Christmas 2012

And, in spite of everything, Christmas was happy and cheerful.

From Natal 2012

Let me show you how  we had a nice and cheerful Christmas evening. :-)

A couple of days before Christmas Eve, we started to paint the house in white. We began by the ground floor.The kitchen is done, as well as half of the living-dining room.  So, we decided to keep it simple, with no Christmas tree, just with the postcards, the Nativity Scene (Presépio) and some decoration details. Tell me if you like it. 

I love this little church we bought in Overvecht shop.
One day, I arrived at home and I found in our mailbox an invitation with a discount voucher to go to Overvecht Christmas Fair opening. The Overvecht centrum is nearby our house, so it's easy to get there.
The evening was very pleasant. They were offering drinks - like juices and gluhwijn - and some snacks to the customers. We didn't shop very much, only a couple of small things, like this little church, in spite of the variety and stunning colors of all the decorations. I'm glad we went there.We had a very good evening.

From Natal 2012

The place mats I bought on Christmas Eve afternoon at Blokker shop as well as the white plates. My husband had asked me for some wood protections to put under the small clay pans. I didn't find any, so I bought instead these " Merry Christmas " place mats and plates. I like the effect and you? :-)

The drink mats with Art Nouveau motifes were bought in Paris and the lace for the silverware in Bruges.

From Natal 2012

I have suggested to my husband to serve the Bacalhau à Lagareiro (recipe in English) not in a clay tray, as usual, but in the individual small clay pans that we have bought in Overvecht centrum. The flavor of the codfish in olive oil and garlic became even more refined. The red wine, of course, was Portuguese, from the south province of Alentejo (Terra D' Alter). Apples with nutmeg cooked in steam was our dessert.A recipe from my husband ;-)

From Natal 2012

For the evening, a glass of Port with a slice of Bolo-Rainha (Queen's cake). It's the same as Bolo-Rei (King's cake) but without comfit fruits. We like it more like this.

From Natal 2012

In the end of the evening, we ate homemade bread with portuguese chourizo sent by my mother (who also sent the codfish).  To make the bread, my husband mixed two different kinds of flour: rye flour from a Dutch windmill in Haarlem and wheat flour from the library town of Bredevoort .

A romantic Christmas Eve, don't you think? ;-)

We spent the rest of the evening watching Christmas movies and, with the help of Internet, talking to our loved ones, replying emails and chatting a bit and I was happy to know that our postcards and gifts were much appreciated. God save Internet!! :-)

I wish you all a HAPPY NEW YEAR and I hope 2013 brings you many blessings and happiness!

Stay well and warm!

Have fun out there! ;-)