and not a creature is stirring, except my dog Hudson

and soon my sweet Bree-girl. We have just finished watching Fanny och Alexander (Fanny and Alexander), the theatrical version. What I’d like to do is get the TV release which is two hours longer, or at least that’s what I remember. This, to me, is Ingmar Bergman’s finest movie.

What we do is, on Christmas Eve, we get our tree and then decorate it while I make a terrific eggnog.


I usually make pastries and such to have with the eggnog and we also roast chestnuts that contrast with the creamy and flaky pastries.
This year, I spent my time in the kitchen making my new hot chocolate drink mix. For the grand opening, someone had my hot chocolate and wanted the mix. I didn’t have a mix, I made it directly from melted chocolate. However, that wont do. You can’t sell the chocolate, as it were, since it’s a blend, and I can’t sell a liter of hot chocolate to go, too difficult. So, I spent yesterday formulating the hot chocolate. It came out great, though we didn’t have that this morning. Let me explain.

I was too tired to bake, so we had dinner at the Brasserie, a local restaurant. Nice. I brought Terri, the owner, some of my hot chocolate mix, both the regular version and my special, lightly spiced version.

Kim got me an iPod Nano so I can listen to my music when I commute to New Jersey. I got her a chocolatiere with cups, beautiful porcelain, so that we could enjoy the occasional cup of hot chocolate in style. They are Limoges. I also wanted to see what these chocolatieres were like. Plus Kim got the Stanly Maltzman painting for Christmas and her birthday for at least another few years. 😉 My mom got us a beautiful stain glass in a frame. Created by Frank Lloyd Wright. Beautiful. We got her a trip to NYC and some cards. My brother John lives in Brooklyn so she was able to visit him before Christmas. I also got a gift card to Barnes and Noble, my favorite bookstore from Kim’s Mom. Thanks.

After we decorate the tree, a live one that we usually get from a neighbor. She’s trying to clear her land and charges us $20 to cut down a tree off of her property. This year we went to a lot. They charged us $35 for a fantastic tree, very tall and beautifully shaped, about 8 feet tall. Sadly, one string of lights gave out. We’ll have to buy new ones. We’re down to only two strands.

Then, on Christmas, after Kim made muffins and a nice breakfast basket for our guests, yes we had one couple, a newly wedded couple. It was very sweet having them stay in the cottage. We’re open year round, though in the winter we restrict it to mostly the holidays and the weekends. This IS our relaxing time, after all.

Hudson is still eating. He’s a silly puppy.

We breakfasted on the muffins and had espresso. I’m still thinking of opening a cafe. After that, we watched James Bond, Dr. No. What we normally do is watch all the Jame Bond movies, from Dr. No through Her Majesty’s Secret Service and end with the last one Sean Connery did, the non-Albert Broccoli production. I just love these movies and Kim does, too. Then on Christmas, we watch Fanny and Alexander, a 5-6 hour undertaking. My mom loved the movie. Kim likes it, too but she knitted through all of it. It’s hard to follow if you don’t speak Swedish or read the subtitles. We do this every year.

And now, I’m in charge of our sweet puppies. Hudson is calling, it’s time he went back out again and then to bed. We’re all tired.

Merry Christmas.