Wednesday, December 24, 2008

Christmas Eve Celebration

by Meghann on December 24, 2008

Merry Christmas from my family to yours :)

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From Left to Right: Josh (Twin Bro), Abbie, Me, Cathy (Mommy), Ben (Little Bro), Scooby, Kelly (Little Sis), John (Daddy)

It has been a crazy night in my parents house! I caught up with family and friends, ate a ton, and got some fun new goodies in the process. It officially feels like Christmas :)

Before everyone came over I had one of m parent’s Harry & David Pears. It was soooo juicy. My Grandma sends a batch to my parents every year and they saved one for me.

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Around 5:00 the pig was done and people were starting to arrive for the festivities.

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I enjoyed a Full Moon while outside watching the pig with the family.

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It was actually quite an event to get the pig off the roaster, when they started carving there was a whole crowd willing to help and pick at the cuttings. Granted it was mostly men outside, most of my other cousins preferred not to see the head of their meal.

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We had two tables over flowing with food inside. I took these pictures on the early side of the night so this is just a sneak of what we actually had in the end.

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I loaded up on a sampling of appetizers. Putting the items on the plate prevented me from standing around just randmonly picking at all of the good eats.

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I had a mini quiche, pig in a blanket and a bacon wrapped chicken.

My house got very, very crowded through the course of the evening, it got hard to walk around as people were jammed pack talking mainly in the kitchen while the food was being prepared. The bar was another popular spot (I can’t imagine why ;) )

When it was time to eat we all gathered around and headed for the buffet. I showed you the tables set up in my earlier post, here’s what they look like filled out.

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There are 56 chairs there and nearly all of them were filled. I am truly luck to be part of such a large close knit family!

I tried not to go overboard on my dinner plate, but there was so many yummy choices I had to grab a little bit of everything. Its amazing how those little tastings of everything add up after a while.

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All I can say is I’m glad I ran those 11 miles this morning because I pretty much cleaned my plate off, everything was very good.

And of course I had to try some desserts.CIMG4858.JPG

I have to say my favorite was the peppermint fudge my uncle made! Though I was stuffed to the gills I had to go back for a second piece.

Since my family is so large, we do a yankee gift exchange that always results in a good time. I did have a Victoria Secret Gift card, but was traded with some Bath & Body Works goodies.

THe best part of the evening is actually watching the little kids open presents. They are so cute as they jump up and down, wanting to play with all of their new toys immediately.

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After presents everyone filed out pretty quickly and the clean up began. The evening was undoubtedly another wonderful family success. :)

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We have a tradition each year that my Mom gives my Sister and I pajamas to wear to open Christmas presents in on Saturday morning.

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Aren’t we cute in ours?

Even though its way to hot to be practical in wearing the pjs I still have them on as I blog and prepare for bed. I can’t wait to see what Santa brings me in the morning! I promise I’ve been a good girl ;)

Good night Everyone! Have a Very Merry Christmas!!! :)

{ 20 comments }

Preparation

by Meghann on December 24, 2008

I have been busy at work in the kitchen!

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My Mom bought the Santa apron ensemble the other week and has been wearing it all day. I stole it for a few minutes to take a picture. I find the outfit very entertaining. :)

I really did do some work in the kitchen today, I give you my contribution for dinner tonight:

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I wanted to have at least something mildly healthy on the buffet table so I made Roasted Butternut Squash with Apples. It’s a recipe I found on the Self website. It was really easy to make and came out really good.

I also helped my Mom set the tables in our great green room.

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As you can see the entire room is consumed with tables! This is where we always set up the tables for guests. When we’re not having people over this its just a big open room of space on the back of the house.

I started to complain of hunger around 12:30 so my dad put together a quick easy meal. I love my Daddy!

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I had half of a Kiabasi, Black Beans, & Broccoli.

I was still pretty hungry so I went back for the other half of the kiabasi.

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I’m getting very excited about tonight! The tree is already bursting with presents :)

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And so is my stocking!!

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I can’t wait to see all the goodies inside! :)

Only a couple of more hours until we start celebrating. I guess that means I should take a shower then, right? Merry Christmas!!

{ 19 comments }

Merry Christmas Eve

December 24, 2008

Merry Christmas Eve!!! I don’t know about everyone else, but Christmas Eve is the big deal in my household. My Mom has been preparing for weeks for the 50+ people expected at our house at 5:30 tonight! It’s about to get a little crazy around here with all the last minute preparation, but it should more ยป

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