Christmas Chef or Christmas Elf

Brianna and I celebrated the end of her grueling semester by kicking back in our new-to-us leather recliners and watching Julie & Julia on our new and improved Black Friday TV. Do not worry, we are not materialistic at Christmastime! No, we spend all our excess cash atThanksgiving and practice strict frugality thereafter. So, following the movie, Brianna became obsessed with the prospect of making Boeuf Bourguignon. We found Julia Child's recipe online, and straightway noticed that it called for three cups of red wine. We googled substitutions, but it was ultimately a forum friend that provided the winning one. We shall be using home-grown, homemade grape juice from the Royal Slope in WA, brought to us by our friend, JoLyn, and fortified by a hefty splash of balsamic vinegar. The meal will be prepared this very day.

That's not the vbest part of the story though. The best part is a remark innocently made by Chef Brianna. When I came downstairs the morning after our substitution search, she suggested that if we were going to omit the red wine from the recipe, she thought that we should change the recipe's name from Boeuf Bourguignon to Boeuf Brigham Young. Say it just so and the two names are very, very similar. Oh my goodness, I am still laughing like an elf over her play on words, and English isn't even her native tongue!
As for other holiday fare, I made four chocolate cherry fruitcakes last week, and cranberry jam this morning. I'll be making cranberry gumdrops when the grandchildren are here after Christmas. (Added 1/06/10: loathed the gumdrops, don't ever make them.) I think the jam would have benefited from a little more sugar, so I don't expect anyone to be as impressed with it as I am. I plan to serve it on scones. I'll whip up a batch of cranberry butter with it and then perhaps it will find a more appreciative audience. Since today is Joseph Smith's birthday, a batch of gingerbread would be nice, but no, I'll commemorate his birthday by listening to that wonderful rendition of Praise to the Man on YouTube instead.

Our family tradition is that we try something new every year, rarely doing the same thing twice. I used to feel a little uncomfortable when class members were asked to share their family traditions, until I realized that's what ours is. People ask, do you open gifts Christmas Eve or Christmas morning. I answer, either way works for us, we've done both. Do you send Christmas cards or a Christmas letter? Sometimes neither (like this year). Last year we sent our family Christmas tree picture, and at other times I write a newsy letter recapping the year's activities. Around here, just about anything goes. As long as we're with those we love and are loved by in return, we're as happy as can be. And now, to one and all, we wish you a merry Christmas, and a happy New Year!