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Saturday, December 9, 2023

Christmas Cookie Exchange

The first Christmas cookie exchange I organized was in 2019.  Then covid hit, so it was a bit difficult to have the exchange.  Last year was the first time I was able to organize a nice sized cookie exchange.  Since everyone had so much fun we decided to do it again this year.  Unfortunately, the place where we had it last year has closed down, so I needed to find another spot. I found a GREAT new spot to have the cookie exchange and this year was another success.  We had some women from the event last year join again and we also had a lot of new faces.  It was so nice to try everyone's cookies and no one made the same cookie.  We had a little contest to see who had the most unique, most artistic and best cookie.  Just as I was finished counting the votes, one lady showed up and could've competed for most artistic! After all the cookie tasting, we played musical chairs to determine the order for Secret Santa.  It has been YEARS since I have played musical chairs and it was so fun to do so again.  When we finished musical chairs, we opened the presents and no one ended up stealing anyone else's present.  Everyone loved what they got.  It was a very successful Secret Santa exchange.  The rest of the afternoon was spent eating and chatting.  I had a wonderful time and I think everyone else did as well.  Thank you all for coming and see you at next year's cookie exchange!


                                                         Magic Bars won BEST Cookie!



                                                   

                                                        musical chairs for Secret Santa order
                                                                     
                                                                who will win???
                                                            I ended up winning!
                                                        choosing gifts from the Christmas tree
                                                    opening presents

                                          apparently this bottle was from last year's Secret Santa
                                                     everyone with their Secret Santa presents
                                                                    Slovakia
                                                                Israel
                                                        Germany
                                                                    Germany
                                                                Israel
                                                                        India
                                                                    Macedonia
                                                                        Iran
                                                                     Slovakia  10,380
                                                                    Slovakia
                                                                            everyone!

Tuesday, December 5, 2023

X-Mas Potluck

It was time for the monthly potluck and this month we decided to do it Christmas theme.  What would "Christmas" food look like? I randomly came up with the idea to make a pizza and use veggies to write Merry X-Mas on it.  I taught my friends how to make the pizza dough. When it was time to decorate I told one friend what to do with the veggies.  She did a wonderful job and the pizza ended up looking great! Plus it was yummy! Our Colombian friend made arepas and they were great as well.  For dessert, I made rice krispies. I wanted to make them red, but I forgot to take into account that red mixed with white equals pink, oops! It was the first time for my friends to try rice krispie treats and they devoured them! After food we played UNO to decide the Secret Santa order of opening gifts.  However, no one stole anyone else's presents because everyone was happy with what they got.  It was a really fun night.  The next potluck will be in January!  (Before the dinner I had a lesson with a student and we made dalgona candy.  I wanted to show what they ended up looking like. Then I took quick photos of the lights at Karlovo Namesti.)  It was a very nice day.

                                                          my student and I made dalgona
                                                        I broke my dalgona.......
                                                            dalgona milk= YUM



                                                                    time to decorate

                                                                  before the oven
                                                            finished product!
                                                                Colombian arepas



                                                            rice krispie treats
                                                                Kazakhstan   10,370
                                                                        India
                                                            memories from October
                                                                time to play UNO
                                                           with our Secret Santa gifts

                                                                   

Sunday, December 3, 2023

SAPA

LeoÅ¡ and I went to SAPA and normally we ALWAYS go to the same pho place, but we really wanted to try something new.  LeoÅ¡ did a bit of research and found a small restaurant that a few blogs raved about.  The bun cha was absolutely amazing.  The bun bo nam bo was really good too.  Then I realized that the place next door was a place that my student's father really enjoys.  He always gets fresh spring rolls from the place.  I decided to get it to go and it was a GREAT decision.  The rolls were wonderful.  I'm quite happy that we decided to branch out to new places this time around. We will most definitely return to the two restaurants!

                                                      appropriate hat considering where it was made
                                                            bun bo nam bo
                 best bun cha in Prague (they have a certificate stating this in the restaurant)
                                                        fresh rice paper spring rolls