Boxing Day

Yesterday was our family get together holiday celebration, which always just happens to fall on Boxing Day, or the Feast of St. Stephen, if you prefer. Years ago when Kristin was just a wee child (oh that makes her sound soooo ancient, doesn't it?) and we had just moved to Georgia, I felt overwhelmed to entertain extended family for dinner on Christmas Day, so we all made the very adult decision to move the feast to the 26th. I would serve a marvelous Beef Tenderloin with Mushroom Sauce. The recipe had been shared with me by my neighbor Carmella, who is a fabulous cook. Craig's cousin Heather would bring our family recipe for Christmas Potatoes and also a great Christmas Trifle. Well, as years have gone by, I have taken the liberty to stray from the tenderloin since we have a Standing Rib Roast (my mother's favorite) on Christmas Day. This year I served another family favorite: C's mother's Ham Loaf with Whipped Cream/Horseradish sauce. I can feel my arteries doing a little clogging number as I write!
We also now enjoy having several friends join us. It adds to the hilarity (see pictures below) of the occasion.....and I just love seeing how our family and friends enjoy eachother's company!!

Here are John and Troy, arriving with two lovely floral arrangements. John loves working with flowers and does a lot of the altar flowers at our church, plus decorating and flowers for many folks in the area. They are both great friends of ours, and I am overjoyed that they have come into our lives!

Now here is an interesting crowd of folks: seated is cousin Catherine, undoubtedly just having let loose with some dry wit, which she is so famous for these days! Standing behind her is Sherrie, sans theatrics! In turquoise with the stunning pin (I should have taken a closeup of that, darn!) is Molly. Her pesonality is just as colorful as her wonderful red hair! Next is Lorry...need I say more Lorry???? Lorry has the very difficult but I think somewhat rewarding task of trying to keep Sherrie walking the line! He does a fairly good job of it, but I know it is tough for him! Next to Lorry is the love of my life (all sweetness and light!) Craig, wearing his festive frolicmeister hat...which he only wears on the 26th, lest you become concerned!!! I think it is fair to say that by the time this photo was taken, a bit of wine had been consumed!!!

OK, in this next photo are my two "chilluns" (well, one by birth and the oher by marriage), Kristin and Dave and also Kristin's Godmother (aka the Godmother of Soul) Heather. Heather is C's cousin and also the mother of Catherine-of-the-Dry-Wit, in the photo above. Heather is also the wife of Scott, the saner member of that family, but we'll get to him in a minute. Heather ain't such a slacker in the wit dept. either! As you can see, these three have also gotten into the hat thingy, and don't seem to be the least bit shy about it!!! The white fabric you see hanging down in the background is a fabulous wedding kimono that C brought me back from Japan several years ago. As you may be able to tell, the silk has an irridescence to it, and the tediously embroidered storks on it play with the different light angles. It is one of my favorite things. But I digress. Oh, and I've just noticed, Heather is wearing a jacket that I dyed for her for Christmas!!! ;-) And I've digressed once more!!!!Next we have my good friend Bobbie. She does some marvelous things, including serving as a Lay Eucharistic Minister at our church, and bringing Holy Communion to my mother once a month. C and I love Bobbie for many reasons, but one has to be her great cooking!! In a previous life she was a caterer....and boy does she know the business! Here she is serving up dishes of her famous Christmas Trifle. Look at how trim and fit she is!!!! She eats well, trust me, but she also gets up at dark-o-thirty and runs a gazillion miles every morning before she heads off to work in Atlanta! Hats off to you, darlin'!! No pun intended, but where is her hat???
And here is my dear Troy. This guy knows color...look at that fabulous sweater! If he doesn't watch out, I may just invade his closet and grab it for myself!!!! Troy is another great cook and baker extrodinaire. See, it's important to have these folks in your life, to help your dinner parties running smoothly! LOL Troy is part of the church's cooking team that brings lunch to the homeless shelter once a week. He is indispensable to C and the ministry that he manages, but he and John are also indispensable in our circle of friends.And here again we have my darling Craig....36 years and we're still having fun!!! I think he's smiling so brightly because he thinks he's going to get away with that huge piece of Troy's cake, yeah, the one with all of the icing, right Craig??? Little did he know that as soon as I put down the camera I was going to make him share it with me....but then we also shared a plate of Bobbie's yummy Trifle....no calories there, right????
Well, I thought I had a photo of Heather's better half, Scott, on here, but apparently blogger has denied me. I'll post again and add another bunch of pics....Scott will be the one holding the camera, having just taken a picture of yours truly. Scott is a philosopher and leads a class in amongst other things, the philosophy of science at the University of Georgia....don't ask me, you'll have to ask him!! Oh, and he drives a wonderful black Ferrari!!!!!

Stayed tuned for more pictures and a bit of commentary (I just can't help myself!!)