TheChamCham : There's No Place Like Home For the Holidays

Seasons Greetings to all.

When My Mr. Cham asked what our Christmas theme would be this year, I honestly did not know what to say, because I had not thought about it. I was so glad to be back in our own home, that I had completely forgotten to make any plans for the holidays. Now, it was certainly not the first time that I have had to make or break, or change plans on short notice, due to My Mr. Cham's former (YAY!) occupation, and he says that I actually work better that way. Well, I do not know about that, but I thanked him just the same.

I turned to our video library, and my cookbooks, for inspiration and six days before Christmas Eve, I decided on a Southern theme.

As you know, I was born in Louisiana, on a sugar cane plantation. We also raise our own Thoroughbreds. A few years after my father's untimely death, we decided to sell most of the land, keeping the smaller of the two homes, the stables and the acreage around them. It made me very sad to do so, considering that it had been in my father's family since the 18th century, but the new owners of the land have continued to grow sugar cane and the house is still standing, so that is something.

Until recently, my mother divided her time between the farm and her house in Florida and Mr. Cham and I with our home in New York. I grew up there and spent many wonderful Southern Christmases, but the last was
the year that my father died.

We did not have plans to go there for the holidays this year, but being prevented from doing so by the travel lockdown, only makes me miss it more. I have not seen any of the horses for eleven months, although our longtime farm manager and our trainer have been wonderful about keeping us supplied with pictures, video and updates via telephone and email. It is not the same. I miss spending time with them at the farm and at the racetrack. They may be just machines to some, but to us and to many others involved in racing, they are our pets, our friends and our family. No different from dogs and cats. Our last homebred was foaled in March and after much deliberation, we have decided not to breed anymore. Sadly, with the lockdown of so many racetracks and the closing of others, it appears that racing in the U.S. may be in the final furlong. I hope not, but we have to be realistic.

We never sell our runners when they leave the track, they are sent back to our farm, and I need to think ahead about how many can be provided for with a lifetime home and care. I only have available barn space for two more and Mr. Cham and I have discussed sending his saddle horse there when we go to Japan. He has not had any equine companionship since we moved him here from his boarding stable last year (the owner's sold to developers) and our housesitters have told us that they plan to stay in Canada even if the ban is lifted eventually). At the farm he would have a lot of friends and the best care and our dog is related to our farm manager's three dogs, so we think that he would be happier and less lonely there too. We have also discussed taking a few of the horses to Japan with us, as the house is in a rural area, but we want to go over and get the lay of the land beforehand.

So we had a simple Christmas this year. A simple meal, snuggling by the fire watching a few of our favorite Christmas themed pictures, and feeding homemade treats to our pets and the nearby animals. Presents were simple and homemade too, mostly edible.

We began with Lily's delicious cinnamon rolls with coffee and hot chocolate.

Dinner was fried chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy, and sweet corn.

Apple cranberry compote

And for dessert

Lily made little cherry pies

And I made a big batch of Mr.Cham's favorite chocolate chip cookies.

And I sent boxes of peanut brittle and chocolate walnut and peanut butter fudge to my mother and Miss Belle. Hopefully we will all be together next year.

I expressly forbade Mr. Cham from giving me any presents this year, as the gift of my childhood dream will take care of every holiday for the next ten or twenty years! He just chuckled, as he does, and after breakfast I found several packages under the tree. That man.

Our movie choices were

Little Women (1949)