Christmas in Portland

This year we celebrated Christmas in Portland, Oregon with Michael's side of the family. We did some last-minute gift shopping, got our nails painted, and visited the local pottery shop for the kids to make their own ornaments. In addition, we enjoyed the Christmas Eve and Sunday services at Athey Creek church.

Another big part of Christmas, of course, was the food. One Sterrett family tradition is to have a big pot of wassail on the stove. I'm not sure of the exact recipe, but this year's version was egg-free and alcohol-free so the kids could drink it, too. And on Christmas Eve we had the traditional dinner of turkey, dressing, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, and green beans.

Before and after Christmas we also enjoyed going out to eat. Thursday night we had a babysitter come so that the adults could eat out together. We went to the Macaroni Grill, which has excellent allergy information sheets so Michael knew exactly what he could order. To no surprise, he got steak and red wine, which he said were great -- he would happily go back for more. On our last night in Oregon we had eaten up most of the leftovers, so we decided to go out to eat again, this time with the kids. We went to Typhoon, a Thai restaurant chain in the Portland area with notations on its menus as to which foods are gluten-free. We especially liked the chicken satay, tom kha gai soup, Thai yellow curry, and phad Thai, and we'd love to go back the next time we're in the Portland area. Perhaps next time we'll also make it over to Bob's Red Mill to take a tour and have lunch.