As part of Sheri's Christmas gift we are having lunch today at Kate's vegetation cafe in Mystic. Yum!
Hiking the local trails
Yesterday (Boxing Day) we took a short walk in the woods in North Stonington to blow away the excesses of Christmas. Kokee was very happy to revisit the Tipping Rock trail and get “back to nature”.
Last night we went to a yoga class and came out to a blanket of snow. We still managed to make it to the Malted Barley in Westerly to sample a few winter ales and their famous pretzel sandwiches.
By this morning the snow had turned to rain and we are preparing to spend today in front of the fire with the newspaper and a few Christmas books.
Happy Christmas
Wishing you a very, merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
Click here to see a short video of our Christmas celebrations together.
And finally, we made it to the fourteenth day
Happy Christmas Eve!
We made it to the fourteenth day without any problem, although there were times when we wondered where the next blog posting was coming from.
To celebrate Christmas Eve we decided that we’d have a nice evening at home enjoying a home cooked and locally grown meal. We began with a cocktail invented by Sheri called “Santa’s Hat”. It consists of a glass of prosecco with a little pomegranate juice added.
Our menu was Shepherd’s Pie made with lamb from Terra Firma Farm in Stonington (see also Day #12) and Brussels Sprouts harvested from our garden earlier today. The meal was completed with a serving of Betty’s Christmas Pudding (see Day #7) with cream.
And what did we have fourteen of you wonder? Well, Brussels Sprouts of course. Just enough to make a star for Christmas Eve.
13th day – unlucky for some……but not us!
On the 13th Day of Christmas my blog gave to me…..a Solstice Party at HHR
Tonight we celebrated the solstice with a lunar/solar themed dinner party. Jen and Mark joined us to eat home-made pizza’s adorned with thirteen different types of topping, and we carefully arranged the toppings according to the ways of the ancient druids.
List of favorite pizza toppings for the solstice
- Lots of cheese (Mozzarella and Romano of course)
- Tomato sauce (from our garden, and frozen for the last few months)
- Anchovies (to keep away the vampires)
- Black olives (to keep away the werewolves)
- Capers (to counteract the anchovies)
- Pepperoni (the best in Westerly)
- Mushrooms (no magic ones here)
- Fig compote (Sheri’s special ingredient)
- Proscutio (finely sliced ham)
- Spinach (to keep things healthy and organic)
- Red onions (why not, eh?)
- Italian herbs
- Even more cheese (goat cheese this time)
Each pizza looked like a mini stonehenge, or was it a full moon? After a few glasses of red wine and some special winter homebrew it was hard to tell!
Mid morning latte at Dave’s Coffee
Twelve Days of Christmas
Twelve days into Christmas our blog gave us twelve lamb ribs from Terra Firma Farm in Stonington, CT. We marinated and roasted the ribs slowly, then served them with roast potatoes and red cabbage (both from our garden). It is satisfying to be eating locally in December and makes us appreciate that we have access to Community Supported Agriculture and a productive garden at home.
On the twelfth day we officially started our Christmas vacation. We began the day with a walk with Kokee. We were tickled by a few snow flakes, and walked by the Cool Breeze Farm just in time to witness a newly born calf getting to know her mother. We also enjoyed bumping into some neighbors while stretching our legs after several days of rain.
A List of Eleven Things To Do
On the eleventh day of Christmas my blog reminded me of the eleven things to do before Christmas Day…
- Wrap late arriving mail-order gifts (thanks Amazon!)
- Fill Sheri’s & Bruno’s stockings
- Straighten the leaning Christmas tree (see photo below)
- Pick Brussels Sprouts in the garden
- Send the last of the Christmas cards
- Complete the NY Times crossword puzzle
- Enjoy a Haymaker by the fire (see yesterday’s blog post)
- Re-stock the liquor cabinet
- Whip cream to serve with the Christmas pudding
- Shovel away 2-feet of snow (we can only hope!)
- Sit by the Christmas tree with someone you love sharing memories of Christmas past and dreams of Christmas future
Ten Favorite Christmas Cocktails
On the Tenth Day of Christmas, my blog gave to me…..Ten Favorite Cocktails
It has become a tradition at this time of year for us to ‘break open the liquor cabinet’ and reacquaint ourselves with some favorite cocktail recipes. In no-particular order, here is our all time top-ten list of cocktails. If you haven’t tried any of these we would highly recommend them. To get you started we are including instructions for making the Haymaker (our most recent discovery) at the end of this blog posting. Mmmm, enjoy!
Top Ten Cocktails at Hangman Hill Road
- Mojito
- Caipirinha
- Pimms No.1 Cup
- Godfather
- Connecticut Bullfrog
- Happy Apple
- Old Fashioned
- Gin & Tonic
- Manhattan
- Haymaker
The Haymaker
On the Ninth Day, Nine Carols a’ Singing
This evening we attended the Watch Hill Chapel “Christmas in Song”. The lovely wooden chapel was filled with the voices of Westerly residents singing songs of the season. Following the event we strolled along the streets of Watch Hill by the light of a sliver of a moon and the enjoyed the sounds of the ocean waves crashing on the beach. We ended the evening with a fantastic dinner at the bar in the Ocean House. There were only 2 courses but it felt like nine courses. The Christmas season is in full swing now!
Here at Hangman Hill 