Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve is always hectic, and this one was no exception. My son cleaned the grout debris off the floor, and, suddenly, a new, clean, shiny kitchen floor appeared! You all know I was thrilled!

Then the baking began. I started with cakes and banana bread. Meanwhile, my fourth son disappeared, and came back about half an hour later, toting a supermarket bag filled with 10 boxes of cranberry bread mix. "Not to worry, Mother," he said, "I've got this one!" He then proceeded to make 5 loaves of cranberry bread from the mix, using all the bread pans I have, including removing the previously made banana breads from their pans and washing them; when they were done, he devoured one hot from the oven with his brothers.

Christmas Eve dinner was the traditional shrimp with spinach and penne. I spent many years making shrimp scampi every Christmas Eve, but after my dearly beloved began developing a wicked case of the hives every time we had garlic, I had to develop a new game plan.

Fortunately for me, two giant elves who looked suspiciously like my third and fourth sons appeared around 1AM to assist Santa in setting up for Christmas morning.

And Paula's stocking had a place of honor on top of the mantle. Since it's marble, we must use stocking holders, and I don't have a spare one. No matter, it looked grand!Buffet breakfast ready for everyone to get up, awaiting only the arrival of the Christmas punch.
And that arrived when the people did.

Don't you love Dan's hat? He ran a string of battery operated LCD lights around it to be festive. Only he would think of such a stunt.
You know they were annoyed by the demand for a photo before diving into the loot.

Today, I can't even look at baked goods. It was my great good fortune to receive a nice mini skillet from Jeffrey for Christmas, so I made myself some sunny side up eggs for breakfast.
They slid right out of the skillet. And I didn't make any for anyone else.
Tomorrow I'll write about my Christmas dinner. Hope you all had a great time!