Jack and Pam at the Lake have been sidelined by lingering bad colds and are living proof that aspirin and cough syrup are sometimes more than adequate to carry us over the rough spots in life.
Our Christmas Day celebration with the family on the farm was wonderful... Sis and Chris didn't arrive with the little girls until afternoon, so Jack and I had plenty of time to prepare our contributions to the food table without rushing OR getting up before the crack of dawn.
Jack roasted a goose, and I only wish I had a picture of it coming out of the oven. Unlike a turkey, which is, well, butterball-shaped, this goose was longer and thinner and didn't fit into the planned roasting dish, but Jack made it work, using an upright roasting support and adjusting the lower rack in the oven. The bird was impressive with dark golden skin and tasty, almost "beefy", meat. Having never cooked a goose in the literal sense before, neither of us knew what to expect, but everyone seemed to really enjoy it.
All of the food was delicious, but that's only to be expected when the family brings together old and new favorites for the holiday celebration.
The family had all decided that we'd "take it easy" on the gift-giving this year, a fact not evident by the size of the pile of gifts under Mom and Dad's beautiful Christmas tree, but with two little girls in the family, taking it easy isn't as easy as it sounds.
Unfortunately Pammy was NOT paying attention when we were loading the car to head to the farm, and one of sweet Bea's presents got left here at the house. As luck would have it, she was so excited about the brightly-colored little monkey NanNan and Papa gave her that she didn't realize her gift pile was one present short, and I doubt that opening her hot-pink track suit would've added much to her enjoyment of the day.
Peace and joy!
All of the food was delicious, but that's only to be expected when the family brings together old and new favorites for the holiday celebration.
The family had all decided that we'd "take it easy" on the gift-giving this year, a fact not evident by the size of the pile of gifts under Mom and Dad's beautiful Christmas tree, but with two little girls in the family, taking it easy isn't as easy as it sounds.
Unfortunately Pammy was NOT paying attention when we were loading the car to head to the farm, and one of sweet Bea's presents got left here at the house. As luck would have it, she was so excited about the brightly-colored little monkey NanNan and Papa gave her that she didn't realize her gift pile was one present short, and I doubt that opening her hot-pink track suit would've added much to her enjoyment of the day.
Peace and joy!
