Christmas with the Fun Kids

Monday dinner:

Fresh Market chicken pot pie.

Cole slaw w/ cranberries, apples, toasted pine nuts.

Breakfasts:

Easy Banana Bread.

Family's traditional pie-crust cinnamon rolls.

Christmas morning libations.

Our celebrating began in earnest when JE's family arrived from Cincinnati on Monday afternoon. The delight and anticipation flew in our front door around 3:00pm, and the Fun Kids immediately surveyed the packages under the tree, and each opened their special drawer in our great room console to see what treasures grandma had gathered since their last visit.

We obviously ate well, and the kids both entertained themselves, drafted adults for various board games, and even took a trip to Chicago to visit cousins SG and RG. A good time was had by all.

For the Fun Kids, Wednesday was all about going to the Woodstock Movie Theater for Big Hero 6. LC talked about those characters and scenarios throughout the rest of his time with us. CA and I made an early morning grocery run--stocking up for the next few meal at Meijer's, Trader Joe's, and Caputo's. MA made a run to the Crystal Lake butcher for gorgeous NY strip steaks to be grilled for Christmas dinner.

Our Christmas Eve was ostensibly finger foods, but it really was a full-on buffet of cheeses, meats, pigs-in-blankets (kids' request), marinated mushrooms, favorite bread, Irish butter, fruit, veggies. There may have been a few bottles of specially-selected beers and wines somewhere in the mix. I forget...

Yes, our family celebrations are very much about food. Whether we cook it together, bring food in, go out, or make do we all appreciate and expect the best quality.

Cincinnati Fun Kids.

Not with us this year, but in our hearts and minds...

DM's family, minus MK (the photographer).
Fort Collins Fun Kids.

In yet another location--New Orleans--niece HW is perfecting her oyster shucking techniques to be applied on Friday in Central Illinois. She and her parents, PW and LFW, are driving non-stop through the night to ensure that our seafood arrives pristinely fresh and chilled for optimum enjoyment.