Holiday greetings!

House clean, presents wrapped, pots de creme au cafe made, orange custard done, cookies baked, squash gnocchi dough prepared, tarte tatin in the oven.

Just waiting for my friends to show up (they got stuck in D.C. traffic) for the merriment to begin.

(I tried to get Cider & Brubeck to pose in front of the tree. What I didn't know is that Brubeck, although he will sit if you hold a treat in your hand, does not know the word stay...at all...so most of the photos ended up like this! This is the only one where he just happened to randomly peek up at me while I had the camera ready...)