Xmas!

This was the first Xmas that Zoe could really understand what was going on, and it was weird talking about Santa Claus and cookies and milk again, after all these years. Here is Zoe figuring out that Pere Noel had stopped by:




Shortly after the unwrapping of presents, it was cooking time. A few weeks earlier, my mom had floated the idea of cooking a turkey on her brand new fancy Weber, knowing full well that I will not say no to any grilling project. Unfortunately, it had started raining during the night, so she was now less sanguine about the idea, envisioning a Turkey Disaster. Kenji predicted, with his usual subtlty, that the turkey would be "burnt on the outside, rotten and raw on inside". Happily, he was wrong, and it turned out great: one of the most moist and flavorful turkeys that I have eaten. I was a bit worried about the size of it, since grilling seems to be used for smaller turkeys, and this one was 16 pounds. The medium indirect heating method works very well though. It took four hours and more than half of a bag of mesquite briquettes.


Meanwhile, in the living room:




My Mom's friend Bonnie came over for lunch/dinner, and it was on:




We were all a little worried that Zoe insisted on using her great-grandmother's crystal

but she did not mange to destroy it. It did require frequent refillings, however.