December grading and baking

The first half of December found me juggling work with attending holiday events at the boys' school and baking holiday gifts. For example, one day started with Ivan's Xmas play and ended with final meetings for 3 of my 4 classes; another day began with a grading meeting for one of my classes (for which my section had the highest average - very unusual for me!) and finished with baking more pumpkin bread (the boys have way too many teachers). The first day of December was especially perfect for a power nap: I baked in the morning, split the afternoon between bookclub and a Christmas fair at the boys' school, and all the while I photo-documented the visit of Ivan's (stuffed) class mascot while Nikita and Igor were in Orlando for a chess tournament.

Once the grades were in, I stayed mostly in the kitchen. Here's what I ended up baking:

• 4 batches of chocolate chip pumpkin bread (one batch every Saturday morn!)
• 3 batches of Food for the Gods
• 2 batches of peppermint meringue cookies
• 2 batches of crescent rolls 
• 1 batch of German butter cookies (a recipe Nikita got from school in the first grade)
• 1 Danish Almond Kringle

I wonder what a bat would do.

The boys were also super busy before the holidays. At the chess tournament in Orlando (right), Nikita did as well as last year: he was first in his rating category, and 26% overall. Despite being in the land of the Magic Kingdom, he and Igor only had tolerance for Epcot Center. He also attended another fencing tournament in NJ, where he wasn't quite as slaughtered in Y10. When he wasn't competing, he complained about the lack of snow, but was thrilled to have his own mini Xmas tree. He also practiced his first oral presentation (on bats) with me.

Out with the old and in with the new!

Ivan helped me relax by accompanying me to a concert by the MIT Logarhythms and to the ICA (mainly to replace his broken toy). He continues to impress me with his efforts to sound out words (in various languages), and after months of discomfort, Ivan's first baby tooth finally fell out (right). The most memorable moment,  however, is when Ivan realized that fencing teaches him how to dance: "All I have to do is advance and retreat!"

The holidays themselves were peacefully spent at home (see photo album here). The boys loved their gifts from Santa (Legos for Nikita and a costume for Ivan - excellent default presents), especially the surprise toy grenades. My favorite gift was a letter from Nikita, wishing me "lots of good food." We all got that on Christmas: salmon & tomatoes in foil for the eve; Kringle, Irish bacon, and Winter Fruit Salad for breakfast; ham, potato casserole (with Gouda, garlic, and thyme), Russian salads for lunch; and tons of cookies (made by me or my sister-in-law, Erin) throughout the day. The Kringle was more tender this year (perhaps because of the long stay of the dough in the refrigerator?); the boys loved the fruit salad but not the potatoes; the 1999 CI recipe for ham (as opposed to the 2007 recipe I used this year) may give a more tender ham.

I have to admit that cooking for Xmas and NYE is more stressful than Thanksgiving cooking because I feel compelled to plan three meals each; it helped to listen to NPR's favorite 2012 albums via Spotify. At least the days between them are more relaxing. I woke up at 9 am, sent out belated holiday greetings , and lunched on a variation of the Filipino Noche Buena repast: ham with port-cherry-cardamom sauce and Edam cheese on crescent roll, Galina's beet salad, and Riesling. In addition, gifts continued to arrive for the boys, Nikita won his first fencing tournament (Y8 foil, in Rhode Island), and we finally got snow.