Raincharm’s Weblog

Happy Holidays to all. We spent a quiet, rainy day at home.

It was a good day. I read a novella to start the day. We spoke on the phone with the kids, parent, and old friend. I mean old as in known since kindergarten or first grade. 

And as the picture above attests, we have many new books to enjoy into the new year.

I will leave now as we are into our 3rd Christmas Carol (Dickens adaptations) over the past day and today. Yesterday was the George C. Scott version. This morning was Alistair Sim, and this evening, it is the Reginald Owen version. We have not managed to find Carl’s favorite version with Mr. Magoo.

We had a group over for Chinese on Christmas Adam. It was a good time, with talk and good food. And there are enough leftovers to last us to the new year I think.

We had prepared a few appetizers and a dessert. The appetizer was based on a suggestion of an acquaintance. A wreath made of hummus, decorated with parsley, cherry tomatoes, red and green peppers, and some crackers.

Dessert was another thing altogether. I had a recipe and all of the ingredients. However, there were issues in the building.  First of all, I was picturing puff pastry, but what I had was phyllo dough. I had not worked with these separating sheets. The recipe called for two sheets, to be cut and placed atop one another. The sheets were so thin, especially compared to the puff pastry in my head, I decided to use more than two sheets. I proceeded down this path, although they did not seem to fully cook through with the 8 or so layers that I had settled on. So I was splitting the piles and continuing to cook some. In the meantime, I was attempting the custard. Parts were coming along fine, but I think the recipe called for  too much cornstarch. I ended up with a lumpy, sort of concrete like mixture. I tried to rescue it by hand mixing, using an electric beater, but finally decided it was a lost cause. I used the interwebs to find a different recipe for custard.  Same ingredients, but different proportions.

So unsure on the phyllo dough, two tries to get custard. The raspberries were from our summer garden, so I was a bit reticent to use them with the failings.

In the end, the “Napoleons” of a sort were well received. Topping them with chocolate covered a lot of faulty construction.

The dinner and dessert used most of our silverware, dinner and dessert plate settings, soup bowls, serving pieces, etc. So we used the dishwasher! This was the 20th use since the 2016 remodel. I know that because we used the last of 20 pacs in the bag. Unfortunately, for the first time, some water leaked out onto the kitchen floor. No damage, but an area of the floor that is much cleaner than the surrounding area. We will have to run it again to try to deduce the problem.

Christmas Eve included  a walk to and through Candy Cane Lane. Today, it didn’t rain! (It is supposed to be a gully washer tomorrow) So off we went. It was lovely and fun.

Now to spend a quiet evening at home.

There have been many family traditions over the years. With just two of us at home most years now, we tend to repeat things some years, but also allow in new ideas.

The Winter Solstice is not really our tradition, but we do observe the darkness. Today’s sunrise was at 7:55, and sunset will be at 4:20. And given the rain, it has been a fairly dark day. Except for the moment when the sun was shining, while it was raining. There was a rainbow somewhere.

One of my traditions is to eat a grapefruit. There is a consultant at work who has been sending a box of grapefruit to our office for years. And I always make sure to get one. Carl can’t eat them due to drug interactions, so it’s never on our grocery list. Yes, we could buy one every now and then, but we don’t. And it’s fun to have something to look forward to. Today was the grapefruit morning.

Another tradition stems from Carl’s crusade to clean the streets of lost money. Throughout the year, pennies, dimes, nickles, guarters, and the occasional bill are found. And stored with their brethren. At the end of the year, a picture of the jar with all of the foundlings is circulated around our block. Everyone can guess the total. The guess that is closest to the actual amount wins the cash.

There are a few more traditions on the horizon. Chinese dinner for friends. This year on the 23rd. One of our friends was booked on the 24th, and the restaurant we order from is normally closed on Tuesdays, so unless they make an exception, Monday is a better choice. They usually sell out on Christmas Eve, so perhaps they will make an exception this year.

Walking through Candy Cane Lane on Christmas Eve is a frequent event for us. We will have to see if this holds true for this year or if we turn into weather wimps. There is a chance of rain, of course.