Sisters Snowy Christmas

Yesterday was my sisters (and best friend from 7th grade) Christmas luncheon here at the farm.  We awoke to snow on the skylights!  A thought flashed through my mind - I hope it doesn't snow so much that we can't have our party!  Hubby gets up first to walk the dog and I asked him to bring me my camera.  The snow was so pretty coming down, like lace.

This is the view from our cozy bed, the skylights where you can tell the minute you open your eyes what the weather is.  :-)

I had my camera in my pocket and snapped this one of the snow out of the kitchen window towards the barn.   

The other kitchen window, you can see everything is white and snowy!  We have at least one hummingbird that is staying with us and Dayle is the one who makes sure the feeder always has nectar in it.  He's good that way. :-)

All white on the deck.. how Christmassy can you get? 

The good news is that the roads were clear and it warmed up - all my guests called to make sure it was okay to make the trip out to the farm.  I set the table with my vintage Jadeite dishes I've collected over the last year - it's the "Alice" pattern, which has flowers and leaves around the rim.  I put my guest's Christmas cards on their bowls.  The hand crocheted lace tablecloth was the perfect backdrop for the 40-50's dishes.

Then I began making the main course, home made clam chowder.  There is nothing better on a cold snowy day than a bowl of hot soup, is there?  I cubed the Yukon Gold potatoes and set them to boil in another soup pot, and chopped up 6 slices of bacon and set them to browning in the French oven - then chopped up a whole big onion to add to the cooking bacon.  Then I sliced 2 cups of celery to add to the boiling potatoes.  When the bacon and onions were cooked well, I added in the clam juice from two cans of whole baby clams to deglaze the pot, then added in a quart of heavy cream, some bay leaves and a tablespoon of Thyme which I rubbed hard between my palms as I put it in the pot.  Then I added the clams and used a slotted spoon to pull the potatoes and celery out of the other pot and added it to the soup.  Salt and fresh ground pepper to taste.. a big dollop of butter on the top, and voila!  Done!

A closer look. :-) 

Dayle carried the heavy pot to the table for us and poured the sparkling punch for us.  Isn't he a doll? 

Shirley brought a broccoli salad, elder sister Roberta brought bread and Denise brought dessert, home made Panna Cotta with pureed blueberries on top!  I wish you could have joined us! 

I made a toast to my guests, telling them I was so happy to have them join us in our home, that they were some of the people I love most in my life.  :-)  Cheers! 

We had the best time over lunch - we had my eclectic collection of Christmas songs going in the background, such as Bing Crosby singing "White Christmas", Johnny Mathis singing "I'll be Home for Christmas", Manhattan Transfer, the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and many more.  We then retired to the living room by the fire (laid and lit by hubby) where we chatted away and opened gifts from each other.  Shirley brought us the most unusual things, a sparkly little "dust plug" for our iPhones, which keeps dust out of the hole where the earphones plug in.  We all "modeled" our new phone "bling". LOL!

The room glowed with candles and a log fire and the lights from the tree.   

Then Denise brought out our dessert, served in my Jadeite tea cups - her Panna Cotta.  It's so creamy and delicious!  It's not a pudding or custard, but similar and delicious.  The recipe is by Giada De Laurentis - click HERE for the recipe.

As the girls were walking out the door I remembered that I wanted a group photo - so here we are by the tree. :-)  From left, Roberta, Teresa, Denise & Shirley 

I made the girls each a pair of my Swarovski crystal Christmas Tree earrings - theirs are on sterling silver hoops, these are mine, on my own gold hoops.  I was wearing them when the girls arrived and Shirley goes.. "I want some of those!" - needless to say I was happy that I'd made each of them a pair. :-) 

Denise had made me a new pair of patchwork "mug rugs" - the colors are perfect for our new paint colors! 

Sister Roberta got us these funny little felted gnomes while on a driving trip to Canada.  Cute, huh? 

I'm going to try to fill out a few cards to send out to those who've sent some to us today. Then this afternoon we're heading over hill and dale to Denise's house for a family Christmas dinner!  She is making spiral sliced ham, a cheesy potato bake and some other things which I forgot.  But our brother and his wife will be there, so all 4 siblings will be together.  :-D  I hope you are having a wonderful holiday time!


❉ ❉ ❉ ❉ ❉ ❉ ❉ ❉ ❉ ❉ ❉ ❉ ❉ ❉ ❉ ❉ ❉
*M*E*R*R*Y* *C*H*R*I*S*T*M*A*S*!*
❉ ❉ ❉ ❉ ❉ ❉ ❉ ❉ ❉ ❉ ❉ ❉ ❉ ❉ ❉ ❉ ❉ 

((hugs)), Teresa :-)