Odds, ends, and a recipe

Its Christmas Eve eve, the work week is done, and I'm in good shape for my weekend. I do need to make one run to the grocery store which I will do tomorrow when I'm rested and more likely to withstand the crowd.

I want to wish you a merry Christmas on Sunday, or a happy Chanukah right now, or whatever you celebrate, may it be everything you hope for.

I also missed posting something I do every December 15th, so to a certain man out there who reads the blog I'd like to say one more time, happy anniversary baby. 14 years, who would have thought.

And finally, a little gift to everyone reading who needs a vegetable side for the weekend. Not exactly a recipe because I don't really measure things out, but here's how I do brussels sprouts, and they're always a hit:

You'll need:

1/2 of a white onion, thinly sliced

3-4 strips of bacon (I like thick and peppery), diced

1/2 stick unsalted butter

Sprouts (I usually get a full third of a plastic produce bag)

Decent olive oil, but don't feel like you have to use super-good stuff

white wine vinegar

2 tablespoons of a good stone-ground or french mustard

Set your oven to 350 if you're going to roast. With no oven I use a crock pot on high and it seems to work just fine.

Clean your sprouts by removing bad leaves, and make a fresh cut on the end, then cut them all in half unless they're small and bite-sized.

In your skillet brown the bacon until its crispy. Remove. You may pour off the excess fat if you wish, frankly I leave most of it in. Fat is delicious.

Melt butter in same pan, add onions, and cook until they're golden and soft. Add bacon back, and sprouts. Move everything around to coat the sprouts in the butter and onion, and cook for a few minutes until the sprouts get some color on them.

While sprouts are cooking, mix about 1/3 cup of olive oil, about the same amount of white wine vinegar, and the mustard. Voila, vinegrette.

When the sprouts have some color (5-7 minutes maybe) remove from heat. Pour vinegrette over and toss to coat. Pour everything into roasting pan, and finish in the oven until tender but not mushy. I'd say 30-45 minutes, but you should test with a knife or a toothpick. Or do what I do and eat one every few minutes.

If you're trying the crockpot like me the time is about the same. Last time mine went a bit over an hour and I would have liked them a little more firm. Just test and go until they're as done as you like them. Salt and pepper to taste.

Serve em up warm and enjoy.

Take me out to the ball game

Brett and his law partner Rachel recently welcomed a new partner to the firm. Last night, to celebrate his joining them, and to thank a number of folks who've referred business or otherwise helped them out, they hosted all of us in a suite at the Community America park to watch the Kansas City T Bones play the Wichita Wingnuts.

Here's my friend Carol and her daughter Charlotte, along with me and my cocktail.

I've forgotten how much fun these games are. And they had fireworks after.

I've said it before, if you have a Northern League team in your area, go.

Enjoy your weekend!

Here's hoping your parties are more fun.

Christmas wrap up

Turns out there was no need for my Christmas crankiness. Brett had a good holiday with his family and made it back in time to head to my family's gathering for drinks and dessert. We intended to stay about an hour and head home to exchange our gifts but were having such a good time catching up with my cousins Eric and Mauria and their mates that we were there all evening.

Eric did indeed wrap up his Emmy for his parents for Christmas so it was the popular photo op as you see here. Brett was surprised by the weight. I never pick up important things like that because I always fear dropping them. Plus I had a glass in my hand most of the time.

Mauria and I lived together at KU and she's moved to Chicago in the years since. We don't see each other nearly often enough so I was super happy we got to spend time together. She and her man are also heading to Cabo this week, so I'm also super envious.

Cranky Christmas

We're a bit out of sorts here. The traditional goings-on have all changed and Brett and I neither one are too happy about it. But we'll deal, and after meeting all the obligations Christmas night will find us here together, which is where we'd both prefer to be. With dinner and a good bottle of prosecco and Alex and Prada running around. Some gifts and probably some Wii gaming as well. Who knows, maybe even a movie if we're feeling crazy.

May your Christmas be exactly what you're hoping for!

Balls out

I took this shot from Jenny, who got it here. And knowing my history with balls, you know I think its fab. Other happenings:

My office adopted families again this Christmas, and once again Brett and I were to buy for a seven year old boy. I forgot to take pictures of his haul before I wrapped, but there were boot cut jeans, cargos, shirts and half-zip sweaters, and most exciting, a soccer ball and goal, and the radio controlled helicopter that were on his wish list. The helicopter has a missile launcher. I hope that if he tries to shoot his older sisters that he doesn't injure them.

Prada the Christmas Schnauzer will be joining us again for the holiday, staying from December 20th through January 3rd. She is practically svelte since moving out of the high rise, I'll try to showcase her new figure with a photo comparison.

And finally its cold. Freakishly cold. Low tire pressure and going out to buy Alex a little jacket cold. We had an energy audit and the guy is coming back with the results tomorrow evening. I'm WAY looking forward to finding out what we need to do to make the bedroom feel less like its outside.

Raina, if you're at Target over the weekend...

Ha! Everyone have a GREAT long weekend!

Some thoughts on the holidays

NPR this evening mentioned a recent survey report that said 80 percent of respondents planned to buy fewer holiday gifts this year, and a large percentage (I forget the number) was planning to pay cash. Gift buying within our means? And in cash? How un-Christmas-y!

The slow economic recovery and uncertainty about the job market were the reasons that most gave for reining it in a bit this year. Of course this has retailers running scared and apparently the discounting has already begun. (when and how did the holiday shopping season become a business model?) While the report never specifically said it, the general tone was that this was bad news.

Except that it's not. It's not bad news for me, and I hope it's not for you either.

I was an only child and an only grandchild, so I'm completely familiar with a big Christmas. I can remember the piles of boxes and toys. But the thing that I remember most? White undershirts. Always from JC Penney, and always

To: David
From: Grandma & Grandpa

I'm sure they were unwrapped and unceremoniously tossed aside for something more fun, but that memory is still with me because of what it represented: Grandparents who wanted to give me everything I wanted, and made absolutely sure I had everything I needed. White undershirts, as unexciting as they are, meant love.

Brett and I realized a long time ago that we pretty much buy ourselves most things we want, so we downsized our Chrismas. Our hundred buck limit seemed harsh at first, but it forces us to be creative and pay attention. (okay, full disclosure, I actually paid for the sheets the dogs gave us last year) While I like presents as much as anyone, what I like more is when our family obligations are done and we get home, make a drink, and sit down to open our presents together. It's small and laid-back, and only sort of about the gifts, but it's my favorite thing.

I guess what I'm thinking is that as awful as the news seems sometimes, there are some good take-aways if we look for them. It's not our responsibility to prop up the retail sector by losing our heads in December and putting ourselves in debt for months. Nobody needs a bunch of stuff just for the sake of stuff. And just a little bit of thought can make the smallest gift the best gift. Sometimes less really can be more.

And while I'm on the subject, none of this should start before Thanksgiving.

Quality, not quantity

Decorno started a conversation on holiday decorating, which we're going to try again this year after a two year hiatus. I don't like lots of decorations, but what I do decorate, I like to decorate fully. The mantle above was at our old house. I did something similar the first year we were settled here in the condo, and will give it a go again this year.

I may not use fresh greens however, as they dried out really quickly here, probably due to heat from the tv mounted over the fireplace. I may use slightly fewer glass balls too. I hadn't looked at this picture for a while and it seems like there's just a few too many.