I know Christmas probably tapped most of us out, but really, compared to the folks in these photos we all have so much more than we need. So send money — since we’re not already in Asia, sending donations of clothing etc probably will just clog up the delivery pipelines even more — there are any number of great organizations you can send donations through. I donated to the International Red Cross because Cisco, who employs me in my day job as a tech writer, will match dollar for dollar. Check out the South-East Asia Tsunami Help Blog for links…
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Here it is! In the back of my car on it’s way to the first of the three parties it graced over the weekend (yes, the car is dirty — I have two dogs, but that’s why I put the newspaper down). Part of the reason I made a croquembouche this year is because one of my all-time favorite Martha Stewart episodes was the one where she and Julia Child made croquembouches together. Martha was over on her side of the counter carefully and precisely arranging her cream puffs, while over on the other side, Julia was sort of flinging…
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Patrick was the pastry chef in the family. He was a little dyslexic and so he loved the precision of pastry recipes — if you follow the recipe exactly, pastry usually works. A few years ago, he made a Paris Brest for our Christmas dinner. The first few years we lived together, we had these great, impromptu Christmas dinners — one year, Patrick called me from the fancy butcher shop at the Stanford Mall and said “What do you think about Guinea Hens for dinner?” So Guinea Hens it was … The year of the Paris Brest, I was off…
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Well, this isn’t really a recipe, since I don’t have any measurements, but sometimes a girl looks in the freezer, and feels a tiny flame of inspiration. So, here’s the deal — I had some ground lamb and ground antelope left over from last year. I took a pound of ground lamb, two packages of antelope (they didn’t have weights on them, I think they were about a half pound each) and two mild Italian sausages, and decided to make a meatloaf. I started by sauteeing two ribs of celery, a couple of carrots and a medium yellow onion with…
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I caught an old episode of Martha Stewart Living this afternoon. She was making a cranberry gelatin mold, and after taking it out of the fridge, she said “You can immerse it in warm water to loosen, or you can use this.” At which point she picked up an ENORMOUS propane blowtorch! And used it on her lovely copper jelly mold to loosen the dessert. I laughed for five minutes. Out loud. Oh we miss her, our domestic goddess with her two foot tall blowtorch. For a jelly mold. I’m still gasping for breath.
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I got a tree today — I’ve been kicking around whether or not I wanted one this year — but there I was at the grocery store, and there was a perfectly lovely little tree for fifteen bucks, and so, I have a tree again. I have a little issue with my inner Martha Stewart — and it sometimes manifests itself in the desire to create my platonic ideal right here in my living room. This year’s tree is about a six on the Martha-meter — it’s not as elaborate as some trees I’ve decorated in the past, but there’s…
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Because Heather pointed it out in the comments, and because it needs to be shouted from the rooftops, let’s point out that the Oxford American Magazine is back! May I suggest that this fine publication would be a terrific Christmas gift for anyone on your list who is interested in good writing, southern life and literature, and FABULOUS music. The whole subscription is worth it for the annual music issue, which comes with a CD that will make you dance with happiness around your living room. The other good cause I’m supporting this year, is Heifer Project International. I’m buying…
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I grew three brussels sprouts plants this year — they take a lot of room in the garden, and they’re really slow, and frankly, I wasn’t sure they were worth the time or the space. It’s been cold — small freezes on and off for six weeks or so, but last weekend when the weather said a real cold spell was coming in, I went out in the near darkness to pick my brussels sprouts. I grew them in part because when I lived in New York City in my 20s, I loved watching the little boys carry their spikes…