A Tonkatsu Christmas

Christmastime in America is usually filled with holiday tables set with baked hams and roasted turkeys. Being at the Gale residence for Christmas this year, Christmas Eve became a Japanese cooking lesson and a feast of delicious Japanese treats.

Handmade gyoza, stuffed with pork, before and after deep-frying.

Tonkatsu, a Gale family favorite.
Tonkatsu is pork cutlet dipped in panko breadcrumbs and deep fried. I know you are probably thinking, "this sounds like a very unhealthy meal!" But don't worry, it's usually served on a bed of cabbage. Just to make it look pretty. We also threw some sweet potatoes in there, to make sure we had some extra vegetables at the table! All in all, it was a great cooking lesson, and a nice break from baguettes and fois gras. And on Christmas night, Peter's brother and mom did serve up a beautiful, traditional Christmas dinner.

The Yorkshire pudding was golden and puffy, and the rib roast was juicy and delicious. Besides eating, we had a lot of fun spending time with family, walking in the woods, and visiting DC.
All in all, it was a wonderful Christmas!

With a winter storm approaching, we were on northbound on a train to Connecticut at 3:30 the next morning, and sadly said an early goodbye to the DC side of the family. We arrived in CT just in time for a batch of Karen's famous sticky buns and mimosas with the family, the Robbins family Christmas morning tradition (although a day late!). I tried to capture the essence of the sticky buns, but they disappeared too fast. All I got was a shot of one last bite! Spending time in Greenwich with friends and family was a wonderful way to end 2010, and by New Year's Eve, we were ready to celebrate the year we were married and the year we moved to France, with some of our closest friends. I guess we didn't manage to get a whole group shot, but yes, there were more people at our party than the four pictured below. The extra soup bowls are not just for show.
Dinner was a pot-luck party on Palmer Island, and after yet another filling meal of oysters, soup, salad, potatoes-aux-gratin, chicken with shallots, cheese plates and Brooks' gorgeous year-end cake, we said hello to 2011. We are looking forward to the travel, adventure, new friends we'll make and old friends we'll visit this year.