Homemade Christmas & Pork Loin with Wine and Herb Gravy

Christmas is like candy; it slowly melts in your mouth sweetening every taste bud, making you wish it could last forever.

Richelle E. Goodrich

Years ago, BC (before children) Ninja and I spent months making all of our Christmas gifts for our parents, siblings, and friends. We made trays of flavoured salts, different types of liqueurs, flavoured oils, candles, bath bombs, knitted scarves, mittens, touqes, wood burned drumsticks, and so much more that I can’t remember because I didn’t know what a blog was and I didn’t own a camera 😂.

I used to painstakingly cut out Christmas tags and I used tweezers to glue beautiful little mittens and other handcrafted beads onto each tag lovingly.

Then we had HBear and the homemade gifts turned into little crafts from her and perhaps one item per extended family member that I could manage to get done over the year.

Then we had SBean and homemade Christmas gifts ceased to exist 😂. Of course, I still make each family a calendar filled with pictures of our past year but essentially our homemade gift giving became homemade Christmas crafts for the Girl's classmates.

This year, SBean was very clear in what she wanted to get her sister. She wanted to get her a giant photo album and fill it with pictures of HBear since she was born! We have pictures up all over our house that I change up quarterly, when I take down all of the 4x6s, I put them in a box… Or 2 😂 SBean went through the entire 2 boxes and filled up 300 spots in the 500 picture photo album! ❤️ I just know how much HBear is going to love it and it makes my heart burst thinking of all the time SBean spent creating such a special gift for her big Sister.

HBear was also very clear in what she wanted to get her sister for Christmas this year. A necklace holder. SBean loves accessories! Necklaces are her favorite! We went to Claires and to a few other places but none of them were what she was looking for. She had poked around on Pinterest and had many ideas about the perfect necklace holder 😂 using our creative imaginations we came up with this! HBear is so proud of her beautiful work and I know SBean is going to freaking love it!

First, Ninja and HBear drilled little holes in the bottom of a scrap board they found in the garage.

Then, they painted the board with black high gloss spray paint.

We picked out some cool fonts and HBear picked out the perfect saying and we printed it up... backwards!! HBear went over the font using a piece of white chalk and then we placed it on the board and gently rubbed the back. When we lifted the paper, the words were there for HBear to trace out using a silver metallic marker and hot pink glitter glue!

Lastly, Ninja and HBear added the hooks to the bottom and a hanger on the back!

Ta Da! 2 beautiful gifts made with love ❤️

This week on How Was Your Week, Honey? Episode 98: Words are Hard at Christmas We chat about the week before Christmas, Christmas traditions and Christmas shopping! Check out all the holiday fun, HERE!

A few weeks ago Ninja was telling me how he was craving a delicious roasted pork tenderloin. Pork isn’t my favourite so I said, “have at ‘er!” I found a recipe and he made us the most mouthwatering, delicious, and satisfying Sunday dinner I’ve had in a long time! This dinner is easy enough for a weekday, comforting enough for a Sunday family dinner, and elegant enough for a holiday feast with friends! This Pork Loin with Wine Gravy will NOT disappoint!

Pork Loin with Wine and Herb Gravy
Adapted from Seasons and Suppers

1/4 cup oil
5 cloves garlic peeled and sliced in half lengthwise
2 Tablespoons rosemary, chopped
1/4 cup sage leaves, roughly chopped
2 - 1 lb. pork tenderloins
1 1/4 cups dry white wine
1/2 cup chicken stock
1/2 cup heavy cream

Heat the oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Saute the garlic, rosemary and sage, stirring, for about one minute. Add the pork loin to the pan, carefully placing it on top of the herbs. Saute the pork for about 5 minutes on each side, then remove it to a plate.

Add the wine to the pan and use a wooden spoon to scrape the bottom of the pan. Cook until the smell of the alcohol has disappeared, about 1 to 2 minutes.

Reduce heat to medium-low heat. Return the pork to the pan and season with salt and pepper. Partially cover with a lid and cook for about 45 minutes -1 hour, flipping the pork and scraping the bottom of the pan every 20 minutes or so. Keep an eye on it, making sure there continues to be some liquid in the pan. Add 1/4 cup of warm water if necessary.

When the pork is cooked through (if you want to test with a thermometer, it should be about 140-145° internal temperature.) Remove pork to a cutting board to rest and cover with loosely with a sheet of aluminum foil to help retain the heat while it rests.

Increase the heat in the pan to medium. Deglaze with a splash of white wine if needed. Stir well to loosen the browned bits on the bottom of the pan. Allow to cook until the alcohol smell disappears (about 1-2 minutes). Add the chicken stock and stir to combine. Heat over medium heat for a few minutes. Reduce heat to medium-low. Add the cream. Heat gently over medium-low heat, stirring the sauce constantly, until it thickens a bit and is warmed through. If your sauce doesn't thicken up, mix a slurry of 2 tablespoons of cornstarch with 2 tablespoons of water and add a bit at a time to your sauce until it thickens to your liking. Add salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste.

When the sauce is ready, slice the pork very thinly and pour the warm gravy over-top to serve.

This week was the big lead up to… Christmas!

HBear's class and their gr. 1 buddies went for a long walk midweek to burn off some of the Xmas excitement 😂.

The festivities kicked off on Friday morning at our 6th Annual RoadRunner’s Pancake Breakfast! For the past few years I have helped put it on but this week was a work week so I took a giant step back. Ninja and I went for the first hour to help out and we were lucky enough to see SBean enjoy the fun with her friends! Thankfully my GR2Besty took pictures of HBear for me!

 

 

On Friday I went to the LAST Christmas Recital of 2018 😳! HBear's vocal choir from Balance Performing Arts Studio was asked to sing 3 songs at the Aidan Mayes School of Muisc Winter Recital. It was so sweet! All the kids sang and played their instruments so well 💕.

When we got home from the recital, we celebrated Christmas "morning" with Dad! He left for Christmas in Cochrane the next day so we pretended it was Christmas morning complete with stockings, present an orange and... cocktails 😂 🤗!

 

On Saturday we helped Papa with his last bit of packing and then dropped him off at the airport.

 

Speaking of homemade gifts, we received a BEAUTIFUL made with love dream catcher from my Gr2Besty! It matches our bedroom perfectly! The Girls also received sweet treats 😍!

 

SBean finished up her wrapping and then Ninja took the Girls to Skate with Santa! SBean LOVES skating... fast! SBean ran into her PSBesty at the rink and they were zipping around the rink in no time! HBear, not so much. She is very cautious but she tries 💛.

Of course some delicious hot cocoa and Mario Cart is the perfect way to end a great day!

SBean really grew attached to Maynard, our Elf, this year. She talked to him every day and really tried to convince him to put her on the nice list even if she was just a little bit naughty 😂.

As Christmas approached, I got that feeling of nostalgia and really began missing snow. It just wasn't making me happy to see bright green grass instead of white fluffy snow. So, we went searching for snow! Without going all the way up to the ski hill, we drove up enough to see a small sprinkle of snow. My need for snow was somewhat appeased, at least for the moment lol.

After our snow adventure, Ninja took the Girls to his parents to work on some Clay Creations!

That evening we continued the book Maynard brought for us, The Girl Who Saved Christmas. We each took turns reading a chapter, all 4 of us!

Then Christmas Eve finally arrived! SBean decorated her mini tree with all her LEGO ornaments she received in her advent calendar.

 

HBear helped me prep our Christmas Eve dinner! Recipes to come!

Maynard left us our Christmas Eve box with a neat little message, check with Google?!?!? We asked Google how much time was left until we could open the box and she said, "7 hours, 22 minutes and 15 seconds" Over the course of the day the Girls asked every 6 minutes or so 😂. At 2:25 we finally opened the box! We received our Xmas pjs, hot chocolate, Christmas crackers and confetti poppers, Mike and Ikes, a Xmas game, and Miracle on 34th Street!

 

After we opened the box we went to the Christmas Eve service at the Bethel Church. I love Christmas Eve at church. The sense of community and love is overwhelming. The Girls LOVE singing carols and being involved in good Christmas cheer.

 

When we got home from church, dinner was ready! After we had an amazing dinner, we went on our annual light hunt and then came home and lit our sparklers to show Santa that we were ready for him!

And then it was Christmas morning!!!! This was our 1st time celebrating Christmas on our own without the grandparents. It was... different. Santa brought SBean a new dollhouse with LOLs inside! HBear got a Tween box. A stunning jewelry box filled with, face masks, Clinique lipgloss, nail polish and her 1st perfume, Daisy from Marc Jacobs! We all got spoiled! It was a fantastic morning spent opening presents, hugging and filled with excitement!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This year we made my Mom's Special Christmas breakfast using leftover ham from the night before. For the Girls, I made them something super special, Gingerbread Waffles! They were delicious!!! Recipe to come!

After breakfast and cleanup we went up to visit Mom. We shared a shot of her favourite, Frangelico! Then we were off to Christmas #2 at my InLaws! We had such a fantastic time! Beautiful presents, the BEST turkey dinner complete with a yule log cake and Christmas songs sung by the Girls!

 

We had an amazing Christmas. The whole holiday filled my heart with love. I hope each and everyone of you had a special holiday filled with memories that you will hold in your heart forever.

Merry Christmas from my family to yours ❤️.

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