Winter Solstice

Tonight at 8:49 marks the beginning of the Winter Solstice here on the left coast, and we're celebrating it with a homemade chocolate Yule log -- a Swiss roll with all the mini mushrooms and powdered sugar snow and chocolate ganache frosting. Dinner is a winter stew with root vegetables, and a bunch of finger foods on the side -- cheeses and mini dogs in a blanket and prosciutto with mozzarella, maybe some homemade sweet potato chips with dip. And lots of candles and games and story-telling and roasting of homemade marshmallows, and maybe a little dancing if the music inspires us. It's a kind of lock down night for us since hardly anyone we know actually celebrates Yule this way. No rushing from house to house dropping off gifts and throwing back the nog. It's just a nice, calm, happy, festival of home.

So I'd better get off this machine and get to cooking!

Happy Winter Solstice, everyone!