Christmas Eve

 We decided to start a new Christmas tradition this year.  On Christmas Eve we had a "fancy" meal.  We used our nice china and made nice dishes.  Here is a view of what we ate and how it went.   

Alan set the table.  He is very particular about where things go.  It turned out very nice.  

 Bruce promptly messed his all up.  

 We wore our Sunday best and the kids were taught how to act and what was and was not appropriate for a nice meal.  Karina really enjoyed the whole evening. 

 Even Alan dresses up.  What a cheese!

 I was exhausted but I was also very excited to taste everything. 

 Here is the salad course.  Almond strawberry salad with candied almonds and dressing made from scratch. 

 Bruce loved the almonds and strawberries but not so much on the spinach. 

 The main course was an apple, cranberry and cornbread stuffed pork tenderloin.  It was amazing if I do say so myself. 

 The lighting was bad, but you can see the inside in this picture.  Alan also made garlic mashed potatoes. 

 Karina chose our desserts.  This is a frozen raspberry mousse with a raspberry puree.

 Karina chose one fruity dessert and one chocolate dessert.  They both happened to be mousses.  We used a french cookbook, so maybe that was why.  this is a chocolate mouse cake. 

 The presentation was beautiful. 

I felt that the meal was a success.   We topped it all of with Martineli's Apple Cider.  The kids loved it and I was satified with a job well done.  

We now have a fridge full of wonderful leftovers and happy memories to go with them!