Andrew kicked off our preparations by lugging all of our holiday bins in from our still quite full garage. We planned to pull out all the stops and REALLY decorate this year. When seasonally bedazzling our home in Oregon, everything had its place, but we had to start from scratch here in Urgezes, having only been in our house less than 5 months. The whole process took a bit longer since we had to find new spots for our Santa collection and all of the cross stitched ornaments I have made over the years. We managed to use a majority of our decor, the only thing missing was a tree and strings of lights (we got rid of all of our old ones before moving and still have to replace them). I haven’t quite come to terms with what to do about this tree dilemma. I absolutely love the look and aroma of a real tree, it reminds me of my youth in the Minnesota Iron Range. Some years Andrew and I have gone without a tree, but we have never had a fake one. Unfortunately I wouldn’t know where to procure a live one now and I certainly wouldn’t know what to do with it once Christmas is over. Maybe I will have a solved this personal conundrum by December 2025.

When all was said and done, the house was decked out for the season and it put us in a very festive mood. We were ready to bake holiday treats, turn on our favorite tunes, watch some cheesy romantic comedies, and host our dear friend. We were so thankful Jorge found time to stay with us for 3 days over Christmas while visiting other friends and family in the North during the school break. Our holidays were a wonderful international mix of Portuguese traditions and non traditional American festivities.

On Christmas Eve the 3 of us headed across the street to our neighbors’ house for a very traditional Portuguese Christmas dinner. We feasted on bacalhau (cod), the national dish of Portugal. The number of preparations featuring cod in this country is truly staggering. We also had octopus, steamed potatoes, and kale. The food was prepared simply, with little seasoning, and was served with olive oil and vinegar. The meal ended with too many desserts to count, including rabanadas (French Toast) which was fried and had a sugary cinnamon crust that reminded me of childhood when I used to toast white bread, melt pools of butter on top and soak it up with white sugar and cinnamon. Us 70’s and 80’s kids should have had way more cavities considering our sugar intake, did we really add 2 cups of refined white sugar to each jug of Koolaid? After eating one small piece, I understood why rabanada is a Christmas specific dish, it is a decadent special occasion treat. The dessert spread continued with doughnuts, sponge cake, king cake, and some sweets I can’t even remember, probably from a diabetic induced coma.

On Christmas Day we stayed home even though the neighbors wanted to host us again for a meat filled lunch which included roasted goat. The goat wasn’t the reason we declined the invitation; we all felt a bit overstimulated by this hectic time of year. We opted for a decidedly non traditional meal of roasted salmon, green beans, and a lovely vinho verde (green wine). We nibbled on very American Rice Krispie bars Christmasfied with the addition of crushed candy canes. We stayed in our pajamas and played board games with Jorge and it was an exceedingly fulfilling and relaxing day. Jorge left the day after Christmas, and we pondered what to do for the next holiday, which was just around the corner.

For the New Year we decided to stay in and make some of our favorite foods to ring in 2025 instead of heading into town for a fancy dinner. We whipped up macaroni and cheese, cajun shrimp with garlic aioli, deviled eggs, and mini corn dogs with pickle ketchup (if you find this, you should definitely try it). When all was said and done, we had enough food for a week. Since moving we noticed that people in the North LOVE their fireworks and set them off frequently. Our neighbors mentioned that fireworks are an integral part of birthday celebrations. At midnight we witnessed a firework spectacular from our upper terrace. There were private firework displays in every direction, it was unbelievable. Next year we will be prepared in advance with warm clothing, comfy outdoor seating, and hot beverages so we can settle in for more of the display.