I survived Christmas 2009, part 2

On the 24th, we loaded up the Burb and drove to our friends' house in Denmark about 2 hours away. A few minutes after having dropped the cats of at the kennel, I was hit by a sense of peace. I realized that there was nothing else that could be done. For the next two days, my to-do list was on hold. Sure, I'd help out at my friend's house, but it was a relief to suddenly be going with the flow.

The snow made for a beautiful drive. Much to our surprise, road conditions were perfect, and there was no traffic. We actually showed up early. For lunch, we had warm rice porridge. Yum! After lunch, we went for a walk and the kids did some sledding. We were very lucky that there was still enough snow left for that. There was a big hill with a whole lot of kids sledding. Unfortunately our kids were determined to take the hill from the top, and they both wiped out big time and arrived home in tears. The traditional Donald Duck Christmas Special (apparently an equally important tradition both in Denmark and Sweden) and some caramel corn quickly raised their spirits again.

The main course for dinner was duck. We also had my red cabbage, gravy, boiled potatoes, caramelized potatoes (yum!), prunes and apples cooked inside the duck, and potato chips (yes, that's part of the traditional Danish Christmas meal). We had rice pudding with cherry sauce for dessert. This has chopped almonds in it, along with one whole almond, and the person who finds the whole almond gets a prize. After the food, we danced (walked really) and sang (hummed at best for those of us who don't know the Danish Christmas songs) around the Christmas tree. Then everyone opens their presents. After the frenzy, just in case anyone's even remotely hungry, it was time for cookies and candy with coffee or tea. I brought banana bread, caramel corn, pecan butterballs, spritz cookies, peppermint meringues, and peanut butter buckeyes. They supplemented with licorice and marzipan/nougat candies.

On the 25th, we took it easy, sat around, and enjoyed each others' company. It rained, and the snow melted. In the evening we made an Indian lamb dish which was a nice break from all the Christmas food, then we drove home.

On the 26th, we finally decorated our Christmas tree. Our daughter picked it out. I think it was wider than it was tall (exactly the opposite of what I would have chosen for our crowded living room), but it turned out nicely anyhow. My husband's mother was supposed to come for Christmas dinner on the 26th and spend the night, but there was some misunderstanding having to do with a dog she was watching that has a problem with cats, so she came for a shorter visit on the 27th instead.

The 27th was also the day I hosted the annual White Elephant Gift Exchange for the neighborhood, so that was a really busy day. It turned out that a lot of the neighbors had other plans, so we weren't so many guests, but it was a lot of fun anyhow. When the guests left, we opened presents again even though my MIL had forgotten to bring her presents. We'd saved some presents for our daughter to open, and we didn't think it was fair to make her wait any longer.

For dinner I prepared a traditional Swedish Christmas dinner (Julbord) which featured ham, meatballs, small sausages, two kinds of pickled herring, smoked salmon, three kinds of breads, three kinds of cheeses, o'gratin potatoes (traditionally it would be boiled potatoes, but I think that's just too boring), and red cabbage. I felt that more veggies were needed, so I also served creamed spinach and fresh cherry tomatoes. Since it was getting late, and we'd already gorged ourselves with cookies and candy all afternoon, we decided to skip dessert.

MIL invited our daughter to go home with her, so we're kid-free for a few days until New Year's Eve.