I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas!! I had a truly wonderful day with Jeff, my boys, my brother and his wife and my parents. There was the usual frenzy of opening presents, but it was even more enjoyable this year because the boys are at such a sweet age. They’re old enough to really get it, but young enough to run around in footie jammies all day.
I received mostly gift cards (Anthro, Ulta, iTunes and ModCloth), a “zoodle” maker (for spiral-cutting vegetables), some Crocs that are lined (I wear my Crocs often, but my feet get cold in the winter) and a few other things.
I set the table and did a lot of food prep the day before, so I was able to putter around the kitchen at a comfortable pace to get everything ready. My mom and brother also made a few of the dishes, so it was a team effort.
I set the table with our everyday ironstone (with a few special pieces mixed in), our silver flatware, mismatched antique silver napkin rings and monogrammed linen napkins that were a wedding gift to Jeff’s parents.
I enjoy using things like the salt cellars and beautiful silver pitcher that’s monogrammed with my Oma’s initials.
And we had all of the candles lit on the ring mold advent (which will be a yearly tradition, I think!)
When it came to the food, I was particularly proud of a quiche I made. I had never successfully made a pie crust. They are always tough or soggy or otherwise not yummy, so I have surrendered to store-bought crust. I bought a crust for the apple pie, but I forgot about the quiche, so I was on my own. I made an all-butter crust and it turned out perfectly!
The crust was flaky and delicious and the quiche was the highlight for me.
We also had bread and pastries from our local bakery…
…a few heirloom dishes like my great-grandmother Rosa’s congealed fruit salad…
…and her cheese spread as well. Our family tradition is to have cheese grits, potatoes, asparagus and tenderloin steaks. (I make the quiche as a vegetarian-friendly alternative.)
And I even made a special lunch for my very picky T1D kid who wasn’t feeling very hungry and wanted to eat things that were “soft.”
We finished off the food with some homemade apple pie. (I’ve been meaning to share this recipe that was shared with me by a woman who lives on an apple orchard.)
This year, we decided to spend less on Christmas. It forced me to make careful choices about what I thought each person would really like and our stockings were basically empty, since those are usually filled with candy and small extras that we wouldn’t normally buy, but we “need” to buy in order to fill the stockings. Filling stockings can be expensive and, with a diabetic kid who can’t gorge on candy anyway, it was for the best. Even though we spent less, it never felt like less. It was a good lesson for me, who likes to go all out for Christmas.
I was feeling a bit under the weather today, so we had a quiet day at home and my mom watched the boys, so we could see The Hobbit this evening. I’m usually in a big rush to get the tree and decorations down, but I’m taking my time this year. I have enjoyed being hit with the smell of our tree when I walk in the room and the glow of the lights at night.
The cleaning can wait a few more days…
first response?? uh oh, maybe this won’t publish so better make it short! Lovely Christmas, Marion! Beautifully done! It is still 2014, right??
I follow the “old world” tradition of decorating the tree Christmas Eve (I love seeing the look on the kids faces when they see the transformation Christmas morning) and leaving it up until Epiphany, Jan. 6th. No rush to get the decorations down as we celebrate all 12 days of the Christmas season. My kids think it’s so weird to see discarded trees on the 26th. We’re still having a long party for Jesus, waiting for those three wisemen, and the goats get to munch on the tree Jan. 7th.
All looked calm and restful Marian. Now I want some apple pie a la mode! I noticed your dinner plates and wondered about the pattern? They remind me of a Mikasa pattern, but I know you said they were ironstone. Your tabletop was so inviting. Happy New Year to you and your family! Hope the little guys are doing well!
Relax, kick your feet up, and enjoy your pretty house for a couple more days! Enjoy the kids while they’re off of school. Work can wait, taking decor down can wait. Merry Christmas is a season that’s still going…
Everything is beautiful – as always. One suggestion: change the name of the fruit salad. Congealed is not a lovely word.
I agree, call it a jellied salad:) I was shocked to read previous years about people taking down their tree the day after Christmas (Boxing Day to us). But then I suppose if it has been up most of December…… I remember as a child in England decorating the tree on Christmas Eve. This year our tree was all finished about a week before Christmas. It will probably stay up until New Years Day. I enjoy seeing what others eat for Christmas dinner, your’s looks delicious:)
Beautiful!! Thank you for showing me less is more. I used vintage Christmas décor from my childhood and some of my favorites items purchased as an adult. I liked the looked. I am getting rid of the extra.
Anytime you want to share that apple pie recipe….I am ready to bake it.
EVERY year I dream that it is Christmas Eve and I have not decorated or bought gifts…and I spend the entire dream figuring out how I am going to get all my Christmas shopping done at Walgreens AND get everything decorated by morning. EVERY. SINGLE. YEAR! It’s like that old “at school in your underwear” dream I use to have…or the dream that it is time for finals and I haven’t gone to class or even cracked the textbook.
I read the title of your blog post and about stroked…lol!!!!
Time flies so fast these days I wouldn’t be surprised if I missed an entire season!
Beautiful as always…I love how people have such different traditions…for us it is Christmas Eve pajamas, and Christmas morning pictures…and our Christmas dinner is all our favorite desserts and meat and cheese trays and dips I prepare for days in advance so no one has to cook the day of!
Happy New Year!
LOL…It took me a few minutes to figure out what you were talking about. Oh! It’s still 2014!
That’s okay Marion, I think our brains are all a little tired after Christmas. That apple pie looks like it could jump off the page. Hope you will share the recipe!
This year, we opted to do one big gift instead of a bunch of smaller gifts. I am so excited because my hubby gave me a Canon Rebel T5 with lens and a tripod. From reading the reviews, its a good starter camera for those who are just learning photography. I already see a big difference in the clarity of my pictures from my old camera. I thought of you as my Mom gave me several pieces of Ironstone this Christmas that she had found at shops and yard sales during the year.
Unfortunately, everyone that attended Christmas dinner at my Mothers is in bed sick and throwing up except my brother and myself. I am keeping my fingers crossed that I wont get it but since my husband is sick its a good chance I will. Have a very Happy 2015 and enjoy The Hobbit.
BTW….my great grandmothers name was Rosa too! I am sure she made one or two congealed salads in her day as well.
“Christmas 2015 Recap”? Seems like Christmas 2014 was just yesterday…Did I miss an entire year?! LOL
All so calmly lovely with so
much time still to enjoy it as the twelve days of Christmas have barely begun. Experience the Christmas season in all it’s beauty.
That quiche looks really good! I’m usually quite anxious to get my decorations down as well as soon as Christmas is over. Maybe it’s because I decorate as early as mid-November, and so now I feel like I need to put away all the gold and red and get this house cleaned and organized again!
thank you marian for a year full of wonderful posts that have inspired me. i am thrilled for you to see your business grow and change, and also to see you blossom with it! blessings, karen
everything looks nice. will be anxiously waiting for the apple pie recipe. please. thank u.
Lovely Christmas.
Hope you are feeling better, Marian! Blessings to you.
Uhhh!!??? The ” 2015 ” recap…. scared me!
EVERYTHING looks WONDERFUL!!!!
Enjoy your home and the tree smells for some more days…now that you have the studio, you don’t HAVE to rush. I think more and more you will find the studio was the answer to BIG prayers.
Thank you for showing your home to us. Love the studio but, it is nice to see a “real” home setting with the ideas you incorporate.
May God bless you and your family in 2015!!!!
Addie
We keep Christmas until Epiphany also, celebrating the 12 Days. Sometimes we are the very last ones to take down lights and wreaths, but now we live across from the Episcopal Church, so we can keep Christmas together. The wreaths stay on the church doors through Jan. 6th. Don’t rush to end the celebration! One of my sisters was born on Christmas Eve (Christine) and the other was born on Epiphany (Joy), so we have other reasons to make merry during the Christmas season!
Your home and table look beautiful, as always. I esp. like the glass glittered ornaments on the tree.
So, are you going to share you pie crust recipe? I’ve always been a pie crust failure and buy store bought also. The apple pie is calling my name, and now I’m craving some! Blessings in the coming year, Marian!
simple and stunning. I have enjoyed this holiday season so much more by keeping it simple. So nice to see your seed of faith blossom! Happy New Year to you.
Your Christmas table was lovely. I have a T1D kid, too. Well, he’s now 18. He was also a picky eater. Interestingly, being T1D has made him a more adventurous eater. He is forever engaged in the never-ending quest for food that is both delicious and helps him manage his blood sugar. He has also become an excellent cook. Perhaps that will be the case for your young man as well.
One of my earliest memories is of coming downstairs on Christmas morning and seeing the Christmas tree. Wonderful. (I am 72) One year my mother decided to get a fake tree and it was never like Christmas again. I always said it looked like a toilet brush tree. Come to find out that the inventor of fake Christmas trees owned a toilet brush factory! Never in my life have I had a fake tree. My son just told me that there something that you can spray on your live tree to keep it from dropping. Yes we decided that less is more this Christmas and we never missed the excess.
We have a Jell-O ring called Jell-O Surprise! Would be very interested in your jello-o recipe.
Your Christmas sounds like a lovely time. It seems I can almost hear you exhale since setting up shop and reclaiming your home as a respite from the outside world 🙂 . Christmas stockings and T1 diabetic boys I am familiar with. Our son is grown but we still do family stockings for all who wake up in our house Christmas morn. Years ago we switched over from candy to small toys, toiletries like new combs and foot lotion, nuts and fruits and now that everyone has their own home I add small kitchen helps like an egg timer or can strainer. I also visit a fine chocolate store and buy a few pieces of sugar free confections. Chocolate is low in carbs. Have a wonderful last week of a fantastic year.
What a lovely family day! The table and food is a sight to behold. Ours was family centric too wiht lots of laughter, gifts and food! Oh the food. All the kids with grandkids plus my brother and his made for some merry days. We have basically done nothing for 2 days. Monday is our dig out, clean out and pack away day; the first of several as we pace ourselves over the rest of the school vacation and will also take in a movies. Blessings, Linda
Your table is gorgeous, as always!
I love the checked tablecloth!
My favorite shade of blue…where oh where did you find it?
Rest and feel better!
I use Bloglovin’, but can’t find your site there. Do you have any insights? Thanks & Merry Christmas!
Merry Christmas Marian! Your dinner sounds and looks delish! Our family was sick most of December so this whole month has been so low key and quite frankly a bit weird. It didn’t even feel like the Christmas season. It had me thinking though a lot about the first Christmas. How Jesus came relatively unnoticed into a broken world. It wasn’t pretty and beautiful, it was messy, and most likely smelly and germy too. Really brought it into perspective just how much Christ gave up for us coming into this world.
Ah, a picture perfect holiday. Merry merry!
I have just recently hung a chandelier in my dining room that i chalk painted, love it but it seems a bit too low, I just LOVE the one you have in your dining room, it just beautiful!
Could you tell me the distance from the ceiling measurement of yours, I am hoping to get mine moved up higher over the weekend!!
Thanks for sharing, I just love your posts :))))
Happy 2015
Cathy