12/25/11 -- Christmas Day

Christmas morning dawned crisply, with temperatures in the 20s and a pale blue sky greeting those who ventured out to play with newly unwrapped toys. Me? I stayed bundled up inside my little farmhouse, toasty in a blue velvet robe from Soft Surroundings.com with gorgeous beadwork at the wide waist and cuffs, sipping hot tea and opening treasured gifts shipped to me from friends and family in California, Washington and Texas.

Soon it was time to get busy in the kitchen. I was having eight for dinner Christmas evening. Beef Wellington was on the menu, along with roasted pumpkin soup, my signature salad with caramelized onions and baby greens dressed in my own specialty-vinaigrette, roasted asparagus with shaved lemon and parmesan, broiled mashed potato cones on sweet potato platforms, candied cranberries and mandarin oranges in Elderflower liqueur, and old-fashioned persimmon pudding which I baked in a slow oven, stirring every twenty minutes, for three hours.

My guests arrived at 6:00 p.m., and suddenly my ten-foot Christmas tree in the living room, devoid of gifts since morning, was awash in colorful ribbon-trimmed packages once again. We started the evening with mulled wine and a cheese plate, moving on to dinner at the table in my dining room set with my grandmother’s gold-rimmed china and strewn with red and green jingle bells and loose ruby and diamond-colored "gemstones" for sparkle. Knowing I would be warm in the kitchen, I dressed lightly for the evening in simple black leggings by HUE for Macy’s and black boots by Pleasers, topped with a black sequin tank I purchased at The Limited this summer and an heirloom gold and rhinestone necklace and matching bracelet that had belonged to my grandmother.

Dinner was grand. My beef wellington came out perfectly, and everyone raved about my persimmon pudding, which I topped with Grand Marnier-infused whipped cream. My Christmas was merry and bright, and I wish the same to you and yours.

Merry Christmas, everyone.

Lynell