Wednesday Hodgepodge

1. Share your Christmas Eve traditions.

We don’t really have any. This year we are doing Fondue, just Hubby and me. I have gotten some bubbly, and plan to make my favorite pie (pumpkin) for dessert. Since we have no snow, I cannot go out and play with the dogs in it, but I think I will still have a warm fire in the hearth!

2. What was the best book you read in 2010? (we’re not going to include The Bible here)

I think it was “The Time Traveler’s Wife” by Audrey Niffenegger. I have had trouble reading with my less than perfect eyes, but getting large print books works. My biggest problem now is that there aren’t a lot of best sellers available in large print. In fact there is one I want so much, and it hasn’t come out in large print! Grrrrrrr!

3. Do you have pets and if so do you allow them on the furniture?

I have four dogs. There is just Hubby and me and they outnumber us. So yes, they do. Just the dackels, not Fritz. He has his own bed on the floor.

4. What event from 2010 are you most thankful for?

That my retinal surgery was successful and I can see. After having both of my eyes damaged by detached retinas, I am thankful each and every day that I can see at all!

That my cousin Janet completed her cancer treatments successfully,beat an serious infection and surgery, and found the most wonderful man in the world, Dave!

5. What did you do in 2010 that you’d never done before.

I made Julia Child’s Boeuf Bourguignon and I also made Julia’s Roasted Chicken! I think I made myself slow down with my cooking and enjoy the experience more. I’ve never done that before!

6. Brussel sprouts…friend or foe?

Oh, definitely friend. I love them just steamed, or cut them in half, steam them briefly, and then saute some bacon until it is done, remove the bacon from the pan. Add a little olive oil and saute some chopped onions, until the onions are done. Add sprouts to the saute pan. Toss in the bacon fat, onions and olive oil until done. Crumple up the bacon over the whole thing, toss and serve!

7. Who would you nominate for man/woman of the year?

Besides my husband? (Who puts up with me, each and every day of the year!) I don’t think any one person can be called “a person of the year”. I like to believe that it takes many  people to make this world work.

8. Insert your own random thought here.

It seems I recall all those beloved people in my life, past and present, during the Christmas season. I recall those precious moments spent with them, the laughter, the smiles, the brightness in their faces, and the warmth in my heart, and theirs.

I see all those Christmas trees, and dinners and presents opened. I hear the jokes and the laughter and can almost smell the cookies as they bake in the oven.

I can hear the choirs I’ve listen to and sung in, and hear the services I’ve attended all around me.

Ah yes, Christmas is such a multifaceted holiday, isn’t it? I can feel and see and hear it all around me.