For our beer and cheese white elephant exchange, I made a parm and rosemary loaf with a garlic butter. It was a hit! I also think I got THE BEST gift at the exchange because my beer came with brie and salami (my faves).
Most of us wore festive sweaters, and we had a great friendmas. I like being able to host these kinds of gatherings, even though I miss hosting at our last house. We had SO MUCH space there!
Matt and I spent Christmas Eve at church with is family and then we all ate dinner at his sister's house. For the dinner, Matt cooked up a bunch of butcher steaks, and we brought sundried tomato basil bread with garlic butter. And Pokemon snickerdoodles! When I was making the royal frosting for the cookies, I was horrified at how much sugar the recipe called for. No more frosting in 2017!
The dinner was delicious, and I've been having so much fun playing with Matt's niece. Matt's sister gave me a LC loaf pan for Christmas, and I am so excited to use it! Another one for the collection. Between the Keurig that Matt's sister gave him, the Anova sous vide that I gave to Matt, and the hand blender that Matt gave to me, I think this Christmas has successfully maxed out our kitchen space.
On Christmas Day, Karen, Sam, and Melissa came over to hang out and watch basketball and movies. Melissa made dokkbokki and I made another rosemary loaf. After we finished eating, we watched The Secret Life of Pets. It was a very relaxing day after what felt like an exhausting weekend!
After Christmas, I made a roasted garlic and rosemary Le Poulet Rouge in my dutch oven. The skin was buttery and the chicken was perfectly sized for my 3.5 qt. pot. A few days later, we used the drippings to make fried rice, and I think it was the best fried rice I've ever had.
For NYE, David, Matt, Charles, and I headed down to Portland to meet up with other Charles who was visiting his cousin.
When we got to Portland, I caught up on email and saw a message from my mom about my uncle passing away. It was a really shocking moment, and I thought how sad my cousins must be this NYE. I can't imagine what they went through over the weekend, and what they are going through now. Growing up, we spent many holidays at my uncle's house and he was always kind and welcoming. Since moving away from home, I haven't seen my uncles much at all. It makes me sad that I've lost touch, and it also makes me feel guilty for not going home for the holidays.
For the rest of the Portland trip, I stayed in touch with my mom via email to make sure she was okay. I couldn't do much else about the situation. Ringing in 2017 at the Midnite event was a huge hit. The venue was gorgeous, people were nice, and music was on point. Most importantly, I got to spend NYE with my closest friends and we all had a great time. My uncle's passing reminded me to live in the moment and enjoy all that is around me. It's easy to get caught up in life and forget that tomorrow is never promised.
For 2017, I want to be more present in my day-to-day life and appreciate every moment. I'm going to be more thoughtful and more connected.
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