Christmas Eve with Kohlton, Mark and Martine

Breaking away from tradition and doing a new thing for Christmas this year was good. It as a lot of fun up at Mark's lodge in the mountains.

It is not a small place, but it still feels cozy with the overstuffed couches and the wood burning stove. There are mounted heads on the wall (most of them festoonded with garlands) and furs on the floor. There are strings of lights on the support beam and special string of lights that look like tiny oil lanterns.
The kids and the men went for a walk on the mountain while Martine and I stayed behind. After several days of food prep., I was happy to sit, relax, knit and talk.

The skies were clear blue, crisp and cold. Great conditions for a walk.

A bit after their return, we sat down for a wonderful meal. It started out with crab legs that we steamed in the microwave (I posted the recipe in a previous posting) which was served with butter, garlic butter and garlic dill butter. I also brought up some English crackers, to which Martine and I added Almond Rocca (a lovely chocolate and nut toffee.) They remind me of Christmas time with Eleanor, my long gone mother-in-law.

For the next course we had salad with feta cheese, craisins and glazed walnuts. That was followed grilled rib-eye steak and mashed potatoes. I had rubbed the steaks with olive oil and dusted them with Montreal Steak seasoning. As I stood at the grill, I enjoyed the delightful snow. The flakes were large and substantial. I could feel each flake as it landed on me. We had hoped for such a nice snowfall.

The last bit of dinner was the Nantucket Cranberry pie. By then we were all full and happy. Some of us were even a bit sleepy.

Ellie tempted Kohlton into taking a few barefoot turns around part of the yard. The fun of it pleased her. Their feet quickly froze so they warmed them up by the wood burning stove.

Into the evening we watched, "The Christmas Story" and played Texas Hold'em. Kohlton was teaching me how to play and I was doing rather well for a beginner. Around midnight we all drifted off to bed.

We awoke to a white Christmas, just like the ones in the movies. At the end of the hallway Mark has a large window that looks out over the meadow. I stood there, transfixed by the snowy scene. (I wish I had taken a photo, but it had not occured to me at the time.) W

e had a leisurely breakfast and opened presents. All too soon it was time to head back down the mountain as we were hosting Christmas dinner at our house in the afternoon.