OK I lied, I said I was gonna post again when I got my new system up and running but that hasn’t happened yet. Besides, I didn’t have much to talk about anyway. Well, a couple things worth sharing have happened recently. As for the new computer, it’s sitting there on the coffee table menacingly taunting me, waiting to strike!
For the third year in a row, we celebrated Thanksgiving over at my sister’s and her husband’s house. We started doing that a few years ago when my mom started to slow down a little and we wanted to give her a break from hosting a major holiday. She wasn’t too wild about the idea of giving that up and my sister wasn’t too wild about dealing with turkey and mashed potatoes preparation pressure but it all worked out.
This year was kind of bittersweet, it was the first big holiday we celebrated since Mom passed away last July. My sister Ellen (and Mike!) did a really cool thing for us this year. She went through all of my mom’s old recipes, most of which were handwritten, and picked out several of our favorites. Then she blew them up and had them imprinted on aprons for each of us. What a good idea! Jen and I think it’d be nice to start a new tradition to bring one of Mom’s dishes (whatever is printed on your apron) to a family gathering. The good news is that Bourbon Slush and Hot Hammies are in our future, the bad news is that we need to figure out how to make potato pancakes well enough so that they don’t just turn into a big pile of mush!
Barney’s a celebrity!
About a week or so ago, we went down to the Peabody to see the comedian Jim Gaffigan. He’s hilarious, he’s my favorite stand up comic. He’s as clever as Louis C.K. , but not nearly as blue. For example, his opening was: ‘Good to be in St. Louis… try the local cuisine… Toasted Ravioli. Are you guys using your deep fryers as toasters? … if you don’t eat them within 60 seconds they turn into rocks.’ Later on he goes ‘People always say ‘Nothing tastes as good as thin feels.’ Oh yeah? Well, I can think of about a thousand things.’
It was very cold the night we went, it got down to the twenties. Jen piled the layers on me, I didn’t get cold at all. I think only my eyes were exposed. I looked like the Michelin Man or Ralphie’s little brother in A Christmas Story. We parked on the street in a metered spot about two blocks away. By the way, does anyone know when you’re supposed to feed the meters? I know they changed it recently to include Saturdays, but I really don’t know what the rules are.
Anyway – the next morning when we got moving and turned on the radio, the commentator was saying that when he walked over to the hockey game from the station he walked past a minivan with a bumper sticker on the rear window that read ‘I used to be cool’. That was us! Barney made the radio!
lockedinjim 
Jim:
I really like your writings. It is a snowy, icy day here n Louisville and I needed a pick me up.
And Sure enough God sent it to me in the form of your latest post. I could picture you all bundled up with just eyes showing, like Ralphie’s Brother and it made me laugh out loud.
I was thinking of your whole family missing your Mom this Holiday Season. You really support each other and that will help you get through the hard days ahead. I hope someone got an apron with your Mom’s baked spaghetti recipe on it. She was an awesome cook, and just an all around wonderful, loving, person. It sure shows in her kids!
Have a great weekend.
Caroline
You are still cool,Jim. Please keep up the posts. I look forward to them.
Jim,
I love it that you have aprons with your mom’s recipes on them, what a great idea! I have several recipes of your mom’s that she has shared through the years. She indeed was a wonderful cook. We miss her so very much. The card party at Presentation will never be the same for me anymore without her presence. She played a mean game of Rummikub!
Wishing you and Jen and all of your family a Merry Christmas.
Keep on posting, you can’t imagine how much we enjoy them!!
The apron idea was such a beautiful gift idea…how special. I too have several recipes that your mom gave me when I got married 36 years ago and they are Still some of my favorites!
God bless you all and Merry Christmas!
It sounds like your whole family is creative! I love the apron idea and bringing one of your mom’s dishes to family gatherings would be awesome!
Jim your writings are always so creative and your words bring such funny images to mind! I can see you all bundled up like Ralphie! You crack me up! Oh, about potato pancakes, I love them with apple sauce. Recently I found a box mix at Diebergs that were delicious! I added a little onion powder, (my mom always put onion in her’s) and they were really good! They were so easy to fry and better than my homemade sloppy ones I used to make. They never did come out the same way twice. Happy cooking!
What a neat and clever idea to make aprons with your mom’s recipes on them. She certainly was a great cook. Love reading your posts Jim, they are always entertaining. Wishing you guys a very Merry Christmas.