Like a kid on Christmas

I got an iPad!

I admit, I did some hinting during the few weeks before Christmas, but it was the 'I'm not really expecting to get this' kind of hinting, more meant to instill a bit of guilt in the listener than to actually result in the object itself on Christmas morning...so I was completely surprised as I opened the unassuming, book-shaped gift.  It's the coolest, sleekest thing ever!  Everything about it is so tactilely satisfying...even the sounds it makes are appealing---a sultry Lauren Bacall to my computer's Doris Day.  I don't know how a piece of technology could possibly appeal to my primal instincts, but it does. I'm drawn to it, want to touch it and hold it as if it were a kitten or a piece of jewelry.  If I had a maternal pouch I would want to keep it there.  I love its glossy flatness.   I love how you work it with a swipe of the finger, like skating on a virtual pond...so freeing...so much better than the cramped feeling I get on a touch-pad or mouse.  I love how my photos are all lined up in little thumbnails waiting to be slid effortlessly across the pond with a gentle push of my finger.  The graphics are sharper on this screen than anything I have ever seen, including real life!
Dick helped me get started on Christmas day, but now I'm on my own.  If anybody has any tips or apps to share, I'm all ears.  See you in cyberspace!

Yesterday we put a call in for more oil...that stuff goes surprisingly fast!  Then we took a walk in the snow to Henry's Market for some provisions.  Dog food, garbage bags, a paper... the likely stuff.  But then we also got grilled smoked turkey, havarti and pesto sandwiches, some homemade red onion jelly with local goat cheese and crackers for later, and wine,  Not bad for blizzard fare. 

With electricity, Internet and heat all cranking away, we count ourselves lucky souls.

Scenes from Christmas Day

But first, last night's walk as the blizzard got started...

Ted and Leo enjoying the contents of their stockings on Christmas morning.

Opening Grandma and Grandpa's presents

Love Love Love!

Cathy Moran's amazing hand knitted throw.  (I know my socks don't match...Teddy steals them)

Great books from the Vickers

Aunt Cathy's hand knitted scarf

Dick and Borgna in the throw we gave them...are we sensing a theme?

Notice the glittery acorns.

Molly skewers the cocktail meatballs

Time to take the traditional holiday walk to the Common

Borgna gets out on the ice even though the sign says "Keep off the ice"

Good form!

A handsome couple

After dinner Dick read "Jeeves and the Yuletide Spirit" to the group

And then we had a rousing round of musical poppers courtesy of the Vickers

As always, the perfect end to a perfect day.

Molly Stranded in New Hampshire!

Poor Molly, her flight tomorrow to LA to visit all her pals was canceled due to the approaching blizzard.  Virgin America isn't taking our calls...

Merry Christmas to all

One of our family traditions is the Christmas Eve sister gift.  It evolved from the time when Clare and Molly were younger and I passed on one of my childhood traditions, which was that we got to open one gift on Christmas eve.  As we did this over the years, they gravitated towards giving their gifts to each other on that night.  This year Clare knitted Molly several hats, and Molly gave Clare knitting supplies. 
Hope everyone has a wonderful day tomorrow...we'll be thinking of you.

Eat your heart out Martha

It wouldn't be Christmas without some kind of craft project, but all our supplies and tools are packed away in storage somewhere in the hinterlands of southern California.  So we had to get creative and use what was at hand.  Acorns!

+

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 Don't know exactly what we'll do with them, but it was fun.

 

Girls night in

For dinner we're making butternut squash soup and Clare's homemade latkes.  The soup recipe comes from Cathy Lightfoot, and this is the third time I've made it since coming to New Hampshire.  It's great.

First up the butternut soup--- 

1 onion, chopped

1 apple, peeled and chopped

olive oil

butter

1 butternut squash, peeled and chopped

2-4 cups chicken stock or a mixture of stock and water

3 whole cloves

1 bay leaf

1 strip of lemon peel

curry powder

salt and pepper

dash of lemon juice

nutmeg

sour cream for garnish

Sautee the onion and apple in a little olive oil and butter while you chop the squash.  Then add the cubed squash to the pot along with the stock and the rest of the ingredients except the sour cream garnish.  Let the mixture simmer until the squash is tender, maybe 20-30 minutes.

Remove the cloves, bay leaf and lemon peel.  Puree the soup in batches in a blender until smooth.  Return to the pot.  At this point it can be refrigerated until ready to serve, or, if serving right away, add the lemon juice, and a dash of nutmeg.  

Ladle the soup into bowls and finish with a dollop of sour cream.  If you want to be fancy you can thin the sour cream with a little milk and spoon it into a baggie.  Snip the end off a corner and pipe the sour cream onto the soup in a spiral design. 

Clare's Latkes 

Clare made one batch of regular latkes and one batch of sweet potatoe latkes...the recipe is the same for both:

Peel and grate 2 potatoes

2 eggs, slightly beaten

1/2 onion, grated 

1/4 cup flour

salt and pepper to taste

Mix all ingredients well in a bowl, form small balls and flatten into pancakes. Sautee in a frying pan in a little oil.  Serve with applesauce and sour cream.

I'm Sue Moran, and I have a problem

Is it just me?  This year my Christmas shopping got sidetracked by all the new ultra soft fabrics, faux furs, fleeces, sherpas, and micro-plushes that are out there.  When they say 'insanely soft', they aren't kidding!  I couldn't pass them by without touching and generally smothering myself in each and every one. I repeatedly stalked the throw and blanket aisles, surreptitiously pulling them out of their neat packaging to give them a feel. I'd come out of a store hours later and no further along on my holiday list.
These new textile technologies have actually improved on nature.  I think that's why I'm having a problem.  These sensations are unnatural!  Possibly a baby bunny...no, maybe a baby chinchilla...

This is for you, Molly

but Mother Nature wisely keeps these stimuli  few and far between, otherwise we'd never get anything done (like our Christmas shopping).  My genuine shearling Uggs are starting to feel positively itchy in comparison to these wonder fabrics.
The manufacturers have come up with some appropriately tempting names:
Minky Delight
Fluffy Cream
Impossibly Soft
Dream Fleece
Super Plush
Ultra Loft
Synchilla
Micro Lush
and they've clearly taken the recession weary world, and me, by storm.  The fact that it's shaping up to be a tough winter makes them all the harder to resist.

The new technologies have a lot going for them besides being mind-bogglingly comfy.  They are often made from earth friendly sources like recycled plastic bottles, coconut shells, seaweed and bamboo. They can be anti-microbial, hypoallergenic, super insulating, breathable, water-repellent, odor-resistant and UV blocking. They're lightweight, washable and strong.  I can hear the faint echo of my mother trying to convince me of the benefits of polyester in the '70s.  Even so, I'm hooked.

These high tech materials may have originated in the sports world, but they've infiltrated every aspect of our lives.  And they clearly aren't just intended for women and children...

The world's softest TV remote at Brookstone  

Men's uber soft Hangover Pants

I'm sure this decade will be infamous for this soft obsession.  But I can't understand what could possibly come next to replace these addictive materials.  How do you move on from fabrics that are "softer than a Sharpei puppy"?
As I write this I have on my aloe- infused lounge socks, micro fleece leggings, and ultra-plush sherpa lined hoodie.  I may have a goofy grin on my face, but it beats worrying about the economy.  Now I just have to get to that Christmas list.

The bridge is up

 Bridges are pretty important to us here.  We go back and forth over an average of 5 water spanning bridges a day.  Memorial Bridge is integral to the quality of our daily life.  Along with North Church it dominates the 'skyline' of downtown Portsmouth.  It takes us over the Piscataqua River to Kittery Maine

and to many of our favorite places. Because of it's age, it's been scheduled to be completely rebuilt in 2012, but a recent inspection brought out safety concerns and it's been shut down indefinitely. There are 2 other bridges; one is a by-pass bridge that by-passes pretty much everything you'd want to go to, and the other is the 1-95 bridge.  Neither is convenient from New Castle.  Boo!

A Norman Rockwell moment

There was a holiday run on the New Castle Post Office yesterday. People lined up in their winter gear and completely filled the little PO, our down coats expanding into the remaining voids.  Packages were coming and going, pile by teetering pile, destabilizing the room every time the door opened and closed, punctuated by a gust of arctic air.  A few of the boxes had to be strategically wedged through the little arched window.  The PO was built for a much smaller time, in so many ways. 
Some people chatted while they waited...a local artist met a local photographer for the first time, an older gentleman in front of me deputized himself doorman and leapt forward every time someone balancing a stack of packages came or went.  One man received a large box of Honeybells from Florida and sparked a flurry of comments, while an elderly but spry woman coached her neighbor on how to access a floor level postal box without slipping a disc.  Finally when a lady wedged her two Maltipoos into the mix we reached critical mass...but it was all very jolly. The funny thing is I probably spend much longer waiting on line in this post office than I ever did in the dreaded Van Nuys CA branch.  But I avoided that building like it was the DMV or the dentist. 

No caption needed

I used to think I had some strange aversion to the whole postal experience...but my daily visits to the New Castle Branch are pleasant, if lengthy.  I almost look forward to them...I might just bring the postmistress some holiday cookies.

Holiday cookies

Since I'm making holiday cookies today I installed the Christmas music radio to get you in the mood.  Choose a station and get listening.
My shortbread cookies are so simple they're actually relaxing to make. Just flour, butter, sugar, and any flavorings for variations.  Since I use the Cuisinart to do the mixing, they practically make themselves.  Today I made double batches of Ghirardelli semi-sweet chip, Vanilla bean, and Ginger molasses. 
I'm feeling the empty nest a bit, though.  This is probably the first holiday season in 21 years I haven't been madly packing up cookies or other gifts for an untold number of teachers.  They were important people in our lives, and I raise a cookie to them now.  :)  I also miss the 2 students who would eat the broken, ugly, or extra cookies.  Good luck on your finals!

Portsmouth gets ready, part 1

Long before the advent of Christmas, evergreen plants and trees have had symbolic meaning for people from ancient times onward. In celebration of the winter solstice they would hang them over their doorways and windows and bring them into their homes to represent hope, rebirth, and the eventual return of the sun.