Merry Christmas 2018!

Santa Claus - Steve Rude

I had Christmas and Thanksgiving alone this year.  It was slightly depressing at first, but turned out really nice.

I haven't made a full holiday spread in five years or more -- actually, I don't even remember what I did the last few years!  I know I celebrated with my folks, but I didn't go all-out at home.  This year, however, I originally expected anywhere from three to nine guests for T'day, so I had a menu.

That fell through the weekend before, but I decided (at the last minute) to go ahead with the whole meal, because anywhere from three to nine people might still have shown up.

It's the holidays, and I don't want to sound negative, but FWIW, I don't care for flaky people; I find them disrespectful.

I put a lot into whatever I commit to doing, so if you say you're going to show up, I deserve your attendance!  Hell, when it comes to holiday get-togethers, that's the difference between a $10 turkey that takes four hours to cook and a $25 bird that takes 14 hours to cook!  Not to mention the time and effort I spend decorating, shopping, cooking everything else, and so on.

I make most stuff from scratch, but I'm not fanatical about it.  I try to use fresh ingredients, but it's cost-prohibitive, and they spoil too quickly.  Either way, it still takes time and (more or less) the same amount of effort to cook from cans and packages.

ANYwho...

I cut a couple appetizers from the Thanksgiving menu, and made chicken (in the crockpot -- someone else was bringing the turkey, so it was a last minute thing) and dressing; pumpkin pie; candied yams; green bean casserole; and mashed potatoes.  I snacked on chips and homemade French onion dip.

I only had light brown sugar (and no molasses), so the candied yams turned into a too-sweet and not-quite-done soup, but the pumpkin pie turned out great.  I hadn't made green bean casserole in years, so I worked from an internet recipe, and it...  It was fine, just lacked soy sauce (I'd used Worcestershire sauce instead).  Then I screwed up and made sweet cornbread, so my dressing was inedible.  But it turned out to be a great dry run for Christmas!

Today, I expected no one, but still made the whole shebang (yesterday) so I don't have to cook until New Year's Eve.  Spiral ham (pre-cooked); mashed potatoes with brown gravy; broccoli with cheese; sweet potato pie; chocolate coconut cookies; Reese's Cup pie; and green bean casserole.  Tostitos and Ro-Tel held me over, then I had homemade biscuits for Christmas Eve breakfast (and for the dressing).

Let me tell you about that sweet potato pie: Despite the fact that it separated slightly (which may have been due to over-beating it, or I may accidentally have used margarine instead of butter, I don't know), it is the single greatest thing I have eaten since... I don't know the last time I ate something that delicious.  I worked from two recipes, using the ingredients I liked best (I got some dark brown sugar), and I could eat that entire pie by myself.  I'm scheduled to do the parents thing later today.

Although I had no visitors, I had a great holiday vacation!  I ate like hell, drank wine to excess, and binge-watched a bunch of cooking shows and holiday specials.  I didn't put up a tree, but I decorated the house with some creative placement of odds and ends -- which the cats and dog promptly destroyed (a few times over).

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays from Rated-B and The Weirding (.NET)!

© The Weirding, 2018