It was Mom and Dad's year to host dinner. Starting with Dad's Makers Mark Egg Nog (which he makes from scratch) on Sunday, we spent the entire week preparing and cooking. I had a hand in the meatballs. Literally. I took the ground beef mix Mom made and rolled it into spheres for Dad to brown up. That was a team effort. I made the Ginger Chicken appetizer from start to finish (after Mom de-boned the meat for me) as well as Mom-Mom's Stuffed Mushrooms. Aunt Laura approved of the chicken, and Mom-Mom said my mushrooms were "Great"!
It was a small group of 7 (down from the 11 of my childhood) at the table this year as Vinnie and Chris were out of state with their beautiful wives and in-laws and Persie never made it down. We still had a wonderful meal, and we didn't even drink too much! (That's saying a lot if you know Uncle Tom and Dad on holidays.) Of course I can't help but miss those who aren't with us or weren't here today, but I'm so incredibly thankful to be surrounded by so much love. I know I'm fortunate to have such a wonderful, loving, and supportive family.
I'm also quite thankful to my friends who sent messages of love and happy holidays today. Unfortunately I wasn't able to respond to all of the messages because we were hosting and I was up to my elbows in parmesan and basil, but the thought did not go unnoticed.
After our guests left, Dad, Mom, and I sat down by the fire, found the 1938 A Christmas Carol on TCM on demand, and got in one last bit of Christmas spirit before the clock struck midnight.
The only tradition that I missed was that we didn't gather around the piano and sing "Cigarettes, Whiskey, and Wild Wild Women" after dinner, as has been our custom for the past 12 Christmases.
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