We woke at 6:00 am and started working in the garden by 7:00 am.  We planted sweet peas, trimmed the grape vines, and finished mulching the planted areas.  I finally fixed the faucet in the backyard after it had been leaking for a week.

See The Details From Christmas Eve

We quickly prepared the mulled wine bowl and sugar cone support tray before the evening began; we wanted to be ready for the main event!  What is the event, you ask?  It si the Feuerzangenbowle? FOY-yer-zang-en-bowl-eh. Say that ten times fast.

Cooking makes the entire house smell like a winery, hic!!

At noon, I went to the market to get the last-minute goodies.  We expect to see the whites of their eyes by 5:00 pm today; let the party begin!

“If they are not here on time, I will bite them!!”

Bob and Robin arrived on time,e and Bob immediately got to work in the kitchen, moving quickly and skillfully like a chef with a passion for cooking.  The sound of his chopping was loud and intense, and the knife hit the wooden cutting board with impressive speed and precision.

The hands of a surgeon!

The pierogies were lined up and ready to meet their fate in the hot water of Orange, CA.  The chopped sausages were also prepared to meet the boiling oil and make the house smell wonderful!!

A little bit of everything!!

We found the girl who loved Christmas!

Cute: acute, adept, adorable, clever, apt, artful, artistic, astute, attractive, authoritative, beautiful, bravura, brilliant, cagey, canny, clean, clever, coordinated, crack, crackerjack, crafty, cunning, daedal, Daedalian, dainty, delicate, designing, nimble, dextrous, diplomatic, excellent, expert, fancy, feline, foxy, good, goodish, graceful, guileful, handy, ingenious, insidious, inventive, knowing, lovely, and many more!

Dinner was served,d and Dianne’s salad was a great hit!

We attacked the salad and pierogies with a vengeance; the neighbors wondered where the excellent munching sound came from.

Now we get serious and prepare the Feuerzangenbowle, a Flaming German Rum Punco called burnt sugar punch!  Easy to make at home!  But we would suggest being within two blocks of a fire station!

What is in a Feuerzangenbowle?  Feuerzangenbowle – Feuerzangenbowle is prepared in a bowl, similar to a fondue set, which is usually suspended over a small burner (Rechaud).  The bowl is filled with heated dry red wine spiced with cinnamon sticks, cloves, star anise, and orange peel, similar to mulled wine.

Thank you, Hans and Kerstin, for introducing this fantastic tradition to our group!!

Burn Baby Burn!

The trick is to get the cone soaked in 90-proof rum and ladle the liquor onto the sugar cube without setting the house on fire.  Mary, using her surgical skills, was able to do this easily.

Sugar is melting due to the rum being set on fire.

After two snorts of this concoction, the girls were still young, and they decided to do a pose for us!

Everybody that believes this, stand uMaryAry makes sure all the alcohol is gone so Nick and Paul will be allowed to imbibe!

Ladling is a science!

Family having fun together!

Everyone got the same memo!  Red is the color of choice!