A Christmas party done right!

Aaron left last week, heading back to the cold Illinois winter.  For our last meal together in the Low Country we went back to the Oyster Factory Restaurant in Blufton to eat oysters and shrimp until we couldn't hold any more, then stopped at the Hilton Head Diner for cake.  I was so full of seafood that I could not even finish my chocolate cake, and when have I not been able to eat chocolate?

The winter here is colder than usual for Hilton Head, but that is pretty much "normal" for us.  In our first winter in Arizona, the locals talked about how unusually cold it was.  The summer we were in Nova Scotia, the locals talked about how unusually overcast it was.  We have come to expect to hear the phrase "it's never been this ____ before!"; fill in the blank with wet, rainy, cold, hot, humid - anything except what the area is known for!  But it doesn't really matter, where ever we are is a lot better than where we could be, and every adventure is different.

This weekend we went to the Staff Christmas party at Michael Anthony's Cucina Italiana.  My food pictures didn't turn out well, but I wasn't really paying much attention to photography - I was busy eating!  We started with a nice Antipasto tray, followed by a salad course.  I had greens with poached pears and candied walnuts, while Randy had Carpaccio di Manzo, which is thin-sliced raw beef with dressing.  He followed that with more beef - filet minion with a Sangiovese reduction and mushroom garnish. I was happy to find Gnocchi on the menu - I always love that.  For dessert Randy picked the sample platter, but I had the "Profiterole alla Chiccolata", which was a lot like chocolate lava cake - excellent!

In between the courses we had the White Elephant gift exchange.  Each White Elephant gift exchange has it's own rules; this time the rules were "only 2 steals during each person's turn".  So a gift could be stolen twice during my turn, but during the next person's turn it could be stolen again.  The bottle of Grey Goose when through several owners before ending up at Randy's place.  Me?  I walked off with a box full of chocolate!

One year ago: RV Remodeling

Two years ago: Beautiful birds of Okeechobee

Three years ago: What the heck is Slab City?

Four years ago: Weird Cactus Things