Noël 2014 / Christmas 2014

While most everyone you know is off to spend time with family it’s a little different when you’re working in the skies. The mornings are earlier than ever and when there’s a lull in the day you might find me taking a little break in the last row of seats, catching a few minutes of a Christmas baking special and dreaming of home.

It’s been a difficult week and a particularly challenging day but finally I’m safely tucked away in my hotel room and out of the turbulent air above that seems to keep howling through the air vents. Now I can finally enjoy a few moments of rest and reflect on how fortunate I was to have Christmas with family right before I left for this pairing.

Lauren and Kevin recently built a new home so they hosted family Christmas this year. Somehow after working on the 21st I managed to get all my errands done and drove, seemingly on autopilot, up to Squamish where a bunch of her friends had gathered for a solstice candle-dipping party. It’s her 4th or 5th year hosting but my first to attend. It was warm and inviting, “chaleureux” to arrive to the fire-lit back yard and all the guests walking around a table in the middle of the carport dipping sweet smelling beeswax candles. It was a meditative and relaxing “Christmas eve”


In the morning I woke up bright and early, as I’m known for, and made a pot of stove top percolated coffee in hopes of rousing others to get out of bed to join me around the tree.

As usual, we continued the tradition of Cinnamon buns for Christmas breakfast and opened our stockings and then moved right into the items found under the tree. There’s something so wonderful about the smell of a real Christmas tree, the glow of the lights and the candles, the smell of turkey and getting together with everyone over the juicy little oranges that are always found at the bottom of our stockings. This year I felt especially fortunate because my needs are few and of the things I received, all were on my list of wants!

From Lesley and Travis I received a cookbook that has been on my radar lately, with the beautiful styling and the general “I want your life” feel of Mimi Thorissons book (but also her blog), A Kitchen in France: A Year of Cooking in My Farmhouse and the labour-of-love handmade Merino wool slippers to keep me warm on the cold tile floor of our little French house. Apparently Lesley is proving she’s got stamina despite working on housing baby Balderson until May…

From my mom I received Dorie Greenspans, Around My French Table: More than 300 Recipes from My Home to Yours
which I’d been wanting for some time and had been holding back from buying as best I could. I guess it’s lucky that the order I put in for Lesley and Travis was held up since I’d secretly ordered the cookbook alongside it… and since I won’t need it anymore maybe I’ll have to indulge in the one thing I’ve been wanting but haven’t gotten around to purchasing, the OXO Good Grips Scale so I can finally give the boot to the old yellow and brown 70’s balance at the French house. It’ll be nice to have a device that actually remembers the weight even if it switches off in the middle of my work, especially when I’m making soap!

So while Christmas day may have been less than exciting I can say that I thoroughly enjoyed family time in Squamish and I have a few books to look forward to, chocolate to eat and A LOT of cooking to do next month! Here’s hoping those books fit in my suitcase!