Hung with Care.

We've been playing the part of busy little elves over the past few weeks, preparing for the First Annual Kantahara-nukkah Dinner.  I was really looking forward to letting Jamie's dad + stepmom off the hook this year; cooking + hosting wise!  We also figured it was a great chance to hang with  soon-to-be family members in northern california as Jamie's sister's soon-to-be in-laws reside about an hour north of San Francisco.  Thanks to all for giving me advice on how to pull off a holiday dinner party in our place (ahem, Vetter-arthys and Tyler Florence....much more on this later). 

I'll do a separate post on how the food all turned out, as I tried to channel my inner Devon + Christine and would like to share it with you. Just know that some folks seemed to have to roll out of here post-dinner (is there such a thing as too much food?), rubbing their full bellies, and some may or may not have been in a deep food coma....forgetting their purse right by the front door....uh....mrs. mcbroom?!

 Kim Kanter + Alan McBroom

 photo stolen from their wedding website.

Jamie's sister and her fiance have recently moved back to California after a few years in Vegas and a brief stint in New Orleans.  They'll be based in Orange County/LA; a quick flight to  pop on up to our place (yay).  The graciously excited Alan-parents (& Kim's future in-laws) drove down from Petaluma to meet up with the kids and found our typically crowded city to be relatively barren and parking to be a complete breeze (seriously = wahoo!).  So many San Franciscans vacate this place during the holidays....it's a great time to come visit with amazing rates on some of our nicest hotels (4.5 stars for $89, no lie). The McBroom parents were a complete hoot and we truly enjoyed getting to know this future new part of our family.  Hope ya'll had a great time here and that you feel welcome to come by anytime.

Annabelle + Hudson

holidays, last year. 

Hudson did some inviting himself, making certain that his little friend, Annabelle, would join in on the fun.  Mr. McBroom took a strong liking to her so I'm hoping that doubling the number of animals in our place didn't bother the other guests too badly.  They ran around in circles under the table during the entire meal, providing much entertainment.

And that'd be Annabelle and Hudson doing the running around in circles under the table, not Annabelle and Mr. McBroom....please pause for funny mental imagery.

Holly, pointing @ Gavin Newsom (mayor of SF).

photo stolen from Facebook.

Annabelle's parents were also here for the festivities and while Arik is Jewish and Holly is not (yet), she was the only one who was able to take us through the candle-lighting prayer.  Both Kanters were completely useless and you know that Alan and I had zero to contribute, so Holly is a total champ in my book.  A Total Champ.

Ok, now that you know who made it to dinner, onto some of the non-food details:

What's an annual Kantahara-nukkah dinner without Christmukkah Shirt Stockings??

On a random whim, I made coordinating stockings out of some of Jamie's shirts.

They were en route to Goodwill and I totally intervened.

Here's the evidence....see, they all started as regular shirts.

Little pockets were fashioned from french cuffs or directly with the shirts' own pockets.

The tops were constructed from the intact collars of the original shirts.

Don't worry, they were all super clean.

Reasons for JK getting rid of them?  Weird fit, dislike of style, and I think one had a pen stain.

They were familiar in shape yet atypical in style and I'm happy that everyone took theirs home.

It leaves room to come up with something else for next year!*

The shirt stockings were packed with:

• house-made** vanilla bean marshmallows,
• house-made** fleur de sel caramels,
• some graham crackers + chocolate + cocoa to accompany the marshmallows,
• and a tray of breakfast cinnamon rolls to enjoy in the morning (those didn't exactly fit in the stockings).

Hope ya'll scored great and yummy things in your stockings as well! Anything notable fun or different this year?

*And yes, Jamie did worriedly confirm that these were being made from the Goodwill pile and not ones I ripped down from the hangers.  Eh....what he doesn't know, can't hurt him, right?  Bwahaahahaha. :)

**Have you noticed that restaurants use the term "house-made" when referencing items made "in house"? Can I do the same thing or should I call it "homemade"?  They both seem technically correct as they were made both in our home and our house....wait....we kind of live in a flat.  "Flat-made"?  Bleagh.