December 26, 2009

A Very Fun Christmas Celebration

We had a really nice Christmas celebration this year, and it started with a quiet Christmas eve dinner of cracked crab, a little salad and garlic toast. I've always tried to have crab on Christmas eve in one form or another. For a long time I made crab raviolis, but decided to simplify things by just having the crab as the main show. It is always such a nice way to start off the holidays.

We sure did make short work of those crab parts :)
Christmas morning, everyone arrived in time for brunch. Pictured are: Pierre's second cousins,left, Chloe, then Marlene. Nicole, Caitlin, and Cyrous tucked in the the back.
Pierre's cousin Sophie, mother to the lovely girls above, having a conversation with our friend Armel. It was nice to hear French spoken again.
Cute little Christmas couple.
Sisters opening up their gifts......
Dave digging for his prize......

A quiet moment before dinner.
I love these little candlesticks I found at CB2.
Aperitifs anyone?
This ham was so good, but sure doesn't photograph that well! I made this wonderful glaze for it with many spices. I served Swiss chard, sweet potatoes with diced comic pears, and roasted garlic mashed potatoes.
We all had to wear our Christmas cracker crowns!! Everyone was a good sport and complied. Hey its Christmas, its the only time you can get away with wearing a tissue crown as an adult right?
To end the evening we had coffee, tea and a slice of buche de noel.
It went by so fast, as it always does, but we had such a good time with family and friends, that all the work was totally worth it.
I hope everyone had a wonderful day and now I'm off to plan New Year's eve dinner......

* I just realized that Pierre was not in any photos I snapped! Sorry about that, but he was there and contributed to the fun!!

14 comments:

  1. Elizabeth, what a lovely holiday you had! Thank you for sharing. I smiled at your Dungeness crab feast ~ that has always been a winter tradition in our family too, ever since I was a little girl (actually a tradition in my family before I was born.)

    Beautiful family and friends, and your menus ... perfection.

    You have such beautiful accessories and great style, I love everything! Those elves are adorable...I'm going to cb2 next. ;) Lovely linens, dishware, etc. etc. etc.!!

    All the best to you and your loved ones in 2010. xo

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  2. Oh, my goodness. Looks delightful and fun. The crab made my mouth water!
    Glad you had a great Christmas.
    We are looking forward to the New Year and celebrating with friends!

    Melinda

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  3. So glad I came across your blog! It is so cute! :) Happy New Year.

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  4. you always have the most gorgeous celebrations. having a gorgeous family doesn't hurt ;). happy new year!

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  5. Merry Christmas a little late Elizabeth. Looks like you and your family had a wonderful one. I love your holiday table. Those crowns are the BEST :0) Did you make the yule log? BEAUTIFUL! Hope you and yours are going to have a wonderful New Year!

    Hugs,
    Melissa

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  6. I really enjoy perusing your blog Elizabeth. You are such an artist and such an inspiration!
    xxx

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  7. Lovely photographs of your festivities. Your Christmas log looks yummy. We always have one on Christmas Eve.

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  8. So gorgeous! I love it all! Especially the busche de noel! That is a tradition we share!

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  9. Hi Elizabeth!

    Did you make the buche de noel? I've been tempted to a couple of times, but am afraid I'll wind up with something that looks more like a giant Hostess Ho Ho.

    Also, can you share the recipe for the chocolate bark? It looks wonderful.

    Happy New Year to you and your beautiful family!

    Love,
    Dawn, Harleigh and Gideon

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  10. How wonderful and lovely! I just adore the idea of having crab on Christmas eve. Sadly,we're too far inland and I'm too much of a seafood snob to cook any around here! I am very jealous of where you live :)

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  11. Oh, my, what an elegant Christmas dinner you had! You always seem to do up every occasion so nicely. Lovely family and friends too. Best wishes for the new year. Nerm

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  12. the buche noel looks so pretty
    by the way i asked a relative and apparently i am supposed to use salted butter in the shortbread. it didn't specify but, next time i make it i'm going to try it.
    happy new year!

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  13. The festivities look divine! The food - Glorious. We always have lamb Christmas eve, but this year I totally blew it and forgot to buy it ahead of time. Come Christmas eve day, everyone was totally out. Next year! And I think next year I want a Buche Noel - just beautiful. The picture of the two of them conversing in the kitchen with their mugs is my favorite - a brilliant shot! xo

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  14. i love the buche photo!

    Everyone: the food was fabulous all day long!

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