Happiness Meme
Gakked from animama
The rules are that for eight days you have to post something that made you happy that day.
Day 1:
For me this was actually Saturday, the day I read it, but I didnt have time to post.
Happiness is: having friends to cook for and spend time with. I had 7 wonderful friends over for a celebration of the season on Saturday. We had songs, gifts, a lit tree, food (ok, more of a feast - I served a roast pork loin seasoned with garlic and rosemary, pickled crabapples (one of my younger guests very kindly emptied the entire jar of what was left after everyone had what they wanted (talk about making me feel good - they were home made and I thought a bit too tart and mushy, but he obviously approved :-) Also a whole roasted squash (hollowed out the seeds and filled with chunks of garlic and butter and black pepper), parsnip sticks oven baked with a bit of butter, same treatment for beets (if you have never had oven roasted beets - try them they are sweet and yummy), a head of garlic also oven roasted, a dish of macrows (medieval mac-n-cheese seasoned with black pepper and nutmeg - YUM) Oh and leeks simmered in a bit of butter (and more black pepper and a pinch of salt - that long simmer turned them silky and sweet. We also had appetizers of pickled herring, gravlax (sorry storebought this time,) cold shrimp, radishes, marinated mozzarella balls. Dessert was the amazing assortment of cookies everyone brought - the worlds best gingersnaps, wonderful sugarcookies, lintzer bars (yum) and more that I did not sample.
We toasted the end of the year, the start of the new, the season in general, and all friends (passed, present and yet to meet) with a bottle of homebrewed mead (Catsclaw honey about 10 years old and much better than I remembered.)
It was a wonderful evening, the warm glow of the candles matched the warm feeling of being with friends, the songs of the season and the warm food on the table. I am truly blessed!