Same to you! We had a fantastic day and the food was awesome. Great friends and fellowship. I am worn out and already in bed with Mia. It won't take long to fall asleep tonight unless the fireworks start yet again.

Happy Christmas to you! It was a long day, but all of the meals turned out well. I tried an herb and olive oil turkey rub from Williams-Sonoma this year for my turkey and the result was quite tasty. I’m exhausted. I think cooking for six is just as much work and clean-up as cooking for 30.

We had a nice day too, a long day.. Visited with neighbors a little, kids had a snowball fight with their cousins (ok they were California snowballs, foam), We ate too much. Dinner was served 2 hours late as is our tradition.

Wonderful Christmas with my son and his wife. I outdid myself with shrimp and grits casserole. Son even took the leftovers home. That meant a lot.

It was really nice. With the presents here at our house for the 7 of us (two daughters, my husband, I, our two dogs and my daughter’s cat) and at my in laws house yesterday I didn’t get to bed until 3. Tonight we had 10 of them back at our house for cookies and game time. Ever played Pictionary? The age in our group was from 7 to 79. With dry erase markers and a minute time limit (cheated a bit on that one) none of us are artists. My stomach muscles are going to be sore tomorrow from laughing so hard! Honestly, how did we start out with the word Unicorn and ended up with Hippo? Or a rattlesnake turned into a bird in a pan?

We had a big extended family Christmas dinner on Christmas Eve. I took a glazed ham and desserts- brownies, Eton Mess with fresh raspberries, blueberries, blackberries and strawberries, and a lemon custard tart. One SIL brought dips etc for pre-meal nibbles and hosts DH’s B and his SO did the turkey and vegetables. Unfortunately the turkey was dry and the gravy was not bad but it was odd as it had mustard in it. When DH’s B took over responsibility for the turkey (having never cooked one before) I tried to give him some pointers but he’s the kind of guy who has “read a book” about it and knows it all. Sigh. I did get many compliments for my contributions; the ham was smoked by my local butcher who won third prize in a state ham judging.

Luckily I had plans to roast a turkey breast on Christmas Day for DH and I (I love the leftovers :-) ). I stuffed it with a bread stuffing and sealed off the open end with a sausagemeat forcemeat which had cranberries, ham, onion, apple and seasonings in it. The turkey turned out moist, DH said the forcemeat would make awesome sandwiches, the gravy was normal, and we had Brussels sprouts steamed with butter and bacon and tartiflette as sides. (Tartiflette is kind of like scalloped potatoes on steroids; it has cream, onions, bacon, lots and lots of cheese and I add slices of Brie in between the layers.). Portuguese egg tarts later on. It was soo good :-)

Not quite for me.......I still have to cook for and attend my parents' Christmas party this Saturday. They always do it after Christmas, i suspect to extend the Christmas fun for the grandkids. My mom will be bringing up loads of groceries for me to cook most of the stuff ahead at my house in the next few days. Ugh. I am happy to do it, but not really looking forward to it. The cooking is easy and even fun. It's the cleanup that i dread......

I had every intention of coming to work on Christmas night and dutifully taking down and packing away my Christmas decor, but i just couldn't. I was tired and besides, i get sad when it comes down. I just sat and wallowed in the lights all night. I think I can make a case to leave it up until Sunday night. No one else will take it down anyway.

At home, we had a nice and quiet Christmas. I forced SO to open his gifts as soon as i got home at 5:45 am. I am always eager to see which gifts will go down well and which ones don't make quite a splash. Then i made breakfast then left him to play with his new toys while i went to bed. I couldn't sleep for more than 4 hours though, and gave up and got up too early. SO grilled a chicken, I made my loaded potato casserole and i took a plate to work with me. I was invited (NAGGED) to go to my sisters house to eat before i had to go to work, but i didn't really even consider it. I am thankful that she always invites me, and do go and often cook the whole meal for her. But this year, i didn't want to get caught up in the chaos of a 6 children household on Christmas, and was very happy to stay home and spend quiet time with SO instead. I still have to deliver her present to her. Maybe I will go today after i rest and am more up to it.

I am glad to hear everyone (so far) had a nice Christmas. Hope everyone has a fun and peaceful New Year as well.

Amylou, if you’re working insane shifts and doing all the cooking, you should NOT be doing the clean up. Put your foot down and deputise.

Colleenoz, normally i would cook at THEIR house and they would do the cleanup. But that is very stressful for me. Kids running through the kitchen, people picking at things or stirring things, or coming in and making "suggestions." (Not, real suggestions, they do it to irritate me, and it works EVERY SINGLE TIME) My father gets on my last nerve. He is INCAPABLE of staying out of the kitchen. He is incapable of leaving things alone. If i take something out to use, i will turn around and he will be in there, like a OCD ninja, putting it away before i use it. The last time i cooked there, he screamed at me for snatching something away and a small piece of something fell on the floor. It was ridiculous.Everyone there heard him fly off the handle. I finished cooking and left before the actual celebration started. Apparently he was flabbergasted at my reaction. The rest of my family is so used to just ignoring him when he does things like that, and he is so used to getting away with it, that he couldn't fathom why i wouldn't just let it go. So now i do as much as i can ahead of time at my own home. He asked me last time they brought the groceries up why don't i just cook at their house, and I had to inform him that he was seriously close to getting a pink kitchen knife in the neck last time i did so.

So while the cleanup is tedious, it is worth the peace. But I am still not looking forward to it....

When I cook for my sister, I do it at her house, and she does the cleanup. Its not stressful there. The only thing is one of her older twins likes to be my "assistant." Which is a little difficult for me, because I am not sure what to delegate to him, and he winds up just going off to do something else. He is a sweet kid, and I wish i knew how to handle such things better, as I think its unusual for a 13 yo boy to be interested in cooking, and i would like to encourage that. I am just not sure how.....

Glad to read some lovely reports. I have to say, Annie that when I have company over, even very civilized company, my home does not look quite so peaceful and in place as yours does right after the fact. :) I am in awe.

Amylou I wish you could come cook for us! We’d leave you alone and I would happily clean up the mess. I hate to cook - too many variables in cooking, but clean-up I understand.

We had great celebrations, starting on Sunday and ending yesterday. All the food was great, gifts were all well received, most of the stuff is put away from gifts we had here and brought home yesterday.

I plan to go to the gym today and then read and relax. We will volunteer on New Year’s Eve and maybe go out for a drink after with some friends who are also working with us. Then rest and watch football in New Years Day.

We had a lovely Christmas dinner, but the festivities here are just beginning. Son #1 arrives today and we will have leftovers from last night. Kitchen table is set and ready to go. Son #2 arrives tomorrow and I will be making second Christmas dinner today. Dining room table is half set but have to run dishwasher to finish setting it. On Friday I will have son #1, #2 family of 4, DD and SIL, plus son #2's friend and son for dinner. I'm already tired and much to do. The good news is, son #2 and family is staying at daughter's. That helps a lot! I think I'm too old for this much fun. :-)))

Amylou, maybe your father has gotten the message. I would try cooking at their house one more time. I've been cooking for almost 70 years and I hate it when DH (who knows nothing about cooking) tells me what to do, so I get it. I think you're wonderful and wish you were my daughter. I could use you along about now!

I love Boxing Day!! In fact, I like it more than I probably do Christmas Day itself - all the hoopla and fuss and bother is over and peace and quiet and relative tranquility reigns :-) Not anything I have to do - not even cook as plenty of yummy leftovers to keep me going - and no schedule to keep so I often spend the entire day in my jammies or sweats......reading, watching Netflix or Britbox, cruising the 'net. Depending on the weather, I may take the dog for a long walk and I am completely out of eggs so will likely swing by the market to pick some up to keep me for the rest of the week.

Nearby family is all out of town and I spent time with the rest yesterday so just me and the dog and nothing important that needs to be attended to until after the first of the year. Yay!!!

ETA: just remembered when I let the dog out for his morning constitutional that I have a ton of brush and tree branches to clean up from the pre-Christmas windstorm that left me without power for two and half days!! But that is weather dependent as well.....I won't do outdoor work in the pouring rain!

We had a great two days.

Christmas Eve afternoon hubby and I assembled the breakfast strata and baked oatmeal pineapple cookies. I made them about half the size as usual and ended up with seven dozen cookies, six of which are in the freezer for future treats.

On Christmas morning, the traditional breakfast strata was served with a fruit salad. Both were delicious. The fruit balanced out the richness of the strata and was just right.

Hubby took a nap after breakfast while I puttered around in my studio cleaning out drawers and organizing my supplies and tools. Always like to have a fresh start for the new year.

The Christmas stocking was a big hit as were the stocking stuffers. It was totally unexpected so there was a wonderful element of surprise. The funny thing was that hubby didn't notice it sitting on the wood stove even though he walked by it several times. I finally decided I'd have to move it, so placed it in his computer chair while he was napping. There was no way he'd miss it in that location!

After he got up, we prepared out prime rib with a rub of rosemary, garlic, sea salt and coarse ground black pepper. We have a rosemary bush out in the yard and it was fun to go out and pick a sprig to use in the rub. The prime rib was just fabulous. Tender and flavorful, but not too much fat. It was better than most prime ribs I've had in restaurants.

We rounded out the day with a sappy Christmas movie after dinner followed by a couple of Law and Order reruns.

I like Boxing Day because I can stay in my pyjamas all day should I so desire. I stayed up until 1 am but the living room is tidied, the dining room is cleaned up and all the dishes are done from Christmas Day. I'll do a couple of loads of laundry today but the decorations will stay up for a couple of more days before I take everything down.

Everything went well we had a lovely two dinners. I have a bit more cleanup to do. I am going to buy a portable dishwasher for such events. I had two dishwashers before and always loved the quicker cleanup!

Today I have to do a bit of paperwork and at least start the payroll which we have to pay on Friday. I will have to celebrate boxing Day on Sunday which is my first Sunday in a month.

Very sorry to read of your sil's boyfriend's cancer Eld. Prayers said for him.

I love Boxing Day, too--or as the Danes call it, Second Christmas Day. I don't stay in my pajamas, but we have leftovers for lunch, watch movies, run another load in the dishwasher. I get to enjoy the decorations, my family, without all the bustle and without having to go anywhere. DS is off today and we will take him back to the city tonight. DH works from home and many of his clients are off today...though not all, so he is preparing for meetings and deliverables for Thursday. But still taking time to go with DS for a new phone.

Beef stew is in the crockpot for dinner, all is well.

A very quiet and fun Christmas for us - just DH and me (and the cats). Relaxing today with plenty of grazing available. Lasagna, salad, garlic bread, beef barley soup, fruit and chocolate. If anyone feels ambitious there is plenty of other things to make. Lots of books to read and movies to watch. Enjoy your day everyone!

Annie - rutabaga casserole? Mmmmm. Would you be willing to post a recipe?

Yes, it's very much like this one...my cousin says she doesn't like rutabaga, but does when it's prepared this way:

https://www.geniuskitchen.com/recipe/rutabaga-casserole-17501

I love rutabaga and can eat it mashed with just butter and a dash of nutmeg instead of hot cereal for breakfast...to me it's comfort food.

Thanks Annie!

I think its unusual for a 13 yo boy to be interested in cooking, and i would like to encourage that. I am just not sure how.....

gift him a girls 'n boys cook book. we did that for our oldest boy when he was 12.

amylou......I find kids like to get a little creative in the kitchen vs following a cook book. Assign him different jobs and let him cut veges, start water boiling, check items on the stove and explain to him how to tell when things are done or need more cooking. Also ask him what he likes cooking or what he'd like to learn. Just keep a conversation going. I find it's fun having a kid in the kitchen. My granddaughter was making her own deviled eggs at age 8 and her dad always liked helping in the kitchen when he was growing up.

Annie......did everyone really miss that cake or was it placed in a hard-to-find spot? How nice to have it all to yourself now. : )

annztoo, no, I didn't serve it as we were inundated with cookies, a giant apple pie and a giant cheesecake. We froze some of it and I had DH take the rest to the gym for his gym buds...they'll eat anything. :)

I did try it though and it was very good.