Santa party (and the best realtor ever)

Our fabulous realtor, Christina McDonald, had a Santa party earlier this month. (That's her on Santa's lap below!) She had Santa and a professional photographer at her townhouse, and later gave everyone beautiful prints and digital files as gifts. I thought it was such a great idea! She is very high-energy and organized -- really, the best realtor ever -- and has made us feel so welcome in Seattle. She also grew up in our neighborhood, Wallingford, so she has an encyclopedic knowledge of Seattle. She drove us around tirelessly, remembered to bring snacks and water, and was extremely patient with us. I love her, and can't recommend her highly enough.

Wishing you all a healthy and happy 2012! Happy holidays!

Christmas fondue

There's a saying in our house that comes from a '70s-era cookbook: "Your party's a success the moment you decide to serve fondue." It's because sitting around a pot of bubbling cheese with long double-pronged spears makes eating an intimate event. According to my favorite fondue cookbook, there's a Swiss tradition that ladies who drop their bread in the pot must kiss the nearest man, while the man who drops his bread must buy the wine. And of course, there's the fact that cheese + bread = deliciousness. It's obviously not super healthy, so we restrict this indulgence to Christmastime.

Ever since the time Chris and I consumed an entire pound of cheese fondue on our own one Christmas Eve night, we try to invite people to join us when we have fondue. And with apologies to the many well-meaning friends and relatives who have gifted fondue cookbooks over the years, we only use this one classic recipe from the 1968 Nitty Gritty Fondue Cookbook:

Cut up 1/2 lb. each of Emmenthaler and Gruyere into tiny cubes. Rub fondue pot with the cut side of a clove of garlic and discard. Put 2 cups dry white wine into pot and when it's hot add a tablespoon lemon juice. Toss cheese with 2 tablespoons flour and gradually add to the pot, stirring constantly. Add 3 tablespoons Kirsch, a dash of nutmeg and paprika, and you're ready to dip your bread cubes.

Last night we had chocolate fondue after the cheese to make it even more caloric, with strawberries, bananas, grapes, and marshmallows for dipping. For the kids, this was definitely the high point of the meal.

Ghosts of Christmas past

To me the best Christmas ornaments are the old ones. When I was very young, my parents bought a little artificial Christmas tree for my bedroom. I still have it! The plastic base was destroyed many years ago, but my father made a sturdy circular wooden stand for it. I have many of the ornaments from the same time period.

My dog got loose one December and brought this rubber dog head home. We don't know where it came from, but we hung it on the tree that year -- and I still hang it up every year and think of Ginger.

I have two of these lion ornaments. I really liked them because my Zodiac sign is Leo. That sort of thing was important to me in elementary school. I'm not sure why.

And I thought this was one of the most beautiful ornaments we had. I loved the soft flecked texture.

This ornament was sent to me from a Norwegian pen pal. I was impressed that she found a lightweight, flat gift that was so cute. I don't remember what I sent to her, but I sincerely doubt it was anything worth keeping!

My sister sent me some ornaments of children's storybook characters many years ago: Madeline, Paddington Bear, Snoopy, and Babar.

I used to have more of the characters from the Rankin-Bass Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer TV special, but the Bumble still survives.

And here's the first ornament I purchased at an after-Christmas sale at my favorite boutique when I was in high school. I wonder how much I paid for it.

And this porcelain Bob Cratchit and Tiny Tim ornament is very poignant. I'm not sure if he ever read it, but my father watched A Christmas Carol on TV without fail every year. I developed a love of Dickens and Victoriana in college, and my mom gave me this ornament as a gift when I lived in a brownstone building in Boston.

I love taking the ornaments out every year and having all these time periods and memories jumble together. And despite the ornaments' varying styles, they seem to go together for me because they tend to be whimsical and story-themed. At this point many of them are looking pretty shabby, but I can't help being sentimental about them. Christmastime seems a good time for it though, don't you think?

Eat, drink, and be merry

A few days ago NPR reported that 3/4 of the respondents to a recent poll said they'd rather not have a company party. Instead they want cash bonuses, gift cards, or paid time off. If corporate America is paying attention, the company holiday party may go the way of the rotary telephone by next December.

Luckily I got to enjoy a lavish party this weekend, courtesy of Microsoft. The party, held at EMP, was just for the Interactive Entertainment Business portion of the company (the other divisions have their own parties), but it was still huge. Attendees were provided with a map and a schedule. Besides the museum's regular exhibits, there was 5,900 square feet of additional tented space, and bars and food stations (catered by Wolfgang Puck) throughout all the areas. Entertainment included dancing mascots, go-go girls, a comedy show, a dance club, and performances by Blues Traveler and -- most exciting to me -- CeeLo Green (whom I watched while leaning on a case holding Michael Jackson's glove and jacket).

Because I worked in videogame journalism for a long time, I got to attend a lot of huge parties like this one for the E3 trade shows, and I love them (and miss them!). And the party really made me miss my former co-workers too! So...I'm hoping this won't be my last one. Even though I made the mistake of wearing giant high heels and could barely walk, I tried to enjoy every minute.

Sock monsters at Sock Monster

I don't normally shop for novelty socks, but these Christmas stockings in the window of The Sock Monster caught my eye! Do you think they would scare Santa away?

Do you know anyone who might want to find these under the tree?

Sweetish Swedish

I'm not gonna say there's nothing Chris likes more than a pancake breakfast, but he sure does enjoy a pancake breakfast. So yesterday we attended one at the Swedish Cultural Center. I'm not a big pancake fan in general, but Swedish pancakes are so much better than regular pancakes! They're light, like crepes, and the ones at the cultural center were served with a choice of lingonberries or strawberries, with whipped cream, plus a side of ham.

Apparently Swedish pancakes are also very popular! We spent about 20 minutes searching for parking, as the parking lot there is quite small, and then spent at least another 10 minutes or so standing in line. But it was worth it. The people at our table, all of Danish descent, were really nice and welcoming, and there was a folk band playing, with people dancing. There was also a selection of Scandinavian sweaters, crafts, and bread for sale. A woman handed out the words to some holiday carols -- in Swedish -- for a sing-along, but we didn't stick around for that, though it might have been amusing to try to pronounce those words.

I'm so intrigued by the cultural center -- which celebrates all Scandinavian heritage, not just Swedish. It has lots of cool artwork and bric-a-brac on display: dolls, Swedish horses, folk art, and of course, now, a big Christmas tree. I learned there are lots of interesting events there. Top on my list is the Swedish Kafé & Happy Hour, which is held every Friday and features Smörgås sandwiches, Swedish meatballs, and homemade Swedish pastries. There's also a Viking lecture every Friday at 5:30! Also every Friday, they show Scandinavian films with English subtitles at 2 p.m.

The center also offers various levels of language classes, genealogy services, a book group, and lots of parties and events. But if you want to start with the pancake breakfast, the next one is on Sunday, January 8, from 8 a.m. until 1:30 p.m., with music by Skolkis, Mäd Fiddlu, and Nyckelharpa. It costs $9 for adults and $5 for children 5-12; $7 for members. See you there?

Wnsmkrngl?

Back when Chris and his friend Mike were in college almost 20 years ago, one of their friend's sister asked them a mysterious question in her indistinct, mumbly dialect: "Wnsmkrngl?" After an exchange that went something like ""Wnsmkrngl?" and "What?!" about 10 times, they realized she was offering a type of Scandinavian pastry called kringle.

Mike is now a doctor in Seattle, and when we lived in the Bay Area Chris liked to send him kringle at Christmastime, with the one-word gift message: "Wnsmkrngl?" And of course Mike would send the same thing back to him. Some jokes never get old.

Now we live in the same neighborhood! So yesterday, Mike brought over the kringle gift in person. Thanks, Mike!

I saw three ships

Every December for the past 62 years, Argosy Cruises sails Christmas ships, adorned with lights and carrying choirs, on Puget Sound lakes. You can pay anywhere from $25 (to ride a parade boat that follows the boat carrying the carolers) to $99 (for the weekend caroling boat dinner cruise) to join in this tradition, or you can head to one of 45 stops to listen for free.

Last night, the inaugural night of the festival, the ship stopped at nearby Gas Works Park on Lake Union, so we bundled up and headed to the bonfires provided by the Seattle Parks & Rec department. It was about 40 degrees, so I really appreciated the heat source. Gas Works Park has a beautiful view of downtown Seattle -- including the iconic Space Needle which currently is topped with a Christmas tree. (It's worth going to Gas Works for the view alone!) Chris thought the caroling by the Con Brio Women’s Choir was a little too highbrow, but I notice on the schedule that most nights the carols are sung by the Dickens Choir so that might have more of the "drunk guys singing Christmas songs" sound he was hoping for. The Christmas ship is going to be at Gas Works again on the finale night, December 23, at 9:45 p.m. with the Seattle Girls’ Choir, so maybe we'll check it out again.