StephanieL

Just throw some Doritos in a bottle of Everclear.

Oh, now I get the references to this song in the Hernandez Brothers comic "Love and Rockets".

Today's dinner will be roast chicken with sausage stuffing, Marcus Samuelsson's black-eyed peas (from an old RG Bean Club newsletter), and collard greens.

The Rowan Family Black Bean Chili recipe found on the RG website. I used the Midnight Blacks and halved the recipe, making it beef-only. N is growing a pepper similar to jalapenos, but not as spicy--two of them went into the chili. I also made a simple cornmeal mush to soak up some of the liquid, and topped things off with some avocado.

No retinal detachments or anything like that--just a combination of age and high myopia. I guess this is reassuring, in that I don't need surgery, but it's now one more lovely aspect of getting older.

It was great! We split one cocktail between us. I used Bacardi 8 for the aged rum part.

Ooh, I have everything. Will need to try that.

Firestone Walker's Cinnamon Dolce Nitro Stout. Surprisingly subtle, and just a little sweet. I think it would be nice poured over ice cream.

I used to enjoy our building's holiday parties. Lots of cheese and such from Costco, and trays of lasagna and baked ziti from a local Italian restaurant.

Have had a new appearance of floaters in my left eye over the last few days. I'm already booked for an eye exam this Wednesday. Hope it's just an age thing and not some really bad retinal issue.

I combined two Zabar's gift cards and made my own gift basket. Tonight's dinner for a Jewish Christmas Eve will be knishes and blintzes.

Shmaltz Brewing Company, makers of He'Brew (the Chosen Beer) and others, officially closed in 2021 when the old owner retired. (The name and assets were recently bought by a Reform rabbinical student--no joke.) Last night, we had their very last beer, a barleywine brewed with dates, figs, pomegranate, and grapes called Exodus 2021 - A Farewell to Shmaltz. For a 2-year-old barleywine, it was rich and fruity but not super-heavy. We drank it at room temperature while watching "Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget" on Netflix.

Yotam Ottolenghi's ham recipe from last week's NY Times Magazine, plus roasted potatoes and Brussels sprouts, maybe mulled wine to drink. We'll probably start the day with stollen, and there's bourbon-ginger Christmas pudding and Walker's Strathspey fruitcake (which has been marinating in Scotch for the last couple of weeks) for dessert after the main Christmas lunch. So, lots of sweets that day.

I was intrigued when I saw Trevor Felch's book San Francisco Cocktails in a local shop, but I should have perused it before I had N buy it for me. Most of the cocktails either require you to make various syrups and tinctures or have weirdly specific ingredient lists (Wagyu fat-washed Suntori Whiskey, anyone?). This variant on a Brooklyn, from the Vault at 555 California Street, is one of the few I can reasonably make. Brooklyn Holiday 1 1/2 oz. rye 3/4 oz. sweet vermouth 1/2 oz. Aperol 1/2 oz. Lillet Blanc Stir all ingredients in a mixing glass, then pour into an ice-filled rocks glass and garnish with an orange peel.

Spanish Espresso Martini. A nice twist on the usual recipe. 1 oz. vodka 1 oz. Licor 43 1 1/4 oz. freshly brewed espresso or cold coffee concentrate Shake with ice and strain into a chilled martini glass.

In tribute to the South African cook Fatima Sydow, N made a Cape Malay-style curry with chicken thighs, RG Buckeyes, cauliflower, and butternut squash.

Being gifted a bottle of Alvear Pedro Ximenez de Añada 2018.

Finding a vendor selling real Mexican Christmas ponche, complete with sugarcane pieces, at a local holiday pop-up market.

A newish bakery in Livermore recently started Sourdough Pizza Fridays, so we had dinner there a couple of days ago. Today's lunch was the leftover mushroom & garlic oil pizza slices.

N used some of the surfeit of homegrown bananas we have to make almond flour, flax, and banana pancakes. (The bananas are blended into the pancake batter.)

Big pot of RG Coco beans (similar to their Cassoulet beans) with loose Italian sausage, radishes, and roasted fennel and delicata squash.

I too had a very nice dinner at Petit Crenn around the same time. It didn't hurt that one of the friends we were with personally knew the sommelier.

Baked whole trout stuffed with herbs and lemon slices; rice pilaf and sauteed radishes and fennel on the side.

I saw him as Angelo in "Measure for Measure" back in 1993--my very first Shakespeare in the Park production. Also saw him as Henry V.

Did you see her in The Bad News Bears?