Christmas dinner was a bit different this year. Normally I fix lasagna or chicken parmesan with spaghetti, meatballs and all the fixings for Christmas dinner. It is quite a spread; everyone is in gastric overload by the time we are done. But this year, because I am still not one hundred percent from my surgery at Thanksgiving, my son and daughter-in-law decided to undertake dinner. Not a small feat considering they have two daughters under five and they also host Christmas Eve dinner for her side of the family and Christmas morning brunch for his father’s side of the family. For dinner we had a selection of three different soups, three kinds of crusty bread and a selection of veggies and cheeses.

It was pure genius on my daughter-in-law’s part. It was a relaxed light offering with delicious choices, good conversation and plenty of wine to go around. The soup choices were butternut squash, chicken noodle and beef vegetable and of course I had to sample them all. What kind of guest would I be if I didn’t try them all?

One of the wines we had was a Pinot Noir from Sebastopol, California. It was called Londer from Anderson Valley, 2009 with 14.3% alcohol. Their website is http://www.londervineyards.com. It was a really nice wine with a spicy peppery taste. It was dry and a touch sweet at the same time. The wine was a light wine not a big heavy wine like a Cab. It went really well with the soups and bread. This is one that I am definitely going to look for at the store.

We even did a gin tasting. I had no idea that there was that much difference in gins. We tasted a Bombay Sapphire, Hendricks and Ransom Old Tom Gin. Of the three my favorite was the Ransom Old Time Gin. It was an amber color, which surprised me. I thought all gin was clear, evidently not. There was a slight taste of caramel which softened the juniper taste. Second was the Hendricks, it did not have the strong juniper bite that the Bombay did. I was really surprised that I could drink gin at all. I am not a big liquor drinker. In my younger dumber days it was tequila straight up, but that ages you fast. Now in my old age I stick to wine. It is much safer, for me.