Happy New Year!

I decided to ring in the New Year (ok, ring it in at around 10p) with a new drink: a Bourbon Crusta. I chose this drink very carefully: we had all of the ingredients, and the book said to serve it in a fancy glass, which of course was right up my alley. (I thought the champagne glass was appropriate for the occasion!)
Ingredients: lemon wedge, superfine sugar, lemon peel cut into a long spiral (the book is very specific: "Crustas are all about presentation. Without the sugar rimming and the long spiral of lemon peel, it ain't a Crusta"), 2 ounces bourbon, 1/2 ounce Cointreau or triple sec, 1/2 ounce fresh lemon juice.
Prepare a chilled sour glass by rimming it with the lemon wedge and sugar. (Discard the wedge.) Loop a long spiral of lemon peel around the glass's interior. Combine the liquid ingredients in a cocktail shaker, with ice. Shake well, and strain into the prepared glass.
Yum!

snow-shoeing at Brainard

We went snow-shoeing for the first time this winter. It was COLD! It was also our first trip above 10,000 feet in about 6 months, and I could surely tell (*gasp*). We went about 3.5 miles, which on snow-shoes -- was a nice little trek.

Tom's feet love his new gel pad

I got Tom a long gel pad for the kitchen for Christmas. I think he really likes it, because he already went out and got a 2nd (shorter one) for the other side of the island. He says that food prep is infinitely more comfortable now.

we musta been nice

because Santa brought us this extraordinary bottle of wine. I can't wait to try it...

all kinds of Spanish goodness

ready

set

go!

I think this was Tom's favorite Christmas present: a box of wonderful goodies from my sister in law. She sent a package of all kinds of traditional Spanish foods (and wine!). There was serrano ham, manchego cheese, coffee, cookies, wine, and a very cool wine "decanter." The catalog that came in the package said that you could use the flask as a decanter, or you could drink straight from the flask... so since we were accepting the "traditional" theme -- we tried it straight from the decanter. Tom was better than I when it came to getting wine into his mouth (whereas I spilled on my shirt, the counter, etc. etc.)

family Hanukkah celebration

No Hanukkah celebration would be complete without a game of Dreidel. As it turns out, Dreidel is much better when crackers are involved...

early Christmas in CA

Very cool shirt from my mom.

Tom's much awaited Morimoto cookbook.... thanks, Mom & Dad!

My dad opening his new foot pedal, from Tom.

My mom, acting as Santa's helper.

My family has been fairly forgiving about my recent refusals to travel over the holidays. So Tom and I went to CA last weekend to celebrate a bit early. We had a great time.

it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

Our holiday "gift baskets" this year contained home-made biscotti. Tom made mountains of them! They were great with espresso...

holiday parties galore

Although I have been remiss in my blogging efforts, Tom and I have been quite busy -- with all kinds of holiday activities. The photos are from a colleague's holiday party (back on 12/5!). The top photo is Sally -- one of the hostess' daughters. The bottom photo shows my boss, Marianne, with Isla (the daughter of my partner, Kelly). Can you believe that Isla is not yet 6 months old?
We also attended a Boulder Newcomer's Holiday party (although I took no photos), and we went to a local production of the Nutcracker (where photography was not allowed).
We also went to a Slow Food Holiday Dinner at a Boulder restaurant called the Black Cat. We will definitely be returning there....