Happy Holidays !!! Felices Fiestas !!! Bonnes Fêtes !!!!

My Christmas Eve Dinner here in Paris, is probably very different from everybody's or from what you imagine...We are alone here in France, so we spend our Christmas dinner alone...well alone...It's the five of us: my husband, me and the three kids..AND the dog now...yes! we have a little "Gaucho" (Yorkshire-Bichon) adding playfulness to our lives since a few days ago...

For me the idea of a Christmas dinner without family or friends was, at the beginning, hard to accept..I grew up in a family where, for Christmas, everybody was there!! Even if we hadn't seen each other during all the year..the family was there on Xmas!! So, I must say that a Xmas of five was hard for me....so far from home, the unbearable heat of Buenos Aires and the mosquitoes ;D (that now I miss so much!...yes, I even miss the mosquitoes!) But then, I said to myself: "Why am I so sad? if I have the most important thing in my life..my husband and "my best creations" are here with me...so I bought a huge Xmas tree, that I decorated with the girls (and the dog is trying to  destroy...) I set a beautiful table, we had a great menu (ehem! prepared by this blogger...!),we listened to music and then, the best part: opening presents: my boy was delighted to have the soccer T shirt of Carlos Tevez (Argentinian footballer, star in Manchester City!), my daughter C, a huge make-up set, and my daughter M, a game for the Wii, with the karaoke for the songs of the series Glee...so we all sang!! After midnight, and thanks to the time difference, it was the moment for me to call all my family and friends in Buenos Aires...and it was like being with them!! 

I decided to keep it simple for the menu:

* Foie Gras Terrine(that I made at the course in the Atelier Guy Martin, Parisian étoilé chef)

* Magret de Canard (that you have seen here, with figs instead of peaches)

* My Bûche de Noël (because the one I made was too long, so I cut it in two, and I kept it in the freezer!)

* My Panettone, of course

And I bought some Spanish "turron" because for me, Christmas without "turron" is not Christmas....

And that was it! Simple...! Yet full of peace and love!

I thought of you...dear people that have accompanied me all this year...my 2010 has been filled with your presence, with your kind words, your encouragement...so I wanted, once again, thank you all, and wish you the best for 2011!! I hope we keep on "making us company" during the whole of next year! sharing happy moments and frustrations...That's what life is about..!

I love you all !!