23.12.10

Christmas is coming! The cornish hens are getting fat.

Dear Diary,

After a few days of hiding in the closet and sucking my thumb, I have finally come to terms with my Christmas obligations. I started to get things done, much like a normal, functioning adult would do! I did Christmas cards (though I didn't order nearly enough of them, so only a select few made the cut. Sorry. Also, because of a shipping snafu with Walmart (yes, Walmart) I had to GO INTO THE STORE to get them. And I vowed after that trip to never, ever, set foot into a Walmart again. God, what a horrible place.) I even mailed them! I made bourbon balls for my coworkers! I shopped for all the presents and even wrapped them. Like, before Christmas Eve. And I finally did the grocery shopping for Christmas dinner.

Christmas dinner has been a source of much fretting and panic for the past couple weeks. What to make, how to make it, why is life so hard, etc. I first decided on a beef tenderloin. But that's kind of expensive. Then it was going to be ham. But let's be honest here; nobody really likes ham. I mean, do they? And how much ham can you really eat? It's so... uniform. At least with turkey you have a variety of parts to choose from. So then it was turkey. Then, capon. (Yeah, I don't know what that is either, but I briefly considered it after discovering the Safeway had only 24 lb turkeys left and it's only dinner for 5. But whatever a capon is, it was like a million dollars.)

Finally, in a last-minute panic at the Safeway freezer section, I decided on cornish hens. One for each person! Isn't that a great idea? I know! I'm not that crazy about them because they don't tend to have much flavor, but I'm going to baste them in white wine and butter and you can't go wrong there. The novelty of them should provide some distraction from a possibly disappointing taste.

So, everything is somewhat under control. It will be a magical Christmas, at least for Edwin. I swear I didn't spent that much money on his gifts but there seem to be an awful lot of them. And in a brief lapse in judgment I bought him a harmonica and a recorder. Those are the kind of gifts you buy for other peoples' kids, who live miles away and not two feet away from your face.

Merry Christmas!

Love,
Fluffy 

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Hi Fluffy, I love you.
From what I read you will be glad when this season is over as much as I will. I have really done quite well putting up with all the wrong reactions to the season but I am ready to have it behind me. My folks like for me to fix them a couple of racks of pork ribs instead of turkey or ham. I do it in an oven bag and let the bag & my oven do all the work with just some vinegar, crushed red pepper, salt & black pepper on about 300 for at least 3 hours. Bones fall out easily. Good luck with whatever you end up with.
Merry Christmas & Happy New Year.
Odie