We did Christmas dinner at my sister’s and it was a lovely time. My sister puts on a lovely feast. Potato souffle’, green beans with herbs de provence and ham…HAM! the king of the pink meats!
April’s special guy cemented his status as “good enough for my sister” by putting away the Skyy and breaking out the Ketel One for me. He also kept mixing me vodka tonics all night long. I lost count at 5, it may have been as many as 7. I’m just not sure.
We ate, we talked, we caught up on happenings, we wiggled in and out of those uncomfortable family conversations and we generally had a good time. Didn’t get home until after midnight and it was only with considerable effort on my sister’s part to kick our asses out of there.
(note to April, if you want to get rid of us, don’t bust out the good stuff…a bottle of Stoli would have had my out of there by 8! no lie!)
I also had a major envy moment when my sister came up in a pair of flannel jammies with santa lobsters all over them. I want those!
My uncle Russell and Aunt Carol are in town with their girls, Emily and Rosalie and they will be heading over this afternoon to see the dogs, harass the lizards and visit. I’m really looking forward to this, but I really need to get this place cleaned up. I also need to get some leftover ham into me!
Also, David is playing his guitar and the speaker is next to my head and I get to play with the settings. Guitar on phaser…pretty sweet.
Monthly Archives: December 2006
Happy happy delicious christmas
Happy happy christmas to you all!
Last night we spent Christmas Eve at my dad’s. Since Anna was unable to make it home for the holidays we brought her along. We spent the evening eating, drinking, laughing and telling tales. Poor Anna, she thought I was just some sort of anomaly, a strange imp placed on this earth specificallyto torture her.
Once again, she learned that I came from a family, one that I get along well with. One that will work with me on my mission to corrupt and torture. Or, if not to work with me, at least not hinder me.
Last night I brought two dishes to dinner, my Chai Spiced Rice Pudding and a roasted winter vegetable dish. The pudding was a tad undercooked and I was sad about that but it tasted fine. The vegetables were a big hit
Sweet Roasted Winter Vegetable
1 large sweet potato, chopped
1 small butternut squash, peeled, seeded and chopped
1/2 head cauliflower broken into large florets
1 apple, cored and chopped (it should have been 2 apples, but one was rotten in the middle)
1 head of radicchio, quartered, cored and seperated
1 cup baby carrots
1/2 rutabaga, peeled and chunked
1 head of garlic, cloves peeled and separated but left whole
3 tbl butter
1 tbl olive oil
1 tbl rubbed sage
2 tbl curry powder
Oil the bottom of a large roasting pan, dump in veggies. Liberally salt and pepper vegetables.
In a small saute pan, melt butter into olive oil until foamy. Add sage and mix. Add curry powder and mix. Drizzle butter mixture over vegetables and mix to coat.
Roast at 300 for 2 hours, mixing at least once. The long low roasting allows the natural sugars in the vegetables to concetrate. The whole cloves of garlic practically turn caramelly.
Right now I have a pumpkin cheesecake in the oven. It got in there late and this means I will be late to my sister’s and i pray she forgives me!
And on a sad note, this is my Christmas without Ghengis. Last night, at my dad’s, we laughed and shared stories and I was only happy to remember him racing around my dad’s back yard harassing the cat, or sleeping under my feet as we picnicked in the gazebo. Today I am reminded that he only got two Christmases. Only two chances to rip open wrapping paper, to maul a new toy, to fall asleep on a newly eviscerated teddy bear or dinosaur.
Merry Christmas to all of you. Go now, find the ones you love and hold them tight.
and I don’t go back!
Today was the last day of work until the 2nd of January. Hooray for working at a school. We did the usual pizza party, cookie eating, “see you next year” song and dance. It was good in a predictable way.
We finally got the snow we’d been waiting for all winter (and by ‘we’ I mean everyone else, I can do just fine without it). Thank god for traction control! My car may be big but it’s built like a fucking tank, I got no fear in the winter with that thing.
This is the first year in a long time that I just don’t have any plans for the holiday break. We aren’t going to New Orleans, I’m not hosting anything, just a lot of quiet, some cleaning, some jam making, some crocheting, some bread making and some time with the dogs.
David, being the sweetest guy ever, just called me for dinner, so it’s off for me.
(I promise to write something more interesting later)
just how exactly?
My spam filter just caught an email from “vampire” with the subject line “penetrate your partner for hours”.
Tonight is “hook the printer up to David’s computer and hope it all works and make many labels for all the jams and do it quickly because people want presents and I owe the Tech Guys big time for their help”. I also need to do dishes, make 2 loaves of bread and whip up some sort of nutritious dinner as yesterday’s dinner consisted of Cheetohs and iced tea.
it’s like I’m half June Cleaver and half Fat Albert.
fatty fat can can
I just got back from a weekend at my mother’s. Dang. I left with a car full of raw ingredients, empty jars and 2 dogs. I returned with 2 dogs, a good deal of dog vomit, no raw ingredients and 120 jars of various well-sealed delectables. Let me tell you something, canning isn’t so much hard work, as it is tedious work and so much of the work is limited by the fact that a stove only has 4 burners! It wouldn’t matter how big or well stocked the kitchen is, there’s always a bottleneck at the point when you water bath the jars.
On the other hand it does force you to sit down and relax for a minute.
Dog vomit? Yeah, I forgot that Chester gets car sick. Do dogs get car sick? I don’t know but he likes to puke on long trips. Ironically, I was just telling Brett that having leather seats in the car is a requirement when you have two dogs. yeah, cleaning dog vomit up in the parking lot of an interstate McDonalds is no picnic, but at least it wiped up and didn’t leave any stains.
Of course today I found a whole batch I hadn’t noticed that first time around. Dammit.
I also lnoticed that every fucking surface of my car is covered in dried coffee.
Anyway, this weekend I produced:
Spicy corn relish
Lemon ginger marmalade
orange cranberry sauce
strawberry ginger sauce/syrup
rasberry chipotle lime glaze
maple pecan syrup
strawberry lemon jam
I also packed up 14 jars of mustard and I will make a lemon orange marmalade this week. Right before I left on my trip what should I get in the mail but the ultimate guide to home canning from Alex. Dang. I’m so going nuts with that thing.
I’m cold and tired and hungry, I’m off to take care of myself.
So long party peeps
ps. Maddie got into a fight with my mom’s cat and lost. Maddie is an exceptionally tough and tenacious dog. My mom’s cat, however, burst forth from hell in a ball of furious flame. That can is MEAN! Of course Maddie didn’t learn her lesson and will seek out the cat again and again.