Life Cycle of a "Connect Alien"

by Shia (for Jeffrey)

2010 Christmas with the Natwicks/Bintliffs

I wanted to do two posts about our Christmas so that I could talk about our traditions in a little more detail. We begin our holidays with a little family Christmas at our house and then pack up the car and head to Williston and it goes a little something like this:

 Frances patiently watching over her bbq ribs that she begins making 2 days ahead to be served on Christmas day.  We, unfortunately, do not get to partake in the eating of ribs......we have to "suffer" through fillet mignon made by my Dad. When I say "suffer" I mean mouth watering, cut it with a butter knife, died and gone to heaven - suffering.

 The kumla making begins around 9 a.m. with these girls.  For the last few years they have been in charge of the potato peeling.  I think it is around 30 pounds of potatoes that they peel and it takes them about 1 1/2 to 2 hours to complete.

 Of course they have a good cheerleader.

 Whilst our girls are slaving away the rest of us like to stay informed current events and the weather of course.

 At around 11 a.m. these 2 guys come in.  I don't know what exactly happens but I do know that there is a lot of potato mashing, a lot flour, and at one point I remember a hack saw being involved. 

 

The end result is this: gray, softball size, pieces of deliciousness that are then slathered through butter.  Then next day we slice it, fry it and slather it in more butter.  Ooo it's so good! 

 

 

Christmas day, after fried kumla, we head to Watford City.  After W.C. we get in the car and drive to Fargo for a day to regroup and then head to Minneapolis to be with Matt's Mom, his siblings and their families.

This works great because we get to celebrate this lady.  Matt's mom: Gayle.  She is amazing to say the least.  Her birthday is December 29th.  It is so good to have everyone together on this day.

This year we went to a wonderful restaurant called Bucca.  It is an Italian restaurant where the food is served family style.  So fun!

 

The icing on the cake was just that - the icing on this cake.  

This beauty is a Tres Leche cake and it is sinful!