Tortitude

So you guys voted, and by a narrow, narrow margin the hors d'oeuvres won. It does seem to suit the occasion, so I'm happy with it!

I'm not sure it's enough, though. It's a small devoted group of film buffs, about 5-6 people. Here's the menu so far:

Cheese platter with tapenade, crostini, and champagne-marinated grapes
Steak or roasted veggie sliders with bleu cheese and caramelized onions
Individual tomato/goat cheese tarts
Roasted shrimp with chile-cocktail dipping sauce
A really good salad - undecided so far, but will include fruit/nuts/cheese
Mango mousse cake, unless I screw it up in which case I'll make something else

What do you think?

[Poll #1350898]

Also, I'm going to print ballots and want to have a prize for whoever gets the most right. Trying to decide what to give. A bottle of wine? Some homemade goodie? Another poll!

[Poll #1350899]

Bleh. I've been having more headaches lately, which hasn't been much fun. And last night a headache started that lasted through the night and has persisted through this afternoon. There's also some exciting fatigue and mucous to liven up my life. Jeff bought me some ginger ale last night which is keeping me sane today.

So, I'm home. Which is really good. I think things would have been dreadful if I'd tried to go to work. My hope is that enough hydration and ibuprofen will make it possible for me to go to French class tonight. I really don't feel I can afford to miss a class. I feel behind enough as it is.

I have no patience for being sick right now. Too much I want to do.

I'm throwing a small I Hate the Super Bowl party on Sunday. I don't really hate the Super Bowl, but I have zero interest in football. But any excuse to have people over to feed.

Besides, it's a good opportunity to try some new recipes—most of them are from Tyler Florence's Tailgate show. I love that guy.

So, I want to make:

- deviled eggs (because lately I've been craving them)
- roasted asparagus with garlic yogurt dip
- chicken wings with Thai red chili butter sauce (I thought I could fry up some tofu and toss it in the same sauce for Jeff/Pete.)
- grilled kielbasa (and veggie sausage) with dipping sauces
- some sort of rolls - homemade if I feel extra studly
- potato salad
- citrus-y granita sno-cones (served in dixie cups)
- Dulce de Leche brownies (David Lebovitz's recipe)

Pete got me this fun Wii game where you're a short order cook. I think it'd be a fun party game. And of course there's Wii sports. Or board games. I'm really looking forward to it. I think it'll be mostly low stress because all of the dishes are easy to make. I'm really excited to make dulce de leche. I was just introduced to the concept (boiling a can of condensed milk to caramelize it) by str8ontilmornin and have been dying to try it!

I also can't stop obsessing about Paris. It's still just so damn far away!! I've been noting shops and restaurants and alternating between feeling giddy about going and terrified that some horrible thing will happen to keep me from going.

Okay, should go drink something and lie down. Mrh.

We got Jeff his first real Christmas tree today! Growing up, his fireman dad wouldn't let them have one! So we went to one of the local tree lots and bought a gorgeous Norwegian Spruce. We ran a whole mess of errands--grocery store and Fred Meyer for tree stuff. Jeff was extra sassy today which kept cracking me up.

We started the day at the Mad Greek in Ballard which has really terrific food. I'd forgotten how much I love their gyros. Jeff kept asking, "How did you find this place?" And his tone smacked of betrayal that I'd hidden it from him so long; that I would take him to Georgia's when I knew the Mad Greek existed. As we passed by Georgia's later on, Jeff shook his fist at them, "You're dead to me now!"

Lugging everything upstairs and putting it all away was less fun, but the tree is up! And there are twinkling white lights! I ran over to Jeff with a small wrapped present:

Me: I got you a little something!
Jeff *glower* WHAT!? Why?
Me: NO YELLING. I think the new rule is that you should look at what it is before yelling at me.
Jeff: *sheepish* Okay. (he unwraps a small wooden bear ornament). Awww, it's a bear!
Me: See! This is why you should look at the things I give you before yelling at me!
Jeff: I didn't yell...
Me: You had Yell Face!
Jeff: I did have Yell Face. Hee. But someone's got to keep you in line!
Me: Uh HUH.

[Jeff, who is the biggest lunatic I have ever met about receiving presents, complains I get him too much. Which, I don't. He's just certifiable.]

We are both totally sacked out now. I'm obsessively reading The Pioneer Woman's blog and Jeff's watching Hannibal. We're going to a party one of his co-workers is throwing (my former co-worker and friend, too). The theme is tacky Christmas sweaters. We got Jeff this fur-lined vest-monstrosity that can not be believed. I'm going to wear more along the lines of a ski sweater that doesn't have reindeer or Frosty or similar. I've got the pomegranate martinis ready to go. Though I have to admit, I'm so tired I could really just curl up and watch TV for the rest of the night by the light of a roaring fire and twinkling tree lights. That can be tomorrow. It's something really nice to look forward to.

The only thing I really needed to do today was pick up a turkey. I'm feeling a little lazy this morning so getting my butt out the door required more effort than it should have. But I went to Greenwood Market and am now the proud owner of a 12 pounder. I meant to take a picture of Greenwood Market, since I spend half of my life there, it seems. But I forgot.

Last night was unfortunately the scene of some cooking mayhem. Jeff's hard work at curd-making yielded a perfectly textured curd that lacked any cranberry flavor. And Jeff has taken to calling it the 'turd curd' because of its bizarrely brown color. This is sort of the reality of being a cooking enthusiast. Sometimes, things just aren't going to work out. In a similar fashion, the pumpkin cheesecake I made turned out beautifully, except the water bath leaked through my double-wrapped heavy foil and into the springform pan. I'm feeling stubborn about tossing it out, yet totally unwilling to serve a soggy crust'd cheesecake, so I'm going to try to be inventive. I've flipped the cake, cut off the soggy crust (the cheesecake itself tastes great), and am going to redo the crust, and flip the cake back onto it. Cheating? Yes. I know. And it won't be as perfect as if the crust didn't soggify. But I hate waste, and the top part tastes perfectly good.

All I really need to do today is fix the cheesecake and make the cranberry apple pie. Oh, and the mini quiches.

I'm really excited to have everyone over, but I have to admit that I wish we were doing it over the actual holiday. Because ultimately, it's not a holiday, it's a regular Sunday and it just feels different--though I'm so grateful we can still do it in some form. I know it wasn't going to work out for either Sarah/Em or myself this year (and quite possibly next year, too), but it's a tradition I've really loved and looked forward to each year, and I'm a little sad.

But, I will get over that pretty fast. It'll be so nice to see everyone!

Now to summon the will to make pie crust. Why is pie crust such a total pain in the ass?

So, not as pretty as I'd have liked. But people certainly liked how it tasted. And I'm trying to focus on that as being the measure of success. Also, my photography skills still leave a lot to be desired. I couldn't find a good sunny spot without weird shadows from the window. Boo.



We have two pieces left and I'll try to get a shot of the cross section because the layers were pretty!

Pete's thing went great. We'd just finished dinner when Jeff arrived!!!!! We'd been talking about this all week. With the push to put the house on the market early next week, Jeff's got so much to do at the house--I told him not to worry about it. That Pete would understand. He'd be sorely missed, but everyone knows what a stressful situation he's been in lately. He sadly acknowledged that he couldn't come and was really unhappy about it. But he came home early anyway!!!! I seriously ran down the hall and tackled him. It made my night!

He tasted the Ina Garten mac and cheese (so much better than the Alton Brown version) and we hung out and talked. Right around 8, the phone rang. I made some bullshit excuse and went to open the front door. Bill, Kirsten, and Amy filed in and pounced Pete! Muhahaha! Pete had thought I might do something sneaky, but when it was just me and the mac and cheese when he got here, he figured he was safe!

We had the cake and coffee and sat around talking. I wax rhapsodic about this every time, but it just makes me so freaking euphoric. My good friends. Sitting around. Eating cake. Talking companionably. These are always the happiest moments of my life. I may take a lot of things for granted, but this isn't one of them. I love my lovely friends!

Everyone left around ten with packages of food (cake and portions of the chilaquiles which had made an enormous amount) and Jeff and I finished tidying the kitchen and catching up. We watched our standard two episodes of The Office and are now heading to bed.

What a great night!!!

Last night was lovely. I went home with Jeff and hung out with him, Chris, and the kitties. I got to see the phenomenal job they've done with the demo of their kitchen. It's exciting to see all stages of the project.

We drove to dinner at Taste of India, which was diet-destroyingly delicious. After, we went to see The Namesake. It was a slow, generation-spanning movie and so much of it reminded me of my own family, that I'm incredibly homesick today. Since I'd abandoned my car at work, Jeff drove me home and came up to hang out for a bit, while Chris left to visit with a friend of his who is about to go out of town.

I love going out and doing things, but my favorite times with the people I love are spent sprawled across a couch talking about random things, so that was the best. Jeff left around 1, and I poured myself into bed.

This morning I have no French lessons and no place to rush to. I slept in, while Hobbsie miaow'd disapprovingly. I ambled to the grocery store for a few items, because I'm baking a cake for Emily's 21st birthday. It's a surprise, so don't tell her!

I love the cake recipes from The Best Recipes book. They bake so evenly and don't have that obnoxious hump in the center of the pan. This time I'm making their Velvet Devil's Food cake. And, not insignificantly, they aren't absurdly complicated. Sarah says Emily likes coffee, so I hope the coffee buttercream will go over well. I definitely feel more confident this round of cake-baking. Since I really want the chocolate to be the hero here, there are no fillings except for the frosting. I hope it tastes good!

The cakes are out and now I just need to frost them and take a cab to dinner by 7:15. But the rest of the day belongs to me and Hobbsie.

I think a Buffy marathon may be in order!

Also--my foot is 100% better. Chris loaned me a yoga tape so I'm also going to try to do that today. I'd forgotten how much I enjoyed it.

The Coq au Vin is marinating, and I think I'll start cooking around 4 to give me enough time to reduce the sauce properly. The tarte tatin is almost finished and ready to cool. The baguette is on its second rise, and I'll be able to bake that next. The vanilla bean ice cream mix is chilling in the fridge for later.

The only things left are to prep the potatoes for mashing, making the pâte à choux for the gougères, and actually cooking the chicken and baguette. Oh, and to roast the asparagus. I wanted something green on the plate.

And... I just tried the tarte tatin. So much better than my first attempt. I think once my new apple peeler/corer gadget arrives, I would be tempted to try this a third time. I'm still overcooking the apples, for my taste. And I think I might try that sour cream version of pate brisée again because I liked the flavor and it was a little easier to roll out, or since the flavor of this one was so good, I might just add a little ice water to it because mine turned out a little too crumbly.

The one unanticipated problem? I am such an absurd weakling, I couldn't flip the pan. I was able to the first time, but I think I must have squeezed in a lot more apples this time, or I'm just being lame. I thought I was going to sprain my wrist and ultimately had to slowly tip it over onto a cookie sheet and let some of the juices run out. Time to start lifting those weights again, sheesh.

Once again, I would like to comment on my worshipfulness of my Kitchen Aid mixer. I remember wanting one but worrying that I wouldn't use it throughout the year (since my focus was on buying it to make cookies for the holidays). So! Many! Uses! Just today alone it's been used to make two types of dough, I'll use it to mash potatoes, and with my spectacular attachment, I'll be able to use it to make ice cream.

And since I've been wanting an icon for cooking, I can't think of a better image. Voila!

Note to self: Safeway is not going to be open at 5PM on Christmas, so next year, don't run out of basic food items by Christmas Eve.

I will say, I'm glad the employees are not stuck working such a shitty shift.

Slept gloriously in this morning (though Mr. Hobbes did not approve at the delay this caused in his breakfast), forced myself out of bed to dress nicely for Christmas brunch with the bears. I've gone from largely hanging out with women to largely hanging out with men, and the contrast has been interesting. (And nicely so --but nothing against women.) The funniest thing is watching them be polite In the Presence of a Female and like, try to hold back on swearing. At which point I have to rapidly KICK Jeff under the table before he spits his drink out guffawing and outs me as the potty-mouth I am. It's very sweet, gentleman-ly behavior.

I drove out to Jeff and Chris's and Chris drove all of us to brunch. I felt bad for Craig because he clearly has been to this place before with great results, but it wasn't what he expected. The food was only just okay, and he has great taste so it must have been fabulous when he'd gone before. He apologized --but it was totally unnecessary. (It was the restaurant at the Doubletree by SeaTac.) I don't think anyone really cared because the point is Togetherness and Love. Which there was plenty of.

Afterwards, Craig and Greg had bought us all tickets to see Dreamgirls at Pacific Place. I generally don't care for biopics and this wasn't a movie I would have gone to see otherwise--BUT, I'm really glad I did. It was very well done, the singing was amazing, and it had that big production feel that is perfect for a Christmas movie. One of the things I didn't care for (and this is not a plot spoiler, so I'm not cutting it), but the singing a la musical --while very well sung-- didn't work for me. It took away from the emotion of the moment in what were some very important scenes. The minute the character would start to sing, it felt like a musical number and diminished what was authentic and sometimes very painful for the characters. But some great acting, incredible singing, and I thought they did a good job of filming all the singing sequences to keep it interesting (at one point you see the girls reflected in someone's glasses, and the effect was cool).

The last couple of days have been super social and I am tired and very glad to be home with my creature. There was an e-mail from my SIL asking if I wanted to join them for dinner, and I would have if I only hadn't changed into my pajamas. Once the pajamas are on, it's all over.

Yesterday's party was great, but I'd had a nasty scare in the morning. Hobbsie has kitty-epilepsy, and he used to have seizures about once a year. He really hasn't had one in the past few (that I've seen, I realize he could be having a dozen while I'm at work). He'd seemed very punk-y in the morning, so I picked him up and stuck him on my lap... where he stayed, pretty listless for a long, long time. He moaned a couple of times, but was so inert. It's always so terrifying. I never know if it's going to be it... if he's going to die and as much as I struggle to keep calm and focused on him, I can feel panic just below the surface. He slowly got up and had a seizure (which involves throwing up and making the most god-awful howling ever heard). He loses coordination and after it's over, wants to lie on a cool surface (like the kitchen floor) and not be touched for awhile. I watched him the rest of the morning and he was seemingly 100% by the time I left for Jeff's. I almost dropped the breads and cookies off and came back, but he was so normal by the time I left, I knew that would be silly. That said, I went to Jeff's, helped them set up, stayed for the beginning of the party and then came home early, neurotic that I'd come home and Hobbsie would be dead. Which, thank merciful Zeus, he was not. And he's back to normal now, so that is going to be this year's Christmas miracle.

And now, to eat some randomly assembled food and possibly watch another movie in front of the fire with Hobbes.

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!

Because I went to bed early, it followed that I woke up early. I talked with Alain and then darted off for a day of errand-running. Cookies were mailed to family. I discovered that I could handle going to a new post office and didn't drive out to Ballard. Then I dropped off presents and cookies at KC and Jen's house. I'd left my cell at home, so it was a day of either leaving things on doorsteps or springing myself onto people unannounced. I drove to U Village and bought gifts for my brother, SIL, and nephew-to-be in all of 15 minutes flat (not kidding). I hastened out of there to get my hair cut, and I rather like it. It's short but swing-y and bouncy. And easy to manage, so hurray. I wrapped gifts in the car and then drove over to OB's house. I continue to marvel at having them so close where such random-stop-bys can actually happen. It is glorious. They seemed really happy with their presents (because I demanded that they open them immediately). And I managed to inherit OB's old dvd player for my bedroom. Bonus.

And then back home to grab Sarah's cookies, and to briefly preen at new haircut, before driving over to her place to help her pack and straighten her place out before going away FOREVER. Well, until the 31st. It is just tragic when half of your social life goes far, far away, dammit!

I borrowed half of her video and book library and we grabbed a quick bite at Gordito's, which is tragically going out of business on the hill. So sad. Then more hanging out and jabbering until I left and she is undoubtedly showering as I type, before her exciting red-eye flight tonight.

And now I am giving up on all pretense of restraint and going to put on Final Fantasy 12, for which I have waited, nay, hungered, lo these past many years. Wannit NOW!

The only thing wrong with today was the lack of Jeff, but as I explained to him in our parking garage on Thursday, we are going to be hanging out, because he has no choice. And then there is lots of Christmas-y fun to be had with throngs of adorable Bears. And more cookie baking for parties. Whee!

Um. It's all done. Well, sorta. The turkey and stuffing need to finish cooking, but um. I don't think there's anything left for me to do. *bemused*

Everything's clean. And I'm clean. And now I have 45 minutes to be neurotic about if things are going to taste good. That's probably the most insane-making facet of a meal like this. You can't taste stuff out in advance. And since I'm trying a new recipe for turkey, and since it's simply the most enormous bird I've ever cooked, I'm quite terralyzed™.

I still haven't figured out what to wear. I tossed out the idea of a skirt, because there's no way I'm wearing hose and there'd be the all-too inevitable reality that I'd end up flashing someone before the day was over. And let's not have that. I've got my dark grey polar fleece pants on, but have no idea what to wear on top. I think Sarah would fall over laughing because it's just friends coming over, not the Pope. But it would be nice to look nice! A long-sleeved black top it is. Done.

Everything's plated. Um. What else to do? I may try to muscle the turkey back onto one rack up. I'm worried everything on the bottom of the pan will scorch.

On a totally non-Thanksgiving topic: All my body moisture has left me. Lips cracked, skin dry and whitish. I need to dip my entire self into a vat of lotion and just sit there for three days. Poor skin, how I abuse thee.

*bounce* *bounce* *bounce*