We flew to Utah in early December to teach the boys how to ski. We accomplished our goal. By the end of the week, Nikita was able to take the ski lift and scared Igor with his tractor-like runs; Ivan went down the bunny slope by himself instead of between my legs. Igor practiced telemarking, and received comments on his super skinny skis. I got a lot of practice turning on the bunny slope (especially when there were three simultaneous beginner classes), and a workout from the rope tow. So, now I can go slowly down a slope instead of falling to stop.
We capped nearly every day with climbing and dinner out. The town where we stayed, Sandy, had a fantastic rock gym. The walls were much higher than the gym back in Boston, and I was impressed with the number of kids climbing. Nikita (left) climbed rather gracefully, while Ivan was amused by the different holds, especially those shaped like guns. After climbing, we would try out a new restaurant, using coupons from restaurant.com. My new Kindle Touch was great for holding directions during the trip and Nikita's math homework for the flight home.Overall, Utah was a success. Our resort, Alta, is a perfect place for beginners. The rope tows are always free, and there is one ski lift that is free after 3 pm. And although people complained about the lack of snow, there was certainly enough snow for us. Plus the dry weather meant that the snow felt like snow rather than the ice of the East Coast. Finally, we don't have to worry about snowboarders crashing into our boys.
Back in Boston, I resumed my Christmas preparations. I added a parol to our ministocking Advent calendar (stuffed with Kit Kats and Xmas facts) and the gingerbread house Nikita made on a class trip. I also baked a lot for gifts (chocolate pumpkin bread, cranberry-pistachio biscotti, caramels with salted sea salt) and our Christmas meals (below) - mainly to the sounds of Glee vol. 7 and A Motown Christmas. Finally, shopping was less painful with the web (of course) and my new favorite bookstore. I should definitely, however, keep this gift guide in mind for the future.
On Christmas eve, we had an early (and simple!) supper of salmon broiled with basil and tomato. Then the boys decorated Christmas cookies for Santa (and us) and helped me decorate the tree.
They had full freedom on the former, including putting frosting on sprinkles:
But I had to spread apart some of their tree decorations. When I asked Nikita why the three identical Santas were together, he replied, "They're friends!"
One of new tree ornaments was this reindeer hobby horse, but Nikita is standing in front of it:
Christmas Day was lovely. The boys were thrilled to wake up and find that Santa gave them what they wanted (Hero Factory figure for Nikita; crossbow for Ivan) plus unexpected gifts in their stockings: training chopsticks (the most well-received), a Christmas book, huge candy cane, orange, and a unique item (staff music writing book for Nikita, orange car for Ivan).
But the day was really all about cardamom: Danish Kringle for breakfast...
Azerbijani duck for dinner...
...and Cook Illustrated's pistachio baklava for dessert.
All were new recipes for me, with only the duck falling short of expectations. In contrast, I think the Kringle is the most beautiful thing I've ever baked. I think I can safely call myself a baker.
Christmas was different this year because we had no guests: my family in NYC couldn't be with us because the wife of one of my brothers was due with their first child, and my boys' godmother now lives in Michigan. We did, however, get to see some of them during Christmas week: Liz stayed overnight the day after Christmas, and my parents came up and joined us for plov on Galina's birthday. Otherwise, the only real cooking I was doing that week was German toast for the boys' breakfasts.
On the last day of the year, I took three naps to gather strength for our New Year's midnight feast:
Horseradish-crusted beef tenderloin*Green & Yellow Beans with Tomato & Tarragon
Pear Salad with Arugula, Walnut, and Gorgonzola*
Mashed Potatoes
Homemade Crescent Rolls*
Old-Fashioned Pecan Pie
Martini & Rossi Asti Spumanti
The verdict? The highlighted dishes (*) are really the only ones necessary for the table, and funnily enough, were made from Cook's Illustrated recipes. The rolls were for Nikita because he looked for them on the Christmas table; the sparkling wine was a real hit with Igor and Galina. I had high hopes for the Cook's Country pecan pie because it didn't have corn syrup, but it didn't have the familiar mouthfeel.
