Christmas Preparations

Celebrating the four Sundays of Advent has been a yearly tradition in my family. In addition to lighting successive candles each Sunday, Andrew and I decided to add a few more traditions. The First Sunday of Advent, we picked out a tree and decorated it. The glass rectangular containers with the red bows (there are more than are shown here) have now become our Advent 'wreath'.















My sweet husband noticed my slightly glazed look when I was finishing the last of these packages, and hid my duck Pato in the top of one. He was rescued before the trip to the post office.














As my office always gets rather insane around the end of the year, Andrew welcomed me home one day with this surprise.




















What to do when a friend sends you a massive box of fruit? Redecorate, with lots of fruit bowls.


Last week, for the Second Sunday of Advent, I tried out the Rosemary-Dill Potato Soup recipe from Hot Providence. Delicious! Very easy to make. too. For those interested, here's the recipe, with a few of my own tweaks:

Rosemary-Dill Potato Soup

2 stalks celery, finely chopped
2 heads garlic, finely chopped
2-4 Tbsp. butter.
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp each rosemary, dill, nutmeg, basil
8 red or Yukon gold potatoes, scrubbed and chopped into 1" cubes
4 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1 Tbsp. sugar
1 cup milk
1/2 cup sour cream

Saute the celery and garlic in butter. Add salt, pepper, spices, potatoes, broth. Bring to boil, simmer 20 minutes. Add sugar, milk, sour cream, cook until soup is heated throughout. Serve with a garnish of green onions, bacon, cheese, and/ or a dollop of sour cream. Enjoy!