Christmas Recap

Christmas morning is always a circus, but one I've managed to keep under control by some excellent planning and training. First, the kids open their stockings, while I get coffee for my dearly beloved (who really suffers mornings) and tea for myself, and then get myself looking somewhat humanoid. Silly little toys, some candy, everyone laughs.

Then, they migrate from the dining room to the breakfast room for the Sugar Fest. Added to the table, you might notice punch bowls at either end. Our punch is simple and almost nutritious: orange juice, diet cranberry ginger ale, sliced bananas, frozen strawberries to keep it cold, and that's it! Isn't it pretty?
Skip the presents and whatnot; there's no dog in the paper to make us laugh.

Here's my Jeffrey carving the standing rib roast (done in the convection oven in about 11 or 12 minutes per pound, and simply fabulous):

And the table set up for the hungry hordes:

From the other end (Note GMarie's pretty Christmas napkins on the plates):
And a close-up of the roast.

The hungry hordes began to arrive! The menu:

Standing rib roast
"Party Rice"
Creamed Spinach
Steamed broccoli
Pullman Bread
Oat Rolls

And my plate (I didn't photoshop out the rice Ryan dropped when helping to serve me. This is reality, you know).

The extra guy (bespectacled) in some of the pictures is Cass' boyfriend. He's a nice guy, and decided he'd rather spend Christmas with our family than his own. He was blown away by the food, and spent days raving about Mickle's Dad's Oat bread. So, for those of you who can distinguish who is who, that's who the extra person is!