Hey there! How was your holiday?
Mine was quite nice. Everyone seemed to love the gifts they received. I couldn’t say anything before in case they read this, but I was especially excited about getting my sister an iPod Shuffle (one of the adorable new ones that clips on) and my husband a Roomba for the studio. (See Tomato Nation for a very funny article about the Roomba.)
On Sunday, I cooked pretty much all day. I made dinner rolls, an ice cream cake roll, pomegranate salsa and Big Soft Ginger Cookies. Aside from that, the only other thing I did all day was drive from grocery store to grocery store trying to find some fresh cranberries.
I was supposed to get to my sister’s house on Christmas morning around 7 a.m. to help her make stuffing (I was bringing the recipe and the celery) and get the turkey into the oven. Unfortunately, the Keeper of the Alarm Clock, my husband, forgot his promise to wake me at 6. I woke up at 7:30 and ended up having to talk my sister through celery-less stuffing preparation over the phone.
In my frantic race to load the Jeep with gifts, a card table and chairs, and all the food I’d prepared the day before, I overlooked the cake roll in the freezer. That’s right, I forgot the Christmas dessert. According to my sister, I’d also promised to make a pumpkin cheesecake, but that slipped my mind long before everything else and I never even settled on a recipe or bought the ingredients.
Continuing with the theme of forgetfulness, I realized about an hour after dinner that I’d never made the cranberry sauce. After all those trips to the store specifically to get cranberries… With the amount of coffee I drank that day, you’d think I’d have been more alert, but you’d be wrong.
Still, those were minor quibbles in the grand scheme of things. We all had a good time, the food we did have was delightful, and the gifts were thoughtful and generous.
The only damper on the day the news that James Brown had died. My husband played drums in James’ backup band, James Brown’s Famous Flames, back in the 1980s. When I saw how sad he looked upon hearing the news, I wished I’d waited until later to tell him.
I don’t go back to work until next Tuesday, so I’m going to settle down with the many books and DVDs I received as gifts and drink in entertainment until looming housework intrudes upon my conscience. Are you working this week or are you off? If you’re off work, what are you doing to keep busy?
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