No power? No problem!

Saturday evening we made the trek up north to celebrate Christmas with Trav's extended family at Great Grandma Fran's house. Usually this is done on Christmas Eve, but due to many schedule conflicts the party was held on Saturday.

As we neared Gma's house, I started noticing some of her neighbor's houses were dark. The bar on the corner was dark as well. Strange for a Saturday night.

Sure enough, when we arrived to Gma's house, it was dark as well. No power! We arrived to find everyone hanging out in the (finished) basement where all the appetizers and drinks were. Also, that's where the old wood stove is. Quite literally a stove, one with burners and two oven compartments. Usually we just use it for heat and maybe some apple cider on the stove top. It's an antique, but it works great!

Thankfully most of the food was already pre-cooked and really just needed to be warmed up. We waited around for a few hours, enjoying our snacks and socializing by candle and lantern light. Someone finally made the executive decision to go ahead with re-heating the food in the wood stove's oven so that we could sit down to dinner.

I have to give credit to the grandmother's of the world that used wood stoves every day. It's not an easy task to regulate temperature in one of those contraptions! Lots of checking and a little extra time, and our food was finally done.

We had a lovely dinner of ham, cheesy potatoes, and green bean casserole lit by candle light. What an adventure that was!

Finally about a half hour after dinner, the power kicked back on. Hooray, we can flush the toilets! The evening was just beginning to wind down at that point. We stayed a bit longer, but just as we were packing up and putting jackets on - the power went out again. Our cue to leave!

Overall, it was a great night and definitely made for a memorable Christmas celebration!

If you like green beans but dislike the "usual" green bean casserole served at the holidays, try out this recipe from Skinnytaste:

Lightened Up Green Bean Casserole with Shallot Crumb Topping

Photo courtesy of Skinnytaste

I thought it was very good, especially with the fresh green beans rather than canned. But allow for an hour or more to make this due to all the chopping and veggie prep!

I would have my own photos of the evening, but it's a little difficult to get good shots in the dark! 

Have you ever had to party with the power out? Do you enjoy green bean casserole?