Thanksgiving at the Melonis

We began with a dazzling array of appetizers. My favorites? the apricot cheese and the cranberry goat cheese. Christian, as usual, went for the salami and prosciutto.

Christian is a take-charge kind of guy. He organized three contests.

First Contest: The Best Pumpkin Pie

I won the pumpkin pie contest. My mother would be proud! Christian was the wise judge.

Second Contest: The Paper Airplane That Traveled the Farthest

Christian won the paper airplane contest.

Third Contest: The Winner of the Wii Bowling Contest

[insert photo of Colin]

There were two teams: Andrea and Marcello bowled against Christian and Colin. The victory of Christian and Colin was decisive. Christian threw almost all strikes. Colin threw mostly strikes and spares. (Have they been practicing?) Marcello was pretty good but not as good as his sons. Andrea threw no strikes, no spares, and numerous gutter balls, to the delight of everyone.

[add photos of food]

Sons of Norway Christmas Bazaar

The Sons of Norway bazaar is always a very special event. It was held again this year at the Elks Club in Fairfax. I worked there on Friday and took my grandsons on Saturday.

They each had a certain sum to spend so they did their shopping first.

They are looking at the display of beautiful rosemaling.

Christian then chose this ugly troll who is apparently kidnapping a lovely princess.

Then the boys relaxed with Norwegian waffles, one of their very favorite foods. This year the jam was raspberry instead of strawberry. They decided that they prefer strawberry while I prefer raspberry.

Most everyone wears a Norwegian sweater. Some lucky women show off their elaborate bunads. Here is SON lodge member Melanie.

Amici Italiani di Fairfax Meet Up

Carlo and Betsy hosted a potluck at their home. It was a fun evening of Italian food and Italian conversation.

We began by enjoying delicious appetizers from a table in the living room.

Linda

John and Armanda

Christine

Carlo and Betsy

Carlo and Andrea

We then went to the kitchen where an attractive Italian buffet met our eyes.

John and Linda

Armanda and Andrea

The piece de resistance was the polenta with mushrooms prepared by Armanda.

The evening concluded with an interesting slide show by Carlo and Betsy of their recent trip to Italy.

One Small Step for Man

Christian and I attended a marvelous performance at the Kennedy Center. to be continued

Norwegian Almond Cake

Christian and Colin love to bake in our kitchen. Their latest triumph was a Norwegian almond cake. I bought an almond cake pan from Ingebretsen's in Minneapolis. Another tradition was born. The boys are becoming more Norwegian all the time! (That's Christian in the background.)

For Colin the best part of this cooking experience was sniffing the almond extract. He found it intoxicating.