Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year!  I hope everyone had a very happy and wonderful Christmas holiday.  Was it a white Christmas for you this year? I hope you had a lot of yummy food to eat and holiday cheer! I can't believe Christmas has come and gone.  It's pretty crazy how we spend so much time and effort on one event, and then it just passes like a blink of the eye.  Nonetheless it was one of my best times of 2012! 
On Saturday, we went downtown Seattle again hoping to explore the aquarium.  hehe, we ended up walking behind Pike's Place around the pier.  It was really busy this Saturday, so again we couldn't make it into the Starbucks or Pirosky, Pirosky.  I was a little disappointed, but maybe next time I'll get to go in.  Some how we ended up at Ivars Seafood restaurant and had a nice lunch.  We were seated by the window so we got to see HUGE seagulls and ferries coming and going.  Mr C had the clam chowder with a salmon BLT as did I.  The calm chowder was okay.  Not too salty, but kind of lacking in seafood - mainly just potatoes.  Afterwards we walked back up to Pike's Place and passed by the gum wall.  What's a gum wall? Well, it's a wall plastered with gum (it's okay if you just let out a big "YUCK").  It's actually a sight to see...actually a gross sight to see.  Being in the lab profession, I couldn't help but cringe at the thought of the bacteria everywhere.  Mr C was quite amused, I was amused for 2 minutes before the gum/spit smell got to me.  I had to leave asap.  

On Christmas eve, we baked an 11 pound turkey.  It was pretty funny watching Mr C cleaning the turkey.  hahaha, I think he was horrified when he had to reach into the turkey to remove the neck and gibblets.  I too let out a scream when they finally came out of the turkey hahaha.  Anyways, the turkey was a success! Mr. C also made bread which was yummy.  The smell of instant yeast brought back memories of yesterday years of the microbiology lab.  I remember how I secretly enjoyed the smell of a pure culture of C. albicans (ok, I'm a dork... don't laugh).  I also got a chance to make gingerbread cookies and we decorated them too! There's me and Ian, can you tell who decorated who?

On a side note, I finally got butternut squash soup right (yeah, high five)! I've been trying to make this for awhile, and this weekend I made it perfectly! Just fry up 1 onion, and then add 5 carrots, half a butternut squash and enough chicken stock to cover everything.  Leave it to boil and then turn down the heat.  Once everything is soft, use a blender to mix it up.  We added Chinese 5 spice which added a nice cinnamon flavor.  Absolutely delicious and nutritious!  Add a dollop of yoghurt!

The best part of the day was the gift giving.  Mr C got me a year subscription to birch box!!!! I've been eying this since last summer when I discovered it online but couldn't get it because they didn't ship to Canada.  Now, I'll be graced monthly with my beauty samples (super excited!!!).  I got Mr C a large Bodum french press and a wedding photobook, which I secretly worked on for 1 week straight.  I think he really likes it :).  What did you get for Christmas this year?

Well, I hope you enjoyed my ramblings.  I'm not sure what I'll be doing this week.  Maybe some food dishes.  Any requests?  It's a short week, so I'm looking forward to the weekend.  I know I should study for my board exams, but that can wait until January right? 

Pike's Place in the afternoon

 

My lovely birchbox gift

See you later! <3 J