Party Fine Print

ACK! I just double checked the invitation to a Christmas party tonight, to discover that it is potluck! These are important things to pay attention to when it comes to limited time availability. Ah well, I had pulled that butter out to soften once again in an effort to kick start my stalled Christmas baking, but before I get to the peppernut cookie dough, I guess I'll be making something for the potluck.

I decided quite quickly on a simple, comforting and festive dessert, a la Canadian Living: pear gingerbread pudding. Gotta love those websites with all the recipes!! I've been wanting to make it for dessert for one of our own meals, and I have all the ingredients (and the pears are getting tired of waiting for me to get around to making it), so it seems like the right choice.

Cold Season + Christmas Season

I have now officially softened the same pound of butter three times, in an effort to prepare for baking that I just don't have the energy to do. I was the last of my family to catch the nasty cold that's been going around. Top that with two busy work weeks full of meetings and deadlines, and I haven't had much time/energy to write. I can say I've been leaning heavily on Mark Bittman's Food Matters cookbook, having made pasta with asparagus, bacon and eggs, mushroom stew with beef chunks and roasted butternut squash chowder in the past few days. All excellent. I have reconfirmed celery root as one of my favourite vegetables, finding some after a lengthy search at the Co-op Marketplace. Christmas baking was supposed to get a boost this week with help from some friends, but since we're all sick, we've rescheduled for next week (Thursday). More on that soon!

Curry No-go

Well, I really enjoyed the curried coconut rice that we had for supper last night, but I'm afraid curry is still food non grata with two year-old D. At least he's old enough now to try it and say, "No, it's too spicy. I want some water," instead of just spitting it out.

The vegetarian chef's salad that we had tonight, on the other hand, was more popular. He's going through a protein phase these days, so he was all over the chickpeas and hard-boiled eggs. Avocado is always a hit, as well. I think I'd rather have a veggie chef's salad than the original recipe, since I've never understood the logic behind piling a bunch of cold cuts on lettuce, drenching it with mayonnaise, and calling it salad.