Friday, 02DEC, we got back onto I-10W do finish our drive back
to our daughter, Rebecca, & husband Raymond’s driveway in Houma, LA. That afternoon was family time to decorate
the Xmas tree, followed by grandson Jaxson spending the night in the RV (for
some reason he thinks this a real adventure/treat?). Saturday was the Houma Xmas parade, &
then back to the house to assemble the annual gingerbread house.
Unfortunately Sunday morning we had to take son-in-law Raymond
to the airport fly off to his new job, which will separate him from family
& friends for almost one yearL He will preforming airplane maintenance in
Kuwait, & only gets thirty days a year to return to the USA. First he will receive “company” training for
two weeks before flying to Kuwait. Right
now the plan is for Rebecca, Jaxson & Mason to join us in Sultan, WA,
around May/June. Note – Raymond unexpectedly
returned Saturday, 10DEC, to pack up his tools!
He had been previously told all tools would be there - wrong!
The rest of December was the usual shopping stress to get ready
for Xmas; with the following in addition for us:
>Corrie (w/some (very little) help from Dan) remodeling the master bathroom
– drywalling, painting, tile floor, new vanity, new toilet, etc.
>Corrie, Jaxson & Mason being sick at different times
>Friday, 09DEC, at the United Methodist Children’s Learning
Center for Jaxson’s “Children’s Christmas Program”
>Oma takes grandsons to “Discover the Dinosaurs – Unleashed”
at Houma Civic Center
>Tuesday, 13DEC, Mason’s pre-school’s xmas pageant
>Thursday, 15DEC, Opa, Rebecca, Jaxson & Mason (Oma not feeling well) head to
“Celebration in the Oaks” at City Park in New Orleans. The last two years we have gone on weekend
nights & the crowds were overwhelming.
This year was a week night - much better!!! In fact we were able to do everything we
wanted to do & more, in much less time. Including being the first ones one the train ride; getting pics w/Mr Bingle; & even the annual picture with Santa went much betterJ
>Friday, 16DEC, evening Joe with Jessi, came over to Rebecca’s to
open his xmas gifts & to deliver his for our opening. We are doing this now since he will be
offshore working for xmas & new year’s. The hit for the grandkids were sleeping bags shaped like aligators; in fact Jaxson insisted on using it the next night in the RV!
> Monday, 19DEC, our 35cth anniversary, we headed into New
Orleans to celebrate. First stop was
Costco for free hors d’oeuvre. Note - somewhere in our travels we ran across a $25K bottle of scotch at a Costco; the New Orleans Costco has $34K, 65 year old bottle of MacAllan? Then a walkabout
on the shopping area of Magazine St.
Finally a reveillon dinner at Emeril’s Delmonico (our last reveillon
dinner was at Upperline in 2010). Corrie
went with Baked Italian Oysters, Bosc Pear Salad, Redfish Courtbouillion, &
Apple/Cranberry Cobbler; Dan went with Crab Cake Hush Puppies, Seafood &
Mirliton Bisque, Dry Aged Moulard Duck, & Chocolate Cake w/Peppermint
Frosting. Most excellentJ!!!
“Visitors to New Orleans during the Holiday Season may want to sample an old Crescent City tradition that dates back to the early 19th century. It is called a Reveillon (REV-ee-on) Dinner and here is the story behind it. In French, New Orleans’ original language, the word “reveillon” means “awakening.” The Creoles, some of the city’s earliest inhabitants, celebrated the start of Christmas in the early 1800s, with a big family meal when they returned home from midnight mass. Two o’clock in the morning may be an odd time to start a feast consisting of chicken and oyster gumbo, game pies, soups, souffles, lavish desserts, brandy and coffee, but this is how it was done back then. It was a tradition the Creoles inherited from their European cousins as a way of breaking the daylong religious fast leading up to Christmas Eve.
By the 1940s, the Reveillon tradition, which had been slowly fading out over succeeding generations, all but disappeared. However, it was revived in the 1990s – with modifications reflecting the times – and has been increasing in popularity ever since. Among those modifications, the emphasis on the Reveillon tradition shifted from family dinners at home to the tables of the city’s top-tier restaurants. Also, the meals are offered at more conventional dining times during the day, instead of in the wee hours of the morning. Today dozens of New Orleans restaurants offer Reveillon Dinners with menus inspired by those enjoyed by the Creole families who began the tradition. As might be expected, the participating restaurants have added their own little twists to their menus, featuring their house specialties and other delectable examples of their culinary creativity.
The Reveillon tradition is most commonly enjoyed by local families and/or friends gathered around a large table in an old French Quarter restaurant or reserving one of the small private dining rooms they offer. However, couples or families visiting New Orleans during the holidays can also savor the same memorable Reveillon Dinner experiences at restaurants all over town. It’s the next best thing to having a big, festive holiday gathering at home. The feelings of togetherness and good cheer, coupled with the memories of all that great New Orleans food, will stick to the palate of your memory forever.”
>Saturday, 24DEC, was the final rush to prep for xmas
day. Corrie prepped the xmas dinner; Dan
secretly assembled Xmas gifts; a visit by a Cajun Santa in horse drawn carriage;
& everyone but Dan went to church.
