Holiday Food and Fun

What a rollercoaster week it has been! Things kicked off last Monday. Though I was still working for a few days, the day was cut short by a party thrown by my boss for my co-workers and I. We drank mulled wine, played games and enjoyed a multitude of food, including my gingerbread cupcakes: a recipe I've been working to perfect throughout December. The spicy cake is offset by a moist, light texture and velvety cinnamon cream cheese frosting (I'll post the recipe tomorrow).

After I worked Monday and Tuesday, JiT and I hopped in the car and headed out to my hometown, to spend the remainder of the week with my family.

Each year, my parents' house becomes the gathering place for family from far and wide and this year was no exception. In addition to JiT and I, my sister and her husband flew in from their home in Charleston, and my cousins, their college-aged children and my 91-year old aunt drove up from down-state Illinois. Add in my 89 year-old grandma, who lives with my parents, and there were 12 of us packed cosily into a 4-bedroom ranch house for four days and three nights. This might sound like a recipe for disaster, but my family, fueled by an abundance of food and laughter, gets along great.

There were a few hiccups along the way, like waking up on Christmas Eve to discover the turkey we'd planned to roast was spoiled. Dinner was saved by JiT, who picked up five 8-oz. lobster tails to grill in replacement (there were only five of us that night). My parents, grandma, JiT and I enjoyed the simply grilled lobster, alongside steamed green beans, roasted fingerling potatoes and a bottler of good champagne we'd been saving since our engagement; the meal was an intimate and truly special occasion.

Things really got going on Christmas Day, when the rest of the family arrived. Over a four-day period, we managed to eat menu as decadent as it was varied, including:

- Broiled beef tenderloin, bacon-creamed spinach, twice-baked potatoes, monkey bread and peppermint-fudge ice cream pie on Christmas Day

- Baked french toast made with homemade Challa bread for Friday brunch

- Pizza, baked pretzels and hand-crafted beer from a local brewery for dinner on Friday

- Salt-brined roast turkey, garlic-mashed potatoes, cranberries and all the fix-ins on Saturday

- Pancakes, bacon and eggs for breakfast on Sunday

Along the way, we also stuffed ourselves with a variety of cookies, pies, cakes, eggnog, festive beverages and homemade marsmallows (that recipe coming soon). Perhaps the best of all being my cousin's luscios blackberry cheesecake. My cousin is a student at Kendall College, studying pastry arts and we regularly looking forward to her gorgeous breads, cookies and other creations. Her cheesecake being the absolute highlight.

In order to make room for all of these indulgent treats, we spent plenty of time playing games and being generally rowdy. The annual favorite is the pantomime game Guesstures; we've had an annual boys-against-girls tournament for the last 10 years. Pajamas are a requirement, alcohol optional but encouraged.

This year, we also discovered the Nintendo wii. My cousin recieved the system for Christmas and brought it along. Over two days, JiT created disturbingly accurate "mii" people for everyone in the family and each of us found a favorite game (mine was bowling). Even my 89 year-old grandma got in on the fun! We knew the game was a true hit when we woke on Sunday to discover that JiT, my brother-in-law Mike and my 21 year-old cousin had stayed up until 5 a.m. playing wii golf. Talk about a family-friendly game!

It was a fun, silly, crazy, exhausting weekend. For me, the weekend is best summed-up by the picture of my mom and dad, sister and I dancing our butts off at a local dive bar last Friday. In this family, anything goes.

Belated Christmas wishes to all of you!