Bright and early Christmas morning we were up and over to Milly & Pap Pap's. I made my favorite Cheese Souffle (recipe found here) with cinnamon rolls and mimosas. And Wake's favorite toy was a red Radio Flyer from M & P! Whether we rolled him around the room or the outside he was ALL smiles! Christmas afternoon was quite perfect! We had a Christmas movie marathon (A Christmas Story, The Grinch, The Holiday, etc...) and did personal homemade pizzas; not traditional but delicious!
The day after Christmas I took Wake on his first trip on an airplane. We were very sad to say goodbye to daddy, but excited to get to Detroit and spend time with my side of the fam. He did wonderfully...never cried once and ended up falling asleep in my arms while descending into Detroit. Go figure! On our first full day there a couple of us decided to go bowling. Wake chilled on his Uncle Michael's lap while I got beat (honestly) by my oldest niece Olivia! Then we came back home and I made wreath cookies (recipe can be found here) with my two nieces while W napped.
On Saturday the entire family on my mother's side (Wakeland) got together for Christmas dinner. The menu was insane (see below) and it was so great for Wake to meet everyone. The table was set beautifully and we also did a fun white elephant ornament exchange. My cousin's sweet baby Harper got an ornament with Wake's pic on it and she really liked it; it was super cute! Plus, all of TT's (The Wakeland family Matriarch) grandchildren (minus Joe - sad face!) AND great grandchildren were there so we had to take a family pic.
The dinner was amazing (beef tenderloin, baked mashed potatoes, pomegranate fruit salad, blue cheese lettuce wedges, homemade rolls, etc...) but there were a few items that particularly stood out to me and I'd like to share them with you. First was the drink my Uncle was pouring, and next were some exceptional apps...
Pomegranate Martini:
2 1/4 cups pomegranate juice
3/4 cup Cointreau, or Grand Marnier
2 tablespoons sugar, preferably superfine bar sugar, plus more for the rims
Strips of lime zest, for garnish
1. Mix pomegranate juice, vodka,
lime juice, Cointreau (or Grand Marnier), ginger juice and sugar in a large pitcher.
2. For each drink, fill a cocktail shaker halfway with ice, add 1/2 cup mix, and shake until the shaker turns frosty and cold. Dip the rim of a martini (or highball) glass into water and then in sugar (to "sugar the rim"). Strain the drink into the martini glass (or over fresh ice in the highball glass). Garnish with a twist of lime
zest, if desired.
Is your mouth watering yet? I can't believe I still had room for dinner!
It was sad to leave my Michigan family, but Wake and I were both anxious to get home and see daddy! Plus, we had NYE to look forward to. Wake spent the night with Milly and Pap Pap so that Joe and I could have a nice night out with our friends. A large group of us met up at our club for dinner, and then had a little party in the lounge afterwards to ring in the New Year. I'm not sure if it was the extra dirty martinis OR poinsettias I decided to drink, but we had the best time playing Heads Up! Have y'all ever heard of it/played it? It's an app designed by Ellen DeGeneres...get it for your next gathering!
So those were the hi-lights of my Holiday...went by in a flash! Hope you all had a fun and blessed time with your friends and family!
~ See you soon ~
Morgan
