New Year's Eve 2013 Part 1

We're going to the house of our friends Alyn and Chris tonight. Another friend, Eric, and his new beau will be there as well. Alyn and Chris asked Eric to bring dessert and he posted the above picture on Facebook stating that he'd be bringing tirimisu. We're bringing the champagne (okay, sparkling wine). Hopefully three bottles will be enough.

Christmas Season 2013 - New Year's Eve Eve: Butcher and the Boar

Dale and I went to Butcher and the Boar for dinner last night. I had wanted to go for New Year's Eve but they were booked. Thankfully they weren't to busy last night. I had steak and he had BBQ'd octopus. Also had a couple martinis.

Christmas Season 2013 - Athena

Dale posted the above along with the following on his blog:

"Joe made this collage of pictures of Athena he took last night while we watched It's a Wonderful Life. It is indeed."

I agree.

Christmas Season 2013 - It's a Wonderful Life

It's probably been about 4 or 5 years since Dale and I have watched It's a Wonderful Life. I'm not sure why the long break as we had been watching it every year for a while. The first version I saw of this movie was one starring Marlo Thomas in the George Bailey role. This was way back in the 1970s and I was probably around 10 or 11 years old. But back to the 1946 version. We didn't finish watching it - Dale fell asleep.

Christmas Season 2013 - The Garden in Winter

Christmas Season 2013 - Orange Pomander Balls

According to The Old Farmer's Almanac, "medieval herbalists used pomanders - mixtures of fragrant dried herbs in cloth bags or perforated boxes - to ward of illness or bring strength and good fortune." 

As a child, our Christmas mornings began with opening stockings once everyone was awake. Stockings were always chock full of good stuff. One year Mom put an orange in each of our stockings and I was very perplexed. Not disappointed, just perplexed. Why would I have an orange in my stocking when I could walk to the kitchen and grab one from the fruit basket? Mom explained how she and her siblings always got an orange in their stockings as a child and what a rare treat it was to have citrus fruit in the winter. It made sense as far as I was concerned and I appreciated the mini-history lesson. Due to this story I try to incorporate oranges with cloves stuck in them into my Christmas decorating.

I've read that in the 19th century, the well-off would use orange pomanders as part of their Christmas decorations because oranges were considered a rare treat and something of an extravagance. The citrus scent combined with the smell of cloves smelled heavenly and probably helped to alleviate basic household odors. How to make them? I use a pin to help start the holes for the cloves and then simply add the cloves. Nothing could be easier and they look and smell great.

Christmas Season 2013/2014 - Noel's Annual Holiday Fete

The whole crew was present for Noel's Annual Holiday Fete: Caroline, Stephen, Noel, Dale and I. Noel served chicken and beef skewers along with a nice salad. Caroline and Stephen brought a nice fruit salad and Dale and I brought a lovely chocolate cake made by Mrs. Kowalski. Noel also had her famous pecan crisps (which most other people in the world call Russian tea cakes). Noel's cat Ginger attacked the tree at one point although she was well behaved otherwise. Her other cat Rosie kept a low profile. I only saw her once. Noel and I each told a creepy enough ghost story but Stephen told a super creepy one about a ghost trying to get into a house he was in back in the 1980s. It all reminded me of the line from the song It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year that goes "There'll be scary ghost stories and tales of the glories of Christmases long, long ago."

Christmas Season 2013 - Brandy Alexander

I haven't had a Brandy Alexander in years. Drank this one as a nightcap while finishing up Christmas In Connecticut.

Christmas Season 2013 - Christmas in Connecticut

We watched Christmas In Connecticut last night. This is another more recent addition to our cache of Christmas movies. Barbara Stanwyck is simply fantastic in this one.

Christmas Season 2013 - Belsnickle Santas

 

These were actually up a few days before Christmas. The mid-sized silver one is new this year. Technically the one on the far left is not a Belsnickle Santa.

Christmas Season 2013 - Manger Scene

Finally put this out yesterday. Meant to have it up on the 24th but as with so many holiday things this year, I feel like I'm running behind (and I'm very okay with that!). This was Mom's originally but she gave it to me a few years back. There are many more pieces but I think I'll add them slowly as we approach Epiphany.

Christmas Season 2013/2014 - Season's Greetings from Athena

Christmas Season 2013/2014 - A Christmas Story

Dale and I watched A Christmas Story this evening. Way back in 1983 during Christmas break, my brother Sam and I hiked over to the Boulevard Theater on Lyndale Avenue to go see A Christmas Story. The Boulevard was a second run theater and it only cost 99 cents to get in. I had seen a review for this movie on Siskal and Ebert and thought it looked intriguing. Sam and I roared with laughter through the movie but after this initial viewing I never heard about it again. During one Thanksgiving in the mid-90s ('94 or '95) Dale and I were visiting Brenda and Irv for Thanksgiving and I came across the movie on cable TV. Whatever channel was showing it was doing a 24 hour marathon. I called Dale's attention to it and he had never heard of it before. He fell in love with it so we purchased a copy and have been watching it every year since.

Christmas Season 2013/2014 - The Joe and Noel Post Holiday Shopping Adventure Part 2

Next we drove to 50th and France and stopped at Sur la Table where I found Dale's Christmas gift. I got him a cobalt blue Le Crueset skillet. We then stopped for lunch at Rice Paper in Edina. We had our usual shrimp spring rolls for an appetizer and our coconut ice cream for dessert. 

Christmas Season 2013/2014 - The Joe and Noel Post Holiday Shopping Adventure Part 1

Noel and I did our annual post-Christmas tchotchke shopping todday. We started at Lily and Violet (formerly Rick Rack) near 44th and France in Minneapolis. I found a lot of mercury glass ornaments on sale. We then headed to Victory a few doors down where Noel found a few bottle brush trees. 

Christmas Day 2013 - Dale, Mom, and Joe

Dale, Mom, Joe

Christmas 2013

Christmas Day 2013 - The Bishop's Wife

We watched The Bishop's Wife earlier today. It's a more recent entry in our Christmas movie canon and I like it more and more every year. This year I actually got teary. The scene where the old woman's hard frozen heart is melted with the help of the angel Dudley depicts a beautiful and touching transformation of a human being.

Christmas Day 2013 - Dinner

Mom came over at about 3:30 p.m. and we ate around 5. In addition to the beef bourguignon we had a salad of field greens with grape tomatoes, walnuts, feta cheese, and Annie's mango poppyseed dressing.  Dale did some oven baked Brussels sprouts. For dessert we had a lovely chocolate cake from Kowalski's.

Christmas Day 2013 - Imbibing

Top left - Morning shot of pumpkin pie flavored liquour. 
Top right - Lunchtime martini. For lunch we made Hawaiian pizza.
Bottom left - Sample of the wine Dale used for the beef bourguignon. Amazing.
Bottom right - After dinner Bailey's Irish Cream

Christmas Day 2013 - Beef Bourguignon

Dale and I had originally planned to make Julia Child's beef bourginoine recipe for this year's Christmas Day dinner. That would have meant spending a good chunk of Christmas Eve day preparing it and with having to sing for two Christmas Eve services we decided that there wouldn't be quite enough time without making the day overly stressful. Instead we combined the bourginoin recipe with out crock pot beef stroganoff recipe which cut the total prep and cooking time by more than half.

First Dale sauted garlic and green onion and then the mushrooms. Next he browned the meat on the stove and then put it in the oven for about a half hour. After that he added wine and mustard and then cooked it in the over for about three hours. Before serving he added sour cream. We served it over egg noodles. The result was heaven.

Christmas Day 2013 - Oatmeal

I had every intention of making a Christmas porridge this morning. The recipe calls for short grain rice but when we went shopping yesterday morning, I was disappointed to find out the grocery store was out of it. I was in no mood to attempt more grocery shopping on Christmas Eve so I decided we'd have oatmeal instead. We loaded it up with brown sugar but the butter really helped make it divine. Porridge will have to wait for New Year's Day...

Christmas Day 2013 - Merry Christmas

Christmas Eve 2013 - The Television Yule Log

After midnight Mass Dale and I stayed up for a while watching the yule log on tv. What a wonderful Christmas Eve. It was full of beauty, sentimentality, and, with the snow, even a little magic. 

Christmas Eve 2013 - Siri

As Dale and I drove home from the late Christmas Eve service in the very magical snowfall, I checked my phone to see if it was Christmas Day yet.  Siri chimed in to tell me she hadn't heard what I said. She often does this when I haven't said anything to her. Anyway, I wished her a Merry Christmas and shown above is her response. Bless her.

Christmas Eve 2013 - Joe & Dale

Dale and I both sang with the traditional choir for the 10:00 pm Christmas Eve service.  Here we are after the service looking very angelic in our choir robes.

Christmas Eve 2013 - Magical Christmas Eve Snow

A very magical looking Christmas Eve snow occurred tonight. Dale took this photo of the house. I can be seen being a camera hog in the center window.

Christmas Eve 2013 - Gift

I sing with Gethsemane's contemporary music ensemble. Our director, Cindi, gave us this lovely gift as a thank you for our work this year.

Christmas Eve 2013 - This & That

Lots of hustle and bustle on Christmas Eve.

Top (left to right) 1) Stopped at Kowalski's for food shopping and South Lyndale Liquors for booze early Christmas Eve day. I was all a fairly sane shopping experience.  2) Only part of what we brought home. Two more very full grocery bags didn't even make it into the photo.  3) Quick workout at the gym around noon.

Middle (left to right)  1) Shopping for Athena. No, she didn't get a stuffed toy. She got some doggie Cheeze Whiz which can be seen in the lower right hand corner of the picture.  2 & 3) Stopped for a cocktail and a late lunch at the Longfellow Grill. A Tanqueray martini was the cocktail.  Gingerbread pancakes with cranberries and a side of ham was the lunch. Dale and I both though the pancakes were DIVINE.

Bottom (left to right)  1) Our neighbor Jim delivered some cookies that his wife Megan baked for us (peanut butter cookies with Hershey's kisses on top - yum).  2) I sang Joseph's Song by Michael Card as a solo at the 5pm Christmas Eve service at Gethsemane. It went fairly well.  3) Manger scene at church.

Holiday Season 2013 - Choir Rehearsal

Tonight Dale and I had rehearsal for tomorrow's midnight mass. Actually carols will start at 10:00 p.m. and the service will start at 10:30. The above photo was taken from the high altar at Gethsemane Episcopal Church and shows the view looking out into the sanctuary.

Holiday Season 2013 - 2 to Go

Graphic by design: jdl

Advent 2013 - Greening of Gethsemane 4

A sea of poinsettias in the sanctuary just waiting to be set out. I must say the place looked lovely by the time we were done with it. Preparation fuels anticipation.

Advent 2013 - Greening of Gethsemane 3

I took this photo from up on a ladder after hanging a wreath. As Father Theo looked on he jokingly accused me a taking a selfie with said wreath. Little does he know I'm not that self-involved. Dale and Cindi look on.

Advent 2013 - Greening of Gethsemane 2

Dale and Cindi after Dale "fluffed" one of the wreaths.

Advent 2013 - Greening of Gethsemane 1

After today's service Dale and I stayed after to help with the greening of the church. I've helped to decorate a bunch of the church's wreaths over the last few years. This may have been one of them.

4th Sunday of Advent 2013

4th Sunday of Advent
Gethsemane Episcopal Church

Holiday Season 2013 - 3 to Go

Graphic by design: jdl

Holiday Season 2013 - Holidazzle Parade 4

It's been a number of years since Dale and I have been to the Holidazzle parade. This is the last year of the event so we decided we'd better squeeze in one last visit for old time's sake. Our friends Warren and Brandon accompanied us. I believe the parade began way back in 1993 as an attempt by the Downtown Council to draw shoppers away from the new and competing Mall of America in Bloomington. It worked. Back in the day the parade was 5 or 6 nights a week but in recent years it's only occurred on Friday and Saturdays. Next year there will supposedly be a new downtown event but there's no word on what it might look like. Dale and I went a couple of times when we first met each other. Mom, Sam, Becky, and the boys went with us in 2007 or 2008.

Graphic by design: jdl
Photo taken December 20, 2013

Holiday Season 2013 - Holidazzle Parade 3

Holidazzle Float

Top & Middle: The witch from Hansel and Gretel
Bottom: Gingerbread house from Hansel and Gretel

Graphic by design: jdl
Photos taken December 20, 2013

Holiday Season 2013 - Holidazzle Parade 2

Holidazzle Floats

Top: Santa's workshop.
Middle and Bottom: Santa's Sleigh

Graphic by design: jdl
Photos taken December 20, 2013

Holiday Season 2013 - Holidazzle Parade 1

From Dale's blog:

"Joe and I and two friends [Brandon & Warren] went to the Holidazzle parade last night in downtown Minneapolis. The street was packed for blocks and blocks. We were at the tail end of the route where the fewest number of people were standing and we were still three rows away from the street. This parade is held two times per week between Thanksgiving and Christmas. I forget how fun this parade is - lots of good cheer out there on a cold night!"

Photo taken December 20, 2013
Graphic by design: jdl

Holiday Season 2013 - Warren's Christmas Treats

When Warren came over the other night he brought these cookes as a hostess gift. I should've asked him for the recipe. I don't remember what they're called but they have peanuts, caramel, and chocolate. They have a distinct citrus taste.

Holiday Season 2013 - More Snowmen

A couple more snowmen to add to the collection came in the mail the other day.

Holiday Season 2013 - Mickey's Christmas Carol

Watched Mickey's Christmas Carol recently. It's a Disney version of the old Dicken's classic that dates from 1983. I remember  when it came out although I didn't first see it until just a few years ago. Quite fun. Scrooge McDuck plays his namesake. 

Holiday Season 2013 - Pluto's Christmas Tree

Watched this old Disney short from 1952. Chip and Dale get in the house and torment poor Pluto.

Holiday Season 2013 - Christmas Lights

Finished getting the red lights on the tree today although they don't show up well in this photo. Have done blue the last few years and although the blue lights look quite serene, I thought we'd go with the more festive looking red this year. Will put on the ornaments throughout the coming week.