Christmas table

The "things" on the plates are Christmas crackers, if you're wondering.

On the Christmas menu:

• Roast goose
  
• Roast beef
  
• Yorkshire pudding
  
• Roasted potatoes with herbs
  
• Corn and peas
  
• Carrots with coconut
  
• Marinated broccoli, cauliflower, and radishes
  
• Green salad with pomegranates, pears, and pecans
  
• Flaming Christmas pudding
  
• Cranberry cake with butter rum sauce

Fezziwig Ball: the aftermath

We had our Fezziwig Ball on December 23, and I do believe it was a success! We won't win any prizes as elegant dancers, but we sure had a great deal of fun. The above picture of my brother and I is one of my favorites. Click on the picture to go to Flickr for more photos from the evening.

Caroling

The New Oxford Book of Carols is a book I like to check out from the library every Christmas. If you are seeking for carols beyond the most famous and traditional, this book offers an amazing amount of lesser known carols for your perusal. It includes musical settings and historical notes, too.

Every Christmas I seem to "discover" a new, lovely carol and this year it's "The Angel Gabriel Came Down," a traditional Basque carol. It is featured on my Aled Jones Christmas CD (a beautiful rendition, by the way), but I never really stopped to listen to the lyrics before. I think this is an appropriate carol for this year since I had previously decided to memorize the Magnificat this month.

The angel Gabriel from Heaven came,
His wings as drifted snow, his eyes as flame;
“All hail,” said he, “thou lowly maiden Mary,
Most highly favored lady,” Gloria!

“For know a blessèd mother thou shalt be,
All generations laud and honor thee,
Thy Son shall be Emmanuel, by seers foretold,
Most highly favored lady,” Gloria!

Then gentle Mary meekly bowed her head,
“To me be as it pleaseth God,” she said,
“My soul shall laud and magnify His holy Name.”
Most highly favored lady, Gloria!

Of her, Emmanuel, the Christ, was born
In Bethlehem, all on a Christmas morn,
And Christian folk throughout the world will ever say—
“Most highly favored lady,” Gloria!

Nathan's coming home!

My older brother, Nathan, is flying home tomorrow. In anticipation of his arrival, I thought I'd post a few pictures of us from Christmases Past. (This is also a study in historical fashion.)


1985


1988


1994


2006

(How do ya like that handsome beard?? Alas, it is no more!)

I'd like to point out that my mom made all of my dresses, except in the last photo (I made the black dupioni jacket, but the dress was purchased). You can see that sewing's in my blood. :)

Fezziwig Ball: the food

On the way up to the big city to do some shopping late last week, Mom and I planned out the menu for our ball. Some of this is subject to change, but we'd like to have a variety of savories and sweets. My grandma loves to cook so she will help us out in getting all this ready.

• hot wassail
  
• cold water (for the dancers!)
  
• bacon rounds (bacon, onions, and cheese on rye rounds)
  
• sugar and spice pecans
  
• green tea-infused deviled eggs (recipe in the Dec. Tea Time magazine)
  
• cream puffs
  
• cucumber sandwiches
  
• cranberry-pistachio biscotti

Fezziwig Ball: the CLOTHES

Which, as we ladies know, is really the most important part. ;)

On the invitations, I wrote: "You are invited to wear 19th century costume, or come dressed in your finest dancing attire!" 19th century costume is a pretty broad category, and even within my family we'll be spanning a few decades.

I've been working on a new Regency emsemble for myself. I made a bodiced petticoat from Mrs. Chancey's instructions (pictured below), and now I've started cutting out my actual dress. I'm using gorgeous white cotton voile and the Elegant Lady's Closet pattern from Sense & Sensibility. I chose the view with 3/4-length sleeves and a gathered neckline.


I also plan on making my brother, Nathan, a "Mr. Darcy" costume -- the men's 1812 waistcoat from Rocking Horse Farm, a muslin shirt, and cravat. He's going to look rather dashing, if I do say so myself.

Mom's Romantic dress is already taken care of, courtesy of Cheri, and Dad will either rent a Victorian costume, or else wear a Victorian-esque vest my mom made for him two years ago. We think it'd be fun to stuff his shirt front with pillows in an attempt to make him look like Mr. Fezziwig, but my dad gets hot easily and I don't think it would last throughout the evening. ;)

Mrs. S. has been sewing up a storm for her family, so we know at least a few of our guests will also be in costume!

Fezziwig Ball: music and dances

The CD we have purchased for use at our Fezziwig Ball is actually called "The Pride and Prejudice Collection: Volume II" by the Pemberley Players, which I ordered from the Country Dance and Song Society. I didn't know what to expect, but the music is a lovely and soothing blend of flute, violin, piano, and cello. Perfect!

I am an English Country Dance novice, but with the help of online videos and instructions, I've managed to acquaint myself with some of the dances. For those of you who might know what I'm talking about, I think we'll teach "Hole in the Wall" (simple), "Juice of Barley" (lively), and "Mr. Beveridge's Maggot" (elegant). I'll try to learn one or two more dances yet, but I don't think we'll get through more than three or four during the course of the evening since we'll be instructing as well as dancing!

Fezziwig Ball: the invitations

I've mentioned before that our close family friends, the S.'s, are coming to spend Christmas with us this year. Our families share an enjoyment of Dickens, so we've decided to host a Fezziwig Ball on the weekend before Christmas! I've been busy planning and preparing different aspects of the evening, which I will share with you -- but first and foremost, the invitations!

I photocopied an illustration of the Fezziwigs for the front of the invitations, then on the inside I printed the pertinent information and an excerpt from A Christmas Carol. The cards are tied together with gold ribbon. I printed the envelopes on the computer, using a fancy script font and addressing our guests by their FULL names in an attempt to be as hoity-toity as possible. I did stop short of using sealing wax on the envelopes, but not for lack of trying (I just can't seem to get good results with our sealing wax and seal).

Less than two weeks to go! Hoo-boy, am I excited. :)

The Magnificat

"My soul magnifies the Lord,
And my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior.
For he has regarded the lowly state of His maidservant;
For behold, henceforth all generations will call me blessed.
For He who is mighty has done great things for me,
And holy is His name.
And His mercy is on those who fear Him
From generation to generation.
He has shown strength with His arm;
He has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.
He has put down the mighty from their thrones,
And exalted the lowly.
He has filled the hungry with good things,
And the rich He has sent away empty.
He has helped His servant Israel,
In remembrance of His mercy,
As He spoke to our fathers,
To Abraham and to his seed forever."

--Luke 1:46b-55

Colored lights

I've been quite busy this week -- between my parents' back-to-back birthdays on Sunday and Monday, singing in The Messiah on Sunday, an unexpected visit from two friends on Monday and Tuesday, my Aunt Kate flying in from Washington today, finishing up my classes, and a potluck caroling party tomorrow evening... whew! I'd forgotten how busy December can be!

The ice storm