3rd day of Christmas

Here's Ben "camping" at our house:
(should have caught this red-eye before importing, and I'm too lazy to go back)

And here's Ben watching Puss eat a mouse. He found it funny:


7:42 a.m. Dishwasher is running, and the first load of laundry is almost ready for the dryer. It's chiropractor day, meaning that Chas left at 6:30. Sometimes I come along, once in a while I go back to bed. Today I must begin to catch up. I declared yesterday a far niente day, for the final day of recuperation from strep, but today I have to get a handle on the house again. The tree will stay up another few days; normally I take it down on the first of January. Dwight and K are spending New Year's Eve here, so there'll be someone else to see it. I was happy that Marty, Ben and Nate came out this year. Last year the only people who saw our tree were Charlie and me (and maybe Jimbo).

Well, I'm glad that the ribs were a success, Suze. I overcooked ours a bit; the barbecue was really hot, and I didn't watch it closely enough. It got up to 400 at the end (indirect heat, but still), so the ribs were slightly dry. Still good, though.

What an ambitious Christmas day menu, Suze! Yow! I never make stuffing from the ground up (I used to make corn bread dressing, aeons ago). What a drag, with all that work, that it was not perfect. I don't often make the "cooking without recipes" recipes. I'm too much a slave to following exact directions, at least the first time through. As for the chicken, you're probably right about the bird. I notice that it calls for a 5-pound chicken. The normal supermarket bird weighs in at around three. Go for the kosher, free-range, whatever you can find of that type. I also usually brine chicken (caution: kosher is already brined).

[Aside: All this smug chicken talk is no help for yesterday, when I put half of a (quite good, alas) chicken into the crock pot (after browning it) with sliced parsnips, leeks, carrots, celery, some garlic and some thyme, a little wine, and some stock. The idea was to have a hot meal ready when we got home from Marty's. There was l/o rice from the egg fu yung, even. Well, I guess it was all right. I had anticipated bland poached chicken, but it was really bland. After the juice was degreased and boiled down and I heated the rice and some frozen peas, I could have just cooked a couple of breast cutlets and had a better meal. I'm sure there's a way to get a decent chicken stew from a crock pot, but I haven't found it. I went to the internet to find a recipe. What a jungle. I finally made this one because I've had parsnips (not our own) in the fridge for ages, and I wanted to use the mandoline to slice vegetables. Think I can rescue the leftovers with some mushrooms and other things.]

I always make a cranberry-orange relish. Mine is 12 oz cranberries, 3/4 whole orange and a cup and a half of sugar, all run through the meat grinder (though the cuisinart would do). Yours sounds interesting; the vinegar would make it more sweet and sour, which would be nice. I'll have to try it.

I've made (and liked) the smashed potatoes. In fact, I'm planning to do them again quite soon. I wonder if I cut down on the olive oil, because I don't remember them being greasy and -- more important -- Charlie didn't complain. He doesn't like food to be too greasy, since it gives him bad gut trouble. Did you also make the cauliflower on p. 10 (for you others, this is all in FC 81, except for the potatoes, which are in 83)? It looks good.

While I'm on FC, here's a quick update and some comments on the last 3 issues. In 82, I made the butternut squash recipe (rosemary, shallots) on p. 57. I liked it a lot, but Charlie didn't. He just puts up with b. squash anyway, and it was too crisp. Note to self: cut it up larger or cook for less time. On page 75 Fettuccine with tuna, lemon and fried capers was really a winner. Used the good tuna. I don't even like capers, though recently I cook with them some. But fried capers! Yum! I picked this dish because it had no cheese. We are getting tired of the endless parmesan or pecorino romano.

In 82 I made the lemon shortbread bars (73); excellent! Ditto the caramel turtle bars (74-75). These last did not look like the photo. The ganache did not set up enough to make the lines. I was in a hurry (and followed the directions), but I think it should have been refrigerated for 30 minutes before the drizzling. Anyway, these were a fair amount of work, but good. And I realize that I've talked about both of these recipes in the blog already, so I apologize. I've also, in the Q&D of this issue, made the sun-dried tomato tart, using fried guanciale instead of prosciutto. This was a big hit at a dinner party we had for Ruth and Dave. The second tart (the recipe makes two) I made with spinach and a little mozzarella. Also good. The great thing from that issue is the arugula salad with grapefruit, also previously commented upon. I plan to make this again on Sunday. God, I'll have to buy arugula.

I'm just getting into 83, really. I want to make the cauliflower recipe (21). Is that the one you did, Suze? I've lost track. I made roast chicken with rosemary-lemon salt (39), but I did it with half a chicken, and I guess I even cut that into two quarters. I did not brine it because of the salt in the recipe. Did not use the half lemon, having no cavity to stuff it into. This was wonderfully good, very crisp skin. In Q&D, I've now twice made the buttermilk chicken. It's excellent. The first time I made it with the salad, and it's good, too. The second time I made it Ben was here, so I cut up one of the breastlets (these are the things we get from Schwan, unbreaded boneless breast pieces) and made it into "chicken nuggets" for Ben. He scarfed down all of his nuggets, drenched in ketchup. I also very highly recommend the stir-fry on the back of the magazine. I need to make it again. I have some store-bought garam masala (Penzey's -- do you get their catalogue, Suzy? Let me know; if you don't, I'll get it sent to you).

Well, enough of that. I'll be interested to see if Scooba does. I've had the interesting experience of three and a half years with no kitchen floor to scrub. (I did scrub the upstairs bath floor last week, but I don't do it often.) When my black rubber mats get dirty I take them out on the deck and hose them off -- this is less easy in winter, of course, meaning they are cleaned less often or less thoroughly. Anyway, as eager as I am to have a Real. Kitchen. Floor., I dread getting back to the scrubbing of it.

We had a nice time at Marty's last night (also, as Mom said, a nice time at the Woods' the night before -- third year in a row of not cooking Christmas dinner, which I don't mind at all, though we are beginning to long for lutefisk). Julia and Ben photographed us multiple times; what great presents for them, S & B! And Marty's stockpot is gorgeous!! She's thrilled, as I'm sure she's told you. One thing we got for them was a little weather station. I chose it because it has a little boy on the front, and it shows him how to dress, depending on the weather (if you have the Wind and Weather catalogue -- which you must -- you'll see it there).

Christmas memories. I don't remember much about specific Christmases either. Like you, Suzy, I remember looking at trees through windows (though I don't connect it so much with the drive home from SF/Berkeley/Oakland, but more with the streets of Palo Alto). I still consider the tree in the window the ultimate Christmas decoration. We can't put ours in the street-side window any more, since that would put it cheek by jowl with the wood stove. Some years we drive around RF to show the lights to the elder(s), though we didn't do it this year.

Well, one Christmas thing I remember was in Los Altos, when we were still in the original living room. Suzy and I got a big piece of paper (butcher paper) and drew a fireplace on it. We put it up on the west wall of the room and convinced Chris that by magic it would turn into a real fireplace just long enough for Santa to come down its chimney and bring presents, and when he (Chris) woke up in the morning, it would be a pretend fireplace again. Do you remember this, Suzy? I always loved Christmas stockings (which I stopped doing, for some reason, and wish I still did them); tangerines still smell like Christmas to me. I also remember that, time out of mind, we sang Christmas carols around the piano. Am I making that up?

I'll add a couple of photos here -- a before/after fireplace set -- then go about my housewifely business. Second load of laundry has just finished washing. Time to fold, continue laundry, and do some serious vacuumage.

Pre-Christmas fire fanning:


Post-Christmas fire fanning, with the blow-poke, Mom's gift to Charlie (thanks!!):