A Taste of Christmas

Natalie Rogers, events planning.

Yes, Mrs. Miller.

I confirmed the venue this morning.

You're all set for your Christmas party.

Natalie Rogers, travel consultant.

Hey, Mr. Walker, how were your flights?

I'm so glad.

Yeah, you know,

you can always string some lights

around a palm tree and call it Christmas.

Natalie Rogers, custom gift-wrapping.

Yes, I will be dropping those off in about

15 minutes.

Mr. Ortiz!

I finished the wreath for your food truck.

Even if the weather is frightful,

the chilies will keep you warm.

Look.

Muchas gracias.

Wendy!

Oh!

Christmas cards, addressed

and stamped.

Oh, I--

Pop them in the mail and the let the mailman do the rest.

Thank you so much, they're beautiful.

Oh, I love hand-addressed cards,

but with my penmanship

no one would get them until July.

Well, I threw in a couple of extra

for Joshy and Becca

direct from the North Pole.

They'll be thrilled.

Thank you so much.

You're welcome.

-Merry Christmas. -Merry Christmas, Wendy.

Yeah, took a little creativity but you know

I love a challenge. Merry Christmas.

Natalie, Sparky would be so glad

to see you.

Come here.

Sparky, your favorite sitter is here.

Hello, handsome.

And these clothes.

Who doesn't love to get all dressed up for the holidays?

We want to take him on a Christmas cruise,

but he gets terrible sea-sickness.

Well, I am happy to.

We are gonna have a great time!

We're gonna watch It's a Wonderful Woof,

and lap up eggnog, and sing Christmas carols.

See, he already knows the opening to Jingle Bells.

You're the best pet-sitter anywhere we've ever had.

Thank you.

Natalie, thank you so much for doing this.

Of course.

Are you sure I can't convince you to come work for me?

Thank you, but I already have a job.

You have eight jobs.

That was just the last time I counted.

May have added one or two since then.

But why can't I since I'm the Jacklyn of all trades.

When are you gonna settle down on one career?

I don't know, but I figure

when I find the perfect thing, I'll know it.

And until then I'm happy as I am.

Well, I hope you're not still waiting

on the perfect thing to do for Christmas.

Thank you, but I'm gonna spend Christmas

with my cousin Olivia.

I should probably get going.

Miles to go before I sleep or at least a few more blocks.

Be a good doggie, okay.

Merry Christmas.

Merry Christmas.

Let's go, Sparky.

Bye, Sparky.

Bye.

Natalie Rogers, custom wreaths or um,

travel consultant.

Hi, it's Olivia.

Olivia.

I was just talking about you.

Are you back from Rome yet?

No, I am not back from Rome.

Uh, I guess you haven't been following the news,

have you?

It's the big chill, the new Ice Age.

What are you talking about?

I'm stranded here.

Oh no.

Yeah, looks like I won't be home for Christmas, I'm so sorry.

It's okay, it's um I'll miss you,

but don't worry about me, lots of friends have offered to

spend their Christmases with me.

But are you okay?

Yeah, but I wanted to kinda keep this as a surprise,

you know how I've been wanting to open my restaurant for years.

Well, I finally convinced Chef Grimaldi to come over

to Pine Valley and be my partner.

I remember him from when you took me to

Italy when I was little girl.

I always thought he looked just like Santa Claus.

Oh, uh, so

my plan was to open on Christmas Eve

with a big traditional feast of Natale.

You know how it is in small towns, nothing is

ever open on Christmas and there's always

a few people with no place to go.

No one should be alone on Christmas.

Yeah, I feel terrible.

We already had a handful of reservations I'm gonna

have to cancel, there's no way Chef Grimaldi

can do it on his own.

Oh, I'm so sorry.

Yeah, me too.

Well, I wanted to let you know, Merry Christmas.

Merry Christmas, Olivia.

Problems are just opportunities in work clothes.

Hi, Mrs. Myers.

This is Natalie Rogers, Olivia's cousin.

I have an idea.

What do you know about this restaurant

she's planning on opening?

Come here.

Come on.

Alright.

Olivia always was an optimist.

Chef Rivaldi?

You stay here.

All dogs might go to heaven but they should

probably stay out of restaurant kitchens.

Stop right there, you

Ow!

No, don't, let me go!

Oh, that's so much better.

Are you hurt?

What?

Are you hurt?

No, no.

No.

II think it's fine.

Now get outta my kitchen, presto.

Your kitchen, this is my cousin Olivia's kitchen.

So Olivia has a cousin?

And the restaurant may be hers, but the kitchen

always belongs to the chef.

You can't be Chef Grimaldi.

You're nothing like Santa Claus.

Oh, you're thinking of my uncle,

Zio Lorenzo Grimaldi.

Maybe I just look like my .

But he was too old to come to America,

so I came instead.

Sorry, I'm his nephew Stefano Grimaldi.

Ow.

Uh, sorry.

Uh, I don't know the name of you.

I'm Natalie.

Rogers.

Olivia's cousin.

Oh, I should've known.

See Olivia told me her cousin was

la bella signorina.

Oh, that's very nice of her.

Oh, and it's very true.

But what were you doing uh, sneaking around my kitchen?

I wasn't sneaking.

Then that's not the word for it,

the sneaking and creeping.

No, I wasn't doing any of those thing,

I was just looking for the chef.

Yoohoo!

Is anybody here?

Mrs. Myers.

Thanks for coming.

Have you met my cousin's best friend?

-Hi. -This is Mrs. Anna Myers.

Stefano!

Oh, I see you have.

And another one.

What third time's not a charm?

Stefano's quite charming enough.

And who is this?

Sparky.

I'm pet-sitting for the holidays.

Well, it was nice to see you, huh.

And to meet you, Sparky.

But I must go otherwise my sauce, huh, it will burn

if I don't get back.

-Oh, I just need to talk to you. -No!

A chef will never let his food burn.

Not for anything.

Mamma mia.

Well, fine then.