xmas wrap-up
whew! this time around, i’m relieved that christmas is over. it was quite an interesting day--one that i will be happy not to repeat. but i’m getting ahead of myself...
the remainder of the holiday baking and truffle-making went well. i succeeded in dipping the cognac truffles and they are outstanding. the chocolate tempering worked out great, so the coating has the desired gloss and snap. i am hoarding these for myself, having given away all the others. we had plentyplenty cookies. even after gifting tins of them to many folks and securing enough for all the holiday entertaining, there is still a full box of assorted ones in my mom’s freezer. myself, i’m tired of all of them. i can’t wait to bake something different. i have a hankering for some dark, intense gingerbread. there will be time for all that in January.
one of the best parts of this holiday was having my parents so close by. no one had to travel hours in the car or get on a plane. it was a relief, especially given that we had the worst december storm in cleveland history on the 22nd and 23rd. unfortunately, the storm left some roads covered in a thick layer of ice that would not melt, due to temps in the single digits. this was what caused the scariest part of the holiday.
on christmas morning, while on his way to pick up part of his family and ferry them to his parents’ house, tony was struck by a pickup that spun out of control on the ice. he was not hurt, but was very upset. (last year on christmas day, he was involved in a weather-related accident, as well.) he called me in the midst of the gift exchange part of the morning at my sister’s. i drove back out to the west side of the city to pick him up, as his car was damaged to such a degree that he didn’t feel safe driving it. we went to the police station (which was experiencing a parade of accident reports) and filled out the necessary paperwork. then we went out to parma to pick up his brother, his niece and nephew and the mother-in-law and take them to his folks’ house. i stopped in there for a cup of tea before driving back out to chagrin falls to my sister’s to pick up the gifts i hadn’t opened yet. they were just getting ready to leave to go to some friends for christmas dinner, so i headed out again to my folks’ house. once there (about 2 pm), i was finally able to sit and eat something. i opened my presents with them and then drove home. i was exhausted from a day of driving and worrying about tony. it all turned out okay in the end, given that he was not hurt in the least. this is what the officer kept re-iterating to us: you’re not hurt. no one was killed. you have insurance. the car can be repaired. so you can see that while there was no real tragedy, it was not a day i am anxious to re-live.
on the bright side, santa was very good to me. i got a variety of sweaters, a new jean jacket (which i have wanted for a couple of years now), a bunch of different gift cards (gap, sur la table, barnes and noble, winking lizard tavern and the hyde park grille) and other assorted baubles and trinkets, including some pictures of ben franklin. on the whole, i got what i had asked for. tony has an excellent memory for things i have mentioned wanting/needing. this is a great thing about him: he listens and remembers. the thought that goes into his gift giving has always been apparent, and it really shined through this year.
my friends leslie and pete are here visiting from chicago now for a couple of days. i have known leslie for over 26 years now. (doesn’t that mean we met when we were like 3 years old?) we lived near each other in chicago and hung out together often. i really like her husband as well, and have always felt comfortable in their home. i even made their wedding cake for them! we have a long list of things we want to try to accomplish in two days, but i’ll bet we get to less than half of it. there’s a big part of our time that seems to get invested in coffee and cocktail drinking and we wouldn’t have it any other way. we’ll also work on some serious eating whilst they’re here. we have a reservation for tonight for the hyde park grille, where tony will join us. we had been to several steakhouse/supperclub evenings together in chicago. it’s fun to dress up and act like grownups once in awhile, drinking martinis and eating big bloody slabs of meat. i can’t wait!
tomorrow we’ll do the more traditional, touristy stuff. possibilities include the rock hall, the cleveland museum of art, the westside market and the cleveland greenhouse. they are interested in just driving around and seeing the city neighborhoods. i would like to take them to sokolowski’s, if we don’t eat too much at the market, that is. somewhere i see a big platter of polish food in our near future. it’ll be fun having them here and the weather is supposed to show a gradual warming trend with almost no snow in the forecast! woohoo!
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the remainder of the holiday baking and truffle-making went well. i succeeded in dipping the cognac truffles and they are outstanding. the chocolate tempering worked out great, so the coating has the desired gloss and snap. i am hoarding these for myself, having given away all the others. we had plentyplenty cookies. even after gifting tins of them to many folks and securing enough for all the holiday entertaining, there is still a full box of assorted ones in my mom’s freezer. myself, i’m tired of all of them. i can’t wait to bake something different. i have a hankering for some dark, intense gingerbread. there will be time for all that in January.
one of the best parts of this holiday was having my parents so close by. no one had to travel hours in the car or get on a plane. it was a relief, especially given that we had the worst december storm in cleveland history on the 22nd and 23rd. unfortunately, the storm left some roads covered in a thick layer of ice that would not melt, due to temps in the single digits. this was what caused the scariest part of the holiday.
on christmas morning, while on his way to pick up part of his family and ferry them to his parents’ house, tony was struck by a pickup that spun out of control on the ice. he was not hurt, but was very upset. (last year on christmas day, he was involved in a weather-related accident, as well.) he called me in the midst of the gift exchange part of the morning at my sister’s. i drove back out to the west side of the city to pick him up, as his car was damaged to such a degree that he didn’t feel safe driving it. we went to the police station (which was experiencing a parade of accident reports) and filled out the necessary paperwork. then we went out to parma to pick up his brother, his niece and nephew and the mother-in-law and take them to his folks’ house. i stopped in there for a cup of tea before driving back out to chagrin falls to my sister’s to pick up the gifts i hadn’t opened yet. they were just getting ready to leave to go to some friends for christmas dinner, so i headed out again to my folks’ house. once there (about 2 pm), i was finally able to sit and eat something. i opened my presents with them and then drove home. i was exhausted from a day of driving and worrying about tony. it all turned out okay in the end, given that he was not hurt in the least. this is what the officer kept re-iterating to us: you’re not hurt. no one was killed. you have insurance. the car can be repaired. so you can see that while there was no real tragedy, it was not a day i am anxious to re-live.
on the bright side, santa was very good to me. i got a variety of sweaters, a new jean jacket (which i have wanted for a couple of years now), a bunch of different gift cards (gap, sur la table, barnes and noble, winking lizard tavern and the hyde park grille) and other assorted baubles and trinkets, including some pictures of ben franklin. on the whole, i got what i had asked for. tony has an excellent memory for things i have mentioned wanting/needing. this is a great thing about him: he listens and remembers. the thought that goes into his gift giving has always been apparent, and it really shined through this year.
my friends leslie and pete are here visiting from chicago now for a couple of days. i have known leslie for over 26 years now. (doesn’t that mean we met when we were like 3 years old?) we lived near each other in chicago and hung out together often. i really like her husband as well, and have always felt comfortable in their home. i even made their wedding cake for them! we have a long list of things we want to try to accomplish in two days, but i’ll bet we get to less than half of it. there’s a big part of our time that seems to get invested in coffee and cocktail drinking and we wouldn’t have it any other way. we’ll also work on some serious eating whilst they’re here. we have a reservation for tonight for the hyde park grille, where tony will join us. we had been to several steakhouse/supperclub evenings together in chicago. it’s fun to dress up and act like grownups once in awhile, drinking martinis and eating big bloody slabs of meat. i can’t wait!
tomorrow we’ll do the more traditional, touristy stuff. possibilities include the rock hall, the cleveland museum of art, the westside market and the cleveland greenhouse. they are interested in just driving around and seeing the city neighborhoods. i would like to take them to sokolowski’s, if we don’t eat too much at the market, that is. somewhere i see a big platter of polish food in our near future. it’ll be fun having them here and the weather is supposed to show a gradual warming trend with almost no snow in the forecast! woohoo!
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