Just like everyone else, we had a busy two weeks leading up to Christmas. The only difficulty seemed to be a stubborn cold or sinus infection that plagued our three children for nearly 6 weeks. About the 10th day of November, all three came down with a heavy cold. It eventually turned into a sinus infection and that sapsucker just refused to go away. We battled it with saline spray, vapor baths, humidifiers, vapor rubs, Clorox wipes, boiled pacifiers and toothbrushes, two rounds of antibiotics, several batches of "Jewish Penicillin", and lots and lots of TLC~ i.e. reading books and rocking. Finally, on December 27th, everyone woke up healthy and we returned to church after a long hiatus. Being in worship that Sunday and this one were particularly sweet to me because it had been so long since we were all able to go. I love gathering together for worship.
In early November, unbeknownst to me, Jeff began planning a party for my 30th birthday. Weeks later, on Thursday, December 10th, we headed out to what I thought was going to be a candlelit dinner with him at Cotton Row. This was a reluctant "date night" for me because my parents had just arrived in Huntsville for what was to be a respite weekend from their busy schedule. I had planned to cook a special meal for them but was encouraged by Jeff to instead pick a place for us to go out. Well, I thought he meant ALL of us, because in my mind, it was a total affront to leave them with our kids after they'd driven 10 hours from Louisiana to get here for the purpose of relaxing. So, I picked a place I'd read about in the paper, a laid-back working man's steak joint, O'Bryan's Steakhouse. Reading about it reminded me of a old favorite in my hometown, Lynda's Country Kitchen, so I was really looking forward to some North Alabama country cooking. AND I was trying to pick a place that was kid friendly. (I thought we all were going remember?) Well, it took some maneuvering, but everything went according to his plan and at 7 p.m., I was led down a dimly lit steep staircase at Cotton Row to a "table downstairs" and then heard "SURPRISE!!!!" and promptly burst into tears. The party was great, we had a wonderful time and my dear friend took pictures, HERE.
Back story: Last year, at a New Year's Eve gathering with our dearest friends, we played a game - the name escapes me - in which you guess answers about each other and whomever guesses most correctly wins. One of my questions or scenarios was about how to best spend a special occasion. Jeff, trying to guess what scenario best suited me, chose "a close gathering of friends and family at home." Well, I (and several of my friends) chose "a night on the town for fine dining and a show." When he was stumped that I chose a different answer than he, I began to explain it was for one reason: "Getting dressed up!" my friends chimed in before I had to. A party with friends and family is wonderful, but I LOVE all the sparkle and glitz of going out. So, my sweetheart planned a party that gave me the best of both of those. Thank you all so much for coming and celebrating with us!
A week after this, we took a pre-Christmas trip to Louisiana for my "actual birthday" and after coming back to Alabama on the 21st, I spent the next several days baking up a literal storm (yes, my flour mill malfunctioned a third time and spewed flour all over the laundry/mud room.....I confess, I'm a repeat bimbo, either that or my mill is a lemon)
In two days I baked 8 loaves of bread for Jeff's co-workers, dozens of Chocolate Crinkle cookies, more bread and a few batches of praline butter and then more cookies.
Here's the Praline Butter recipe:
2 sticks salted butter, softened to room temperature
2 sticks unsalted butter, same as above
2/3 c. pecans, toasted, cooled and finely chopped
1/2 tsp. maple extract
2/3 c. light brown sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
3 T. honey
Cream butter and brown sugar in deep mixing bowl. Beat in extracts and honey, add pecans last, mixing a little longer until blended. Store in air-tight container in fridge and allow to soften a bit before serving.
All this lead up to Christmas Eve when Jeff's parents arrived. We went to a candlelight service that night, came home for a family dinner and went to bed with sugarplums dancing in our bellies.
Christmas morning came and this is the only picture we got:
It was COLD! They rode the bikes all over the house.....we've yet to get them to ride them outside. But of course, it hasn't been over 40 degrees one day since Christmas. Jeff's mom took some pictures I think so hopefully we'll be getting some more.
Anyway, That's that!
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