Christmas arrived and it was quiet but joyous. It was tinged with sadness as well for me, as my grandmother had passed away in late November, just one month before what would have been her 103 birthday today. She had been my last remaining grandparent, and in addition to the normal grieving process, I now have the realization that it is the end of an era.
I try to enjoy as many holidays with my family as I can, for these are the seemingly small and simple things that to me, are part of making memories. My folks arrived on Christmas Eve and stayed for a few days. For me it was a Christmas of good family company, too much delicious food, and enjoying the blissful feeling of the moment.
Charlie’s footprints in the snow
On Christmas morning my father and I took my dog for a lovely walk in a large park like setting that we drove to, instead of our usual walking routes. My dog was overjoyed and had his nose to the ground except when he was looking up in the trees for squirrels. There was a little snow still on the ground but it was a few degrees above zero. We saw very few people but the ones we did see wished us a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays.
Back at my place, the Christmas dinner that I had planned was a beefsteak pie and a very rich mashed potato dish along with two vegetable dishes, broccoli and butternut squash. However, after a leisurely lunch, and some time on the phone sending Christmas wishes, I realized that the beefsteak pie preparation of the filling and cooking time for the pie was 4 hours and that I had run out of time unless we wanted to be eating a very late dinner.
I changed course and instead of making the pie, just made the filling, which resulted in delicious rich stew, but without the additional one hour of baking the pie in the oven. And with only one hotplate working on my old stove, I was then not able to make the mashed potato dish (which had been going to be a mix of mashed potatoes and parsnips combined with sour cream, cream cheese and chives). I needed the hotplate for the stew which of course must simmer for a couple of hours. So I ended up instead roasting the potatoes and parsnips inside the oven.
My mother helped me in the kitchen with the food, and everything came together and we eventually enjoyed a Christmas dinner of stew, roasted parsnips and potatoes, and butternut squash. For dessert I had made a clementine cake made with almond flour and with lemon zest. I had made it a couple of days before, and saved it for Christmas, but the taste gets better each day. On the table my simple centrepieces were homemade using bowls filled with limes and surrounded by cuttings from my shrubs outside.
Homemade centrepiece
Clementine cake
Snowladen shrubs after Christmas
In my neck of the woods, which is in Canada, we celebrate Boxing Day which is December 26, the day after Christmas and which is also a holiday. This year on Boxing Day, my father and dog and I all went for another lovely walk in the morning in the large park like setting that we drove to.
Back at my place after the walk, lunch was an array of cheeses and baguette slices, as well as toasted baguette crisps with rosemary, olive oil and sea salt. The cheeses were a Canadian cheese called Oka, Gouda, goat cheese, Boursin cream cheese with basil and chives, Stilton with mango and ginger, and Havarti with dill. We had a green salad, tomatoes, cucumber, and bean salad. For dessert, we had my mother’s homemade mince pies. Later on, dinner was leftovers from Christmas day, although we did have to cook more potatoes and parsnips, and then clementine cake for dessert again.
Detail from Boxing Day lunch
Homemade mince pies
Although I missed seeing my dear nephews due to precautions due to the pandemic, and the rest of my sister’s family was far away where they live in another part of Canada, it was still a good Christmas. It has been about remembering the way that I want to feel at Christmas, enjoying the moments, and the things that to me, Christmas is about. It has been a quiet but joyous Christmas indeed. And as I reflect on these last days of the year, I feel that life is good. I hope that you all are having a lovely holiday season.