We went into planning an Enjoy at Home Christmas Dinner with some trepidation - with so many across the country struggling right now, celebrating anything out loud needs some context. The most obvious reason for optimism is that we are inexorably heading toward the finish of a year we can’t wait to see in the rear view mirror, but here you go: four stand alone reasons to spend some time enjoying the notion, the magic, the much needed hopefulness in the Holiday Season 2020.
1. Anything that strengthens connection right now is good - in spite of the fact that raising a glass on Zoom is not what any of us ever envisioned for Christmas, certainly not for New Year’s Eve. Still, if, on the other side of that screen you get to see beloved relatives and friends, it’s going to be a shot in the arm while we patiently await a real shot in the arm that can actually bring us together in person again.
2. Kids sure aren’t to blame for what’s happening in the world right now, and they have reasons to love Christmas that the pandemic shouldn’t touch. Whatever your feeling about shopping mall Santas and the commercialization of Christmas, this is a holiday full of the best kind of wistful thinking, and it comes with the tag line “don’t be naughty, be nice.” There’s a soft moral in there that’s good to be reminded of, whatever your age.
3. If you are blessed enough to be healthy and financially secure this holiday season, it’s a great time to spread some of that wealth around your community. For us it’s about keeping people employed doing what they love - cooking and farming and making things - but every shop in Healdsburg, Windsor, Cloverdale, Santa Rosa - every town in our beautiful part of California - will tell you the same thing: the big box companies will survive this pandemic. We might not. Support small retail this Holiday, enjoy safe distance dining and if we all must pivot to TO GO then patronize your favorite local restaurants, especially those that support the food shed. It will make you feel good; it will certainly make all of us feel good.
4. This is the big one. Celebrating lifts the spirits, great food and drink feeds the soul, so try to find a way to make a small but joyful noise this Holiday. We had incredible feedback from our sold out Thanksgiving feast, but we are still finding our way through this new dining paradigm, as you are. Planning the menu wasn’t hard - Jordan loves celebration meals (take a look, below) but initially we weren’t feeling it. Then Chef Neidy and I started playing around with antique Christmas decorations, pâte à choux, little towers of meringue entwined with sparkly ribbon and something crazy happened. Even the god awful red feathers which no one admits to buying years ago but make their return year after year rewarded us with delight. It was momentary, but inspirational. Neidy is going to bake seven different varieties of Christmas cookies with recipes from around the world for Christmas Dinner. Jordan has sourced beautiful hams - in fact the entire meal will be sourced from Sonoma County. Take a look at the full menu below, and keep scrolling for very special bottle offerings. We are thrilled to have Evan Hufford and Ryan Knowles - both previously at Single Thread - as our Somms in residence this year. In the run up to the holidays, Evan has made it his special mission to root through our cellars and pull some great bottles out to share. Meanwhile, over in Barland, Terra’s incredible Three Generation Punch will be included with the dinner and we are planning to shake up some classics like Why Bears Do It with fresh apple juice from the 2020 harvest and a new Tequila FLIRT. We are also happy to send you Barndiva versions of whatever libations you have in mind for the holidays.
Booking for the dinner is now live on the website. We’d love to cook for you. Cheers!
