Anya has been attached to his side since he got home. I don't think she has stopped smiling since he walked in the door at Monica's. Eric hasn't wanted to be away from Nathan, either. He went right to him and only wants me when he's hungry! Of course, Nathan is soaking up every second with the kids and he has been on cloud nine since being home.
We have had a lot of good food over the last two days, too! On Saturday we celebrated Nathan's birthday with not one but two cakes! I wanted to try a new cake recipe (Paul Prudhomme's Spiced Pecan cake), but I wanted Nathan to still have his German chocolate cake. So, I made two mini's! YUM, YUM, YUM!!!
Sunday was our Christmas and I made a delicious Christmas dinner. We had ham, mashed potatoes, bacon wrapped asparagus, and pumpkin dinner rolls. For dessert we had an apple-cranberry crisp with eggnog sauce. OH MY WOW! I didn't want to go to the commissary, so I finally made my own eggnog and it was phenomenal! The recipe I used called for orange and lemon zest, so it was more citrus-y than I am used to, but I will definately use the recipe again.
Now for some pictures and the recipes for the eggnog and the crisp. I hope to be able to stop by some blogs and comment soon. Thanks for still checkin' in here!
Seeing Daddy for the first time
Together again
Nathan and Eric on Christmas
Do you know how IMPOSSIBLE it is to get both kids to smile at the same time??? :)
Nathan's birthday cakes
Apple-Cranberry Crisp with Eggnog Sauce
Sauce:
2 containers (3.5-4oz each) refrigerated vanilla pudding
1 cup eggnog
Fruit Mixture:
5 cups sliced peeled apples
2 cups fresh or frozen cranberries
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 TBSP flour
Topping:
2/3 cup flour
1 cup quick oats
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup cold butter, cut into pieces
Place pudding and eggnog in bowl; whisk until smooth. Cover and refrigerate.
Heat oven to 375. In large bowl, combine fruit mixture. Spread evenly into 2 qt baking dish.
In medium bowl, combine topping ingredients until crumbly. Spoon evenly over fruit.
Bake 35-40 minutes or until deep golden brown and bubbly. Serve warm with chilled sauce.
Homemade Eggnog
Recipe from Williams-Sonoma American Christmas
12 large egg yolks
3/4 cup sugar
1 tsp freshly grated nutmeg plus more for garnish
Grated zest of 1 orange
Grated zest of 1 lemon
2 cups whole milk
2 cups heavy cream
1/2 - 3/4 cup dark rum, cognac, or bourbon (optional) - I just added a little rum extract
In a large saucepan whisk together egg yolks, sugar, nutmeg, and citrus zests. Stir in the milk and cream. Place over low heat and cook, stirring constantly with a rubber spatula, just until the mixture thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon (160 degrees).
Immediately remove from heat and strain through a sieve into a pitcher. Cover and refrigerate to chill thouroughly, about 1 hour.
Serve alone or topped with whipped cream and nutmeg.
16 comments:
Cristine, what lovely pics! I love your family one. I'm so happy your family is together :)
Your son looks just like Nathan! How sweet. Enjoy your precious time together. The cakes look delicious and so does the crisp!
What sweet pictures Cristine! I was going to say Eric looks just like you, but after seeing the above comment...maybe I am wrong.=) Sounds like you guys are enjoying some amazing food.
Yay, what a happy reunion!!!! I love your family pictures. And your food all looks great, too!
AWWW the kids look so cute in their Christmas clothes! Thanks for dinner tonight and letting me intrude on Nate time!!! I'm so glad he is home with you guys. Love you!
I am so happy for you! Looks like everyone is having a great time!! Enjoy it!! Nathan's cakes look super yummy too! He is lucky to have you spoiling him!
YAY! He's home and you all look so happy! It's wonderful to see you like that, and the kids are just like pie - I want to eat them up!
Enjoy your time together, I know it's going by really fast!
I'm so happy for you! Sounds like you guys are having quality time together! Yay!
Both your cakes look great and your family photos even better!!!
Hope the new year brings you many happy moments, yummy food, good health, and lots of time with your honey!
Happy 2009!
~ingrid
Yeahhhh!!!! So glad he made it home safe! I love the picture of him and Anya, its so cute! Have LOTS OF FUN!!!!!
Thanks for sharing your pics! HELLO NATHAN! You baked him two bday cakes?! Um, do you know that my bday is coming up in January? ;)
Beautiful pictures Cristine! I'm so happy for you, enjoy every minute with your husband!
Cristine~Thanks for sharing these fabulous pictures! And yes...I feel your pain about the kids in the pictures!! I hope you guys are busy making some wonderful memories together! Thanks for all of the updates. Enjoy every second. :o)
I love your family pics. You have a lovely family.
It's wonderful to see your family so happy! Having him home must have made for the best Christmas.
Oh I am SOOOO glad for you! What great pictures! Thank you for sharing that with us! Enjoy you time!
I am so happy that you are all together again to celebrate the holiday as a family. The day finally came and that is wonderful. It sounds like you have enjoyed some amazing food. You're awesome! Lovely cheesecake. Glad you liked it.
AmyRuth
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