Have you all sufficiently recovered from the excesses of Thanksgiving? We had a lovely, quiet,  intimate holiday. Our friend Trina was scheduled to join us for the feast, but sadly she came down with the crud.  Unfortunately, Maddie had the crud as well, and  I have come down with the crud now (and am trying hard not to feel too bad about lounging in my pajamas on the couch all weekend) ; but at least I was well for the day itself.

The kids were happy with a quiet holiday, too.  First of all, we had actual snow the day before.  Snow. In November. In Virginia.

As if that wasn’t excitement enough, they got to spend all morning in their pajamas watching the parade and the dog show, and were thrilled when I agreed to finally putting on some Christmas music during dinner.  Neve has been pushing hard for being able to get out the Christmas movies and music and I refused to cave in to it until the parade at least had ended.

After dinner our friends Keith and Jessie came with their kids and Jessie’s mom, Joan, for pie. I had made the usual apple and pumpkin pies, but I also tried a new recipe from Cooking Light: Mocha Pie with Coffee Whipped Cream.  It was astounding. However, there’s a tip I should pass along should you choose to make it: don’t take it out of the fridge until JUST before you serve it.  Ours had been put out an hour or so before slicing and it had gotten quite goopy.

Now that turkey season has concluded we all have turned our attention to all things Christmas, and yesterday was spent obtaining a tree and pulling out all the decorations from the attic.  If you are likewise feeling ready for the holiday spirit, I’d like to recommend taking a look over HERE at the Gavle Goat. He’s a wonderful Swedish holiday tradition, and as long as no one sets fire to him, he should be there for viewing until after Christmas.  I have several Yule Goats I put out for the season, including one that tops our tree.

I’ve also been hearing about the German Christmas markets from my friend Diana, who currently lives in Wiesbaden.

Europe knows how to do Christmas, y’all.