6160 A Diary of the Urban Gardener and Cook

Christmas Eve at 6160, much like any other home, is filled with a number of traditions (albeit not necessarily "traditional" in the true sense of the word).  Some of course are carried on as family traditions, while others grew over time.  And one is simply a function of 6160's location (and is one of the oddest traditions I can recount for everyone).

The morning of Christmas Eve was chilly and wintery in appearance; blizzards tore a path from northern New Mexico through Kansas earlier in the week, and fortunately, shifted south of St Louis.  However, this did not look like the case as morning arrived.  Billowy gray and white clouds smothered the sky, with the sun being a shifty opaque blot on the horizon.  Thus began the absolute strangest Christmas Eve tradition at 6160 - the congregation of crows. 

Scientists are still unsure of all the reasons crows congregate in massive flocks, but throughout the week of Christmas they literally smother the trees at 6160.  Crows are viewed as one of the most intelligent of all God's creation, and the number one hypothesis regarding the congregation pattern - protection from predators and information sharing (crows are so intelligent they actually "share" information like gossips at work.  For example, it's known they share funerary information when another crow dies; M.I.T. and other institutions actually tracked crows "mourning" at places where other crows died - it's abit spooky.  Spookier, crows can answer "questions", if you will, in proper sequential order;  crows and their intelligence could literally be its own blog). 

On the farm back in the early 1980's, there was a crow that had been domesticated and escaped, but thrived on human company.  My sister and I had named him "Joe Crow" because he would wait at the bus stop for us in the morning and always flew there exactly when we were dropped off after school.  Its owners had taught it a number of phrases, my favorite being "How Ya Doin?", to which I always replied "I'm fine how YOU doin?", which must have been the reply the owners gave because Joe Crow would fly around us cawing and laughing.  He was an awesome bird, and one of the reasons I absolutely love crows.  So the week of Christmas, I always rush to the windows and garden when I hear the first sounds of the crows, and always toss leftover bread onto the Japanese Maple Courtyard for them.

Fortunately, the wintery morning gave way to a bright, sunny afternoon.  The crows had departed for Forest Park, as had I with the dogs.  While walking the expanse of the park in the cold, clean air is always wonderful before a two day cooking and feeding fest, the absence of snow tends to give it a somewhat dull and lifeless look.  Upon returning from the walk come Christmas Day preparations, which are incredibly important since Christmas Day entails cooking for family from 8:30am until 4:30pm.  With this much cooking afoot, preparations on Christmas Eve are key from both an execution as well as sanity perspective.  An old wooden tray with a French winery label decoupaged onto the top is brought out for Christmas Day "predinner wine", a custom that has slowly eased into other family and friends traditions (I continue to suspect they were just looking for an excuse to have cocktails before dinner like we were).  The cobblestone hued wooden server is brought out from storage and placed in front of the bookcases, with white stoneware and silverplated flatware readied for the Christmas Day dinner whose primary components are whole ham, butternut squash & pumpkin puree, potatoes gratin' and cinnamon glazed apples. 

Once 6160 is readied for the onslaught of family on the 25th, it's off to the Missouri Botanical Garden to look at the holiday display.  It almost always entails toy trains and poinsettias, but this year we were advised there would be a plethora of different evergreens as well as incorporation of flowering houseplants.  The display this year was fantastic, with verdant cedars ringed with white flowering cyclamen, as well as white poinsettia "kissing balls", a perennial replacement for Mistletoe.  There was even a train track set with miniature St Louis streetcars, a direct reference to 1944's "Meet Me In St Louis" with Judy Garland and Margaret O'Brien. 

Next it's off to 4:30 mass at St James the Greater.  I rarely if ever attend Midnight Mass, let alone Christmas Day Mass.  Midnight Mass is always hard to attend given the cooking regimen that begins just a few hours later, and Christmas Day Mass is too lengthy with all the singing (sorry Father Johnson - just sayin...).  Upon returning, candles laden with essential oils of fir, pine, clove, and nutmeg are lit throughout the house, filling the expanse with every good scent imaginable.  Way back on the farm as well as during my college years (where I encountered one of the most intelligent doctors I've ever met), I was informed to never forget the importance of scent.  A direct quote: "some of the most beautiful scenes in the world can feel bland and abstract in absence of scent; conversely, some of the most common and everyday vignettes can be transported to the sublime because of scent".  Every time we have guests over during the holiday season, I'm always asked for advice on their Christmas decorating.  My response is always the same - spare no expense on scent.  Williams-Sonoma holiday candles fit this bill nicely...

Because of all the cooking and feasting on Christmas Day, one of the longest traditions at 6160 is Christmas Eve dinner.  For over a decade the menu has entailed nothing more than freshly made Cioppino with a crusty loaf of french bread.  This very light meal literally bursts with flavor and is extraordinarily simple to make.  While in San Francisco the broth tends to be thin, I much prefer a thicker consistency where tomato feels more like a puree than like a broth.  Unlike San Francisco Cioppinos, those at 6160 are filled primarily with shellfish; on Christmas Eve, this is simply mussels and clams. 

The evening of Christmas Eve also entails the gift exchange with Bob (he can't appear to be receiving too many gifts in front of the family on Christmas Day or "gift envy" arises...) and old Holiday movie classics.  We tend to gravitate to the the original "Christmas Carol" with Reginald Owen, and this year appears to be targeting the same pattern.  Dating back to 1938, this movie has a number of incredibly funny scenes, my favorite of which is when Scrooge tells Marley (in this film adaptation only)  "well if you must be going Jacob... don't let me keep you".   Althought not really true to the novel, absolutely priceless...  It astounds me how many people have never read "A Christmas Carol" and just how truly dark Dickens' novel was (it was a ghost story for crying out loud).  What's even more interesting is when films try to move closer to trueness to the novel, critics rebel and state it lacks "the spirit of Christmas".  Maybe the critics should learn to read the book version prior to seeing the film - just a thought...

Christmas Eve ends with prepping for Christmas Day cooking, which in essence consists of two fairly large meals.  For the brunch, the prep work means french croissant-like pastry dough moves from freezer to refrigerator to allow it to rise overnight, after which it will be glazed with cinnamon, brown sugar, cloves, nutmeg, and a sprinkling of shredded pecans.  Mounds of oranges are left on a tray for juicing, which has to include pulp (for me, if there are no pulpy juicy bits, why bother with fresh orange juice).  After our trip to Rome back in 2007, we learned to appreciate Turkish espresso;  abit pricey, we procure it especially for the Christmas Day brunch (who doesn't need a great tasting start to the day).  Pots of Rosemary are brought down from the second floor sitting room to brighten up the brunch table, after which they will move back to the sitting room windowsill.  For the late afternoon dinner, whole boned ham is glazed with a maple syrup, brown sugar and bourbon sauce.  Butternut Squash and Sugar Pie Pumpkins are pulled from the bin in the shed and brought into the kitchen, to be pureed the next day with maple syrup and a sprinkle of apple pie spices.  Heaps of Irish potatoes are piled into a mixing bowl and readied for slicing into a rich and cheesy potatoes gratin', while granny smith apples are mounded in a nearby basket for glazing the next day. 

The Christmas Day menu:

Brunch

French cinnamon sticky buns

Scrambled eggs

Turkey sausage

High pulp fresh squeezed orange juice

Turkish espresso

Dinner

Stuffed Mushrooms with goat cheese, yellow onion and pancetta

Asparagus and Yellow Bell Peppers seared in balsamic vinegar

Whole bone ham with maple, brown sugar and bourbon glaze

Butternut Squash and Pumpkin puree with hints of cinnamon, clove, nutmeg and black pepper

Potatoes gratin'

Whole berry cranberry and orange zest relish

Cinnamon glazed apples

Chocolate cream pie

Raspberry cobbler

To everyone that emailed asking "tell us about Christmas Eve and Christmas Day", here you go.  And here's wishing everyone a safe and blessed 2012.

Happy holidays -