A very Meowry Christmas to All

Well is that just not the cutest picture? In the original email from my friend, the eyes moved from side to side - that was a little bit spooky - I'm glad that feature didn't "save across".

We had our Christmas program at church tonight. The Shepherd is also our Choir director & Minister of Music. I think we made him proud - it seems the worse we sound during dress rehersal, the better we sound during performance - which is good - we were pretty lame tonight during dress rehersal! And speaking of lame, I didn't take my camera. It was Greg's last performance with the choir (he's only been singing with this choir for probably 30 years or so...) and I didn't get a picture - darn - and we were all dressed up in our "black & whites" - Black slacks or skirt, white shirt and then we have Icelandic green "stoles" with our choir logo patch on it. I think we looked very professional - (all nine of us...)

One of the traditions at this little church is the great reception after the Christmas program. The background of the group is Icelandic, so you can always be sure that there will be Vinetarte - it is a yummy dessert made from layering big (8 or 9 inches across) sugar cookies with a prune filling - it is frosted and cut into finger sized slivers. A very tasty treat that is time consuming to make - so it is generally only made for special occasions.

One of our members, an 80 year old man, makes krumkake (a sweet pastry that is cooked in flat circles on an iron then wrapped around a cone shaped form while it is still warm - it looks kind of like a cannoli without the filling) It is so good fights have broken out over the last piece - Okay, so I'm exaggerating about the fights, but it would be worth it to pull a little hair to get that last cookie -

I always figure there is enough sweet stuff there, so I generally bring something "savory" I have taken my Caesar salad wraps a couple of years, or, one year, a giant cheese tray. This year I made a Smoked Salmon Cheesecake - and I didn't get a picture of that either! But it was a huge hit - our hostess had sliced it up into little 3/4 x 1 inch chunks - just enough to fit on a Triscuit - I watched people's faces when they took a bite of it - "And she scores again!" I said to myself, as I watched the smiles and surprised looks on peoples faces - it was a universal "Oh, Man, this is GOOD!" (I'll post the recipe in a week or so)

It's Christmas Eve - We'll spend it hanging out - The Shepherd has a fleece to skirt that we donated to the Auction and I have some last minute shopping to do. The most fun we'll have is going to see our friend Yvonne to see her new CVM lambs - and YES, I'll take my camera!

Blessings of the Season to you and your families.