Ahhhhh….holidays are over now. We really did have a great Christmas this year.  I haven’t been able to have this much fun and enjoyment around this time of year in ages.

Here’s what made this Christmas so awesome …

First of all, there was the family…

And then there were the thoughtful gifts…

And, oh, the food!…

I brought fixins to make my baked apples and pears with bleu cheese and pecans (by request) again…

Turned out great and everybody loved it!

And oh my b’gosh, don’t forget about the snow!…

Uh oh, Jeff is mischieving…

Isn’t he handsome?

Odie was so cold! He was having fun but he was shivering like a martini shaker!

We had an amazing time relaxing with family and feeling the love…

An exceptional Christmas (especially the snow, something very unusual for Georgia.)

Do you have any unusual traditions for your family holidays?

December 26, 2010 Alayna Discussion 2 comments

You know what I like? I like drinking beer in the afternoon, that’s what.

We both really needed to get out of the house for a while today so we hit up Leon’s for a beverage or two. (All of these photos were taken on an iPhone, so sorry if they aren’t the best.)

We both had a glass of the Gouden Carolus Noel, a spicy almost licorice-flavored beer that was thick and sticky. We also had the following munchies: firstly, the standard side of frites with garlic aioli. (They always give us a side of smoked tomato mayo too, I wonder if it’s just not popular and they’re trying to push it?)

Best fries in town though, no joke.

Nextly: We ordered one of their newer offerings, the pork rillettes with orange marmalade:

A rillettes is essentially meat cooked confit (in fat) then potted and sealed with more fat to preserve it. You just spread it on bread and kronch right into it…

The orange marmalade sounded weird but it was really what made the dish. It cut through the fat with a bright citrus punchiness. There was also a line of pork seasoning sprinkled down the back side of the plate that you can’t see in the picture. Mixed with the marmalade, it was quite the robust flavor to slather over the luscious rillettes.

We demolished it, as expected…

Every time we go to Leon’s we end up ruining our dinner with all the amazing snack options they have. After all that and two rounds of beer, it’ll be 9:00 before I’m thinking about dinner! Totally worth it though for a fun date with my bebeh. 😀

December 23, 2010 Alayna Discussion 2 comments

I woke up with a serious head and neckache this morning. Pretty common for me, I think I somehow twist myself into a pretzel some nights and wake up looking like I’ve just flown out of a car windshield and landed on the pavement in a crumpled pile.

I started my healing process with a hot cup of green tea…

This is called “gunpowder” tea, it’s rolled tightly into little pellets like gunpowder that expand into whole-leaf tea in hot water.

The caffeine definitely took the edge off.

Next, some light stretching, followed by the husband popping my back a few times. I really need to get back in the chiropractors’ office after the first of the year.

I think I inspired Liam to try some yoga too. Here he is doing “cat pose”, naturally.

Then it was time to fill my body with healthy, healing food. Check out this masterpiece!

Mixed baby lettuces, a red pear, sprouted beans, pecans, bleu cheese, golden raisins, seaweed flake, sesame seeds, and a made-on-the-fly honeyed balsamic vinaigrette!

Let’s see that again, shall we?

I always have a little wedge of pear left over to snack on.

All of this (plus two ibuprofen, of course) seems to have done the trick.

Today we need to get the house super clean because tomorrow we are driving back up to Chickamauga for Christmas Eve celebrations then spending the night to be there for Christmas day. Because of that, I probably won’t be blogging again til after Chrismas, I might be able to get one more in tomorrow morning though.

Thinking about making some fudge today too. If I do, I’ll make sure to share!

December 23, 2010 Alayna Discussion Comments Off on No more neckache