[Sca-cooks] Santa bring any cool cooking stuff?

[Lilinah]

No particular Santa, and i don't expect any gifts at Twelfth Night, but...

For helping at her wedding in early December, Huette, who is always a 
model of generosity, got Selene and Kiri and me each a Shun knife... 
and then a subscription to Petits Propos Culinaires!!!

My daughter just visited. She knit me a scarf and bought me a book 
that hasn't arrived yet, "The Ethnomusicologists' Cookbook", which is 
made up of essays by ethnomusicologists discussing food and 
food-related rituals in cultures quite different from their own, and 
includes a few recipes.
[http://www.amazon.com/Ethnomusicologists-Cookbook-Sean-Williams/dp/041597819X]
(for those who are not sure, an ethnomusicologist is basically an 
anthropologist who studies music)

Earlier in the month i got myself my first DVD player and my first 
cell phone, which i used quite a bit while visiting my mother. She no 
longer drives much, since she's gotten lost a few times going to 
familiar places. So within about 1/2 hour of arrival on the very 
first day i was driving my 85 year old mother, her 89 year old sister 
(who is still mentally acute, unlike my mom), and my daughter to the 
home of a first cousin once removed, Leigh, and her husband Derick, 
who i hadn't met, to see their new baby, and mom's car broke down. 
Both my 89 year old aunt and my daughter had cell phones, although 
mine was useful after the AAA tow truck got me to the car dealer, 
which was closed of course, since it was 25 Dec., and i had to call 
my brother to pick me up and drive me to Leigh's.

The dinner at Leigh's and Derick's was pretty traditional. Leigh and 
her mother, my first cousin, had cooked most stuff, but my daughter 
and i helped out get that last of it fixed and ready for serving. 
There was turkey and stuffing (or in this case, dressing, since it 
was baked in a separate pan) and gravy; and mashed potatoes, and 
mashed sweet potatoes (i don't remember if there were other 
vegetables); and lovely green salad with pomegranate seeds and 
crushed walnuts and feta; and then a bounty of desserts - i have a 
small slice of the lemon tart made with lemons from Leigh's backyard, 
and a small piece of the chocolate cake with pumpkin mousse filling. 
There were at least 4 or 5 others that i didn't try.

On the 26th we had a meal in a Chinese restaurant with my brother's 
wife and kids. It was ok... i had the seafood in XO sauce - a nice 
mix of shrimp, fish, scallops, and squid, in a barely spicy sauce...

On the 27th my daughter (the vegetarian) and i cooked a nice meal at 
my mom's house. Tamara and i made vegetable latkes (grated potatoes, 
carrots, and parsnips with fresh chives and fresh dill, pan fried in 
olive oil) served with sour cream and Gravenstein apple sauce; cooked 
red and gold beets dressed with raspberry vinegar, cilantro, flat 
leaf parsley, and a little garlic; and a salad of mache and standard 
supermarket mesclun (mixed salad greens which includes red leaf 
lettuce, baby beet greens, arugula, and radicchio) with balsamic 
vinaigrette. We didn't get around to making the kale and arame (a 
type of seaweed), which is too bad because my daughter and i both 
love seaweeds.

Travelling was rather funny: 1) my daughter had bought organic food 
in Philadelphia and flown here to Oakland with it, 2) then we bought 
some more stuff here, and 3) flew to my mom's in San Diego with it - 
my suitcase was mostly full of food and very little clothing.

And finally my consort gave me "The Roadkill Coloring Book" which 
comes with 3 crayons: black, brown, and RED... i got him some sets of 
double pointed knitting needles - i taught him to knit a few months 
ago and he's made three hats and is now starting on some socks - and 
i took him to dinner at a brand new Indonesian restaurant in Berkeley 
which had food that tasted right - clearly it wasn't toned down! And 
it was full of Southeast Asian Chinese (not so many Indonesians here 
in the East Bay, although in the South Bay there are quite a few.)

So, yeah, food related thingies from Huette, my daughter, and my consort.

-- 
Urtatim (that's err-tah-TEEM)
the persona formerly known as Anahita