Xmas in Arizona

by Sharon
(Fountain Hills, AZ, USA)

Setting the stage for a huge Holiday buffet begins with a display of glasses and drinks on a side counter in the newly renovated kitchen of Marsha (a game inventor) and her husband Robert (a physicist) in Fountain Hills, AZ. Food for 80 is set on the immense granite center island.

A more kid-centered buffet is found in the home of Betsy, an antiques dealer, and her engineer husband Earl, in Mesa, AZ.

Chocolate brownies are topped with whipped cream and strawberries - and looking a lot like Santa hats, thus delighting the children.

As a huge turkey waits in the oven, guests bring a variety of appetizers, placed casually on a table: veggie trays, cheese and crackers and even one veggie Xmas tree for pre-dinner nibbling.

Xmas in Arizona is an inside and outside affair.

Kids play football and catch in the streets, folks gather around the swimming pools to sip wine ... and the sun shines.

No snow here!