Christmas 2008

Luiza’s first Christmas. Oliver’s third, but his most aware yet. (Ask him about Santa Claus!).
The menu (just the four of us):
Ham with glazed apricots
Succotash with herbes de Provence (sort of Aix-em-Savannah)
Carrots with Marsala (a la Elizabeth David)
Sweet potato and apple purée
Apple and Mincemeat Pie
sugar and pepparkakor cookies
Nicolas Feuillatte Champagne
Lots of Christmas music courtesy of Usenet.
Notable presents:
a laptop lap desk for me, great books
a pink dragon and “The Lonely Moose” for Oliver (his pick, my pick, respectively)
It’s super quiet in the dorm! Haven’t seen a campus safety patrol even since Dec. 23! The dog walker and jogger comes by. Beautiful views of the snow-drenched San Gabriels in between rainstorms.