the adventures of penny and whale

In celebration of Christmas without Krampus!

        The age-old debate prevails; is there some clandestine alliance between old St. Nickolas and one's parents?  Us kids have been bewildered for centuries.  Evidence from last night's revelry suggests that we just might never know for sure.

        On December 22nd, I was shuttled straight from the airport to the annual family Christmas party for a wonderful night of laughing until we cried, delicious food, crazy aunts, and cousin gossip.  All desserts were skillfully crafted by momma dearest.

        This year, our family was blessed with a Christmas miracle bearing the name of Marte Solbakken.  She is a delightful spirit and it has been an absolute pleasure to spend the holiday with her.  On Christmas eve, we pooled our gourmet resources and constructed a feast of risotto, salmon, yam souffle, spinach/goat cheese/pomegranate salad, and maple syrup roasted brussel sprouts.

As an after-dinner treat, momma had us un-wrap surprise ball party favors!  The layers and layers of vintage colored crate paper revealed tiny treasures including Christmas stickers, chocolates, mysterious sponge capsules and even a few George Washingtons!

Overall, it has been a Christmas to remember and we are all very pleased to have survived another holiday without a visit from Krampus.