24 December 2024
It’s Christmas Eve and Santa’s on his way. As a little kid, this was my favorite time of the year for several reasons: Grandma Laura’s tea cakes, the Christmas tree my Grandmother Ruby put up with bubble lights, and getting to see my cousins since Dad was stationed in Havre de Grace, MD.
One Christmas Eve, I swear I heard jingling bells on the roof of Grandmother Ruby’s house. That was proof enough for me. Santa had to be real.
Unfortunately, life began to teach a much tougher lesson and one that sometimes turned violent. However, every Christmas I do play carols, I’ve started having a tree again, and I give very simple, inexpensive presents to friends. I send out over 90 Christmas/Holiday cards every year. I just made it before they would arrive too late.
Wade arrived around 8:45 last night and Joel and Keith took him to Outback to eat. I didn’t go because I wasn’t feeling too well with my cold. When Joel and Keith dropped him off, Wade came bearing gifts. More See’s chocolates! He also brought a beautiful cake from Susie’s Cakes in San Francisco. These cakes are known throughout the states and the prices are pretty steep. Wade managed it as take on baggage and it made the trip perfectly.
I’ve come to the conclusion in my life, after 76 years of experience, that chocolate is one of the best of earth’s foods.
I let Wade sleep late last night and we got to stirring around 10 am. From here, we headed to pick up Joel and go to Rosie’s for lunch. You’ll never guess what Wade and Joel ordered.
BLT with sweet potato fries! Both Joel’s and Wade’s disappeared over the course of the meal. Me, I wasn’t so hungry and I ordered their giant pretzel.
From Rosie’s we headed to Walgreens to pick up another prescription ($140 for Jardiance and that’s with the steep discount.
From Walgreens, we headed to Whole Foods to pick up the 4 bone in standing rib roast.
That’s a massive piece of meat! The recipe is simple as apple pie. You let it air dry in the refrigerator for 3 hours or more. Then you pull it out and let it come to room temperature for 3 hours. You coat it with olive oil and salt and pepper generously. You preset the oven for 450 and put it in a rack with a pan underneath, fat side up. That cooks for 30 minutes. You then lower the temperature to 350 and using a meat thermometer pull it out whenever it reaches your preferred temperature: rare, medium or well done.
The big problem willl be the Yorkshire pudding (also easy) with oven time. It also starts out at 450 and then goes to 350. Keep your fingers crossed. I’ve done popovers and they came out well but that doesn’t mean the Yorkshire pudding will.
The menu now includes cookies, a squash casserole and roasted potatoes from Melinda. From Barb, we are getting a salad and some Brussel sprouts. From Joel and Keith we are getting dessert and from Tom and Kurt we are getting wine. It should be a fun Christmas evening.
Stay tuned!