few silver balls to add some bling!


But of course, in the end, it was all about the little guy! The kids went to an early Church service, and then came round to us, with all his presents. We added a few finishing touches to the meal, then settled down to open his gifts before lunch. We had already agreed amongst ourselves that we would not be giving gifts to any adults, and had donated what we would have spent to a home for aids orphans which is run by a friend of K and J's

So a good time was had by all. Who knows, I might even allow myself to be talked into seeing the New Year in for a change!