That's What Jenni Said

To follow the roasted goose we served on Christmas (as mentioned in my last post) Jonathan baked sticky toffee pudding, following a recipe I clipped from Bon Appetit. It’s a confusing dish for Americans because it’s not pudding (it’s cake!) and it doesn’t feature toffee (the Brits call caramel toffee). Language barrier notwithstanding, it’s a terrific dessert. Sweet and decadent. Even more so when we plated it atop a generous spoonful of vanilla custard we had leftover from the morning’s pastry breakfast. We also opted to top the pudding with roasted hazelnuts and pecans. ingredients Pudding: 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for pan 1 1/2 cups sifted all-purpose flour plus more for pan 1 1/2 cups chopped pitted dates (about 6 ounces) 1 teaspoon baking soda 1 teaspoon baking powder 1/2 teaspoon sea salt 1 cup sugar 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 2 large eggs Sauce: 1 1/4 cups (packed) light brown sugar 1/2 cup heavy cream 1/4 cup (1/2 st...

Today is the feast of Saint Nicolas! From Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Nicholas) and St Nicolas Center (http://www.stnicholascenter.org/pages/who-is-st-nicholas/): "Saint Nicholas was born a Greek in Asia Minor during the third century in the city of Patara  which was a port on the Mediterranean Sea, and lived in Myra, Lycia (part of modern-day Demre, Turkey), at a time when the region was Greek in its heritage, culture, and outlook and politically part of the Roman diocese of Asia.  He was very religious from an early age and according to legend, Nicholas was said to have rigorously observed the canonical fasts of Wednesdays and Fridays. His wealthy parents died in an epidemic while Nicholas was still young and he was raised by his uncle—also named Nicholas—who was the bishop of Patara. Obeying Jesus' words to "sell what you own and give the money to the poor," Nicholas used his whole inheritance to assist the needy, the sick, and the suffering. He ...

So this year was going to be the year that our household went full throttle on Advent traditions. I planned the advent calendar. I planned the advent wreath. I planned the advent meals and fastings and weaving in all sorts of historic advent traditions. And then we did none of that. I was so busy and stressed (a good kind of stress) from getting used to new work hours, the commute and the job itself that I just couldn’t work up the energy to go gangbusters on Advent. The opportunities passed us by. We didn’t even have time to go to but one small Christmas party. As far as Christmastide (i.e. the 12 days of Christmas which begin Christmas day and go through January 5th) and the Epiphany, we typically celebrate on Christmas day with the traditional presents and meal with family/friends and then hold an epiphany dinner on the 6th of January. The Epiphany Feast celebrates the coming of the Magi to the Christ Child. This year I indulged in more research on the traditional celebrati...

First there was the season of advent, and soon the season of Christmas will be here. Joy to the world! Although the secular market is ready to put the holiday away after the capitalist consumption has culminated in unwrapped presents on the 25th, the holiday traditionally lasts for a much longer period of celebration. This year our household will celebrate the full 12 days of Christmas (begins on Christmas day and is capped with the epiphany). I encourage you and yours to do the same and keep the focus on Christ our savior. This will be a time of shared dinners with friends for me and little ways to make each of the 12 days memorable. Perhaps a party as well.

In September I penned a lengthy update providing a general overview of the happenings in our family. Here we are in the last quarter of the year and there have been a lot of new events since that post. Thus begins a new blog tradition: quarterly updates, filed under ‘This and That’. Work In September, I put in my notice at my federal contracting job to coincide with the end of the contract. I had lined up a new job with another contractor – SAS admin work again (yay) for a different agency than the one I’ve been working with the past 4 years.  Regardless of whether my previous employer would win the follow on contract or not, I was ready to move on. My decision was validated when it was announced at the end of September that a competing company had won the follow on. I patted myself on the back for being prepared with a new job and approximately 10 seconds later it (the new job) evaporated as they too lost their contract that I was to work on. Oops. So it was back to job huntin...

Right now the voicemail on my cell phone is stacking up. Emails- over 300 and counting- are waiting in my inbox for reply (and more arrives every hour). I've been back from our Paris trip for approximately 32 hours and I've not yet spoken to anyone except one of my best friends and my mother. Instead, I have a compulsion to finish the blog entries for the trip as my first priority. And so it begins here, with the account of our Christmas Eve and following day… Christmas Eve was really quite stressful in that I had a very long list of "to-do" items I hoped to cross off in just that short 24 hour period. In no particular order, these included: Get in a workout at the gym Accompany my husband to Sam's Club to purchase 4 new tires for his car Declutter the house so the woman who cleans for us would have an easier time of things Wrap Jonathan's Christmas presents and place under the tree Pack for Paris Gather the last minute items onto our trip Itinerary and pri...

How many kings step down from their thrones? How many lords have abandoned their homes? How many greats have become the least for me? And how many gods have poured out their hearts To romance a world that is torn all apart How many fathers gave up their sons for me?   This is the chorus from a new Christmas melody that has been making its way around the country this holiday season. It's absolutely beautiful both in sentiment and tune. You can hear the song on the blog of one of the band members here .

Christmas morning J awoke to discover that he had slept 15 hours. Happily, he felt much better. The two of us excitedly rifled through our stockings to see what Santa had brought us. He always brings us sweet and useful treats like chocolate and bubble bath. We played with the pups for awhile, had a quick breakfast (green chile egg burritos) and then got down to the fun business of opening presents. Our family and friends were very generous to us this year. J received a lot of dvd movies he wanted, clothes, his beloved weather calendar (from me), and an mp3 player he had his eye on (also from me). I received a lot of presents as well. One of my favorites was the 7th edition of The Professional Chef , sent by J's older brother and wife in Seattle. I simply adore the cookbook/textbook. It's the standard used at the Culinary Institute for training new chefs. So, in theory, once I work my way through the whole book I should be a quasi-pro. Another one of my favorite was the Fuj...

By the third day of our vacation J and I were feeling pretty settled into our snowy accommodations. The pups had both finally oriented themselves to the deeper snow (Poor Jenna had such a hard time at first because she would sink way down and it was a struggle for her to walk/plow through the deep snow) and we were delighted to have another day of recreation together. In the morning we drove out to the White Mountain Cog Railroad to visit the museum and gift shop before our legendary ride on the Cog train. It was another spectacular event! Following a quick brown bag lunch we had brought, we boarded the train to ride halfway up Mount Washington. The tracks actually continue onto the summit but with world record wind chills it is just too cold for the workers to run the train all the way in the winter. In West Virginia, J and I had previously ridden a steam train that zig zagged its way up a mountain side. This, this is totally different- the steam engine pushes a passenger car stra...

Sunday morning J and I slept in, enjoying our vacation. When we finally dragged ourselves out of bed, I made a hot breakfast for the both of us (eggs, bacon, toast, apple cider) and then we were off adventuring. Our first stop was the White Mountain National Forest to do some winter walking. The forest is truly spectacular- over 880,000 acres of wilderness purchased and now maintained by the federal government. New Hampshire was in a selling pattern to raise cash, auctioning off a lot of state late to the highest private bidders (mostly logging companies). The feds became involved in the purchasing frenzy in the early 1900s with the passage of the Weeks Act. President Taft signed the Weeks Act into law on March 1, 1911. The law authorized the federal government to purchase lands for stream-flow protection, and to maintain the acquired lands as national forests. Initially, eastern lands along navigable watersheds were considered. As the years progressed however, the Forest Service ...

The alarm buzzed at 3:45am and as I slid over to J's side of the bed to turn it off I grumbled. I hate getting up early in the morning for road trips. I am *not* a morning person. We loaded up the last minute items in J's car-we had done most of the packing the night before- and then we were off on our Christmas vacation. I was so excited. A white Christmas was waiting for us in Conway, New Hampshire. The roads were easy and the traffic was light. It was a smooth trip all the way up to New England. We arrived at our cozy little cabin, unpacked everything and then ventured out into town to pick up groceries and to eat dinner. There is a smokehouse bbq joint that was highly recommended so we enjoyed dinner there and it was delicious. Moat Mountain Smoke House 3378 White Mt Highway (Rt 16) North Conway, NH 603-356-6381 After dinner we put away the groceries as we listened to Christmas Carols on the xm radio (we got the indoor docking station just for this purpose) an...

Friday December 21st was a great day for me professionally and personally. At the office we finished a major project team deliverable and I was still flying high from finishing my individual assignments on Wednesday- 2 more technical manuals/papers. Two of my coworkers brought me Christmas presents and that added to my holiday cheer. In addition, we had our annual Christmas party and work and J volunteered to drive to Rockville on a company errand so he was able to stop over and enjoy the festivities as well. It was great to finally introduce him to all of my coworkers who have heard so much about him over the past year but had yet to meet him until then. The food was great- Iranian cuisine, and I received a Starbucks gift card during the gift exchange. I got home pretty late from work [8pm] and J and I set about packing for the trip. It took us an hour or so to pack everything up, then we enjoyed a quick dinner before J went off to bed [he was driving first shift in the a.m.] and ...

  Today we officially finished all of our Christmas shopping. It was a fun and stress-free shopping season. The majority of our gifts we purchased on Black Friday and the rest we purchased online, avoiding the crowds at the malls. Went to a Christmas party for the Women's Fellowship group and learned a new game called 'Mad Gab'. I wasn't the best at it but I wasn't the worst either. The food was good and the company was even better. One of my favorite friends, Irma, was there. She has a very infectious laugh and is always full of such joy and optimism. I really enjoy being in her presence. Church was very special on Sunday as a couple we are friends with had their little baby girl baptized and we all came up to the altar and gathered around her to pray. I'm a mushy girly girl so you know I cried. One thing I really love about the Christian Church is the pervasive sense of love that permeates throughout the entire congregation. It's nice to enjoy a sens...

Sometimes I miss the "safe space" that livejournal provided to create locked blog entries. On the other hand, being prohibited from creating "tell all" entries online due to a lack of a protected forum in which to do so means that I must share these details in person with friends I lean on, bringing us closer together in ways that chatting online never could. Also, I know on some level that the "safe space" that lj afforded was merely an illusion- as evidenced by the repeated times that trust was breached by readers. So I will just vaguely express my feelings on the series of events I experienced last week in a simple summary- people can be pretty crummy and when you focus your life on what is right and good it turns your stomach just a bit when you have close encounters with others who  don't share this focus. A mixture of revulsion toward what they are embracing and sympathy for the life in Christ they are forgoing. I also want to reiterate that be...