Christmas Redux
Success!!! Complete and utter success!!!
I got cards and in some cases gifts into the mail on time! Dinner was a tremenjous success. Menu included Turduchen, Collard Greeens, Sweet Potatoes, Mashed Cauliflower, Okra and Tomatoes, Macaroni and Cheese, Stuffing, Jambalaya, Cornbread and for the first time - gravy! And everything gluten-free.
I don't *make* gravy, because I don't LIKE gravy. But this year I caved to popular tastes and made the awful stuff. But I made it with wild mushrooms and chestnuts - so it looked more appealing than the usual tan colored glop that people slop all over their food. But I still didn't eat it.
I hate sweet potatoes with marshmallows. I don't know who came up with that cockamamie idea, but it's just disgusting. Carmelizing sweet potatoes is just wrong. They're called sweet potatoes for a reason! Try seasoning them with ginger and cardamom. Yummy.
Don't be impressed w/the turduchen either. I am not brave enough to attempt de-boning anything. Mom got it from The Cajun Grocer, and it's basically an idiot proof bird. I sort of resent it. It's no fun to prepare, and it takes up oven real estate. After next year, I am insisting on something different. I really want to make THIS but mom enjoys the turduchen, and as long as she's paying for the food I guess I'll roll with it.
Next year will be my parents 30th anniversary (yes, they were married on Christmas day) so I'm going to do something special and make Paella, and Sangria in the punch bowl. I'll also invest in a nice bottle of champagne and a 30 year old bottle of port. I think that will be nice.
Place in the failure category - I forgot the parmesean/reggiano cheese for the mac and cheese. When I say I forgot, I mean I left my special Trader Joe's cheese blend in NY - we had Christmas in NJ, nearer to my father's family. And they don't have TJ's, so I try to stock up on the hard-to-find things beforehand. So there was parmesean...but it was just regular old 4C table parmesean. Bleh.
I also forgot to put the chestnuts in the stuffing. I diced them and everything, and then forgot to put them in - D'oh!
Also - the bread pudding was a TOTAL disaster. I was going to bake gluten-free french bread, but I overheated the water for the yeast, killed it, and it was just a disaster thereafter. *sigh* Can't win them all. I will test kitchen that this year and try again. I also made sock-it-to-me cake...meh, not hard. Doctored yellow cake mix with pecans and glaze. I don't see what's so Sock-it-to-me about it. But it was gluten free and tasty, so...
I hit it out of the park with gifts (giving, not getting) or so I've been told. Maybe it's just one of those nice lies that people tell - but I don't think so. I think everyone really liked what I got them. I wish I'd gotten to see my sister and my niece, but they decided not to come.
I got what I wanted though! A Clarisonic Skincare brush, HARRY POTTER CLUE!!!, and a Wii Fit which I am in love with. No big surprises though...which is always sort of a bummer. I always want people to just *know* what I want and surprise me with big wrapped boxes. I love that feeling. Harry Potter Clue was a surprise - but I have to wait to get it shipped to me. *sigh* I asked for the clarisonic, and the Wii Fit I bought for myself w/Christmas windfall. So I get what I want - but it's not a surprise. I got other stuff too - a Princess and the Frog (which I still haven't seen! Can you believe?!?) calendar, a new day planner, some christmas ornaments, a robe that sheds like MAD, a new wallet, a really nice back scrubber...
Oh! Apparently I'm getting the mini keurig I wanted as a gift from my sister as a birthday gift, along with some L'occitaine stuff and something else I forget seeing as how none of it has arrived yet. Don't count chickens...but I really hope I get the keurig. I should call her - just to say hi.
Birthday coming up! I'm having a birthday happy hour at this really cute place I checked out - Lola's. It's a bar, but they've got a great happy hour menu and a pool table. So I'm going to get cupcakes and we'll have martinis and I'll get to hang out w/my friends!
Which is all I really wanted out of Christmas and my birthday anyway - to not work, and to spend time with awesome people I love. Sounds cheesy, but it's what I wanted and needed.
I got cards and in some cases gifts into the mail on time! Dinner was a tremenjous success. Menu included Turduchen, Collard Greeens, Sweet Potatoes, Mashed Cauliflower, Okra and Tomatoes, Macaroni and Cheese, Stuffing, Jambalaya, Cornbread and for the first time - gravy! And everything gluten-free.
I don't *make* gravy, because I don't LIKE gravy. But this year I caved to popular tastes and made the awful stuff. But I made it with wild mushrooms and chestnuts - so it looked more appealing than the usual tan colored glop that people slop all over their food. But I still didn't eat it.
I hate sweet potatoes with marshmallows. I don't know who came up with that cockamamie idea, but it's just disgusting. Carmelizing sweet potatoes is just wrong. They're called sweet potatoes for a reason! Try seasoning them with ginger and cardamom. Yummy.
Don't be impressed w/the turduchen either. I am not brave enough to attempt de-boning anything. Mom got it from The Cajun Grocer, and it's basically an idiot proof bird. I sort of resent it. It's no fun to prepare, and it takes up oven real estate. After next year, I am insisting on something different. I really want to make THIS but mom enjoys the turduchen, and as long as she's paying for the food I guess I'll roll with it.
Next year will be my parents 30th anniversary (yes, they were married on Christmas day) so I'm going to do something special and make Paella, and Sangria in the punch bowl. I'll also invest in a nice bottle of champagne and a 30 year old bottle of port. I think that will be nice.
Place in the failure category - I forgot the parmesean/reggiano cheese for the mac and cheese. When I say I forgot, I mean I left my special Trader Joe's cheese blend in NY - we had Christmas in NJ, nearer to my father's family. And they don't have TJ's, so I try to stock up on the hard-to-find things beforehand. So there was parmesean...but it was just regular old 4C table parmesean. Bleh.
I also forgot to put the chestnuts in the stuffing. I diced them and everything, and then forgot to put them in - D'oh!
Also - the bread pudding was a TOTAL disaster. I was going to bake gluten-free french bread, but I overheated the water for the yeast, killed it, and it was just a disaster thereafter. *sigh* Can't win them all. I will test kitchen that this year and try again. I also made sock-it-to-me cake...meh, not hard. Doctored yellow cake mix with pecans and glaze. I don't see what's so Sock-it-to-me about it. But it was gluten free and tasty, so...
I hit it out of the park with gifts (giving, not getting) or so I've been told. Maybe it's just one of those nice lies that people tell - but I don't think so. I think everyone really liked what I got them. I wish I'd gotten to see my sister and my niece, but they decided not to come.
I got what I wanted though! A Clarisonic Skincare brush, HARRY POTTER CLUE!!!, and a Wii Fit which I am in love with. No big surprises though...which is always sort of a bummer. I always want people to just *know* what I want and surprise me with big wrapped boxes. I love that feeling. Harry Potter Clue was a surprise - but I have to wait to get it shipped to me. *sigh* I asked for the clarisonic, and the Wii Fit I bought for myself w/Christmas windfall. So I get what I want - but it's not a surprise. I got other stuff too - a Princess and the Frog (which I still haven't seen! Can you believe?!?) calendar, a new day planner, some christmas ornaments, a robe that sheds like MAD, a new wallet, a really nice back scrubber...
Oh! Apparently I'm getting the mini keurig I wanted as a gift from my sister as a birthday gift, along with some L'occitaine stuff and something else I forget seeing as how none of it has arrived yet. Don't count chickens...but I really hope I get the keurig. I should call her - just to say hi.
Birthday coming up! I'm having a birthday happy hour at this really cute place I checked out - Lola's. It's a bar, but they've got a great happy hour menu and a pool table. So I'm going to get cupcakes and we'll have martinis and I'll get to hang out w/my friends!
Which is all I really wanted out of Christmas and my birthday anyway - to not work, and to spend time with awesome people I love. Sounds cheesy, but it's what I wanted and needed.