Things that Peanut Can Do

He has learned how to:
identify his tummy, ears and nose (most of the time)
clap
wave
blow kisses
sit down when asked.

We're told a lot that he's a very happy baby. I don't really have that many babies to compare so it's hard for me to know if he's any happier than most babies. But, I will say that he doesn't meet a stranger. When we go to the store, he looks at people until they smile at him. He will wave and wave and wave.

He hasn't quite learned how to walk yet but he's cruising everywhere. When he forgets himself, he lets go and will stand for a moment on his own. I'm sure he'll be walking soon and we'll wish that he was only crawling again.

We're getting ready for the Thanksgiving holiday. We're going to have 13 people here for dinner (including Peanut). I'm looking forward to it. My Mom and I are planning the menu and starting to figure out what needs to be cooked when. I'm pretty certain I'll need to start cooking on Tuesday! She and Pop get here that evening. SM, MAH, BPH and wondermuss get here on Wednesday. MTH's parents get here Thursday morning.

After that, we'll be getting ready for the Christmas holidays. Although he won't be totally aware of what's going on, I'm sure he'll be very excited because everyone else is excited. Plus, he'll get extra attention since there will be so many people around.

3rd Annual H Christmas Party

For recipes of items mentioned here, check out my food blog, food for my life.


Note - everyone is around the dining room table - where all the food is.


Not many people in the front room - where all the decorations are!


Fondue and cookies for dipping are in the lower right corner.


Cheesecake brought by one of the guests on the lower right corner and my homemade marshmallows in the bottom middle.


Close up of the cookies - Mexican wedding cookies, orange sugar cookies and pecan mandelbrot - along with the chocolate fondue. It's a beautiful Bodum fondue pot compliments of my Turkish friend, EE

One last view of the table - on the far end are cheeses including manchego, garrotxa, brie and cheddar. In the middle are deviled eggs and sandwich rolls. These were such simple but popular items!

Party Update

The party was a huge success. I have some pictures that I took as I was cooking on that Friday but no pictures from day on SAturday nor that night from the party. Thank goodness someone else took pictures at the party with their iPhone. I'll eventually post those as well.

One resolution for the New Year - at least one post per week!

Thanksgiving

Our family came to visit for Thanksgiving. It was our first time hosting MTH's parents. With our bigger house, we were able to have my parents, my sister and MTH's sister stay at our place. His parents stayed in hotel. We probably could have squeezed them in too but it was helpful that they stayed at the hotel.

My parents got in on Tuesday evening so that my Mom could help me with the grocery shopping on Wednesday morning. MTH's parents got in on Wednesday morning. We had a nice group lunch and then my Mom, MTH's mom and I worked on as much preparation as possible. Our goal was to have as little to do on Thanksgiving as possible. There are no pictures from that day. My Mom made some awesome homemade bread and MTH's Mom made some great homemade pie crusts for the pumpkin pie, pecan pie and the traditional day after Thanksgiving Day turkey pot pie. For dinner that night, I made personal pan pizzas. Anyone can do this trick. You go to your favorite local pizza place and buy the pizza dough there. My Mom brought me a pizza stone so I used that in the oven instead of grilling the dough as I usually do. The pizza stone worked a lot better because the oven's heat is much more even than our grill. Everyone loved the dinner and it was easy for me. My sister made peartini's for all. It's going to be one of our signature drinks at the Christmas party next weekend. By that time, everybody was tired so we didn't play any of the games we had planned.

On Thursday, MTH and I ran a hilly 10k starting at 9am (pictures to come later). Instead of trying to have a breakfast before the race, we decided to have brunch around 11am and not worry about lunch. For those that got hungry prior to the brunch, we had fruit and bagels available. The brunch menu was Georgia stone ground grits (cheese optional), eggs made to order (cheese optional), bagels, pork sausage from the butcher, biscuits and fruit.

Then, we cooked for the rest of the afternoon. I guess we wouldn't have been able to finish on Thanksgiving if we hadn't done any preparation! My sister made stuffed butternut squash.





MTH carved the turkey with our new electric carving knife.





My sister folded the fabric napkins for a special touch.







That night, we played Apples to Apples. It's a great game for a disparate group of people. There's no board or die involved - just some cards.

I didn't mention this fact before but Thanksgiving Day was my Mom's birthday. So, on Friday, we headed to The Jefferson Hotel in downtown Richmond for afternoon tea. It was a nice afternoon. Unfortunately, MTH's Mom and Dad left earlier that afternoon so only my sister, my Mom and Molly were able to go.







Note that the weather was cold enough for my green jacket!

We spent the rest of Friday starting to decorate for Christmas and making a turkey pot pie. On Saturday, we shopped for more decorations. Then, we went out for dinner - no more cooking!!

Upcoming 2nd Annual H's Christmas Party

This Saturday night we're going to have our 2nd Annual Christmas Party. It will be a night of food, fun and friends. I'm definitely looking forward to it. I have so much vacation left at the end of this year, that I'm taking Friday off to get ready for it. I'm looking forward to baking lots of cookies and other goodies. I'm planning on giving each guest a goody bag of cookies before they leave. The menu will probably include dark chocolate fondue with orange sugar cookies, homemade marshmallows, pecan brittle and fruit as dippers. There will also be lit'l smokies in bbq sauce, interesting cheeses and olives. I'm still thinking about whether or not to make a few other things like meatballs, some type of bacon wrapped hors d'ouevres and other types of cookies. I'll let you know after the party what ends up at the buffet.

Christmas Decorations Update

As I mentioned in my previous post, we bought a couple more nativity scenes to add to the collection. Here they are:



Since we were at a Christmas store, MTH decided we needed a couple more ornaments. Here they are as well. They're both inspired by The Nutcracker.





Also, here's an update on the how the paperwhites are doing! They're really growing. I have no idea when they'll bloom though. I wish it would be before Christmas but I have a feeling it won't be.

Christmas Decorations

I love this time of year just for the decorations. Here's what we've done in the house.

Paper Whites
MAK gave the container, the river stones and the paper white bulbs to me for my birthday. They are growing nicely. Hopefully I will not kill them any time soon! This table is just by the front door.

Our Official Christmas Tree and Manger Scene Collection
Here's our official Christmas tree. We put it on the highest shelf on our "entertainment system" in the living room. The pieces below the tree are our manger scene collection. We actually bought 2 more tonight but I took these pictures yesterday. I may update later but am too lazy right now.

Tinsel Tree
MTH "won" this tree last year at the annual H Yankee grab bag. It's on the cookbook bookshelf in the space between the living room and dining room.

Rosemary Christmas Tree
I found this tree at the Whole Foods near our house. I couldn't resist. I put it on the wine rack beside the back door. MTH bought the garland last year and now we've found a use for it.

Santa Display
I have a few different Santa Claus items so I decided to display them together on the plate rack in the kitchen. Before our party next Saturday, I'm going to add some fresh greenery above the Santas.