Christmas Party

Bonjour to all of you, and to our friends! It's the day after Christmas here and I'm sure you all had a wonderful time with your families yesterday. At home it usually took me a while to wind down after the big day finally arrived, and that hasn't changed. The build up and the anticipation seem to keep me flying high on adrenalin enough to get through it all somehow.

Our Christmas party grew to such huge proportions in our minds (with all those who showed interest in coming) that Jack said to plan for 40 people. So, Patrick Humblot (drop the H, and cross off the T for the real pronunciation of his name!) assigned out the salads to the members (bring one for each table of 6 people!), and the "pain" (bread!) to the single men to furnish (after all what could be easier than that!). I spent most of Friday making funeral potatoes (we don't advertise that name to our elderly members!), until I had 4 large pans filled to the top with cheesy, gooey spuds.

The next morning, we went shopping for last minute things like: 6 bottles of fizzy non-alcoholic apple juice to drink along with dessert; 6 bottles of mineral water and 2 cans of the fruit flavored syrup the French serve with it; and just for insurance, a $3.50E pkg. of TEN 3-foot long baguettes that I've always wanted to buy just once, because they make it look like you're going to a party. The thing was, we weren't sure if JJ (our almost there janitor) got the message through his head about the bread, and Alain's thought process is so unorthodox we never know what we'll get from him. As Jack and I looked at each other in the store. . ."We're getting insurance baguettes!" We hid them in the trunk of the car so we wouldn't hurt their feelings if they brought some too.

Two ladies promised to come early to help me, but neither of them showed, so it was Jack and Patrick and me. We worked together well. We covered the tables with pretty red and gold paper that had a nice satin finish on it, and Jack set them with the salad plates and silverware, while I created centerpieces with greenery off the trees outside and some ribbon and red shiny bulbs. Patrick did a neat trick with the red napkins standing up in the glasses. I popped the turkey rolls in the "oven from h*ll" (which just can't wait to burn everything you dare to place into it), and hoped I guessed right on the setting this time. It's a convection oven, but it's 40-years-old and very cranky, and if you fiddle with it too much, the next time you look it will have turned itself off! That happened this time too, so after my primal scream, I turned it off and started over again, and it seemed to stabilize.

Patrick left for the half hour drive to pick up 98-year-old Madeleine, and Jack went to pick up Adele, who we got to agree to come. The members began to arrive with their salads, and they all needed space to put their creations together. Lucienne (my menace in the kitchen) came with enough salad for an army, and as I began taking out the turkey, which had baked quickly, saw something that she just couldn't abide. One dark meat turkey loaf looked too crispy for her, so she grabbed a bottle of vegetable oil and began pouring oil all over the brown little thing! I begged her to stop, and she did, with a satisfied smile, and a "that's better" look on her face. When she got busy elsewhere, I poured off the oil and patted down that little hummer until he wasn't shiny anymore. I got the potatoes heating up when Alain arrived in the kitchen with his bread. He had slaved over an automatic bread making machine, and presented me with 2 loaves of undercooked, tough, square shaped, dough blobs . . . I could only stare. What in the world was he thinking? (Well, one of them was studded with dark things, which turned out to be bits of chocolate, to make it more "special.") I took them and told him that we had baguettes to serve to people, at which he looked relieved and then took back the chocolate one!

We had a nice program, the centerpiece of which was, the DVD, "Joy to the World," telling the story of the birth of Christ, and featuring the beautiful music of the Tabernacle Choir. Some of the people we expected to come, didn't, but we had a non-member family there, as well as some inactives, and the number was 30 to the program and 28 to the dinner. Just after we served dessert, which was plenty of Buche de Noel (cream filled Christmas Logs all fancy and fine), I got a call from Heather who was wandering in a Wal-Mart and wondering if I needed something (4 orange flavored children's aspirin would be nice), so Jack had me take her (via phone) in to meet the members and they called out "Joyeaus Noel, Heather!" to her. That was neat. Then, cute little Madeleine made everybody give me a standing ovation for being a "bonne cuisiniere," and that made it all worthwhile.

Our Christmas day was party left-overs with the Elders and Alain, quiet and simple. We thought about you all, and thanks for the cards and calls and pictures you sent us, we love that kind of stuff the very best. Be safe, happy and healthy, and keep in touch . . .we love you.

Sister Mom