Post-Holiday Catch-up and a Question

You might not have noticed that I haven't been blogging. The holidays were a whir. A good one. I was off work for a while. We had Christmas Eve brunch with Phil's family. Santa was good to the boys, even taking the time to deliver M's new Superman bike for my parents all the way from Michigan; what a guy. True to four-year-old form, M's absolute favorite present (other than the bike) wasn't the special books or the remote-control car or the Operation game. It was a dry-erase board and markers that Santa picked up at Staples on Christmas Eve, having noticed that M has become obsessed with dry-erase boards. Go figure.

T's favorite was a Tigger-shapped pillow that he not only sleeps on, but hauls all over the house. It's about as big as him.

After the holidays, we went to Michigan to see my family. We came home and our good friend Jeff, who lives outside Boston, came to see us for a few days. We had some people over on New Year's Eve Eve. We went to Noah and Holly's for a party on New Year's Eve. (We took the boys and I came home around 9:30 with them; Phil and Jeff stayed until just after midnight; Noah and Holly's other guests stayed until about 7 a.m. Ahhh, youth.)

I keep thinking of great recipes I want to post, but somehow the thought of a long post scares me away from the computer. So I'll keep this brief while I'm getting back into the swing. How about a quick one?

When we had people over Saturday night, I thought we'd just do a ham -- have little buns and good mustard and mayo, and everyone could all make sandwiches. I was at a party once (to give you a flavor... someone brought a pinata filled with airplane-sized bottles of booze), and the hostess had a ham. How odd, I thought, used to hummus and maybe some olives. But the ham really helped keep an even keel on the wine that was flowing. Which might explain how we were able to stay there until 3 a.m. when the invitation clearly stated the party was from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m. But I digress.

Anyhoo, Phil wanted to get a little more creative, so he pored through some grilling books and came up with two kebob recipes: One a beef and one a chicken. And then he made up a date recipe that I sneered at a bit -- as I always think of dates as one step from stewed prunes -- but it turns out it was my favorite food that night. Phil told me what he wanted, and I played sous chef. Here's what we did:

Bleu Cheese-Stuffed, Bacon-Wrapped, Not-for-Those-on-a-Diet Dates

Take a quantity of pitted dates (or pit them yourself by sticking a wooden spoon handle through one end and pushing the pit out the other). I think we did about two dozen. Slice down one side of each date so that you can lay it out and easily fill it with goodness. Now cut a little piece of bleu cheese to stuff in the date, lay a date-length piece of green scallion over this. Now close the date and wrap it with half a slice of bacon. Secure the bacon with a toothpick. Do this to all the dates while listening to, say, your new KT Tunstall CD. Put the dates in a single layer on a cookie sheet, maybe an inch or so apart, and if you're not ready to bake them yet, stick the cookie sheet in the fridge until you are. When you're ready, preheat the oven to 450 degrees, and when it's hot, bake the dates for 15-20 minutes, until the bacon looks cooked and there's maybe a little bleu cheese goodness running out some of the sides.


So Amy asked me this week about New Year's resolutions. You all know that I'm planning to knit for charity rather than impose another knitted mobius on any of you. But I also want to:

1. (You knew this was inevitable, right?) Lose the three pounds the holidays cruelly handed me before they turn into 25.
2. Make much more effort to stay in better contact with family and friends, and stop using being "swamped" as an excuse for not staying in touch.


3. Spend more time tickling, reading to, laughing with, and hugging the boys without having an eye on the clock.


4. Read the first volume of Shelby Foote's (God rest his soul) history of the Civil War.

And you? Have you made any resolutions this year??