Hi, everyone!
Last Saturday, Grandma and Grandpa took me to Tuba Christmas! Tuba Christmas happens all over the country this time of year, and we go to the one in Rochester when we can. Low brass instrument players come from all over the area to play Christmas carols, and the sound is very special! We always sit in the balcony, because that’s where the tuba and baritone blend sounds best! This year, Santa Claus was sitting right up front! I never knew that Santa played a double-belled euphonium! The audience sings along with every carol after the tubas and baritones play it first. Grandpa helped me with the words in the program, but he and Grandma know all the carols by heart!
Yesterday was Grandma and Grandpa’s annual stollen party. When I got up, Grandma already had a batch of stollen dough rising in the kitchen. By the time my best buddies Joe-san and Nancy-san and Moose-san came to help, the first batch of stollen was in the oven baking and the second batch was ready to shape. Moose-san and I helped Nancy-san decorate the first batch when they came out of the oven, then we helped Joe-san relax before everybody else came! I get to see lots of my friends when they come to sip soup and select a stollen to take home. I try to be a very good host and make everybody feel welcome!
La Vache almost forgot to come! Her grandma had to go home to get her! I was happy to see La Vache at my party and to introduce her to Moose-san and my other friends. Later in the afternoon, Papa Dick-san brought Rudy, too! My church friend Deb-san was the last guest to arrive. My people friends came and went all day, but La Vache and Moose-san got to stay!
This year, La Vache helped Moose-san and me keep track of all the stollen waiting to be chosen. When the party was over, we put the leftover stollen in plastic bags so they would stay fresh. Then we had time to play under the Christmas tree and make some music at the piano. We had some quiet time before we all went to bed for our sleepover!
This morning, we helped Grandma make a coffee cheesecake. We were in charge of all the ingredients! La Vache said she should be in charge of all the dairy products, since she’s a cow and that’s her specialty. Moose-san and I were in charge of the chocolate ganache, but we didn’t tell La Vache it has cream in it! After the chocolate and coffee fillings were made, we helped Grandma mix them into pretty swirls. We watched the cheesecake start to bake in the oven, too!
The cheesecake took a long time to bake, and then it had to cool in the oven with the door closed for even longer! La Vache and Moose-san and I decided we would watch the snow melting outside, instead of watching the cheesecake. Then the mail came and the new seed catalog was in it! Moose-san was disappointed that there weren’t more aquatic weeds in the catalog, but we all took turns picking out the vegetables we hope get planted in our gardens next spring. The pictures look so yummy that it’s hard to choose! Moose-san is leading a parade to see the Christmas lights in his neighborhood tonight, so he had to go home. La Vache and I hugged him goodbye when Joe-san picked him up.
Moose-san didn’t get to see the cheesecake come out of the oven, but look pretty it is! Tomorrow Grandma will put more ganache on top and nobody will see those nice swirls again! I’m glad La Vache was here to see them. It’s fun, having friends over for parties!
Love,
Lion-san
Moose-san had a great time at the party. He was happy to meet La Vache too! He had fun at the sleepover, liked helping with the cheesecake and boy did that look good! He had fun at the parade around the neighborhood! All the houses had pretty decorations.