Words... what do they all mean?

Despite Liam's thing rather throwing off the last week and a half, Christmas at our house ended up going quite well. Mom and Dad had expressed... well, not quite reservations, let's call it helpful concern about us hosting. "It's an awful lot of work," and "You don't have to make everything by hand. Get as much store-bought as you can and save yourself the trouble." Poo, that's half the point! I like cooking. I'm no chef and I wouldn't even really call myself a foodie, but I like actually _making_ things. Not just throwing something pre-cooked into the oven to warm up. Someone in the family, I forget who, at one point tried to vaguely ask me if I was interested in getting a bread machine. Heck no. A) If I had warm, fresh-baked bread readily at my disposal I would be at least twice as overweight as I am now. B) I like making bread with my hands, getting dough under my fingernails and sneaking "quality control" taste tests, braiding it into a pretty loaf or rolling it into buns. I enjoy the process, even if it is a damn lot of work. Okay, bread was a bad example because I did, in fact, let Dad bring store-bought rolls tonight. Because bread is, as I said, a damn lot of work, and there was an entire meal to also prepare and I didn't want to sink that much time and effort into just one part of it.

Alan and I banged out our menu _weeks_ ago. We collected all the recipes and I went through them and made a master grocery list, and also a list of what all was needed to prepare each dish: what sizes of pots and pans, baking dishes, serving paraphernalia, etc. I borrowed Grandma's Lenox Christmas china (which needs to be washed by hand. Boo). I was just sitting on "Go" and then everything got thrown out of sync. For a good part of yesterday I thought it was Friday, and so much that I had meant to prepare ahead of time consequently didn't happen. Steaming and pureeing pumpkin for the pie, boiling eggs to be deviled, laying out the china and silver on the sideboard. Man, I had it so beautifully plotted out.

So, instead of the rather leisurely gift-opening morning I had thought we'd have, pretty much right after stocking presents Alan and I disappeared into the kitchen. We had to cut out one of the hors d'ouvres because the deviled eggs were delayed, and were _very_ unhappy to find that the can of sweet potatoes we'd bought for our family's favorite sweet potato/pineapple/marshmallow dish were spoiled. (Will in the future buy two cans just to be safe). By the time everyone actually sat down we were about an hour late. But only an hour! And the dishes we did have came out well. And we don't have a ton of leftovers. Except for that pumpkin pie, which only had _one_ piece eaten! (There were eight of us) I think it may be time to retire it for a while. It's tasty and a classic but the downside of a classic is that it can be overused. Alan made trifle and we were all much more interested in trying out this tasty new thing.

Speaking of new things, I experimented on the family by making a carrot ginger soup I'd never tried before (to make, I mean; I'd had it in a restaurant), and it turned out to be a big hit! Even Morgan liked it and some of the grownups had seconds. Score! And wassail. I'd never made wassail before but it's soooo good and I think I'll brew up a batch for game night next week. Oh, and speaking of carrots, Liam _loves_ them, which is good because Popa got us a Baby Bullet and lots of accoutrements so we can make food for him. The farmers market is going to be getting a lot more of our money now. ;)

So, yes, all in all a really good day, even with an "oh god what did I get myself into?" freakout in the middle of food prep. I have a husband who gives awesome hugs so all is right with the world.

I am so blessed with him, and with all of my family who filled my house (house!!!) with love and laughter today, and even my family in other houses. I'm blessed that even though things are tight, we had food on our table and presents under the tree. Oh, presents, that reminds me: Morgan's grandmother and aunt (my former in-laws) even sent Liam some presents in their shipment to Morgan this year. Isn't that sweet and awesome?

Okay, so I think I just figured out what is _up_ with milk in this house.

1. We buy gallons of milk (skim for me, whole for Morgan and recipes). Morgan and I like to drink milk straight, and several of our favorite dishes call for it.

2. Milk is not consumed in the quantities expected, and goes bad in the fridge. I discover this the hard way. Yick

3. Next grocery run, we buy half-gallons so as not to be wasteful this time.

4. I finally get to drink the milk I was craving when I discovered the last batch was bad, rediscover my love for it, and blow through it at a rate of 2-3 glasses a day. You know, so as not to be wasteful. It lasts less than a week.

5. Next grocery run, we buy full gallons so as not to run out again so quickly. Besides, Morgan and I like to drink it straight, and several of our favorite dishes call for it. I try to hold myself back and make it last.

6. Milk is not consumed in the quantities expected, and goes bad in the fridge....

If only they made a 3/4 gallon, we'd be set. ;)

Morgan's first tooth just fell out!

( Cheese! Swiss cheese, that is )

As when she first discovered it was loose, she wasn't sure what was going on and so freaked out a bit, especially when she saw there was blood: "Blood isn't good." I explained that blood is okay, it's the body's way of cleaning an ouchie. Then her mood dramatically improved when she realized the tooth fairy will be visiting tonight. Funny how that works, huh?

Tried my hand at homemade chili tonight, and it actually came out all right (green bell pepper and canned diced tomatoes and all). Could have used a bit more zing, though. Maybe next time I'll throw in some garlic or something. Even Morgan liked it, before a carrot in the salad precipitated Teh Drama.

Strawberries and fat-free Cool Whip were yum for dessert. Alan likes his tart but it was almost _too_ tart for me. Pretty much the only strawberries I eat are those in strawberry shortcake, which are of course heavily sugared.

My arms are sore from yesterday's workout, as I expect my legs will be tomorrow. I need to invest in an adult-sized jumprope, as Morgan's kept hitting me in the head.

Mm, that lunch salad was surprisingly yummy!

1/2 small apple (or pear), cored and thinly sliced. Toss with 2 tsp. lemon juice. Add 1 stalk of celery, diced; 1 oz low-fat cheddar cheese, cut into small cubes; 1 tbsp. low-fat mayonnaise; toss to coat. Serve on 4-5 large lettuce leaves and season to taste with salt and pepper.

Looks like I won't starve on this diet, after all.

So the birthday was actually pretty cool. whedongeek1 obligingly canceled class but I spent most of my day immersed in fantasy anyway (leveling my newest WoW character to 20). Then Alan and I got all gussied up and went out to dinner. He thought he hadn't been to Chevy's but as soon as we stepped through the door he remembered it. Good food and passable guacamole followed. Whenever I order fajitas, I can never decide between chicken and carnitas, so I end up going with the mix-n-match thing and getting both, and I _always_ like the chicken better. Must remember for next time.

Also I cannot drink Long Island iced teas in the same quantities as I drink martinis. Sad.

Morgan has been talking about us all making birthday cakes for each other for a few weeks now, so when we go up to Dad's this weekend to introduce her to the snow and teach Alan how to ski, we're taking cake mix along so she and Daddy can make me a cake. When I made lemon cupcakes for Jordan's birthday last month I had this yen to throw in some flavored extract too. I do this all the time with brownies: orange and rum are particularly good. And with lemon it would be, like, cherry lemonade. Well, we don't have cherry extract but we do have raspberry. And raspberry's tart so it ought to go pretty well with lemon, right? I didn't want to experiment on someone else's food but now that it's mine I think we'll give it a shot.

The cookie sheet which you store in your oven and promptly forget is there GETS HOT when you preheat the oven. Do not attempt to remove said cookie sheet with your bare hand.

Morgan recently has become obsessed with Popcorn Chicken from KFC. There happens to be a store on our drive home from school, so she sees it every day and always asks for "chickens" - sometimes more insistently than others. Well, yeah, I'm not sure what all they put in there, plus it would get expensive if I bought chicken every time she asked for it, so I tinkered around in the kitchen this evening and voila, homemade popcorn chicken, THAT SHE'S ACTUALLY EATING!!!

I know, no big. Just chop chicken into little pieces and throw it into some oil to fry. But I'm very proud of myself because it's been a long time since i cooked anything that didn't come from a box, so I'm feeling all cool and domestic. And now I know exactly what's going into my baby's tummy, which makes me much happier about the whole thing. Next time I might be a little more adventurous with the batter, too. At the moment it's just flour and seasoned salt. Am thinking something like cajun seasoning or chili powder, maybe.

Now, if I could just find a way to get her to eat fruits and veggies, too.....

When the box of Saran Wrap says "Caution: Cutting edge is sharp. Avoid contact" it means it.