Adding comments here:

Anne here, and the comments are NOT working again — curses! Constance had trouble posting and wrote to tell me so — thanks Constance — so I’ll post her comment here:

Love the beach Christmas tree, Anne! Happy first Christmas in your new home! We had fresh balsam trees for Christmas when I was growing up and I am lucky enough to have many of the ornaments my parents bought the year I was born. I see very similar ones for sale at antique stores and think, first, I’m an antique!! And then I think about passing them along to my niece sooner rather than later! My husband still insists on a real tree, while I am very impressed with the artificial trees that go up in minutes and already have perfectly placed lights!

Our favorite tradition is Christmas Eve lunch with one of my husband’s sisters and her family, which we have been hosting for about 20 years — and our two nieces, now in their mid 20s, still insist it’s exactly where they want to be! They also insist on the same menu, so by now I could probably cook it in my sleep! We always have leg of lamb, with roasted potatoes, carrots, and parsnips, and a large citrus salad scattered with pomegranate seeds.

The only thing that changes each year is the cookie plate. I love to bake cookies and try at least one new recipe each year. There are usually five or six different kinds of cookies. This year‘s new cookie will be a pistachio, white chocolate shortbread recipe I found online. It will be surrounded by decorated sugar cookies, gingerbread people, hazelnut wedding cookies, and pecan tassies. Pecan tassies were my grandmother’s specialty; they are like tiny little pecan pies made in a miniature muffin tin. We will have champagne and wine, cider, and lots of hot tea! And then we’ll bundle up and take a walk to the beach – the Atlantic Ocean is about 1/2 a mile away.

I’m sure your parties will be very festive – and I’d love to see your handmade decorations! Merry Christmas!

Constance

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From Anne — love the sound of those cookies, Constance. I generally bake some to give as presents to friends, so I might go in search of that pistachio and white chocolate one.

Love the sound of the  pecan tassies, too.  In Australia, tassie is our nickname for the island of Tasmania so if I made them I’d probably have to make them in the shape of Tasmania. Or draw it on with icing. <g>

Thanks.