One of my classic take-to gifts in December is home-made sugar-coated almonds. I also make them for ourselves,of course, as well as to spoil whoever visits us during the holidays. The recipe is easy, the secret lies in stirring. And we usually do it together, so that my husband can take over when my arm starts hurting. 😉
I hope you had a lovely Christmas Eve and that Santa was good to all of you out there. We had an amazing day, ate a lot of wonderful food and got cuddles galore from our pets. We had a walk after our nap and although “only” minus 5, it was freezing cold out there! Luckily we could slide on a frozen lake for a bit of fun and Sammy was in heaven!
For dinner we had lobster mayo (and no, I didn´t kill the poor thing myself, it came already boiled!), duck breast with Brussel sprouts, orange sauce, my famous mashed potatoes and a quick chocolate mousse for desert. We never got around to the desert, way too stuffed by then! I´ll be sure to post a couple of posts on Christmas food the coming days.
This year we´re celebrating Christmas in the family, meaning the two of us and our pets. We haven´t actually stayed at home without working or being invited at some other people´s house before, so this is a new experience, but what a lovely one! We woke up early enough and spent a couple of hours drinking coffee, doing nothing and just dragging ourselves around the house (my most favorite activity!). Then V went out to walk Sammy and bought the last ingredients for the orange sauce we´ll make for the duck breast this evening. Meanwhile I set the table, lit the candles, boiled some eggs and took out the Prosecco bottle from the fridge. We dug in, I suggested he opened his present, so he could wear it around and feel comfortable, he loved it and so we toasted for a better year next year. After drinking a bottle of prosecco and a couple of weissbier, watching old Disney cartoons and petting Beo, V and Sam had a nap, while I edited some pictures.(NERD!) I can feel sleep on my eyelashes now, my time to take a nap. I wish you a merry merry Christmas!;-)
I think I´ve seen too many American Christmas movies and that I´m totally brainwashed when it comes to Christmas. So much expectations, so much preparation, it´s crazy! I´m dreaming of spending Christmas in a beautiful cabin in winter wonderland. We´ve already decided to celebrate next year´s holidays in Maramures, Romania, but I´m also hoping for a place of our own a bit nearer. Meanwhile, I need to spend less money on clothes and interior decoration and get a driving license and a car. This cabin would make us and Sammy very, very happy! What do you think?
Although I didn´t work a day last week and only a couple of hours this morning, today is my first official holiday. I can finally unwind, do the rest of the preparations and start enjoying myself. Vuong bought the tree and set it up yesterday, we were able to find one of the decoration boxes (out of two), I managed to make some cookies and will bake some more today. I also bought the last gifts and will make some chutney and sugar coated almonds as go-to gifts. 😉
It snowed a tiny bit yesterday and although it turned the sidewalks slippery, it also means the ground is not entirely bare. 😉 White Christmas this year, too! A couple of trips to the woods with Sam are mandatory and so is ice-skating in the city center, if it´s open for renting skates.
Yesterday we celebrated Christmas with our friends Franck and Marion and his kids. We had a lavish brunch of yummy pancakes, scrambled eggs, ham and all the cheese and marmalades you could think of, followed by the gift-opening session where Sam gets to tear the paper once the wrapping comes off. 😉 It was a lot of fun and we felt like being with our second family. What else would you call very good friends, if not family?:-) On our way back, we had a stroll in the Sankthanshaugen park with Sam and it was delightful! All the pretty lights, the snow and the majestic buildings, plus people playing with their children and dogs in the snow..
In the evening I saw “Boyhood” with a friend at the cinema. What a fantastic movie! I´ll write a review soon, but you need to see it if you have the chance! Afterwards we had a chat over a couple of beers and a yummy pizza at Hell´s Kitchen, absolutely recommended.;-)
I hope you enjoy my pictures and that they bring you in the mood for Christmas. 😉
This is one of my holiday speciality, I usually bake them for Christmas and every once in a while for Easter. I stumbled upon the recipe in a Danish food and lifestyle magazine- Mad og bolig – some years ago, and I´ve been making them ever since. It´s like it usually is with biscotti, you either love them, or you can´t get what the fuss is about. My family and some of my Romanian friends find them hard to chew, luckily many other friends usually lick their fingers. 😉 My husband´s ex-boss used to like them so much she “ordered” them one December as nibbling snacks for the shop´s employees.
December for me is cosy evenings with friends and family, baking, planning a getaway, listening to Christmas carols, going to Christmas parties and Christmas brunches. One of the must-haves in all this fairy tale is mulled wine. Drinking it from a pretty cup while blogging or reading a magazine is pure bliss. There are probably as many ways of making it as there are families.
This year we´re celebrating Christmas at home to avoid too much stress and planning and to save a buck or two. The holidays are pretty intense and, with a dog and a cat, traveling is not that carefree. So we´re staying put and hoping for a calm and white Christmas. There´s usually lots to do anyway and the free days come in handy. We´re getting together with my husband´s family one of the days between Christmas and New Year´s Eve and we´re flying to Vienna in January, to meet with my family.
We´ve talked about not buying too many presents this year and rather gift close friends and family some home-made goodies. The house is getting a lamp, hopefully Snoopy by Flos, a new Italian bed linen and a Soda Stream. 😉 What do you usually offer each other or the house?;-)
We´re talking about a weekend away from home now that Christmas is around the corner, besides we´re used to changing the scenery once a month and the weather has been appalling in November. I just miss the snow and the sun so much! I want a couple of days where I eat when I´m hungry, take Sammy for long walks in the woods, go for a massage or a facial at the hotel spa and maybe learn how to ski, while I´m at it. 😉
Norway is amazing in the winter, but everything is so pricy that you end up spending 1000 Euros during a weekend. Nevertheless I feel we need some boost before Christmas and our family gathering in Vienna is not before mid January, so I can´t wait that long.
So while waiting for a couple of friends to give us the green light for either Norefjell or Geilo, I´m hoping I can stay as stylish as this gal from mytheresa! 😉 Take a look!
Lately we´ve been trying to make do with what we have and store some of our less practical (but oh so pretty!) pieces of furniture in the attic for the next apartment/house. But there´s something about a good environment that you just can´t achieve with a crappy couch. Not only is it too small for two, but you ca´t even have a nap on it!;-) (and you know how I feel about naps!) So I started looking around, mostly online and since we decided we should invest in an everlasting piece, the prices were bordering insanity.
However, the internet is not called mighty for nothing, so I found some gorgeous bits here. Not only do they have the nicest leather couch ever made, but they also sell art, rugs and antique pieces. Take a good look at this four seats wonder called Modell ”924” and manufactured by Vatne Lenestolfabrikk in the 60s or 70s, ´cause it´s going to be ours!
Stories and Anecdotes by Sharron Little Burnett
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