Carrot Souffl�

Grandfather Christmas 

One of my favorite things about the Holidays are the traditions. We all have things we do each year to cel�e�brate Christmas or Han�nukah or even New Years Eve and Day.

In my family we have quite a few. I've written about Ebleskiver and it wouldn't be Christmas without warm Gingie Cookies. One of my favorites though has nothing to do with food. Well, it kinda does. Sort of.

My Grandfather (Dad's Dad), was one of those people who would really put a lot of thought into a gift. As a kid, I didn't really get it, but as I grew older I under�stood and appreciated his presents more. One of my favorite, were the porce�lain fig�ures that he bought from Phair's (There's a blast from the past!), and attached to our Christmas gifts. Each one was hand-selected to match our per�son�al�i�ties. Mine was a duck in Vic�to�rian dress. Dad's was a bear with a three piece suit and glasses with a news�paper under his arm. My sister's was a cat, I think, also in Vic�to�rian dress. In later years the porce�lain was replaced by another set of fig�ures with Venetian masks a la the Three Mus�ke�teers. My mother used these fig�ures on the table for Christmas morning and Christmas Dinner as place markers for seating.

Now that Christmas morning has migrated to my sister's house, we no longer use the fig�urines. But my sister's wooden Mus�ke�teers make an appear�ance, and it always reminds us of him.

As far as I know, my mother still has all of the porce�lain fig�ures safely (I hope) tucked in a box. I have my Mus�ke�teer, and it is my favorite orna�ment for our tree. Every year he goes up, and every year I tell my kids "This was a gift I got from Gumpa".

Our menu for Christmas Dinner is always the same (yet another tra�di�tion!), and it was one Gumpa's favorites. The menu remains sliced BBQ Chateaubriand, Barley and Pine Nut Pilaf, and Carrot Souffl�. Below is the Carrot Souffl� recipe. It's easy, elegant and tasty with roasted meats.