You'll shoot your eye out.

I hope everyone had a lovely Christmas, celebrated with loved ones... and delicious treats! Things were quiet over here, as it was just us and the pooches -- so we celebrated exactly how we wanted to. Starting with a lunchtime Christmas eve reunion with Rachel and Don at our favorite place, Fitzgerald's (which, of course, Rachel introduced us to).

PS Love the 1960s function on Picnik.

Mulled wine, mashed potatoes, delicious shrimpy croque sandwiches, and two of our favorite people... What could be better?

Next up, a walk on our favorite dog-walking beach, hopefully the start of a new tradition: Christmas eve beach walk. We were both bundled up in our new winter coats, and while overcast, the beach was beautiful, with the water a crazy shade of blue-green and the shoreline covered in frozen waves. Heidi even took a quick dip.

Back home, it was time for Christmas Vacation and A Christmas Story, and snacky dinner. Inspired by the quince "for cheese" jam I picked up in London.

Also included -- a handful of cold cheeses (blue, cheddar, parm, Havarti), half a round of baked brie, chunks of sourdough, buttery crackers, sliced apples, cherry tomatoes, and shrimp and cocktail sauce. Oh yeah, and some bourbon-spiked eggnog.

Sourdough + quince + brie = Xmas YUM.

After some more holiday tv time, we headed to bed, hoping Santa would be good to us in the morning. The benefit of Christmas home, alone, is sleeping in. Our Christmas morning started at 10:30.

Santa didn't pass us by.

Our favorite part of Christmas morning is treating the kiddos. This year, a mini tomato/carrot trail led them to their treat tree, some giant bones, and new squeaky balls.

Santa was good to us, as well, with highlights including yet-to-be-delivered KitchenAid blenders and toasters, polar bear PJ pants, and a fancy remote for easy Netflix via PS3 navigation. Then it was time for a Christmas breakfast, also a luxury of home-alone-holiday-time. Earlier in the week we'd watched Gordon Ramsay make some very fancy, very decadent scrambled eggs, and I was set on making them. And eating them, despite my stomach's issues with scrambled eggs. What makes these eggs so special?

Butter!!

I cracked five eggs in my cool pan, dropped in two tablespoons of butter (Gordon was much more free with the butter), and then placed the pan on a medium flame to melt the butter. I lightly mixed the eggs at this point. Once the butter was melted, I pulled the pan off the heat and added... cream! Probably about a tablespoon (again, Gordon was more generous). Lightly mix, back on the heat. Just a short time on the heat, lightly mixing the eggs as they heated and scrambled. Grate in some extra sharp cheddar. Done.

These eggs were as amazing as I assumed they would be. I guess the key to my stomach handling scrambled eggs is butter, butter, and more butter! Or perhaps it was the coating of...

Three mimosas!

We spent the remainder of the day in our PJs.

Can't forget Christmas dinner, and by 6 or so we were ready for dinner. Pimento mac and cheese, no shortcuts! It's one of our favorites, and always delicious. And we ate almost the entire thing. It's Christmas, right?

While we missed our friends and family, it seemed a fitting celebration for our first big holiday in our new beach house. Cozy and cuddly, and perfectly delicious. Hope yours was a holly jolly one as well!