A Markel Family Holiday

Easter 2024

This year, in order to take a look back at our Easter celebration, we have to back way up, to before Holy Week even began! While Bunny was home from college on spring break, I made hot cross buns, and we made the paschal candle for the year, so she wouldn’t have to miss out on everything. Unfortunately, she had to go back to school the day before Palm Sunday, so she didn’t get to join us for that (or any of the church services that followed).

Our Holy Week was pretty standard, even though we were missing having Bunny at home. We went to church on Maundy Thursday:

On Good Friday, when I wasn’t teaching school, I was working in the kitchen, chopping things and making pita bread. Ladybug helped out by baking and decorating some cupcakes for me:

And then we went to church. The service was beautiful, as was the sunset we were treated to upon leaving the building:

On Saturday, I was back at work in the kitchen, making baklava, tsoureki (a Greek Easter Bread), and prepping other various components of our Easter dinner:

I also did a little work on decorating, including pairing some linens in a new way for the kitchen island and making our napkins look like bunnies!

And then it was time for the best church service of the year, The Great Vigil of Easter!

On the way home, according to tradition, we stopped at Wendy’s for Frostys and fries, and watched Rick Steves’ European Easter.

Back to church this morning for a service filled with joy and beautiful music!

It was weird taking pictures of only four of the children. Since things were already different, I decided that instead of taking my usual pictures by the font, I’d go with the Paschal Candle as the backdrop instead:

And a picture of…the Fab Four? Nope…that just isn’t right!

Also a picture of 6/7 of our family:

I planned a special Easter breakfast this year…I finally learned how to make omelettes! So we had a made-to-order omelette bar, featuring ham and smoked salmon, dill, chives, mushrooms, bell peppers, and two kinds of cheese:

We also had mixed berries, 13(!!!!) kinds of mini donuts (Seasonal varieties included carrot cake, blueberry, peach cobbler, spring sprinkles, honey bun, strawberry shortcake, plus the standards: powdered, old fashioned, glazed, frosted, zebra, crunch, and double chocolate ), pink pineapple, and the requisite Easter candy:

Here’s a look at our completed Osterstrauß, which was the centerpiece of our buffet:

I chose a smoked salmon, dill, and mushroom omelette, and it was delicious! I also really enjoyed the pink pineapple, which I thought tasted a little bit like watermelon…it might have just been a mental thing because it looked kind of like watermelon, though!

I didn’t have a whole lot of work to do this afternoon since I had prepped so much of dinner, so I had plenty of time for setting the table while we watched the first two My Big Fat Greek Wedding movies:

My family requested gyros for dinner, so I seasoned some sizzle steak with gyros seasoning we found at the international market and cooked it in my best approximation of gyros. We had all our favorite toppings: homemade tzatziki sauce, tomatoes, onions, and feta cheese:

I decided to go full-on Greek with our dinner, including a Greek salad, spanakopita, the previously-mentioned tsoureki, and because I’m still scared of making saganaki, fried feta coated in sesame seeds. The only thing missing was dolmas (stuffed grape leaves)…maybe someday I’ll tackle those!

I’ve been thinking about doing a Greek Easter dinner for a few years, so I really enjoyed it!

In keeping with our Greek theme, we had baklava sundaes for dessert:

And I found some time to stop by and say “hi” to Zipper T. Bunny!

This was our first big holiday without all of us here, which was weird and sad, but we made the best of it, and it was still a lovely Easter!

Christmas 2023

Now that I’m feeling more like myself, it’s finally time for a look back at our Markel Family Christmas (and New Year’s) celebration!

But first, let me back up a bit. A few days before Christmas, I was trying to be helpful by assisting in moving a couch, and I ended up hurting my back. I managed to make it through the pain until the day after Christmas, when I finally gave in and went to the ER, where they said based on the x-rays, I had a bad muscle strain and a possible slightly slipped disc. Anyway, because of that, I had to tone done our celebration some, although Christmas Eve and Christmas Day were fairly normal.

Christmas Eve was fun because it was also Advent IV, which means we got to go to church in the morning, too!

There was our traditional Christmas Crunch to be had:

And the Fab Five finished the Lego Home Alone house:

And then we headed back to church for the Christmas Eve service, which was lovely as always!

We tried to stop by the St. Louis Christmas tree on the way home, as we have for the last few years, but there was simply no parking, so we went on our merry way, and drove though the Way of Lights only:

When we got home, I took pictures as always:

And we enjoyed a peppermint cake by the light of the fully lit Advent wreath:

I was really not feeling too well, so we didn’t play Ticket to Ride like we usually do, but I did find energy for Animal Crossing:

And I got the stockings filled with some help, and our Little People nativity scene set up:

On Christmas Day, we didn’t have to be up terribly early, so we took our time with stockings and coffee cake:

And then we headed back to church, for the third service in two days:

We managed a nice family picture even though I was still feeling pretty badly:

We took another shot at seeing the St. Louis Christmas tree on the way home, and it worked out perfectly, because there was no one there! It’s not quite the same as seeing it at night, but at least it was overcast!

When we got home, we opened presents:

And had our traditional “Pick out Dinner.”

Ryan’s parents were scheduled to arrive the day after Christmas, and I was going to make our fancy Christmas dinner the day after that. But I was feeling pretty horrible on the 26th, so the fancy dinner was postponed, and like I said, I went to the hospital, and have spent the better part of the week between Christmas and New Year’s doing absolutely nothing, including not making our fancy New Year’s dinner, either. We did have our New Year’s Eve hot chocolate bar, though:

And I managed to be awake on 12-31-23 (how cool was that date?!?) to ring in 2024 on my island (although I wasn’t sure at all that would happen!).

And I finally made the gingerbread cake that was supposed to be the ending to our fancy Christmas dinner for New Year’s Day!

This wasn’t exactly the Christmas I wanted, because I really felt like I let my family down, but I suppose it will be one we remember, anyway, and we still have two fancy dinners to look forward to!

Thanksgiving 2023

“And that’s how Milly and Mr. Macy started a new holiday tradition. It looked a little like the old country, and a little like America, and a little like something entirely new.”

That quote from Milly and the Macy’s Parade describes pretty well how I felt about Thanksgiving this year. Our holiday was a little different, because this is the first time we’ve had a child away from home who returned to us for the holiday celebration. It was kind of familiar and kind of new, and still lots of fun!

One thing that was different this year was that instead of having “Pie Day” on Wednesday, I started my annual pie baking on Tuesday…I made three pies that day (two s’mores, another new thing because I’ve never made two of the same pie before, and a chocolate hazelnut) plus the cranberries. I got to work on baking early so that I wouldn’t have to be in the kitchen as much once Bunny returned home on Wednesday. The other six pies (plus the stuffing) were made that day, and Bunny even had time to make the caramel apple like she usually does!

Thursday was pretty normal…we watched the Macy’s Parade (Bunny and Ladybug tied at parade bingo) and the National Dog Show and some of our favorite Thanksgiving shows that we didn’t have time for on Wednesday. Chickadee took care of folding the napkins while I set our tables:

And dinner was even ready a little earlier than I expected, which is much better than it being done later! We had a fairly standard meal…turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, carrots, Brussels sprouts, green beans with almonds, cranberries, and rolls. I also made roast fennel for the first time, and it was delicious!

Another change this year involved our Lego Winter Village set. Usually, we build it the day after Thanksgiving, but Bunny had to leave pretty early that day, so we built it after dinner. I love that it looks like it was lifted right from the Alps, and it has so many lovely details…the fireplace is especially cool!

Here’s a look at the previously-mentioned pies. The pineapple pie was the only new addition this year, and it was a good one…I will definitely be making it again!

In the evening, we also played “Chandler’s Dumb States Game” for the first time. I was the undisputed champion…all 50 states in four minutes, and my children are still wondering how I did it! Of course I also had to check in with Franklin and my Animal Crossing neighbors before the day was over:

The day after Thanksgiving started with one of my very favorite traditions…pie for breakfast!

We went to see Moose march in the town Santa Parade for the last time…Bunny was able to stay long enough to see the band, which was nice. After all these years, I can’t believe he won’t be marching in it again!

Of course we had turkey sandwiches for lunch:

And more pie for lunch dessert:

Dinner was another favorite…turkey soup:

After dinner, Chickadee and I went to the town tree lighting, which is always a nice event.

We walked through Christkindlmarkt:

And checked out the gingerbread houses on display on Main Street. There are some very creative and beautiful pieces done by some very talented artists!

Back home, we had even more pie:

Last night, we had one more leftovers meal…Thanksgiving casserole (one of the few casseroles I actually like!):

And one final round of pie for dessert:

So, our celebration was a lot the same, but a little bit different. But we were together for the holiday, and that was the most important thing of all!

Family Oktoberfest 2023

Today I finally got around to preparing our annual family Oktoberfest! Of course I had to wear a dirndl…I think I wore five of my six dresses to various Oktoberfests this year!

I didn’t make fondue this year, but I did make pretzels, and I even experimented with making a few larger ones. I need to work on rolling them out a bit thinner, but they were good!

Of course I had to celebrate in Animal Crossing, too:

I made our favorites for dinner…Schnitzel (which at this point, I think I’ve perfected!), spaetzle, and rotkohl. I still haven’t been brave enough to make sauerkraut from scratch, so that was store-bought. I did make Jäger sauce this year, though!

Yes, our house smells like a German restaurant!

For dessert, I made our favorite Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte…I wouldn’t dare make something else!

This is always a delicious day!

Easter 2023

As hard as it is to believe since Lent always seems like it lasts forever, Holy Week and Easter Sunday have already come and gone. We had our traditional four day celebration, beginning on Maundy Thursday, with a fun twist for Easter dinner this year! I really look forward to this celebration every year, this 2023 did not disappoint!

On Maundy Thursday, I made hot cross buns. This is definitely a tradition now…what started as an experiment in 2020 when I was only grocery shopping once every two weeks and couldn’t plan on purchasing them has become an expected part of our Holy Week observances! I did try a new recipe this time, and I think we all liked it even better than the other ones I’ve made!

The evening church service was, as expected, lovely, especially the music.

Everyone had off of school on Good Friday, which was nice. I dedicated my day to baking. I made what were probably the best buttermilk biscuits ever, as well as blueberry muffins:

We were back at church that evening for another moving service:

Would you be surprised to know that I was back to baking on Holy Saturday? I made my first-ever angel food cake…keep reading to see how it turned out!

We also made this year’s Paschal candle…I think this was our best effort ever!

The Great Vigil of Easter is still my favorite service of the whole church year…I love the meaning behind each different part!

On the way home, we stopped at Wendy’s for Frostys and fries:

Sunday morning dawned bright and beautiful!

One of my favorite traditions is taking pictures of the Fab Five by the baptismal font:

Of course, I took other pictures, too:

We also got a very nice family photo:

When we got home, we had Easter brunch (our first brunch of the day…stay with me!). I made biscuits and gravy, and we also had scrambled eggs, sausage patties, and a variety of mini donuts. And pomegranate juice, which has become something of a tradition.

It was a great first meal of the day!

We watched some of our favorite Easter specials, and I visited Zipper T. Bunny when I wasn’t working on our big meal.

I learned how to turn our napkins into flowers for Easter!

I love how pretty the Easter table always looks!

For Easter dinner, we had Easter brunch (again). But this was a fancier brunch suggested by Turkey, including eggs Benedict, breakfast casserole, bacon, waffles, a salmon and radish tart, fresh fruit, gouda tea sandwiches, blueberry muffins, and a cheese board.

It was fun (and delicious!) to do something so different for dinner!!!

For dessert, we had the angel food cake I made, served with strawberries and a cream cheese filling/frosting…it was really good!

Easter is, of course, the highlight of the church year, and our celebration this year at church and home was especially lovely!

Christmas 2022

We’ve had another happy Markel Family Christmas!

Our celebration started, as always, on Christmas Eve, with Christmas Crunch for breakfast:

I played Animal Crossing early, because I knew that might be my only opportunity to deliver gifts for Jingle and say “Merry Christmas” to Roald:

The Fab Five completed this year’s Advent project, the Lego Disney Castle.

Speaking of Disney, Ladybug and I made red velvet Mickey Mouse waffles for lunch:

And then we went to church. It was quite early for us…3 p.m. It was definitely different to go to Christmas Eve church when it was still so bright out!

It was even bright when we stopped to see the city of St. Louis Christmas tree after church…but that made it easier to see the snow on the ground. We finally had a white (and very cold) Christmas!

It was also still pretty bright when we drove through the Way of Lights, but after all these years, it was kind of cool to see it in a different way:

I took lots of pictures when we got home:

And we enjoyed some cake:

We played a couple games of Ticket to Ride: Nordic Countries. I suffered one of my greatest losses of all-time in the first game!

The theme for this year’s Christmas jammies was (surprise, surprise) Mickey Mouse:

I still always set up the Little People nativity scene before bed:

We almost kind of got to sleep in on Christmas Day…but just barely. Stockings were the first order of business:

And then our traditional Christmas morning coffee cake:

And then we headed back to church for the Christmas Day service.

We found time for a nice family photo:

After we got home, we opened presents.

And then I got to work putting together the “pick out dinner.”

I was once again very pleased with how my charcuterie board turned out!

It’s such a fun and delicious meal!

We had another little reminder of our vacation when I burned the Christmas candle we picked up at Disney Springs:

Yesterday was a pretty quiet day because we waited for today for our fancy Christmas dinner. The table looked especially nice with our (kind of) new glasses added to the place settings:

For dinner, I made a beef tenderloin, which turned out beautifully. We also had sautéed mushrooms, hasselback potatoes, roast Brussel sprouts with a balsamic glaze and dried cranberries, our favorite cherry Jell-O, and rolls:

It was delicious and elegant!

For dessert I made a pair of yule logs. I tried a new recipe for a red and green variety, which was delicious, but not as pretty as I wanted it to be. I also made a favorite gingerbread variety, which was delicious and pretty!

The whole season of Advent went by quite quickly, and so has the beginning of the Christmas season, but I’m looking forward to making the most of the days ahead!

Thanksgiving 2022

Time for a look back at our family’s Thanksgiving celebration, a three-day affair that always begins with Pie Day (Wednesday), and continues on through Black Friday.

On Thanksgiving morning, we watched the Macy’s Parade (which just wasn’t the same without Al Roker), and in between dinner preparations, I played a bit of Animal Crossing:

While we watched the Dog Show (we were thrilled that the adorable French Bulldog, Winston, won!), I got to work setting the table:

Instead of using a mix of stemmed glasses, this year, I set the table with our “regular” drinking glasses, which I purchased over the summer. They look pretty fancy, even though we use them everyday!

Dinner was ready earlier than I was expecting (I’m glad I checked the turkey when I did, because the pop-up timer, which I never use, had already popped), and I scrambled to get it all together. Our meal was fairly standard, with turkey and everyone’s favorite stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy, cranberry sauce, carrots and parsnips, green beans with almonds, Brussels sprouts, and rolls, plus one new dish, made with wild rice and mushrooms, that I really liked!

I think it was a pretty amazing feast!

For dessert, we had our standard seven pies, most of which were our usual picks, but I did make one new recipe for a cranberry curd tart with a shortbread crust:

I chose the two main Thanksgiving flavors, pumpkin and cranberry, for my dessert plate:

The next morning, we started the day with pie-for-breakfast…this time, I chose Nutella:

Then we went to see Moose march with his band in the town Santa parade:

Nothing beats a turkey sandwich on Rye bread for the after-Thanksgiving lunch!

I also tried the pecan pie…I updated my recipe, and I just had to see for myself how it turned out (really, really well, if you’re interested!):

This year’s Lego Winter Village set is an adorable Main Street complete with a streetcar:

For dinner, I made turkey soup (of course):

And then Moose, Chickadee, and I went downtown for the tree lighting:

I love our Thanksgiving traditions!

Oktoberfest (Finally!)

It’s a little later in the month than I would have preferred, but today we finally had our annual Markel Family Oktoberfest! It was a beautiful day, and I thought it was very fitting that we sung a hymn in church this morning that I remember my dad singing in German while I played the piano when I was a child.

I was excited to have a dirndl and lots of edelweiss accessories to wear this year:

When we got home from church, we had our traditional Oktoberfest lunch of fondue with brats, German pickles, and homemade pretzels:

I made most our dinner of schnitzel, spaetzle, rotkohl, and sauerkraut from scratch (the sauerkraut was the only store-bought item).

For dessert I made our favorite Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte:

Oktoberfest is a lot of work…like an actual holiday’s amount of work. But it is a holiday for us, and I love having a way share my heritage with my family!

Spargelparty

Last weekend was the first-ever Markel Family Spargelparty!

When I first came across the idea of an asparagus celebration in one of my Duolingo lessons, I think my family thought I was joking when I said it was something we should do this spring. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized I could run with the idea of a meal centered around asparagus…(and it even makes a pretty centerpiece, especially when you have all three colors Eckert’s offers!):

I picked five recipes, all of which were at least somewhat new. There was an asparagus tart, bacon-wrapped asparagus bundles, cream of asparagus soup, asparagus and bacon quiche, and sautéed asparagus with (homemade!) Hollandaise sauce. Many of recipes included lemon, nutmeg, or a combination, and I discovered both are great additions to asparagus dishes. The overwhelming favorite was the soup…it was smooth and delicious.

It was a very spring-y meal!

I offered to incorporate asparagus into our dessert, as well (perhaps an asparagus cheesecake?), but no one took me up on my offer. Instead, I used a mix from Dr. Oetker to make a Käse-Sahne Torte. German Girl in America’s website was very helpful in translating the directions on the box, and I also followed her tips of using plain Greek yogurt instead of the quark, which you can only find around here sometimes, and serving it with fresh strawberries. It was the perfect end to our celebration of spring!

For years I’ve told my children the story of how they ring the church bells in Germany when the asparagus season begins…I’m glad I found a way for us participate in this tradition of celebrating the arrival of spring in a uniquely German way here at home!

Easter 2022

Time for a look back at another Markel Family Easter, which started, as it does every year, on Maundy Thursday:

On Friday, I made hot cross buns (again), but this year, I tried a new recipe:

The Good Friday service was, as always, lovely and moving:

On Saturday morning, while we watched Rick Steves’ European Easter, we made our Paschal Candle for the year…I think this may be the nicest job we’ve ever done!

While I did have work to do on Saturday to prepare for our Easter dinner, most of the day was really spent waiting until it was finally time for my favorite service of the church year, the Great Vigil of Easter:

After church, we stopped at Wendy’s for Frostys and fries:

We’re still getting used to the fact that we don’t have to get up for a sunrise Easter service, so we felt a little more leisurely about getting ready. We were still at church early enough to take pictures outside:

And some indoors, including our traditional by-the-baptismal-font Easter pictures:

The church looked especially beautiful!

Ladybug even got to acolyte:

And we got a nice family picture after the service:

When we got home, I made Easter breakfast, which included Kaiserschmarrn (the Kaiser’s torn pancakes) with Rhabarberkompott (rhubarb compote), hard-boiled eggs (this is really the first time we’ve ever dyed eggs…you’ll see why in a minute), and pomegranate juice:

While we watched Easter Parade and My Big, Fat, Greek Wedding, I found time to play a little Animal Crossing: New Horizons so I could visit with Zipper T. Bunny. I also caught up with Roald, who was wearing an egg suit…I wonder if that’s what he looked like when he hatched?

I spent most of the rest of the day working on dinner and setting the table:

I chose an Italian theme for this year’s dinner. I served the same lamb in the slow cooker we had last year (technically Greek, but more generically Mediterranean, so close enough), lemon parmesan risotto, insalata caprese, roasted cauliflower, panzanella, breaded artichokes, capers, olives, Italian Easter bread, and lemon Italian soda.

I stuck with the Italian theme for dessert…we had cannoli and Italian sprinkle cookies:

This was an especially nice Easter. Maybe it’s because things felt more “normal” (I actually shook hands for the first time in over two years!), maybe it was because the church services were so meaningful, maybe it was because this may be the nicest Easter dinner I’ve ever made. Whatever the reason, I’m thankful we had such a wonderful celebration of Christ’s resurrection!