Simply Snowy

Often at this time of year you will find me posting blog pictures of balmy blue skies and hot sunny sand-scapes, snapped off the coast of Western Australia.  This time the pictures hail from the North Shore of Long Island, where snow drifts meets the beach and frigid temperatures turn your fingers blue in the time that it takes to snap the picture.  Lovely nonetheless!  No photoshopping required, as sometimes the images speak eloquently all by themselves!

Our blessing this Holiday Season is a visit from the oldest of our four sons, Ryan and his wife Iris.  Ryan's time with us is precious as it will not be long before he heads back to Afghanistan with his EOD unit in January - so a memorable time is definitely in order.

The pair have have enjoyed tripping into the City, some time exploring the Island and tomorrow we head into NYC to "do" MOMA and catch a performance with the Blue Man Group which should be fun.

I am also hoping to meet up with an Aussie Art friend - Megan tomorrow as well.

Given all the to-'ing and fro-'ing that we have been doing of late, and the fact that folk will be coming and going on Christmas Day, we decided to have our 'fancy' dinner a little early and enjoyed our home cooked Christmas meal tonight.  The menu included a (very nontraditional) Roast Lamb, served with crispy potatoes, roasted fennel and red pepper ratatouille, fresh steamed broccoli, gravy and mint sauce.  We washed that all down with a very fine Mollydooker Goosebumps Shiraz and added gluttony to the last of the year's sins by feasting on homemade New York Cheese Cake and fresh whipped cream for dessert.

Now I just need to figure out what I can possibly squeeze into to wear tomorrow!

Oh and the kicker for the day - sitting in my studio fiddling about, waiting for the lamb to roast, DH comes in and says...."well I guess that's your first failed cheesecake huh? "

"What" I cry, "what is the problem?"
"Well it's sitting in the laundry and all fallen down"
"Well, it's sitting in the laundry because it's the coolest room in the house and I WANT the cheescake to cool down and YES, it's supposed to FALL down from the 8" that it was in the oven - hot air rises and it will cool down, fall down and become dense and yummy as it cools"
"Oh - thank goodness for that" he said!

(and ate two pieces ((when it was cool))  hehe)

Comments

[grrl+dog]

well it's raining here, non stop. I had hoped to tackle a traditional Aussie pav, but the weather has curtailed that.

Wishing you and your family many laughs together..

[Lennie]

Wonderful blog post ... and roast lamb AND cheesecake? Divine! Hope the rest of your holidays continue to inspire :-) and please enjoy every minute with Ryan and Iris (what a beautiful name!) before he must leave again. Here in our household we are having a small family gathering for christmas dinner here at our home and I am SO looking forward to it. Merry Christmas to you and yours!!

[Deborah]

Beautiful photos again, as always. Love your story about the cheesecake! Too cute. Wishing you a very Blessed Christmas, Marie. Love, Deb