Holidaze

After traveling many thousands of miles and back for our tropical adventures, Justin and I decided to celebrate Christmas and New Years at home in Port Angeles. While we missed the many traditions that we've built over the years with our families: cutting down the tree; Chinese dinner on Christmas Eve; Sauerkraut Soup on Christmas night; an early morning run before a day of festivities; rounds of present opening....we had the opportunity to translate some of those traditions into our own versions and to create some new ones. We also had company from Pittsburgh to help us celebrate; Justin's brother, Dan.

Before Dan arrived, Justin and I ventured into Forest Service land for our second annual hunt for a charlie brown Christmas Tree. To our luck, we found a fuller taller tree for the 9ft. ceilings in our "new' house. Later that evening, we pulled out the collection of ornaments donated by our moms, poured ourselves some rummed cider, turned on a holiday mix (including willie nelson's pretty paper album), strung popcorn and holly berries, and festivized our tree. A lit Christmas tree does so much for the holiday spirit!

We picked Dan up in Seattle on a Friday afternoon and spent some time touristing Pike Place Market, which we haven't done in a long time. We left with a giant pumpkin cookie, some prosciutto, and a brother. We spent most of the week checking out some our favorite North Olympic Peninsula gems--including a bluebird day on Hurricane Ridge, happy hour at our local brewery, and some windy days on beaches along the Strait of Juan de Fuca. It was great to get to spend some real time with Dan and to share our home with family.

Below, you will find a recipe for our Christmas morning snack!

 

 

Blueberry and Leftover Oatmeal Muffins
makes a dozen
preheat oven to 400 degrees

Combine the following:
1 c. cooked oats
1 egg
1 TBS melted butter
1/2 c. milk
4 TBS. honey/maple syrup/ or sugar
2 TBS. baking powder
1.5 c. flour
1/2 c. blueberries
1/4 c. walnuts or pecans

Scoop into oiled muffin tins -- about 2/3 full. Bake for 20 minutes. Enjoy.