I’ve had one of the laziest days in a long-long time today, I guess it’s because of the stress release. I’ve been all wrapped up (pun intended) in Christmas preparations, making presents, cards and handmade gifts and now that it’s all done and over with, I feel really relaxed and filled with the joy of giving (receiving isn’t too bad either…).
We spent a delightful Christmas eve at H’s mom’s house, we listened to Christmas carols, ate great food and then, of course, we opened up all our presents after dinner. What we had for dinner? For the first course I made roast beef, a beetroot salad with goat cheese, filled eggs and ham rolls (classics)H’s mom made cognac-cured salmon and a fresh ruccola-based salad. The main course was a beautiful carré d’agneau with oven-baked potatoes, roasted cherry tomatoes and a nice red wine sauce to top it all off. After opening our presents we enjoyed H’s mom’s delicious trifle for dessert. She always makes an extra portion and I always claim it with pride. Santa had been almost a little too generous this year so the heap of presents was almost taller than the tree… 🙂 Can’t complain though, the kid in me was crazy with excitement unwrapping all the stuff!
Then we went on to spend Christmas day in Tartu with H’s grandparents. We decided to bring some of the food so H’s grandmother could enjoy the company of her (great-grand)children rather than standing in front of the stove the whole entire day. My assignment was to make the huge pork roast and it turned out great! Once we were done eating all our delicious food and handed over all the truffles and presents we had made for the family, it was time to visit my grandparents and auntie Ethel. Again, time well spent, especially with auntie E. She hadn’t seen the ladybug for a while and baby was a bit confused at the beginning but when E grabbed her from her car seat and cuddled her, she calmed down as if she was thinking “well, if you’re THIS confident holding me, it must mean I know you!”. E gave us a box of bath-goodies, a beautiful photo album for the baby and a yummie Escada perfume for me. She had great news for us and we left filled with excitement and anticipation! I love when people I love have great things coming their way.
But without further ado: here come some pictures from our holiday season! Enjoy!
Our beautiful tree – I went for a simple, plain white style of decor for the tree because it’s probably the last coordinated tree I’ll get before the kid takes over the upcoming years. 
Gorgeous, isn’t it? I love the birds 🙂 
Finally done wrapping – some of the presents we gave our loved ones. 
Our cozy home all lit up with Christmas lights. We have another set, a strand of colorful disco-Christmas lights around our hallway mirror, but I forgot to take a picture. 
Making and sending off the cards – they didn’t reach their destinations in time for Christmas, but I hope they’ll bring joy nonetheless!
Ready to send off mommy’s present to Sweden – we gave her a woolen hat and mittens (with fluffs of rabbit fur), an album of baby’s first year and the handmade card.
Got everything we needed to make our Christmas dinner, a pork roast for Christmas lunch at H’s grandmas, two cakes, truffles etc. Was one looong shopping list!
All happy and Christmasy with our little themed outfits – not the best of pictures, but we were eager to start eating. Sorry!
The truffles I made for our loved ones – chili truffles, classic cognac truffles, white chocolate and peppermint-truffles and ones with domino-cookies (oreo’s). Turned out great!
The Face – baby loudly smacks her lips , grins and looks really proud when she’s eating. Here: eating the filling out of a ham roll, then finishes off the ham itself. 
Christmas dinner – a cook takes pride in a perfectly cooked lamb rack 🙂 
A glimpse of how spoiled I am – H had remembered I mentioned these a while ago and told Santa… it’s official, H is the perfect man! I’ll show them to you later! 
“A huge colorful box that I can lean on when I need to stand up! How did they know this is what I’ve always wanted?!” 
Handmade sauna-soap with pine-eucalyptus oil, shea butter and sea salt on one side for peeling. A great easy-to-make present for loved ones 🙂 
Truffles all boxed up and ready to be handed over. The cones contain roasted spiced almonds for the kids 🙂 Also handmade! 
Tonight’s snack table: how we eat Christmas leftovers in our family. Roast beef, cognac-cured salmon, a cream cheese spread (made from Philadelphia we had left over from the trufflemaking , herbs, peppers and garlic) …
I’ll show you what Santa brought for me and the family tomorrow! Let’s just say tomorrow is going to be like another Christmas Eve for our family, I’ll tell you why in our next post!
Until then, why don’t you tell me how your Christmas has been? I’m curious:
1) Do you send/receive Christmas cards? Do you make your own and do you appreciate handmade cards? 2.) What did you get for Christmas? Do you have a tradition of making presents in your family? 3) What’s on your Christmas dinner table? 4) Do you go to church for Christmas? If so, why?
PERFECT HOUSEWIFE yes you are 🙂
kõik oli nii muinasjutuline ja ilus, et mai oska enam midagi lisada..oli niiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii armas teid näha, õnneks varsti kohtume me taaaaas schmelli schmelli niikaua ennast kui hästi sa lõhnad nüüd 😀
It sounds so good 🙂 and you are really a perfect housewife 🙂
1) at our home we send and receive christmas cards 🙂 – and all cards are homemade both the ones we receive and the ones we send 🙂 I think that homemade cards are more personal 😀
2) I got a lot this year, since it is the last year I’m getting presents from the whole family, next year my little girl are getting the presents 🙂 We don’t really have a tradition of making gifts.
3) on our table is roasted pork with potatoes, sweet potatoes, red cabbage and gravy. for desserts we have some thing called “ris a la mande”
4) normally we go to church but not this year. our girl was to small.. we go to church because it is a family tradition.
sa juudas, küll Sina ikka jõuad. vaata, st loe ja imesta
aga minust siis et
1) we (referring here to myself and my bf) received cards but did not send any, let alone making any ourselves. i am extremely bad when it comes to remembering all that stuff (presents, cards, wrapping paper etc) and the period before xmas is always the craziest for me (end of semester, end of year, deadlines, deadlines, deadlines…) yes, homemade cards are of course magnificent but if i dont manage to make any or send any out does not mean i dont care about my loved ones
2)we make presents in my family but we are being modest and practical. i usually inform my bf and my mum of the things i need and this is usually then what i get. my bf, due to his background, is of course used to having piles of xmas pressies but he has survived more modest traditions thus far and has learned to appreciate it 🙂
3)since we celebrate xmas at my parents’ house in Estonia we have the traditional xmas dinner of roast pork, sauer kraut, verivorstid, sült etc but it is never a food orgy, just a nice dinner with family 🙂
4) no church, i’m an atheist as is my bf
no neid asju, mis meeldivad, ikka jõuad 🙂
obviously i have a schedule that’s a lot more flexible than most people’s, including you, so there’s absolutely no shame in not making your own *list various items here*
what is your bf’s background, why the piles of pressies? what did you give each other this year?
our christmas wasn’t a food orgy either, miraculousy, and i think i even lost weight during the holidays…
an atheist as in “i don’t believe in that stuff” or “people who believe can’t be in their right minds”?
my bf is Canadian…you know, used to waking up at Xmas morning and run to the tree that is hidden under the pile of pressies 😀 At first he was in shock that he actually had to do something to get his pressie. Now he is used to it and is studying Xmas poems in Estonian. It’s hilarious.
I’m not an extremist, people can believe whatever they want. I actually think it is good to believe in something higher than yourself as it makes you more humble which is something the world really misses these days. I do not believe in any religion simply because for me they all theories, man-made theories. I am too much of a scientist to be able to take any of them seriously to be fair 🙂
I have never tried to convince anyone that my beliefs are the right ones and I don’t like when religious people (whatever their specific background then) try to convert others. By the way, my bf went to catholic school all his life and yet he became an atheist later in his life…people change i guess
that’s what i meant when i asked you, i wanted to know if you thought believing was healthy, regardless of what you believe 🙂
hmmm…believing is healthy as long as it’s been practised in moderation. the same with everything else: food, alcohol, work etc. Extremists are crazy, i don’t like them 🙂
i agree with you, i always do 🙂