Jordan Hollow's Literary Christmas Eve Dinner

Mary and I had a fine evening at Jordan Hollow last year and long ago made plans to return this year, if things turned out that way. We missed being with family this year, but it turned out that we were well taken care of at the inn. We made reservations for 7:30 - I knew I'd be working until noon, at least, so we needed just a little extra time in case of traffic (which there was) and in case we got away later than 3pm (which we did).

We were right on time for the reservation - here is the entry to the farm house inn there on the property. We were greated by a number of barn cats as we walked up. This fuzzy one was quiet, but a few of them were quite vocal in welcoming us.

On the way to the inn, we stopped off quickly at the cabin to drop off the dogs. There was a message from Jordan Hollow, they'd planned to close at 8pm, so if we were going to be late, we wouldn't likely find them open. We later learned that we were the only reservation; however they stayed open for us and we really had a great evening there.

The chef, Jarret, was our server as well as the menu designer and preparer. He'd taken inspiration from a number of sources for this meal - O'Henry, Dickens, Seuss, among them. We sat in the wood paneled room of the original cabin, shown here in these photos.

After we sat down, we started with some beverages; Mary had a peppermint martini, and I had the house red, a cab this evening.

Inspired by "The Gift of the Maggi" - the appetizer was a selection of cheeses. Next up, a Dickensian "cockaleeky soup" - with chicken, root vegetables, and leeks. And the main course - roast goose, Mary's choice, and roast beast, my choice. Finishing up was the choice of rice or figgy pudding - Mary chose the figgy pudding, which was flambe'd at the table!

All in all we were treated well and had a great evening there. I'm sure that any visitor would receive the same hospitality we did, but the sense we got of their commitment really impressed.