NYE 2009

After a hectic month between Thanksgiving and XMas, seeing family in both San Francisco and Chicago, we opted for a relatively chill evening with Chuck and Katy at their place in Chicago. This was Keira's first NYE (well, second if you count being on the "inside" in Oaxaca MX last year) so even though it was going to be relatively calm and civilized compared to years past, we were still going to bring it in with style.

For 30-something foodie (yuppie) types, this meant good food, good wine, good champagne, and of course, good company.

We came together and prepared a 5 course meal:
* Hor Dourves - Cheese Plate with Pepper Jelly and Prosciutto
* Soup - Dungeness Crab and Carrot Soup
* Salad - Roasted Beet and Goat Cheese Salad
* Main - Cornish Game Hens (1 each), with Roasted Veggies and Wild Rice
* Dessert - Chocolate Lava Cake

This was all paired with 2 reds (a Cotes Du Rhone and a Napa/Sonoma Cab), 2 whites (a Stags Leap Viognier and a Vouvray Loire Valley), 2 bubblers (Mumm & Vueve), and some nice Hennesey Cognac to top of the evening (and start the next morning with a headache).


Some Wines



Dungeness Crab and Carrot Soup



Roasted Beet and Goat Cheese Salad with crushed Pistachios



Game Hens with Roasted Winter Vegetables and Wild Rice Pilaf


Chocolate Lava Cake



Some Vueve


A perfect evening to ring in the new year and close out the decade.




Play slideshow - 48 Pics
View photos individually

Keira's 1st Christmas

We had a wonderful time being back home for the holidays. This Christmas was extra special for many reasons. We got to meet the newest little member of our family, Colten Michael Garcia. Keira celebrated her first Christmas, discovering that the paper, ribbons and bows are lots of fun to play with. Naveen celebrated his first Christmas with my family and helped me to make a fantastic Christmas dinner consisting of roasted vegetables, garlic mashed potatoes and a tri-tip roast. And.... we got to play in the SNOW. Keira seemed to really enjoy her first ride on a sled. The time home went by way too fast but we certainly had a very MERRY Christmas.

Play slideshow - 58
View photos individually

Stella & Keira

A few years ago it seemed like everyone we knew was getting married... now everyone is having kids! Keira is certainly enjoying all the extra playdates. We spent a lovely evening with the Figenholtz family while we were back for the holidays. Stella is a couple of months older than Keira but the girls had a great time playing together. Not to mention that the parents had fun too. If only we lived a little closer!



Play slideshow - 25
View photos individually

Holiday Dinner '09

A few years ago we started a Holiday Dinner tradition with several of our closest friends. Although many of the original group has moved on (Greg & Ale are in CO... Gautham & Lara are in MO), we have still tried to take some time to celebrate together. This year our group was small but we had a great time. We changed things up and decided to do all the cooking together. Great idea, however, we were obviously having too much fun to remember to take pictures! Thanks to my wonderful husband we do have a few pictures of the food, I mean festivities. :)

Play slideshow - 16
View photos individually

1st Visit to Santa

Keira and Soraya did great on their first visit to the big guy. No tears and we actually got a few cute pics of the four of us. Happy Holidays!

Play slideshow - 9
View photos individually