The Sun Is Up, The Sky Is Blue...

sunny sunday morning. the snow has melted and the cat is outside. little pokie, happy at last. i have the sunday Times and the new Vogue to read. the espresso is dripping, birds are singing, all is right in our world. my kitchen is bursting with food: pumpkin bread baked by a neighbor, gingerbread brought by a friend, bags of sugared almonds, candied pecans, gingersnaps, a butterstollen ( well, maybe half a loaf of the stollen cause i love it) assorted jars of jams and preserves from another friend but not a slice of plain bread to spread it on. our neighbor, the Major, gave us a kitchen aid for christmas. perhaps i should unpack it and bake some bread? never mind , just got a text from said neighbor, he's cooked breakfast! this day is getting better by the minute. gonna wash my face, wake up german girl and the lab, and we're outta here!

AHHHHH

peace and quiet and rain surround me. the centerpieces, buffet pieces, tree decorating, routing drivers, gulping down starbucks, finished till next year. i'm off till january 5th. it's boxing day and my house is reasonably clean, dishes washed, elaborate dinner eaten and digested. today there is nothing i HAVE to do. visions of the gym and the library, even a little shopping dance in my head. i do want to make a roast beef hash with the left over rib roast and a rich beef stock from the bones. at some point this afternoon, i will take a nap. breathe, release, repeat.

All I Want For Christmas....

i want the snow to melt so the damn cat can go outside. she's taken up residence under the christmas tree, only leaving to eat and to try to make her daily escape. i want arlington county to clear the streets, so the delivery vans and jeeps stop getting stuck in the snow. i want more sleep, my christmas shopping done, ( that will happen after christmas, i'm sure) and most importantly i want a flash of inspiration on what to cook for christmas dinner. this is vital. if anyone is reading and has a delicious suggestion, please post it! a manicure would also be appreciated ,oh and did i mention more sleep? 2 days and counting.



p.s. of course in the midst of floral madness we did come home to a clean house and a delicious dinner of chicken soup prepared by our own elf , Tini. the sun is up and i'm off to shower and gird my loins for another day in the trenches. Merry Christmas!

cats and cupcakes

uber quiet sunday morning. the cat is no longer talking to me. when i opened the back door , at her bequest, she was greeted with 18" of snow. apparently, i am responsible for this, and she has stalked off to the attic to plan her revenge. everyone else is sleeping off a snow day of shoveling, movie watching, cupcake baking and gorging. followed by another movie, dinner and more cupcakes. i hear creatures stirring, off to make another latte and see what high calorie treats today brings!

Oh No, Snow!

alas, alack, forced to take a day off in the midst of the holiday madness! luckily, yesterday, we worked like elves on crack getting all the holiday party work done. we delivered, customers picked up, people rushed in after hours for one last amaryllis or wreath. too bad we don't sell bread and milk, we could have been a one stop shop. a customer brought in his elf for us to fill, it turned out to be a gnome, but we filled it just the same. i've just caught up on my" blogs i follow " reading, and now i better go participate in this life i'm leading.

just 2 things

# 1 : the reason i can merrily blog away almost every night is because i'm not shopping, or going to parties. we were invited to a very fancy cocktail party this evening, but it seems i prefer to be home, making chicken parmesan ( how retro is that) , walking the dog, and blogging.

# 2: i was nearly rendered speechless at work today ( for those of you who read this blog, with its run on sentences, no time for capital letters or correct punctuation , this is how i talk. readily and swiftly. ) but when a customer returned the 3 arrangements i had made for her house, i called her to see what i should change. everything, i was told. "did i not know she had changed the colors of her lampshades?" huh? the new color ,i was told, was a terracotta, santa barbara color. huh? "you would probably call it tan" i was told. suitably chastened, i redid the containers as directed, put on my coat and hat and came home. here are a couple of shots of the new arrangements. they will probably be sitting on my work table tomorrow for another redo. ah, christmas, 9 days and counting.

let 'em eat pork

on an up note, we did have a delicious dinner on sunday night. chaotic but delicious. i did a pork roast with a fabulous marinade of garlic, scallions, pine nuts, handfuls of parsley and a jalapeno, all finely chopped in the food processor. then i added juice of 1 lime, 1 clementine and half a grapefruit, salt and pepper . after making tiny incisions all over the loin roast, i poured the marinade over it and left it to rest. i roasted it at 375 degrees for about 1 and 1/2 hours, then coated the outside with hot pepper jelly and let it cook about 15 more minutes. i served this with black beans and rice and one of Tini's salads composed of greens, feta and slices of pear. Tini also provided several loaves of freshly baked bread, set up the buffet AND cleaned up the kitchen, while everyone else continued to break ornaments . tonight i'm sitting in my quiet house with a beautifully decorated tree ( the tree stand is somewhat hidden under a batik cloth) and no leftovers. ahhhh, christmas: 10 days and counting ...