John and Kristin's Kiwi Adventures: Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas, everyone! Christmas week has definitely been a good one. We started off on Tuesday with the Christmas Quiz at the Rose and Shamrock. They had a special menu with Christmas ham, special Christmas themed questions, costumes, prizes, and we had our $30 voucher to spend! It was a great evening and our team dominated--we were in the lead almost the whole time! I must say, our combined knowledge proved to be quite a formidable opponent to the other teams. It also has helped in the past quizzes that John and I are American--as a good number of questions have required some knowledge of the U.S.--mostly pop culture/entertainment, history, and geography. For example, we answered correctly what N.A.S.A stood for, knew the river that carved out the Grand Canyon, knew all the Christmas movies in the movie round as they were all American, and (I) knew that Frosty the Snowman had a BUTTON nose. Since we also had the British-based knowledge that most of the other questions come from--our team did well. That is, until the very end, when we bombed the music round as they had some obscure artists that we were unfamiliar with, so another team managed to squeak by with 2 more points than us. But, we still got second place again and more vouchers to spend at the next quiz night! It was a festive evening and a good way to start off the week.

The next two days (well, just one for John--who wanted to enjoy a true day off) were spent at Cardoness doing some quick vineyard work. A little money just in time for the holidays! John and I worked together the first day and then I returned by my lonesome the next to finish up. However, while I was working I got a call from Statistics New Zealand. I had applied for a position for the New Zealand census coming up in February and March and they were offering me an interview! A Job! Yay! So I set one up for the 13th of January--hope it goes well! It would be the perfect opportunity as it's 6 solid weeks of work and ends around the same time as John's waitering job.

John had to work the dinner shift on Christmas Eve, so after dropping me off at the grocery store to pick up some items (which took a while since, as you can imagine, it was a mad house), I returned home to watch a movie to pass the time. I ended up watching Black Swan, a movie I had really been wanting to see. However, while it was a great movie, it was definitely NOT a warm, fuzzy movie for Christmas. I should have stuck with "Fantasia" or "How the Grinch Stole Christmas." Oh well.

I spent the rest of the evening making an apple galette to bring to Christmas lunch the next day. It was, once again, my first try at making a dessert pastry from scratch--and despite the fact that the bottom was a bit burnt and the crust was very crumbly--I think it turned out okay!

Looks practically professional, right?

John returned from work that night with a trove of goodies given to him by his boss! Delicious bread, olive oil, crackers, crostinis, wedges of bleu and brie cheese, chocolates, nuts, and a small fruit cake. It was a very nice gift! We enjoyed a few drinks with our roommates until the clock struck 12, and it was officially Christmas, then we bid them goodnight to get a good night's sleep! One of our roommates, however, probably had a bit too much to drink and did not sleep as well since we later heard them get sick in the bathroom--not fun.

Our tree on Christmas Eve, with our gifts underneath.

The next morning I awoke early to make a special Christmas Chocolate Cafe au Lait recipe that I found online. It included cocoa, milk, cloves, cinnamon, sugar, a little orange peel, and coffee. I even hand-made whipped cream to go on top! Mixed some sugar and heavy cream, whisked until my wrist hurt, and voila--delicious whipped cream!

Thanks, Emeril Lagasse!

After that, it was time to open our presents. . .

Here are some pictures of us with the rest of our loot!

For a while we then listened to Christmas music (including Disney sing-a-longs) on the computer to get into the Christmas spirit! (As John is used to Iain blasting Christmas music through the house on Christmas morning--he couldn't go without that tradition :) )

We then got ready and headed over to Cardoness or our Christmas lunch. I must say, despite being away from our own families and faced with the unfamiliar weather for this time of year, it was a lovely day and a great way to spend Christmas. When we got over there it was just Neil, Sarah, their daughter Kelly, her son Philip--in town for the holidays, and John and I. We enjoyed a nice glass (or two) of sherry, I watched (in confusion) a few games of backgammon, and we enjoyed some nice Christmas music and the beautiful weather. Sarah and Neil also, very kindly, got us each a small gift--a nice hat for John and a beautiful scarf for myself. We brought over the apple galette, the cheese John got from work, and some crackers to share with everyone. John is also in the process of completing a gift for them in time for the opening of their cellar door (a place where wineries offer wine tastings and sell their wines).

Christmas dinner was delicious! We started off with Christmas crackers, a tradition. John got soap, but I got a nice wooden fern kitchen magnet. We shared our jokes that came inside them and, of course, wore our paper hats during lunch. We had a gorgeous turkey, cranberry sauce, roasted potatoes and sweet potatoes, carrots, beans, sausage, bread pudding, and gravy. It was fantastic and very filling!

Of course, we also then had to have dessert in which Sarah made a great Christmas pudding with traditional money cooked inside (I got 40 cents in my slice!) with some really good (and quite potent, I must say) brandy ice cream and brandy butter. The good news: my apple galette got the seal of approval! I was very glad. We then enjoyed some coffee until the rest of the crew (Sarah's son Chris, his wife Sonya, and their children: Liam, Chris, and Sunshine) came over to join us (and brought along some Champagne).

It was such a good christmas. Even though it wasn't our own, it was still family and so there was warmth and love in the house all day long. We were thousands of miles from home, but we both felt welcome. Everyone spent the day enjoying real, quality time with each other. We talked and laughed. We watched the children open their gifts with excitement--including the giant Christmas cracker that John and I brought for them: