mumura

I am the unhappy recipient of a horrific pre-holiday flu bug. Enjoyment of the holiday festivities was put on hold completely last week while I slept and recovered. Unfortunately its a stubborn little bugger and hasn’t let me move on from it easily. Hopefully I will magically be restored to health this week just in time to jump on a plane home to Seattle, WA for the holidays!

I am looking forward to seeing my Mom and Dad, relaxing by the fire in my childhood home and sharing a toast to an amazing year filled with celebrations and setbacks. My fiance and his parents will be joining us as well – The Cahill’s first Christmas “on-the-road”!

So we will have a mixing of American and British traditions, i.e. the Cahills will experience salmon on Christmas day as opposed to Turkey (which is more of a Thanksgiving thing for the Marshalls). Also on the menu will be vast amounts of Marshalls traditional Christmas cookies that my Mom and sister have dutifully made in huge quanitites over the last 20 years of my life. I have joined in when I have been home but recently that has been rare. As my sister lives in Minnesota now, the two of them make separate batches (i.e. even MORE cookies…). Over the last few years my mum started organising an annual cookie exchange for our family and friends. Everyone brings over some homemade cookies and we all trade for ones that we like (yes, some do get left completely untouched…i.e. don’t make fruitcake please – it doesn’t go over well in America).

Hennessy  and Jamesons will feature as an evening tipple for the nights during the two weeks together (definitely a Cahill thing – my Dad takes his Whiskey in his back room while playing a game of solitaire on the computer. I first really tried brandy on my engagement day in Castlerea, Ireland when Martin’s dad, Shaun was taking us around to visit his Aunty Biddy and give her the good news. Aunty Biddy greeted us with a bottle of Hennessy and quickly sat us down with a Large glass and a splash of ginger ale. We toasted and hooped with delight – and drank three or four brandys together – all well before noon).

Christmas shopping will be done at a “mall” – a gigantic monstrosity where unabashed commercialisation is tantamount and the festive season comes alive. Boxing day is spent at the mall as well: you get up at 5AM, hop in the car, stop at Starbucks for your grande latte (eggnog if you dare), and thrust yourself into the throngs of “deal-seekers”. What do you get for this you ask? Answer: HUGE queues/lines, obnoxious and cranky people (in vast quantities) and some pretty slammin’ discounts (word). Is it worth it? Ask any of the Marshall women and you will get a resounding YES. Dad likes it too – Nordstrom (his fav shop) generally had some sales on too… The Cahills are aware and very wary of this tradition.

Now, as this is a WINE blog, I should probably relate all of these wonderful musings back to our favorite thing – What wines will we be toasting with, sobbing over, sleeping next to (you know you’ve done it) or just enjoying with the people who matter the most to you in life? My answer is likely a mish-mash of my Dad’s taste in wine and my own. My dad is a BIG Washington State fan – Cabernet is his all time classical favorite but he also enjoys Merlot, Zinfandel and Riesling. Though I have historically been a Oregonian pinot noir lover at Christmas time, last year I featured a few Kiwi classics that I picked up while Martin and I were touring the South Island. I may keep those cellared for this year however in favor of my newfound understanding of French wines. I am hoping to tour the wine shops in Seattle and pick out some great Burgundy, Cotes du Rhone and perhaps a bit of Bordeaux to compare to Washington’s Cabernet/Merlot. That said, I will no doubt revel in being close to the great wine growing areas in Washington, Oregon and to a lesser extent (personal taste only) California. So watch this space and send me any ideas you have.

Enjoy the silly season!!