CHRISTMAS BABY

I TOOK MY CHRISTMAS BABY out of town for a BIRTHDAY MEAL in Kansas City. He is turning 69 on CHRISTMAS EVE.  The weather was very agreeable and the traveling went well.  We dined at PIER POINTS in a alcove dining room one we had not been in before.

I think this is the 6th time we have dined here.  Three times in a back dining room, twice in the area with a high ceiling and now this alcove area.  I wonder if there are more areas I don't know about?  

I don't like loud people in expensive restaurants as it is annoying to listen to them while I dine knowing this meal is for A SPECIAL OCCASION costing a great deal of money and I don't want to listen to them.  JUST SAYING.

By the time the steak came to the table, the loud diners had exited the place.  That was a blessing. Hubby and I could talk to each other and enjoy the rest of the meal.

We started out with an appetizer of Baked Pimento Cheese with Cotija Cheese and Artichoke, Rosemary Focaccia bread and our favorite SMOKED GRAPES.  We had this for the first time a year ago when eating here at CHRISTMAS.  Liked it so much we had it again.

My salad came with sourdough bread and whipped butter.  This could have been enough of a meal to satisfy, but it wasn't over because I ordered a small Filet Mignon and Woodland Mushrooms.  Because it was my Husband's Birthday Celebration, a complementary Dessert was shared.  White Chocolate Bread Pudding.  

THE BUTTERNUT SQUASH SALAD was pretty good and I believe I could copy it at HOME if I tried really hard.  I drank water.  

The base of the salad was sweet baby kale, with diced butternut squash, green apple slices, pine nuts, dried cranberries, feta cheese, and maple cider dressing.  The dressing MADE the SALAD.  Truthfully, I could have stopped eating after having the appetizer and this salad.  If I were at HOME, I would have just ate the SALAD and called it GOOD.  

Hubby's Dinner Salad.

Hubby had a HUGE steak cooked just the way he likes.  14 oz. of steak is more than a man should have at one setting, but it was his Birthday choice.  

My 5 oz. chunk of steak looks HUGE here, 

but in reality it was VERY tiny.

By the time the meat is prepared, it has shrunk to a tiny delicious portion of meat.  I sliced the bitesize pieces extremely thin and chewed slowly.  This worked very well for me. 

Hubby always has after meal COFFEE with cream, no sugar.

THEN comes the DESSERT!

UNION STATION at CHRISTMAS is decked out and a pleasure to see in person.  So beautiful.

 I THINK EACH YEAR WE LOOK MORE and more LIKE MISTER AND MISSES CLAUS.
Merry Christmas from us to yous. 

THIS YEAR's TREAT IS A HALOGRAM OF A COUPLE SINGING.

ELF ON A SHELF made of LEGOS.

Just before entering the Station is this sweet RUSSELL STOVER truck.  

Oh so cute and clever.  Wish I had one.

We had a lovely evening in KANSAS CITY
together celebrating my HUSBAND's 69th Birthday to come. 

On the way HOME we stopped in TOPEKA to view the POTWIN PLACE NEIGHBORHOOD's decorated houses.  We drove through the neighborhood three times.  Perhaps next year we will park the car and walk the neighborhood.  A slower pace to see up close and personal all the houses that shine so bright.  

Marking off the TO DO LIST 
before the HOLIDAY is over for the year.

Merry Christmas and a very HAPPY BIRTHDAY to you who celebrate that special day around CHRISTMAS TIME.

By the way, my HUSBAND's Mother's name is MARY.
I miss her.

I prayed the other day to be delivered from being such a harsh individual.  That God would transform me into the woman HE wants me to be.  I've had enough bah humbug moments in life.  Let me be the woman of God that I should be.

GOD BLESS US ONE AND ALL,
~d