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For the past week or so I've been listening to our Christmas albums--the highbrow ones, and the ones that remind me of childhood, and the retro-chic ones (I'm a little tired of the Christmas lounge music, though). But my all-time favorite Christmas album is Christmas Time with the Judds, from 1987. Produced by Mike Curb. My cassette tape is so old that their voices sound extra-quavery. Maybe I should look for a CD...
Between Thursday night and Friday morning, I baked one batch of ginger shortbread (with fresh and candied ginger--none of that powdered stuff) and three varieties of scones. Most of them went to our friends in Jane's office, but I took some to work as well, and we have plenty of leftovers.
All the recipes--for the ginger shortbread and the cornmeal-cherry, maple-pecan, and cheese scones--are from the Cheese Board Collective cookbook. The Cheese Board is a Berkeley institution venerated among foodies. In addition to its amazing cheese counter, the Cheese Board bakes wonderful things, and this is mostly a baking book.
I actually don't go into the Cheese Board shop very often, because it's chaotic and crowded. I know better than to be standing between the typical Berkeleyite and the Explorateur they need. But the baked goods are really to die for, and they're a bit easier to get than the cheese without losing an arm.
They're purists, though, those Cheese Board collective members. Their recipe for sourdough starter takes *twelve days.* Being a dilettante, I have not undertaken the sourdough starter, so I haven't made a lot of the raised-dough recipes in the cookbook.
You need sourdough starter for something called Wolverines, which are little breads with apricots and pecans. I reviewed the recipe on Thursday, and considered whether I could go down to the shop and ask them to sell me a pound or so of their sourdough starter. They certainly have it to spare, and they might make a ton of money selling it. I think I will go inquire, but not until after the holiday.
I went in to Target last night, looking for some festive but inexpensive holiday plates (and a new set of flannel jammies). Believe me, we already have plenty of tableware, including a nice set of holiday dessert plates and mugs. But for me, bad habit though it be, getting in a holiday mood usually involves feathering the nest a bit more.
Instead of some Melmac plates with snowmen on them, I found these. 
They are not inexpensive, as Target dinnerware goes, but they're a far cry from what you might spend at a more upscale joint, and I love them. I couldn't photograph them very well, but the deep red and heavy lines have a Cezanne-ish feel to them, and they're rough-hewn and beautiful at the same time. Those bowls are big enough to be small serving bowls--enough soup or cereal for three people would fit in them, so they're not the most practical, and I could have done without them, but there is, alas, no open stock.
I'm kind of a completist freak--I really wanted eight place settings, but since these are bulky and heavy, I figured that would present a storage problem. Also, a table full of eight settings of this stuff might be a bit overwhelming, so it might be better to mix it with something lighter. And considering that our entertaining is pretty much limited to my rich fantasy life, it's kind of a nonissue.
Even so, I was only able to leave the second box in the store last night by promising myself I would watch the Target Web site for after-holiday sales. But then I checked the Web site (I was going to be lazy and swipe their photos), and this set isn't there! I don't really need to go back to the store and buy four more settings, do I?
Last night I dozed off with the blue baby blankie clutched to my chest; unfortunately, there was still a pointy lace Addi sticking out of it. I did get up and put it away before anyone got poked or a needle got bent.
I'm a bit more than halfway finished with the edging, and I need to kick it into high gear, because the blankie's future owner will be here during Christmas week. Jane and I have been receiving regular photo and video updates, and he's getting to be a big boy with a raucous laugh. I can't wait to meet him in person.
I have one more big push on the work project from hell this weekend and Monday, and then I think I'll get to rejoin my life. I'm looking forward to it.
Last week I started hypnotherapy for help with my lifelong insomnia, which naturally gets worse when I'm stressed. I explained to the hypnotherapist that I have noisy neighbors and noisy pets, including an old cat who yowls in the early morning hours and wakes me up. And then I can't get back to sleep. The hypnotherapist sympathized and said she had an older cat who did the same thing. And what she did was pick up the cat and bring him back to bed with her and petted him so that they both relaxed and went back to sleep at the same time.
Well, the cranky old man did his usual last Tuesday morning--and started up approximately an hour after I went to bed and three hours before gettin' up time. I did get up and go get him, but I swear I wanted to wring his neck, not stroke his brow. Pile a little guilt on top of that anxiety.
I just had an idea about a knit-in with a theme: You must bring and cast on for a new project--no WIPs allowed, in honor of the new year. Everyone loves to start something new with yarn they're still infatuated with and a pattern that hasn't yet shown its difficult side.
But ... I can imagine the lack of conversation and furrowed brows as people read, and count, and rip back, mutter, and swear (um, maybe those last two are just me). Huh. I'll keep thinking about it. Let me know if you'd show up to such a thing the weekend after New Year's, and if champagne and goodies would hold no charm at all for you after the holidays end.
It's sitting all around me in my home office, but I have to leave it alone because I'm working again, still. This is the fifth consecutive weekend that I've had to work, and it looks like it will continue through next weekend. At this point forget cooking, shopping, or Christmas-card-writing, I miss housework--and my dear helpmeet misses me doing housework too.
Bitter? Me? You bet.
Go look, that's all. And then try not to march to your nearest shelter and adopt an older dog when you already have a completely full house, pet-wise.
