I hope everyone who celebrates had a very Merry Christmas!
We were excited to see a bit of snow in December, after an unusually dry and warm fall along the Colorado Front Range.
Unfortunately, the weather soon returned to a "La Nina" weather pattern of warmer than average temperatures and lower than average precipitation, which melted all the snow.
Snowpack levels across the state are currently 53% of normal, which means we will need many snowstorms to catch upWe also had a few days of extreme wind in December--a Chinook wind pattern. The winds blew many leaves into our gardens, but the deer that frequent our property enjoyed dining on them.
Despite all the weather concerns, the Christmas Season looked beautiful in Denver!
I was busy making our traditional Christmas cookies...
...our house was all decked out for Christmas Celebrations...
...and I prepared many fish dishes for our traditional Italian-American "Feast of the Seven (plus) Fishes" Christmas Eve dinner...
...including a tray of chicken cutlets for our grandchildren who do not like to eat too much fish!
I also follow the Italian tradition of making lentil soup for New Year's Day for 'Buona Fortuna," which means "Good Fortune." Some families actually make a bowl of lentils to eat a few moments after the hour turns to midnight, but I wait until dinner the next day to make sure we can really enjoy the soup as dinner. There are many recipes for lentil soup, and it is easy to make as lentils do not require pre-soaking and cook fairly quickly. It can be made vegetarian or with sweet Italian sausage, which is the way we like it. Here is a link for a Lentil Sausage and Escarole Soup I shared many years ago.
I took a couple of weeks away from blogging to enjoy the Christmas season, and now feel ready to rejoin with a fresh new year's perspective.
Wishing all my readers a Happy, Healthy, and Prosperous 2026!
Blogs I link with:
Nature Notes, Home Matters Linky Party, Ducks in a Row, Monday Morning Blog Club, Good Random Fun, Talk About It Tuesday, The Happy Now Tuesday, Wordless Wednesday, Wordless Wednesday 2, Wednesday My Corner of the World, Wonderful Wednesday, Thankful Thursday, Little Things Thursday, Thursday Favorite Things, Skywatch Friday, Fantastic Friday, Farmhouse Friday, Crazy Little Lovebirds Friday Link Up, Dare to Share, Saturday Sparks, Saturday Critters,
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10 comments:
Yummy looking food,
Thanks for sharing your photos
Happy New Year
🎇much love
Happy New Year Pat! I wish you all the best in 2026.
Beautiful photos, decorations and yummy food.
The deer are a treat to see.
Take care, enjoy your day and the week ahead.
Wonderful scenes... thank you for sharing ❤️ at MosaicMonday
I wish you and your family all the best in 2026, a good 🍀and happy and healthy New Year. 🎉
Oh I am loving those Italian dishes- holiday perfection!
Happy new year! Great Christmas pics. We too in Oregon are mourning the lack of snow in our mountains, especially skiers like me.
All your food and decorations look great! I am impressed with all of Denver's decorations too. It looks very festive. I hope you get more snow soon.
You spent a lot of time in the kitchen making all that delicious looking food and cookies. Your family really was treated well. We are way behind on our snow pack, too. Happy New Year!
Your reflection neatly weaves together the realities of a challenging winter climate along the Front Range with the warmth of seasonal traditions, and the lentil soup ritual feels like a grounded, hopeful counterpoint to the uncertainty of snowpack and weather patterns.
Happy new year. I hope it’s full of hope, joy and love.
The holiday season kept you busy! I love following you on social media, Pat. Remembering the time you moved from New York to Colorado!
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