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Lasers and Blasters and Pops! Oh My!

Our Christmas this year contained more weaponry than is customary for that particular holiday. Plus, it involved some extra sewing, cooking, and geeking. Here’s exactly how our holiday took a turn toward the unusual.

I made this tree skirt featuring Star Trek, Star Wars, Doctor Who, and The Avengers.
I made this tree skirt featuring Star Trek, Star Wars, Doctor Who, and The Avengers.
Our angel wept.
Our angel wept.

This December, we got into the spirit of the force even more than the spirit of the season. We decided that our plans to turn our Christmas tree over to the dark side were long overdue. It was our (Insert dramatic pause here.) destiny. I created a tree skirt featuring some of our favorite universes and we decked our evergreen in nerdom’s finest. We are sci-fi geeks more than anything so Starfleet officers, stormtoopers, robots of both the benevolent and malevolent variety, Time Lords, Firefly-class transport ships, and other time-and/or-space-traveling vessels spread themselves over most of our branches.

Shiny... and geeky.
Shiny… and geeky.
Jason's Han Solo outfit took a considerable amount of time to sew.
Jason’s Han Solo outfit took a considerable amount of time to sew.

Fittingly, our tree wasn’t the only seasonal disturbance in the force. Jason, caught up in the excitement of the new Star Wars movie, requested a handmade Han Solo outfit for Christmas. I was happy to accommodate since I prefer gifts that require a little effort. His smuggler’s duds turned out rather dapper.

Jason's blaster and rig were both handmade but not by me.
Jason’s blaster and rig were both handmade but not by me.
It was only 24 degrees outside when I took these pictures. Where's a warm tauntaun when you need one?
It was only 24 degrees outside when I took these pictures. Where’s a warm tauntaun when you need one?

Lots of other handmade goodies filled our holidays. Jason and I cooked pretty continuously on Christmas Eve and Christmas. We simmered mushrooms for nine hours in a bottle of cabernet to create a delicious side dish for Jason’s family’s Christmas Eve gathering. We also roasted tender new potatoes with fresh rosemary and garlic for that meal. Our Christmas morning began with crepes suzette, buttery crepes drizzled with a tangy Grand Marnier sauce. Those crepes were just for us to gobble but we also made marshmallow pops and apple cider for my family’s Christmas get together.

Jason had Drew's name this year. His FANtastic-morning themed gift included Star Wars pancake molds and a Death Star tea infuser. And, of course, there was also tea, Earl Grey, hot.
Jason had Drew’s name this year. His FANtastic-morning themed gift included Star Wars pancake molds and a Death Star tea infuser. And, of course, there was also tea, Earl Grey, hot.
Jason and I made these colorful marshmallow pops for my family.
Jason and I made these colorful marshmallow pops for my family.

Upon returning from my family’s shindig, Jason and I immediately took to cooking again. We prepared bacon-wrapped filets and mesclun salad with parmesan polenta rounds in a hurry. Yes, we donned our aprons quite a bit around Christmas but cooking special-occasion dishes is one of my favorite pastimes during the holidays.

Abby was ecstatic over the dollhouse my parents gave her.
Abby was ecstatic over the dollhouse my parents gave her.
Ahhh, can't you just feel the Christmas love.
Ahhh, can’t you just feel the Christmas love.

This year, Jason and I decided to give our nieces and nephews something for Christmas their parents wouldn’t have to cart to the DI in six months: an hour of laser tag. The day after Christmas, our group of 16, which included a number of adults, pelted each other at a laser arena courtesy of the Sabins. Jason achieved the high score in a couple games and I managed to obtain the fourth and fifth positions in our first two rounds before coming in almost dead last in another. Good job Rachel on becoming terrible over time! Everyone seemed to have fun tagging and taunting their relatives.

Jas and I prepared a lovely Christmas dinner together.
Jas and I prepared a lovely Christmas dinner together.
Our laser battles brought out some merited family bantering.
Our laser battles brought out some merited family bantering.

It was a nice holiday with a lot of homemade goodness and geekiness. The lasers and blasters and pops were prolific enough that even George Takei would say, “Oh my!”

Rachel January 19, 2016 2 Comments

No Silence This Night

Every December, we invite a small group of friends to join us for an energetic Christmas gathering. This celebration has evolved over the years and now has its own long-standing traditions. Those traditions range from tasty to tacky… and sometimes borderline nasty. Here are a few of them.

Wouldn't you want this prancing around your rooftop on Christmas Eve?
Wouldn’t you want this prancing around your rooftop on Christmas Eve?

Dinner is served. This time it came in the form of blackened chicken pasta, provolone and salami salad, cheesy breadsticks, chocolate cake, and buttermilk pie from Magleby’s. The food they provided seemed ample enough to feed a mass much larger than our little crowd.

Games are played. Common among them are pool, shuffleboard, Just Dance, and ping pong. I love Just Dance even though it tends to repellently jiggle everything the good lard gave you.

Jason wore a Star Wars sweater and I wore a Doctor Who one. Remarkably, we weren't the only couple dressed in that exact combo.
Jason wore a Star Wars sweater and I wore a Doctor Who one. Remarkably, we weren’t the only couple dressed in that exact combo.

We go around the world. A few matches of Around the World involving everyone are a standard at our Christmas party, although most of us don’t have the ping pong skills to even go around the net.

Christmas sweaters, mostly of the ugly variety, are worn. (Is there any other variety?)

If it is juvenile, puerile, vulgar, or detestable, it is likely to occur at our party.
If it is juvenile, puerile, vulgar, or detestable, it is likely to occur at our party.

And, of course, a white elephant exchange game is played. In our version, nothing is opened until the end. We like our guests to fight over the boxes that inevitably end up containing old socks or something with Justin Bieber’s face on it.

This year, I did add one new diversion to the merriment. I brought my camera equipment and took some shots of any attendees that desired them. I’m not entirely sure if I will do this again. It ate up too much time and it was hard to focus on my photography with so many distractions swirling around me. Still, it’s not every day you get a picture of Jeremy in tight sweats and antlers… oh wait, it is.

We encourage the wearing of tasteless attire to our party.
We encourage the wearing of tasteless attire to our party.

Cheers to the tacky-sweater-sporting and outrageous-present-begetting gang that joined us this year. Thanks to them, Santa’s got a brand new bag, a bean bag, and moose knuckles, in a miraculous feat of science, have been transplanted onto reindeer. I’d say the party was a success.

Rachel December 28, 2015 No Comments

Gobbling a Holiday

Thanksgiving, as far as holidays go, gets grossly overlooked. It’s often just seen as a stepping stone to Christmas, a marker passed on the way to the shopping season. Heck, now stores don’t even wait for the turkey to get cold before opening their doors for the holiday rush. The fixings and gatherings of Thanksgiving may seem modest compared to December’s showy gifts and twinkling lights but I appreciate its simple focus.

Like a prophet in their own country, no one listens to a photographer in their own family... and this is what happens.
Like a prophet in their own country, no one listens to a photographer in their own family… and this is what happens.

For me, Thanksgiving means making delicious foods from scratch for the people that matter most. It means enjoying some sunshine on a pre-gorging run and then forgetting about calories. It means consciously acknowledging the many things I’m lucky to have in my life.

Jason requested I make caramel apple pie again this thanksgiving.
Jason requested I make caramel apple pie again this thanksgiving.

I usually get assigned the desserts for my family’s Thanksgiving dinner and I don’t skimp on the cream or the preparation time. This year, with assistance from Jason, I made caramel apple pies and almond fudge cake. Yes, of course my crusts were created from scratch. Duh. Both treats turned out pretty tasty.

Every family has a silly side. I think my family had had a few silly <a style=

After staying up late to finish those dishes, we rose early on Thanksgiving morning to compete in the Pilgrim 5K. This is an entertaining race where participants dress as pilgrim folk and pretend they’re courageously running across Plymouth instead of lamely over a golf course. It was absolutely frigid during the event. Temperatures were in the 20s but it was the wind that really cut through our bonnets. Still, clouds of exhaled mist hanging over packs of respiring runners were a curious and amusing sight.

This cake had a chocolate glaze and cream-cheese filling so it's a good thing calories don't exist on Thanksgiving.
This cake had a chocolate glaze and cream-cheese filling so it’s a good thing calories don’t exist on Thanksgiving.

We spent the afternoon with just one family, mine. We got to enjoy dinner with Jason’s family on a different day due to work schedules. I won’t lie, not having to hurry between two feasts made the holiday feel much more like an actual holiday instead of a cramming circus.

Thanksgiving is one of the many things I’m grateful for in my life. It doesn’t demand much, just a home-cooked meal and a few laughs with kin, yet it leaves you with a satisfied belly and numerous sweet recollections.

Rachel December 24, 2015 No Comments
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