In Giardino

It has been a very nice holiday.  We had our annual open house on Christmas Eve.  The theme this year was Pancakes and Pajamas.  So we had all breakfast foods and most of us wore pajamas to the party.  We always have a big crowd for our house and things get tight, but people do not seem to mind.  We had 3 kinds of quiche, 2 kinds of french toast casserole, corned beef hash, potatoes and onions, bagels with lox and the fixins, polenta with mushrooms and spinach, and a sweet potato and apple kugel - a recipe I found on pinterest.

 Christmas day is usually quiet.  We wake when we want, have leftovers for breakfast and open our presents, just the two of us.  My hubby made for me 5 beautiful bird houses for the garden.  One has a peekaboo back, so we can hang it in front of a window and peek in.  The others are a blue jay house, a cardinal house, and the largest is a screech owl house.  We will hang that one on our chimney, away from the others.

Here are two of the houses, ready for new tenants.  The garden is resting for the season.  I really miss those home grown tomatoes!

 Of course, the holidays are all about embarrassing the children.  So, here is our Genny, mortified that mommy insisted on this torture.

I also received a very large cast iron skillet for a present, so I will be seasoning that soon so it will be ready for use.  We are going to be grilling some ducks on New Year's Eve and I might use the skillet as the drip pan.  All of that duck fat should season it nicely.

Until next time,
Ciao!
Birdie in Cucina