Family rituals

The timeless rituals of a Finnish Xmas Eve: Matthew performs the laying on of hands for the Scalloped Fennel and Potatoes prior to their trial by fire (one hour @ 400° F) for last night's Christmas Eve dinner.

The table is set for dinner at 5.

Wrapping the beef tenderloin in bacon and rosemary before roasting at 450° for about an hour.  Don't forget to open the windows and turn on the fan.

Chris stops by to present Regan with the Hat of the Year.

A feather in her cap.

Tiny gives a final inspection and paws up to the table decorations.

Our Inside-the-Beltway correspondents Sarah and Heather lend glamour and panache to the evening's festivities.

Tuck can't decide which pipe he likes best. We got 'em the other day at Federal Cigar in Portsmouth, THE place to go for all your nicotine-delivery-system needs.

Xmas Day today brings stockings and Coquilles St. Jacques for every good girl and boy.

Regan, Chris and Matthew perform a carefully choreographed scullery dance that makes short work of the mess we made of the kitchen.

Matt and Regan present the case for the hottest book of the season, Now: Discover your Strengths. Now's web site explains:

At the heart of the book is the Internet-based Clifton StrengthsFinder Profile, the product of a 25-year, multimillion-dollar effort to identify the most prevalent human strengths. The program introduces 34 dominant "themes" with thousands of possible combinations, and reveals how they can best be translated into personal and career success.

You have to buy the book to get access to the online test. Kind of fun, but our own -- and Tuck's -- first response was "astrology with a Harvard education."

Comments

[Geary Chase]

I can't believe there are no Christmas pictures of Ben hoisting an adult beverage to his lips. Thanks for the insight into the comings and goings, thoughts ideals and travails of the extended Goomp clan. My best wishes to your family.