Christmas Day

Christmas morning traditions start with Kal and Kara bouncing into our room much earlier than either of us feel like being up. Then with much cajoling and coaxing and coffee, they get us up--if you can say "up" is out of bed and sliding across the floor like a slug.

They have the stockings down and laid around the table for us.

Kris reads a portion of Scripture, then we take turns finding out how much sugar is in each stocking.

Later are the other gifts, and I look like a mom nagging everyone to toss the wrapping paper away as they open the gifts. Handle everything once, I say.

We had some family from each side over to celebrate Christmas with us and our roast goose.

Overdone, but still tasty, goose

The goose? I wasn't sure how to make it up, so I roasted it like a turkey. Stab the skin in places, then insert butter, lots of butter, garlic, and rosemary. As an afterthought, I sprinkled hot sauce over the top, then cut up two apples and two onions to place around the pan as it was roasting.

Unless everyone was lying, it was good. To me, it tastes milder than duck. My gravy turned into a horrid, gelatinous mess. Oh, well. Everything else was good.

I had planned on making an Oriental salad with a cabbage, only I forgot to get cabbage on the last run to the grocery store. Instead, I mixed up a blend (nothing measured, of course) of olive oil, vinegar, honey, brown sugar, orange juice, ginger, and poppy seeds, along with dried cranberries and almonds. Yum! A perfect way to improve on lettuce, spinach, and cucumbers.

My brother and his girlfriend stayed around awhile longer for a rip-roaring game of Scrabble. She got a 69-pointer for one word. Really good game.

I hope all you had as merry a Christmas as we did.