Christmas Fun

First of all...

WOO-HOO!

I am in the middle of a 17 day vacation from school. This girl is so excited. I would use the "Who has two thumbs..." joke here, but Mr. B might disown me if I employ it one more time.  Who has two thumbs and uses that joke a lot?

This girl.

Celebrations and thumbs aside, the Bees have a full house right now.  For those of you who don't know, Mr. B & I decided to downsize and move into a smaller house.  It has been wonderful, even with holiday company. Although I must admit that the only squeeze is when we are trying to eat together.  Our little square table wasn't built for family gathering larger than 4.  Welcome to eating in shifts.

Last Tuesday, my parents, Mimi and Papa flew in from Ohio.  This is their first visit to our house since we moved into our new little house and since we went vegan. The same for my sister who arrived on Friday from Kentucky and left early this morning.

There have been lots of treats like chocolate chips cookies, sugar cookies, chocolate cake, fig bars, cinnamon rolls, Cherry Cardamom coffee cake, potato pierogies and mushroom pierogies...

Those bad boys were made from scratch.

I still have the flour in my hair and a house that reeks of carmelized onions as proof. 

And last, but not least, the amazing Seitan Roast Stuffed with Shiitakes and Leeks, or as my family dubbed it - the Satan Roast.

I managed to get pictures of the seitan in process...

and the filling...

But not the final product.  Figures, right? Fret not because mine turned out to look almost exactly like the picture of the original recipe. You can find it and the picture of Isa's roast (which looked just like mine, remember?)  here at The Post Punk Kitchen.

My family can't decide whether this tops the Holiday Hamskit of 2008. This was a ham my sister cooked in a crockpot for about 32 hours in a conglomeration of sauces. Part ham, part briskit, 90% mystery.  Who know the crockpot was a tool for scientific experiments?

Other than that, it was a lovely Christmas with the family. Aunt Kimmi savoring some antibacterial handwash...

Little B giving Mimi her new cover for her Kindle Fire.

Papa in his new K-State sweatshirt.

Mr. B opening Seinfeld Series on DVD...please note that next Christams I need a photography class and new camera. And what a forearm. Just saying.

Little B cheering for her new Solar System model.

Little B was delighted with her first telescope, which was from Mr. B & me.  Santa ain't getting all the glory. 

Of course there was a little family gaming.

Mr. B caught in a heated moment. See that terrible hand? Bluffer. I'm on to you.

Merry Christmas!