Sunday, November 18, 2007

Another food day--and Christmas

Well, I always rail about how early Christmas decoratons go up and how the season starts earlier each year. I've noticed this year that Christmas party invitations come earlier. But in spite of all that, I found myself decorating for Christmas tonight. Jordan and Christian came to take down my Christmas things from the attic--an appalling collection of boxes, grocery sacks, and black plastic bags. When they had them strewn all over the guest room, I intended to start wrapping the presents laid out on the bed. But I simply couldn't walk around those bags and boxes on the floor, and so I began to decorate. Kept telling myself I'd just do a bit more--but now I have a lot done. The ordinary things are put away (it will take me until spring to find them) and Christmas things are on most but not all of the usual surfaces. I haven't done pine cones and greens yet, but I'm close. And wrapping? I have enough for three or four years. All I need is Scotch tape and I'm in business.

Such a lazy day. Spent a long time with the Sunday paper. To me one of life's luxuries is to read the paper leisurely with a cup of coffee and the Sunday morning talk shows. Went to church, came home to a quick lunch, a bit of reading, and then a nice nap. Jordan and Jacob came about 3:30, and by the time Christian got here at 4:30 we had dinner almost ready. A marinated pork tenderloin from Central Market (I got it free on one of their spend $40 and get a free tenderloin offers)--cooked it just the way they recommend, and it was wonderful, flavorful and tender. I have a horror of getting meats like that overcooked. I had the Southwestern potatoes from yesterday, and Jacob ate two whole potatoes. His father ate two plus a bowl of leftover stuffing that wouldn't fit into the skins. I fixed my favorite blue cheese salad dressing, a recipe I found years ago in a magazine, periodically forget, and then rediscover and wonder why I don't fix it every day. Here it is: rub a wooden salad bowl with a cut garlic clove, salt (I am a devotee of kosher salt now), and dry mustrd. Add a hunk of blue cheese and then some vinegar--careful here because you have to add more oil than vinegar and if you add too much you'll end up with salad soup. Mash the cheese and vinegar into a paste, and then whisk in about twice as much oil as the vinegar you put in. Add cut lettuce and croutons and toss. So good.
Off to bed early. Lazy days make me tired.

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