The Sandwich Life

A Christmas

It was a good Christmas. A few tense moments, as there are at any family Christmas, and we got Owen the wrong pick up for his guitar, and Rascal broke Ernie's new Rodney Crowell Christmas mug, and a candlestick, but we came through it. The mug is smashed beyond repair. I can't find one online so I guess I'll write New West and see if perhaps have one I can buy. Then it turned out that as MANY times as poor Ernie had gone to the grocery store we still were short a couple of things....and when making the first batch of pancake batter, the melted butter was too hot and curdled the eggs...but, as I said, we came through it.

We had a quiet day, some nice time to visit with my BIL Dennis and I finally managed to pull together dinner in time for us to eat by 8 pm. A possible record. I didn't make the table all pretty as I had planned, but we used my Flow Blue Amoy plates and that made it seem somewhat festive. God bless Aldi's for having rack of lamb at a price I could rationalize. It's the first I had ever cooked it and it was wonderful. We just used garlic oil and fresh rosemary and I thought it was great. I need to play around a bit to render a bit more of the fat, and maybe with the seasoning, but it was great. I had the lamb on top of a bed of spinach greens with some sweet potato on the side. The guys had ham, mashed potatoes, and an attempt at green beans like Golden Harbor's. Not a great success, but a good starting point.

I have lots more things to post about but I'm feeling pleasantly lazy and will leave you with this.

Merry Christmas.

Who are those two MEN in front of the tree?

A Couple of Trees and Random Food Notes

I was terribly smitten with the Christmas trees in Gibson City and Paxton the other day and wanted to see them at night, so last night I dragged Ernie out as dusk approached. We hit Paxton first and the town looked SO pretty.

Then we headed west on Route 9 to Gibson City. There was still a glow at the horizon and it was lovely.

Many pictures later we happily headed home, feeling pleased with ourselves for actually doing something we said should do!

We sat and chatted with Leo when we got home. He had a gorgeous box of Harry & David pears that he got as a gift from work. They are extraordinarily fragrant. I made Ernie smell one and he couldn't smell it. Poor boy. Of course my increased sense of smell has a down side (the other day I was sniffing Owen and said, "uh, when's the last time you showered?) but at times like this, with a box of pears on my lap, it's delightful.

I'm in the reintroduction stage of my diet now, and it's funny...I was so excited about it, but I haven't felt that strong about it now that it's here. I haven't tried anything new in the last several days. I guess I feel good about what I'm eating. And....related to that....can we all agree that frozen strawberries taste like nothing? Maybe I just haven't found the perfect frozen strawberry, but eh. I think I have mastered my morning smoothie however....today was blueberries, cherries, greens, avocado, toasted coconut butter (heated it up too long and lo and behold, toasted coconut butter) and water. It was delightful. I actually look forward to my smoothie now. On the side a little piece of leftover turkey tenderloin that I had sautéed with Aleppo pepper. Good God....look at the dust and fallen coasters under that chair....and a gray hair next to my plate. Geesh. Unvarnished truth here on the Sandwich Life.

After my breakfast I figured I should get going. I had some grass fed stew beef that I needed to use so I started browning the meat. I pulled it out of the pan and managed to let my nice crusty fond in the pan burn. Sigh. So I pulled out another pan and dumped in sweet potatoes, carrots, cabbage, and tomato, along with a vat of homemade beef broth. Now, you'll notice I said tomato. I hadn't reintroduced tomato yet, but I thought what the hell, and ate of slice of tomato. It wasn't the reddest tomato but still had that homegrown tomato taste. Delicious. I added cinnamon, rosemary, salt and pepper to the stew ingredients and put it all on to simmer. I came in here to the living room and thought about what I should do next. I fussed on the iPad and suddenly I realized I did not feel good at all. My stomach was upset, I felt shaky, my nose was running, and my head hurt. I sat there thinking WTF? Suddenly it dawned on me....I was having a reaction to the tomatoe. WAHHHHHHH! I love tomato. I had reintroduced pepper without a problem, and somehow it didn't occur to me that I would have a problem with tomatoes. 

Well damn.

Onward anyway, onward anyway.

Merry Christmas!

 

The Tree, and Other Christmas Notes

We finally decorated the tree the other night. Well, about 2/3 of the ornaments are on. We never manage to get them all on at one time. The boys flipped a coin, and Owen won, so the angel is on the top of the tree instead of the star. Leo gets the star on top next year. It was pretty much a perfect evening....a fire in the fireplace and Vince Guaraldi playing. Leo brought his train ornaments downstairs and put them on. And he pointed out that as I unwrap ornaments I say, "Ohhhh, this is a nice one," about 50% of the time. He's right of course....and I tell them where they came from.... "Oh, this is from the first batch of ornaments we ever bought together---at Lord & Taylor. The little pale blue heart screams 1980s." "Ohhhh, this is one of the ones that my mom and her roommate bought when they lived together in Boston, before she met Grandpa." "Ohhhhh, I think this one was Aunt Judi's." "Ohhhhh, I remember....I found two of these in the antique shop where Radio Maria is now, and gave them to Grandpa for Christmas one year. He loved them!" It probably gets old but I can't help myself. They of course make fun of how many Aunt Holly and Uncle Mistletoe ornaments we have. We have more Aunt Holly than Uncle Mistletoe....we lost of a few of him in some of our great tree collapses over the years. Women are much tougher you know....

Owen at long last consented to let his childhood Michael Jackson ornament go on the tree. He'd vetoed it for a number of years, but it seems wrong to veto a Christmas ornament....so on he went. I proudly placed my Marty Stuart Christmas ornament on the tree. I posted a picture on Instagram, and somebody commented that they had one too, and it must be 25 years old. Good Lord...I suppose they are right.

In other Christmas notes, we went on another drive yesterday and found several amazing things. There are TWO Casey's in Gibson City, and TWO Casey's in Paxton. This blew my mind. More importantly however, both Paxton and Gibson City have big Christmas trees in the middle of their main intersection. I was utterly smitten, or as I kept yelling, "THIS is fucking BRILLIANT." I also said that about the planter that had been turned into a snow globe with the use of a clear umbrella and cotton balls. I have already made plans to go back after dark to see them lit up. Ernie just shook his head at me.

And, in the last, unfortunately distressing, bit of Christmas news.... I made a list of presents for the boys and I abbreviated items, in case the guys found it I guess. The problem is, that I can't remember what the abbreviation stands for for one of Owen's gifts. Anybody have an idea what Pp means? This is a problem as they're not getting many gifts this year. I thought it would come to me overnight, but nada. Sigh.

Still.

Onward.

Onward

It's been a long, somewhat difficult year for us. Well, or else a short, difficult year for us; I can't really decide which. I feel as though I am in a healing period and coming from a darker place than I like to normally inhabit. This has all made me all the more aware of the many, many good things in my life, and how lucky we are. Yes, we're broke and worried about it, but we're getting by, and good LORD, we are so lucky to love each other so. I'm always a bit of a Christmas person, but this year I somehow want to celebrate it more than ever. And so, we set of last night to get our Christmas tree. Owen worked until 7:00 at his internship so he drove over in Cyril and met us there. My beloved Kathleen Jones had given me a Prairie Gardens gift certificate for our anniversary....she is another that is devoted to old fashioned balsam trees! It was incredibly cold but the trees were GOOD this year (it hadn't been sheared to death in a perfect triangle) and I laughed through the whole thing. I was outvoted on my first choice because it was too tall, and I must admit, they probably were right. We looked at two others and made our choice. We always seem to pick our trees quickly whether it's cold or not. We went inside and I bought some paper white bulbs. Ernie made me swear I would actually plant them, unlike some years. There are certain things I like to buy and then let them go to waste (see: pomegranates). I swore I would.

Ernie and I wanted to put the tree on top of Cyril so we could take a picture, à la our surprise present from last year, but Owen demurred, saying it could scratch his baby. Oh well. The tree was so tall we barely got it the Honda. Usually they pop right in but....TALL! They got it in as far as they could and then tied the hatch door down while the trunk popped out. Owen and Leo followed behind us as we drove home--with the open door we could hear Cyril's putter in all its glory. The guys got the tree in a bucket of water and then we all scattered.

Ernie and I had splurged and bought a grass fed skirt steak from the Co-op. I'm eating mostly ground beef and turkey (other than fish) these days, as they recommended it for easier digestion. And, I gotta say, it gets a bit old. The steak was pricy (although understandably so), from Central Lean, I believe, and I smoked up the kitchen when I did it in the cast iron pan (my family would tell you that I do this all the time, and honestly, you shouldn't doubt them). GOOD GOD was the flavor incredible. It was probably a bit too rare, but I prefer that to the opposite, but the FLAVOR blew us away. Nothing but Himalayan pink salt and black pepper on it. We had sweet potato and spinach on the side. There was supposed to be sort of chimichurri cilantro sauce for it, but well, it didn't go well, and got mistakenly dumped. Anyway...a delicious, albeit very late, dinner. Owen had decided he wanted chicken instead so when I was done I helped him cook his vegetables and chicken. He really did all of it, I just stood there, but it was lovely. He also asked to borrow a few cookbooks to look over so we can plan some other cooking sessions. Then he requested one of the flow blue plates for his dinner, and damn, my heart was full.

When we got inside, I said, "ohhhh, I meant to get a picture of our tree with our gift card from Kathleen." All three of them sighed, and Owen grabbed it and said, "here, take a picture." Ok.

 

And the Christmas Squalor Begins

Christmas squalor is a Sasha Rubel coined term and so appropriate. Even with the smaller number of presents this year we still managed to destroy the living room. Evidently the boys are officially old now, as it's the first year that they didn't wake us up. Ernie tried to get up at 5:30 am but I forbade him from going downstairs. I told him it just didn't feel right for him to go down first...we had to wait for the boys. He grumbled a bit but acquiesced. He's such a good man. Owen got up not long after and we all trooped down the stairs. Christmas Eve is the only night we leave the tree lit all night long so it's there glowing for us when we get up. Ernie started his coffee and got me an iced tea, and then once the fire was lit and Vince Guaraldi on, we opened gifts. We pared down this year to just a few gifts as we did a lot of traveling for Leo's trains and Owen's Groovies this year. I miss the days when there were piles of gifts but this still felt pretty good. Leo got a GoPro camera to use for his train chasing, and for Owen it was a twelve string Christmas.

The boys had exchanged their gifts last night, just as my sisters and I always did. It's always one of my favorite moments. Well, that, and the nap I take after opening gifts, as the sun comes up!

 

Drinks with loved ones yesterday afternoon at Fries and Peanuts.

Ernie, and his fire attendant, Hattie

A twelve string Christmas

Don't worry....there was still Lego, just so we knew it was Christmas...

Merry Christmas all!

Taxi Boys and Christmas

Thanks to all that came to the Taxi Boys Christmas party! It was so wonderful to share that with you. I, of course, am totally biased and ridiculously proud of them. Having our house filled with the sound of loud rock and roll does my heart good.

Thanks to all for your generosity in the tip jar---the boys were thrilled. Owen looked at me in amazement and said, "I LIKE old people!" Yup, me too baby. Lots of great food too. Despite their great version of the Dogmatics song, it DID feel like Christmas.

Merry Christmas all!

oh, and please note the three Flamin Groovies pins on his guitar strap.

Oh, oh, oh....and Owens aid to me, "Mom, where did we get the Christmas tip jar?" I reminded him it was from a friend named Lori but I didn't really know her. He said, "Mom, you have GOT to find out so we can thank her." So Lori, if you read this, message me or friend me on Facebook...otherwise Owen will be mad!

Let's Recap

My lord but I've been busy. The last week or so has been a blur. Let's recap in pictures:

We got to have Roy Axford over for dinner. It was an utterly delightful evening, and the boys loved him, which made me happy.

Mistakenly posted this picture of Ernie and Chewbacca on the Japan House Facebook page. Sigh.


Saw Santa at Fries and Peanuts

Thanks Rascal.

Yeah, thanks a lot Rascal for pulling these lights and beads off the tree.

Worked Friday, Saturday, and Sunday at the Japan House Bazaar.

Debbie Kim and her twin, Audrey, visited!

Got the best present from Roy Axford. Now we have to schedule a family viewing.

Saw Captain Rat for the first time in ages and ages. Got to have dinner with Tim Fruehe and Bill Wild, and his wife Mary Ann, and damn it I can't remember Tim's wife's name. She was lovely despite the fact that I can't remember her name. And did I get a picture of us all? Nope. Next time. UPDATE: Tiffany!!!!!

Oh, and damn I love that Mark Rubel.

Of course I love this guy too.

Saw people I like, albeit briefly...

Made Ernie stop the car and take a picture of the Art because their lights and neon look SO great all fixed up.

Got home and found Ernie had put lights up around the door because I'd moaned that there were no lights on the house.

Listened to the Taxi Boys practice. Warning: I think it's going to pretty crowded tomorrow night, given the Christmas tree and the band's set up. Worth it though.


Onward!

Merry Christmas Judi

An up and down day. By late afternoon we finally started decorating our tree however. It gives me incredible pleasure. I mostly sat and pulled ornaments out of tubs and handed them to various boys. They all laughed at how many Uncle Mistletoe and Aunt Holly ornaments I have. They said the tree was full, I said tomorrow we will fit some more on.

We only have one tree this year so we have far too many ornaments. Some favorites are missing but there are many beloved ones, so it feels good. After we stopped, Leo sat and talked to us for hours. I feel so incredibly blessed. Those boys of mine....

I looked at our tree and thought about how much it looks like my childhood trees. Then I puzzled on that and wondered if it really did. I found some pictures, and yeah, it does.

This picture made me miss my big sister Judi so much. And I had to admire our pajamas that my mother sewed for us. Merry Christmas Judi.

 

Mantel Time

Yesterday I was tired and in a somewhat foul mood. A bit of an emotional hangover perhaps. My beloved Ceal messaged me however, and said she had something for me, so Ernie and I met her and Roger at Fries and Peanuts. She gifted me with some cooked whole oats...because she knows I don't care for oatmeal but am searching for breakfast options (and some chicken stock, God I love her). And she was right. I DID like it. I'm not big on sweets in the morning so went savory and just salted it a bit...and she was was totally right...it did have a hint of cinnamon flavor to it. Thank you Ceal!

We headed home after a bit, bringing dinner for the boys. Man, I was JUST not up for cooking. It was a popcorn and scrounge the refrigerator night for us. BUT, we also put all the trees on the mantel, which of course, is one of our favorite Christmas traditions. The mantel is far too small for all of them now, so some migrated to mix with the bar bottles on top of the cupboard, and the shelf on the sideboard, and I even let Owen take a few out to his nest in the garage. We played Vince Guaraldi as it's always the first official Christmas music, and also what we play first on Christmas morning. The big tree still is sitting naked but the mantel went a long way in making me feel better.

Thanks trees. 

Random Pictures from the Sandwich Life

1. Why does it feel as though we are hurtling toward the New Year? I guess because we are. The only thing you can do is go with it though, so I think we'll bring our tree in today and try to get it decorated over the next few days.

2. Yesterday we went to the Gordyville Antique Show. It's become something of a tradition on the first weekend of December every year. We rarely buy much but I enjoy it just the same. This year we got a little guitar ornament for Owen, some beads and old ornaments for the tree. Not that we need them...we have too many ornaments already, but I like the ones that look like little snowy turtlenecks...and also the ones with holiday phrases on them. There were two signs I loved....one a Christmas trees for sale sign, and one an ice cream cone, but they were out of our budget. Next time.

Ernie barely looked the at records which was a tad unnerving.


3. Later Ernie took Owen to band practice and we went out for a drink so we could sit and talk about how great the house concert was. Fries and Peanuts has their holiday windows painting so it all felt right. Ernie ferried the band around some more, we cooked dinner, and happily collapsed, binge watching some more of 800 Words.

4. Just some pretty pictures...

5. And a delightful new bar bottle---officially my Christmas present...second from the left in the front. It was temptingly cheap on eBay recently. Pittsburgh area....mid 19th century and damn gorgeous.

6. And last, but not least, no WONDER Bill Chambers and crew have Bucky in charge of signing things: look at that writing!