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Sunday, December 30, 2007

Weekend Snapshot: Number 17

My weekend snapshot(s) will be Christmas week at my house (Monday the 24th through Saturday the 29th), inside as well as outside.
The shot of my daughter above was taken a few days after Christmas. Her making it home safely was the best present I could have gotten. She had minor travel delays but got to my house around midnight on the 22nd. The sky shot was also taken a few days after Christmas. The sky has been fabulous.Speaking of fabulous, our Christmas dinner turned out quite well, if I do say so myself.
The nandina berries above are getting more plentiful on the nandina domestica bushes, every day. The berries are not edible but they brighten up the winter landscape.The mixed lettuce in the salad course, of Christmas dinner, was out of my garden boxes. We've had days when the bird dishes were a solid block of ice but by covering the garden boxes early to trap the sun and leaving them shut during the coldest days, I managed to keep the crop going for my Christmas salad. We're having an unseasonably warm spell at the moment and my protected winter garden continues to do well.When my daughter and I were discussing the menu, in advance of Christmas, she mentioned that my stuffed mushrooms were always good. Therefore, stuffed mushrooms it was.
The squirrel above made me laugh. Actually there were 3 squirrels up to their antics on my deck this Friday but the others scattered, and I only managed to photograph the one.My daughter made an apricot compote which was delicious. The photograph above was taken Christmas eve since she had to chill it over night in the refrigerator.
Above is a closeup of the apricots and other ingredients simmering. Below is a shot of my daughter taking a break from cooking to play Christmas carols.
I love bare limbs in the winter when you can see individual branches. When they leaf out it's harder to see the structure of the tree.
I made up a recipe which turned out so well I'll have to do it again. My daughter is a vegetarian so aside from some delicious Christmas ham which Bill and I had, the rest of the meal was meatless. I found a recipe for pearl onions that looked good but it involved a chicken broth which wouldn't work for my daughter. So I decided to cook pearl onions, garlic, tiny potatoes, and rosemary, in white cooking wine. YUMMY.
The piece de resistance of our Christmas dinner was the dessert which my daughter made. It was sabayon with black raspberries in the bottom.
So that's it for 2007 at my house and on to the New Year. Wishing everyone a healthy, happy, and safe 2008 with some adventures that make life interesting.

Weekend Snapshot





38 comments:

Anonymous said...

what wonderful shots! I'm sure you had a great time with your family and friends! :)

Happy New Year!

maiylah said...

your post is making me hungry! :)

Happy New Year to you and to your family!
My WS post

Liz said...

You have a beautiful daughter. Great weekend snapshots. The stuffed mushrooms look yummy.

Happy New Year!

Anonymous said...

Wow! Yummy foods. Your daughter is beautiful, glad she made it home safely.

Wishing you good health and a more fruitful 2008.

Anonymous said...

what great shots! that's great that your daughter arrived safely! your dinner shots look so tempting! :)

happy 2008 to you and to your family! :)

SandyCarlson said...

What a beautiful time with your family. How nice that your daughter made dessert. Happy New Year!

jmb said...

I'm glad that you had a wonderful Christmas with your daughter and Bill Carver. It's special when the away ones get home for the holidays.

Have a very happy New year.

Sharon said...

What a wonderful time you had, and the food looked great! All good pictures.

Natalie said...

It looks like you had a wonderful week!

Unknown said...

the food looks delicious specially the mushrooms. i love mushrooms!

mine is up too here.

Happy New Year!

Napaboaniya.Elaine Ling said...

All your shots in this entry gave me a very ehart warming feel to it :) Have a blessed 2008 ahead :)

Lalaine said...

beautiful shots, my favorite is the squirrel. cute! Have a wonderful new year!

HartofDixie said...

I bet everyone really enjoyed the holiday not to mention all the delicious food you prepared.
The stuffed mushrooms really look good too.
Happy New Year!

SabineM said...

First congratulations on making it on the WS Site!!!
Lovely shots! The food looks delicious!
AND I also love empty tree limbs!

Glad that you had a nice time with your daughter!
I wish you a fabulous Healthy successful NEw YEaR!

LadyNoor said...

All those foods make me hungry!
Have a great new year!

My Weekend Snapshot

eastcoastlife said...

Wow! That was a wonderful week you spent with your family! I like the red berries, the food makes me hungry . I'm trying to grow my own greens. It is one of my new year resolutions. hehe....

Here's wishing you a fun and sweet New Year!

poor man's nicole richie said...

pictures tell it all. you've had a great christmas. I wish that it'll extended to the coming year. i love your dessert. any idea how to make that?
happy new year!

Theresa said...

I just had dinner, but mmmm that dessert looks fabulous! yummm, you sound like my family, we love cooking and baking fun stuff at Christmas.

So fun to have your daughter to cook with.

So is your daughter musical like you? If those squirrels were probably hanging out listening to the concert.

All fun pictures!

dangkin said...

i think i'm hungry again! :)

have a HAPPY 2008!

Lynn said...

Carver, I enjoyed your chronicles everytime I visit you. :) I'm intrigued with that concoction of yours - the potatoes and the white onion. I like your table mat too. :) It's so holidays. Colorful.

Happy new year! Wishing you and your family all the best for the coming year ahead. :)

Anonymous said...

Happy New Year to you and family!

Anonymous said...

I am so glad yr daughter is back and keeping you company.the squirrels normally not welcomed here becoz they eat fruits :)

the food looks great...almost exotic..to me at least :)

CRIZ LAI said...

Thanks for being around always during 2007. Happy 2008 and may your life be filled with lots of love, joy, happiness, health, wealth and success for the new year and many years to come.

http://www.crizlai.com/

Anonymous said...

wow! lots of food! love all the shots!

Thess said...

PRAISE GOD FOR BRINING YOUR DAUGHTER HOME SAFE!

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO YOU AND YOUR FAMILY!!

lots of love from The Netherlands,
Thesserie

Carver said...

Thanks so much to everyone for visiting and wishing you all a healthy, happy new year ahead.

Theresa, my daughter is musical. She hasn't ever studied music seriously but she's better than I am in a lot of ways in terms of musical ability.

To answer P.M.N.R., I found an online recipe similar to the one my daughter used. She had raspberries instead of strawberries and used marsela but here's the basic recipe -
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/105472

KW said...

YUMMY! Vegetarian or not, all the foods look wonderful! I'm glad your daughter made it safe and that y'all got to spend Christmas together. Hope you all have a Happy New Year!

http://katskrackerbox.wordpress.com/2007/12/31/weekend-snapshot-12-lucky-bamboo/

Christy Woolum said...

Wow! I loved your pictures. The salad from your boxes was very impressive! The photo that really stood out was the tree with the branches. Happy New Year!

AscenderRisesAbove said...

what fun to see your holiday shots; how wonderful that you daughter could make it. both my girls did and we ended up doing a road trip to santa cruz and pigeon point. no one was there so it was a lot of fun to go off season

http://ascenderrisesabove.com/wordpress/

Smalltown RN said...

Those are wonderful photos and the story to go along with them....I wish you a very Happy New Year and I am glad your daughter made it back to her place safe....cheers...

Anonymous said...

Hello there! Nice shots. I am intrigued by those stuffed mushrooms!!I bet those are really yummy!

Happy New Year!

Carver said...

Thanks to everyone for visiting and happy new year!

Anonymous said...

What wonderful shots! Hope you have a happy and healthy new year fill with new and wonderful memories. Happy New Year!

ellen said...

food is great..your daughter is so lovely!....
belated happy new year!....

Carver said...

Thanks so much for visiting a wishing everyone a great new year!

Anonymous said...

You sure had a beautiful christmas dinner,,,I'm so impressed with your lettuce. lol The apricot dessert looks scrumptious. I love apricots but have never had anything that fancy before. It must be great having Judith home, she looks wonderful and well rested.
sue

Carver said...

Hi Sue,

I haven't had anything like the apricot dish my daughter did before, either. It's been great having her home.

TorAa said...

Happy New 2008 to you as well.

Mrs Lifecruiser brought me here ---