Sugar and Spice and Everything Nice: Gingerbread House Christmas Ornament

Happy New Year's Day, everyone! I hope you all had a wonderful New Year's Eve, whatever your plans turned out to be. We had a very quiet night here at The Newlywed Chefette, as Husband has been under the weather for the past few days. I hate it seeing him sick -- lucky for us, he does not get sick very often.

Illness aside, we had a really nice, mellow Eve-ning. I built a big fire, which was a hit with all of us:


Husband was going a little stir-crazy, so we took a brief drive down to Bellevue to look at the Christmas lights and decorations along the street around Bellevue Square for a jolt of Christmas spirit. They do such a GREAT job with the decorations -- the lights, giant snowflakes, and Nutcrackers instantly put a smile on even the Grinchiest of faces :)


We ate a light New Year's Eve Midnight Supper (more on the menu later -- easy, tasty, and won raves from Husband!), did "our" Christmas, watched the Times Square Countdown, and called it a night!

It was so hectic before the holidays, and Husband wasn't feeling good afterwards, that we hadn't had a chance to open our gifts to each other. What better way to ring in the new year than with a few presents?! :)

I got this gingerbread house ornament at Sur la Table for Husband as a 'stocking stuffer.' (and right now, they're on SALE!!) Husband's grandfather was an accomplished Danish baker (he owned several bakeries, and made cinnamon rolls for Ruby's and American Airlines), and he would bake a gingerbread house for the grandchildren each year. "REAL gingerbread," Husband has told me many times. :) It is a very special memory for Husband, and when I saw this ornament I thought it would be a beautiful reminder of those fun times.


Sur la Table has had really unusual, beautiful Christmas ornaments the last few years (at least that's when I discovered them!), and they make great gifts. I got these chocolate-covered strawberry ornaments last year for my sister-in-law who is obsessed with them (can you blame her?!) They had one last year that was a suitcase covered with the old travel stickers you'd see on suitcases in the 60s -- really cool, and I got it for my brother-in-law who loves to travel. I don't see it on the site now, but maybe they'll bring it back next year!

I am a crazed, cheese-obsessed fiend, so I'm considering starting my collection of these fantastic CHEESE Christmas ornaments (CHEESE ornaments!!! Who would have thought?!) this year, since they are now on sale. The Chevre one especially speaks to me (my dad didn't dub me the Goat Cheese Queen for nothing!)


This pickle jar ornament is hilarious, and I'm thinking it's a must for my aunt, who likes to make pickles, and my dad...who likes to eat them. Plus, it's a fun nod to my German heritage, and I love the tradition of the Christmas Pickle:


"An old German tradition—the last decoration placed on the tree was always a pickle, hidden carefully among the branches. Whoever found the pickle on Christmas morning was blessed with good fortune all year long." (or, you know, a Starbuck's card or whatever other little prize you want to use...!)

That "ornament" is actually a jar full of pickle ornaments, so you could have several people winning Starbuck's cards being blessed with good fortune for the coming year -- what fun!

I think we may need one of these Space Needle ornaments for our tree next year:


And given that Husband has coffee in his veins, we should probably have one of these adorable Espresso Machine ornaments, too:
I just noticed the Berry ornaments -- I think my dad needs one of the boysenberry ones since he grew them when I was growing up.


And I love this adorable Cupcake ornament:


This Rainbow Trout ornament would be great for my uncle who loves to fish,


and last but not least, Husband was living in San Francisco when we first started dating -- wouldn't these cable car and Golden Gate Bridge ornaments be a fun memento of our times in the city?!


Sooooo, maybe I should have titled this post "Ode to Sur la Table Christmas Ornaments"...?! Obviously, I love them and can come up with a reason to justify buying most of them and since Sur la Table might not be the first place you'd think of for Christmas ornaments, I wanted to share that little tip with you. (Especially since they are on sale right now!) "In person," they look just like they do in the photos -- some, even better. Really beautiful, well-made, and a unique addition to any tree.

Wishing you all a happy New Year's Day, and a wonderful 2010!