Pilat Eve and Christmas, 2017

Our celebrations started off with Pilat (or Christmas Eve). We exchanged presents with the junior Pilats, had a great grazing dinner of hors d’oeuvres, and finished off with some excellent carol singing.

Part of the Pilat Eve spread (my excellent rum cake)
Happy faces during present opening time
Group singing!
Follow the bouncing ball!
O Christmas Tree

The festivities continued the next morning and afternoon with a traditional breakfast for Sarah, John, and me. We ate Christmas dinner at Jon and Ryan’s where Jon did a fabulous job preparing a prime rib. Merry Christmas!

Bagels and lox with Weissbier from Schneider’s
Nathan and Sam practice vanquishing imaginary foes with their trident shaped spears from The Legend of Zelda
Jon is busy at the stove
What a Christmas spread!

Hanukkah. 12/19/2017

This evening we celebrate the last night of Hanukkah with cookies, candles, and latkes.  John buys six giant potatoes which we decide to use three of and makes 17 latkes! He has his frying station at on the back patio to minimize the mess and does a great job.  They are so delicious! Plus Sarah has made Norwegian drommer cookies and Monrovian spice cookies.

Sarah and I take some of the latkes to our neighbor next door. She gives them rave reviews!

Happy Hanukkah!

Hanukkah candles lit and Sarah’s Norwegian drommer cookies
John making latkes
Latke and cookies

Another birthday celebration. 12/17/2017

Today we travel over to Palo Alto for another celebration of my birthday. Yay!  I get so many cards! Nathan and Sam have crafted their own cards. Nathan’s has stars and planets on it and Sam’s has sea creatures.

Nathan and Sam’s cards for my birthday
Interior of Sam’s card has a dinosaur-horse-unicorn!

Since I have requested no sweets we have a bagel and lox birthday breakfast. There is even a candle for the bagel! Thank you to Ryan, Jon, Nathan, and Sam for a very happy birthday,

My guys and me

 

The Birthdays. 12/8-9/2017

Wow, the first time George and I celebrated our birthdays together I was 29 and here it is 40 years later. We are not so spry now but we always manage to have a good time. This year’s Birthdays celebration takes us to Little River, CA. We are staying at the Little River Inn and will also dine there.

On the way up we stop at Healdsburg for lunch at the Healdsburg Bar and Grill. It has food that everyone should like. They are especially known for their burgers. Karen and George opt for a cheese burger while John and I try the veggie burger. I am still trying to stay on my vegan before six diet. The veggie burger comes with a load of feta cheese so I dutifully scrape it off.

Veggie burger at Healdsburg Bar and Grill

The drive out to Little River is beautiful and we pass through redwood forests with their deep shade and ferns abounding. Along the way we stop at Goldeneye Winery for a little tasting. For $15 we get a seated tasting with some nibbles and seven different wines. This is so much better than Napa where you have to pay $50 just to walk through the door!

John, Karen, and George at Goldeneye Winery

We reach our hotel and our rooms are pretty far apart. George needs a disability room and our room is on the second floor of a building on the other side of the complex. The room itself is pretty spartan for the price but has a nice porch and view. We are greeted by a seagull sitting on the railing who does not seem to be afraid of people.

View from our room with seagull
Sunset over the Pacific

We meet for dinner to celebrate my birthday. The food is pretty mediocre but we have a great time nonetheless.

John and I at the restaurant

After breakfast at the hotel the next morning we are off to celebrate George’s birthday. We decide to go to a few wineries for tastings and find lunch somewhere.

A beautiful clear day in the 60’s awaits us
One of the wineries we stop at is Greenwood Ridge Vineyards
They have some veryf friendly ducks!

While John and George peruse the menu of wines WE CAN TASTE FOR FREE I spin the wheel and hit the jackpot – 45% off a case of wine! We decide to split a case. My birthday celebration is going along great!

Jackpot!

After visiting three places we find a place for lunch. Stone and Embers is a great choice with a wood fired pizza oven. The oven is so hot that it cooks the pizza really fast and the crust comes out wonderfully cooked with a little char. We sit at the counter and George has fun schmoozing with the owner/chef.

Our pizza puffing up in the oven
Yum! Supposedly the sausage is from a turducken

Since the food in the restaurant is only meh we decide to have dinner in the bar. We have a lot of fun. George has found someone who is also celebrating his birthday and we get a rousing chorus of happy birthday with our dessert course.

Me with John and George

The next day we ride down the coast towards home stopping in Point Arena for breakfast. I love our Birthday celebrations and this has been a great one.

Birthday Eve – 12/7/2017

Since I am going to be away for my birthday, Sarah has made me my birthday confection a day early. I have my choice between pretzel rolls and Dugan coffee cake (Swedish Tea Ring.) Such a hard choice!! Ultimately I go with the coffee cake because it is so delicious and brings back memories of being a kid again.

Dugan Bakery style coffee cake
Inside there are swirls of almond paste, almonds, raisins, and cinnamon

I just cannot help myself and eat three pieces, two with butter! We are off on our birthdays adventure tomorrow so I tell her she can have the rest for her and her friends. A real sacrifice!!!