Stick A Fork In Me, I'm Done...

Monkey and I went on our last Christmas shopping expedition. We visited Complements To The Chef, a local cooks haven, and found Big Daddy an 8-inch Chef's Knife. With the help of my friend, Doug (who I had know idea worked there), I selected the Zwilling J.A. Henckels Twin Cuisine . It had a very hefty feel and I think he'll like it. As that was being gift wrapped Monkey picked up a little Peugeot pepper mill and announced that she was getting it for Daddy. She knows her daddy well, and I think he'll be pleased. The biggest excitement of the day was when I found the Maldon Sea Salt. I've been searching for it since I ran out of my stash over a year ago. There it was on the shelf next to the cash register. How had I missed it before??? Christmas is complete.

Monkey and I then ventured in to downtown Asheville. I picked up a bar of chai tea soap for Big Daddy's stocking. I'm not saying he needs soap, he just likes that particular one. In our family stockings tend to be for little practical things that really don't call for wrapping. I remember getting new socks, a toothbrush, and sometimes even underwear each year. Now that I think about it, it's odd that Santa would get me underwear... Anyway, we had a nice lunch and then headed for our last stop - Target. I would not recommend a store like Target on a day like today to anyone, but I needed more wrapping paper and I wanted all our presents to match, or at least coordinate... The drive there past all the other big "box" stores was rather hellish, but the actual shopping in the store wasn't so bad. As I paid for my purchases I sighed. Shopping for Christmas was done. I think...

Now I question for you. What are your Christmas dinner plans? I'm not inviting you because you all live too far away; I'm just curious. Our dinner is traditionally on Christmas Eve. We also generally have a big old hunk of beef roasted to perfection by Big Daddy. I'm planning on trying Jamie's Yorkshire Pudding recipe this year and make some sort of green bean dish. We often have brussel sprouts and mashed potatoes. What's on your menus?

After dinner we are planning to attend the late choral service at church. It may be late for the Monkey, but she can sleep. Last year we attended the afternoon "family" service complete with all songs done by the children's choir. It was painful (unless of course it was your child singing, I'm sure.). After, we'll toss her in bed and Big Daddy and I can enjoy a few Christmas Eve cocktails while Santa is putting the presents under the tree.


*I'm only listing B.D.'s gifts as he is in town and only reads my blog (rarely) when he is out of town. So the surprise is safe for now. I'm sure Monkey will tell him what we got him as soon as he gets home.