We have had such a lovely Christmasy month so far. The house is decorated, we've made cookies and candy, we had a dinner party, and Carter and I made dioramas out of jar lids--mine, wintry scenes with deer, his, solar system with smiling Earth, Saturn, and deep space. Hint, drill two holes at the top for the hanger before crafting. Carter can fit into his daddy's coat from long ago and he looked so sweet and he loved it so much. On the first Friday night of each month our town organizes bands to play on every downtown street corner, and there must be a dozen. There is always an oom-pah band, a Barbershop Quartet, folksy duos and trios and quite a few rock bands. This time they also had a big band and they were terrific! Carter felt brave enough to make requests if I would go up with him. Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer, Have A Holly Jolly Christmas and We Wish You A Merry Christmas were his requests. He is learning them at school and has hand movements to go with each song. Very cute. We turned one corner and were surprised to see Mr. and Mrs. Claus, all alone, like they were waiting just for us. Carter was very shy and they both reached out their arms for him but he wanted us to go with him. It must seem like a long walk up to Santa's throne if you are very little. He didn't want to tell Santa his wish list, he told me later he had already written him a letter, but in a whisper asked him what kind of cookies he liked. It's chocolate chip, FYI. Later on at home, Carter wondered why Santa needs our cookies because Mrs. Claus is always baking. Doesn't she pack him any? Valid questions. In our Golden Books she is indeed always baking cookies. Maybe he likes to try new recipes? The last picture is a gougere, a beautiful and delicious first course I made for my dinner party. It was made earlier in the day, refrigerated, then popped into the oven a few minutes before our guests arrived. Serve it by the fire with a glass of champagne for a memorable slice of holiday heaven. If you are going to make one new recipe this year, try this. Children love it too.