Christmas Dinner

The term "groaning board" means a feast so heavily laden with good food that the table actually groans from the weight. In our case last night at Bob's and The Old Professor's house, it was both the wonderful food and the bad puns that had the table groaning. (Example: when someone brought up a traditional meal in some country made from horsemeat, I replied, "Who could say neigh to that?" It went downhill from there.)

Bob made a standing rib roast, Yorkshire pudding, and other guests brought savory green beans and carrots with beets. My contribution of cheeses was welcomed, as was a bottle of red wine from Argentina, a gift from a colleague at work.

Cheese it: Camembert, Sharp Cheddar, Dutch Morning Gouda, and Brie

The Christmas tree lent a festive air to the proceedings, as did the Christmas village, which is set up atop the piano.

Bob and the OP's Christmas tree

The Village

One of the holiday traditions here in South Florida is the annual Boat Parade where people with big boats costing millions of dollars decorate them with lights and parade up and down the Intercoastal Waterway. Not to be outdone, a friend of ours has his own model boat parade. The Old Professor, who is a master model maker, has crafted some amazing models, including one of the Exxon Valdez complete with an oil spill in the shape of a Christmas tree. This year he resurrected one of his favorites: an homage to a Roman unireme complete with working oars powered not by tiny little galley slaves (can you envision Charlton Heston a quarter inch tall?) but a remote-controlled motor devised through the mechanical genius of Bob's handiwork.

Row, row, row...

The food was great, the friendship close, and the evening passed all too quickly.