Christmas Eve Fries

It's our Christmas Eve tradition to have steak and French fries for dinner.  Since he was on a milk only diet last year, he was very happy to be able to fully participate in this year's dinner.  Okay, he had a hot dog rather than steak, but close enough.  He was very happy--especially with the fries.  I'm sure you've all tried dipping your French fries in a Frosty.  Delicious, right?  But have you tried fries and orange juice?  It was a little slimy, but other than that, Colton seemed to enjoy it.

Pour.

Drink.

Slurp.

Despite the fact that he put it there himself, I think he was a little confused about why there was a French fry in his drink.  

Let there be lights!

Christmas growing up always included a trip to Temple Square in Salt Lake to see the lights.  And by always, I mean that I think we went at least when we were really little.  Either way, it is a magical memory.  (I must admit that the joy of seeing the lights faded over time as my abhorrence of being cold increased...)

Anyway, I have not braved the cold since moving to D.C., but I decided that Colton might get really excited by all the lights.  I was wrong.  He was moderately excited by the lights.  What he was excited about was being able to run free through crowds of people (darting much more quickly and easily than Justin or I could), and he was extremely excited by the random forklift in the parking lot.  Oh well.  It was still a festive night of family Christmas fun.  (Oh, and note to self:  next year go at 5 pm instead of 7 pm, and go on a night that Jenny Oaks Baker isn't performing.  We might actually get in to the Visitor Center that way...)

Colton did not want to pose for this picture.  He also did not want to pose for it for the fifteen times it took me to get them in focus instead of the trees behind them.  I've developed a serious inability to focus correctly.

We love to see the temple...

Too bad Colton wouldn't look at the camera.  He was in full posing rebellion by this point.

Justin is so handsome in the glow of the Christmas lights.  There's nothing like being back-lit to make you look fabulous.

French Peasant Bread

Did you know that making homemade bread isn't hard?  Seriously, why do we all eat Wonder bread when it takes maybe 10 minutes of active work to pull a delicious bakery-fresh round out of the oven.  I have recently discovered this recipe (in the Ivory Favorites cookbook--my go to recipe book) that is insanely easy...and delicious.  So if you want your house to smell like bread on Christmas morning, I'd highly recommend giving this one a try.


French Peasant Bread:

1 package dry yeast (2 1/2 tsp)

2 cups warm water

1 tbsp sugar

2 tsp salt

4 cups flour

oil

corn meal

melted butter

Dump the first four ingredients into a bowl (I put them right into the bowl of my kitchenaid) and stir until dissolved.  Then add the flour and stir until it is blended.  It is sticky and wet.  Don't knead.  Cover and let rise about one hour until it has doubled in size.  Grease a cookie sheet using oil (vegetable or olive...it doesn't matter) and then sprinkle the sheet with corn meal.  Flour your hands and remove dough from the bowl and form into two rounds.  Place both rounds on the cookie sheet and let rise another hour or so.  Cook at 425 F for 10 minutes.  Open oven and brush the tops of the rounds with a little butter.  Lower the oven temperature to 375 F and cook for another 15 minutes.  Voila!!  

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good bread!

Working on the pucker

Colton loves giving kisses.  Unfortunately, he hasn't quite figured out how to pucker up those cute little lips of his.  As a result, his kisses are pretty, well, open-mouthed.  Here is the evidence: