Svenksa Smorgasbord

We had everyone over for the usual Swedish smorgasbord dinner for Christmas. I'm probably missing things but we consumed

• herring in mustard sauce
• herring in wine sauce
• herring in cream sauce
• sardines
• gravlax
• salmon pate
• pickled beets
• pickled cucumbers
• carraway akvavit
• saffron akvavit
• prinz korv
• potato sausages
• many kinds of Swedish dry flatbreads
• stuffed grapeleaves (taking the place of stuffed cabbage!)
• Jarlsberg and other Nordic style cheeses
• Goat Cheese and a stinky (very) washed rind cheese
• Swedish meatballs
• Lingonberries
• Johannsson potatoes (some made without anchovies)
• a giant bone in ham
• green beans
• Rutmus (rutabaga and turnip casserole)

I'm forgetting all the stuff for dessert too, but by then everyone was full anyways. I'll post pictures, even though it was done in stages. We had a lot of people over, so that was good too.

Condos booked for Keystone & Breckenridge

As mentioned via email I have booked our housing for the Keystone and Breckenridge trip. You can see the Keystone house here and the Breckenridge one here. Here's the first one we are staying at to the right. And here's the second one below. We went through central reservations and got a much better deal than through individual landlords, which is a break from the purchasing pattern I have used for the last decade. Unusual, but smaller firms have not adapted to the New Normal as well.

Christmas Lights

We had a holiday cocktail party at our home, with some of my work colleagues and local friends. The Christmas lights looked nice on the house, although many of our neighbors (in the 40's area) have gone quite overboard. Entire streets are lit up, with strings of lights criss crossing the entire block. Our get together was pretty well attended, which was a pleasant surprise.

We put up the family tree, which is already preinstalled with lights, but it actually takes a lot of time to connect all the lights. And then we got all the ornaments down from the attic to place on the tree. The cats like to sit under it and look at the shiny globes.

At the party, we announced to everyone that J. is due with twin girls, sometime this spring. The timing is for April, but with multiples its not as predictable as regular single babies. So we are excited, and getting ready for a house full of craziness.

Unfortunately, both cats are ill, refusing to eat or drink along with being listless. We've been at the vets for hours each day, where they are get fluids and medicines transfused and are force fed. They have something that is viral and bacterial, although we are unaffected. They are sitting here sitting in front of the fire on their (now early) Christmas present - an animal heating pad. It's a foam pad that has a pressure sensitive warmer underneath. It turns on when they are resting on it, and even then, only on the parts under them. This Amazon dispatched item goes to a mellow 102F. They love it, especially when they are not feeling well like now, but I think it will be good for their arthritis in general.

[Addendum - after a week of IV infusions twice a day and 4-5 other random medicines - the feline nation is feeling much better]

NYT article about Stowe

The NYT has a very sunny article about Stowe, VT. Definitely worth the click through. The mountain is going to undergo tough times the next few years -- it was late to the expansion game, and in a new value concious America, what they offer versus what they cost is not fitting in with the new social mores.

Waiting in long lines for their Quadrunner lift will cure anyone of thinking the development monies went into the on hill product, rather than unsold condos. It is still worth the visit -- we loved our trip a while back -- but look for package deals to lighten the hit to your wallet.