I hope you had a wonderful Christmas whether you spent it solo, like me, or with family and friends. I ordered a fabulous Christmas Eve prime rib dinner for two (the minimum number) from Coles Chop House in downtown Napa and paired with three wines. I devoured one half on Christmas Eve and the other portion on Christmas Day. Knowing I would be eating the same meal two days in a row, I bought new plates and bowls so my table would look different on Christmas. And I changed two of the three wines.
This wasn’t my first Christmas alone. Many years ago, I spent a Christmas alone in New York City. Last year I came down with a horrid cold just before Christmas and canceled plans with friends. In 2019, I cooked what should have been a beautiful dinner if my cooking skills were better. That’s why this year, I decided to order from a restaurant. It took me literally hours to decide which restaurant to order from because there were so many wonderful menus offered.
I had lobster and shrimp bisque and a Caesar salad paired with Schramsberg Blanc de Blancs 2017 on Christmas Eve and Alpha Omega Chardonnay Reserve 2017 on Christmas, a 12-oz portion of prime rib, Yukon gold potato and gruyére gratin and (from my cabinet) green beans with VGS Chateau Potelle Syrah 2016 on Christmas Eve and Alpha Omega Proprietary Red 2013 on Christmas and pumpkin cheesecake with seasonal fruit with Alpha Omega Late Harvest Reserve 2008 both nights. Both meals and all the wines were delicious!
The other day, the New York Times ran an op-ed piece titled “Have Yourself a Lonely Little Christmas,” written by a woman who had spent many holidays by herself and raved about it. She wrote, “For me, the secret to spending the holidays alone was to recognize that I wasn’t really alone. I had myself. Which might not seem like much, if you’re going to be the guest who complains about the food and works the whole time. But if you invite the bravest, kindest, most fun version of yourself to the party, you might wind up falling in love with your weird and wonderful self.”
I concur. I put on earrings, played holiday music, said grace and continued reading the recently-released book Quartraits while I dined, a perfect book to read while quarantining.
#grateful#gratitude#singlelivesmatter#singleton#solochristmas
