Getting Ready for the Big One

No not a California earthquake - Christmas, duh.

Since we are a mixed background family, Wife from the earliest days of our relationship made it be known that Christmas was going to be a part of our life. Of course our girls fully embraced this and now every year if it is at all possible we try to get together. I say this because we as a family usually are spread all over the place. Just three years ago we had daughters in Japan, the Netherlands and Chicago respectively. Now with middle daughter, Pulisha, living just a half a mile from us, it puts more pressure on the out-0f-towners to make the schlepp to New Mexico, bwahahahahaha.

Eldest daughter and matriarch in training, Motherrocker, in her blog makes snide references that the main focus of our getting together will be eating lots of food and drinking lots of alcohol. What let me set the record straight - that is absolutely true.

A novel event this year is that youngest daughter, Alexis in Amsterdam, (yes all three of my girls blog) has brought with her across the pond mysterious Boy Friend. This is a big deal. She's never brought anyone home before. She actually got her a couple of days before BF and you could tell she was on pins and needles. Come'on it's not like I ever subjected Son in laws Tim de Buffalo or John the Armenian to any type of abuse - right girls?

Anyway, I have been on my best behavior, a model of restraint and tact.

I called three people this morning on business and all three were gone until next week. Taking this as a cue I went to my boss who is a complete a--hole and asked for the day off. He reluctantly agreed. So I decided to use my day getting cooking done.

We have pizza on Christmas Day. No you skeptics not Dominos, home made pizza with the dough and the sauce made from scratch and the toppings all prepared by us as well. This year I'm upping the 'from scratch' quotient because I'm using tomtoes from Wife's garden that I processed in October.

So today's tasks included making the sauce, sauteeing mushrooms, onions, spinach, and italian sausage for the toppings. Wife was whipping up a couple of her confections. Both AinA and BF chipped in with help which reduced the load.

Another cooking project that I actually finished already was making a French Terrine as well. This involves making a forcemeat (think meat loaf filling) with various meats and pork fat, flavoring it, testing it (by cooking a bit), then letting it sit for a couple of days. You also marinate and let sit your bits that go in it, in this case pieces of duck breast, When ready to cook, one lines a loaf pan or terrine crock with bacon or thin sliced pork fat, spoon the mixture in, then cover with more bacon and seal with aluminum foil. The whole is cooked in a water bath for a couple of hours. When it's finished cooking, you put weights on it (cans of beans in my case with a piece of cardboard to even out the weight) and let it sit in the refridgerator for a couple of days.

All this has been done. I won't know if it is a success or a bust until Christmas Eve until we cut it open with the rest of our Super-Sized French Picnic Lunch Extravaganza.