in the words of a very wise woman who once may have had
conical boobies and rubber bracelets: “holiday.
celebrate.” the days are getting
shorter, the shoppers are getting that crazy look in their side-eye, and the cooking
magazines are enticing us with glossy pictures of perfectly roasted birds and
glistening cuts of prime rib. honestly, if
you get rid of all that stuff about togetherness and joy and cheer and whatnot,
what are the holidays all about?
food. truly, i am thankful for
the room in my stomach for the food that i am about to inhale. god bless us, every one.
i joke, but to be terribly honest, i do somewhat buy into
the holiday spiel. not the industry-sponsored,
overly-schmaltzy, Rob-Lowe-Stars-In-Hallmark-Holiday-Channel’s-A-Very-Special-Christmas-Shoes
part
(for realsies, by the way)
but the magic of the season does make my toes tingle a wee bit. i remember as a child setting out the glass of whiskey and mince pie for father christmas (santa said “screw the glass of milk, it’s happy hour” in my house) and busting at the seams with excitement that it was gone in the morning. (and i’m only marginally sure that it wasn’t my older brother nicking st. nick’s cocktail.) christmas trees still stand proudly atop my Top Five List of favourite smells, the “charlie brown christmas” CD never gets old, and though now i’m the one sipping a mimosa and watching my kids tear into their stockings, the magic still lives on. i’m a whore for the holidays. a ho ho ho... ho.
(for realsies, by the way)
but the magic of the season does make my toes tingle a wee bit. i remember as a child setting out the glass of whiskey and mince pie for father christmas (santa said “screw the glass of milk, it’s happy hour” in my house) and busting at the seams with excitement that it was gone in the morning. (and i’m only marginally sure that it wasn’t my older brother nicking st. nick’s cocktail.) christmas trees still stand proudly atop my Top Five List of favourite smells, the “charlie brown christmas” CD never gets old, and though now i’m the one sipping a mimosa and watching my kids tear into their stockings, the magic still lives on. i’m a whore for the holidays. a ho ho ho... ho.
so, with two down and one still to go, let us talk about
those fabulous winter holidays and count down The Top Five List of
THannukahGivingMas!
1) christmas mornings.
these should be about excitement, about stockings, and about absolutely zero faff. enter your new favourite christmas breakfast recipe: cheese & onion strata. easy as pie, completely do-ahead, amazing with or without sriracha to spice it up. you’re welcome.
1 baguette, cut into 1/2-ish" slices and left to go stale
these should be about excitement, about stockings, and about absolutely zero faff. enter your new favourite christmas breakfast recipe: cheese & onion strata. easy as pie, completely do-ahead, amazing with or without sriracha to spice it up. you’re welcome.
1 baguette, cut into 1/2-ish" slices and left to go stale
6 spring onions, roughly sliced
10 oz-ish cheese, grated (mozzarella, cheddar, parmesan, whatever tickles your fancy)
1/2 cup sour cream
6 free-range eggs
arrange the stale baguette slices in a layer in a shallow dish.
place the spring onions and cheese into a food processor. add the sour cream and eggs, then blend until smooth.
pour the cheese and egg mixture over the bread in the dish, cover with cling film, and leave in the fridge to soak overnight.
when ready to cook, preheat the oven to 375, then bake for 30 minutes, or until completely cooked through.
eat as stockings are demolished and mimosas are downed. boom.
eat as stockings are demolished and mimosas are downed. boom.
2) hanukkah.
as of a while back, team Jo proudly celebrates hanukkah. this was at middle menschkin’s behest, but gladly adopted by the five of us.
jewish-by-association we became, and i couldn’t be happier to welcome mensches and latkes into my home. yes, british people might traditionally have a different bent towards fried potatoes, but latkes might just be my favourite yet. let's turn to my old friend yottam for the recipe... http://tinyurl.com/lozljtg
3) the pacific northwest.
as of a while back, team Jo proudly celebrates hanukkah. this was at middle menschkin’s behest, but gladly adopted by the five of us.
jewish-by-association we became, and i couldn’t be happier to welcome mensches and latkes into my home. yes, british people might traditionally have a different bent towards fried potatoes, but latkes might just be my favourite yet. let's turn to my old friend yottam for the recipe... http://tinyurl.com/lozljtg
3) the pacific northwest.
okay, not terribly themed towards the holidays, but still. i am proud and delighted to live where i do
where the beaches look like this:
and the oysters look like this:
by the by, at a recent house rental in oregon, without the means to shuck oysters nor to grill them, we had to resort to a quick roast. my clever dad, with nary a culinary bone to his body, suggested we use a muffin tin to balance them.
genius. never doing them another way, done, boom. move over macklemore and minaj, i might just have another sous chef.
and the oysters look like this:
by the by, at a recent house rental in oregon, without the means to shuck oysters nor to grill them, we had to resort to a quick roast. my clever dad, with nary a culinary bone to his body, suggested we use a muffin tin to balance them.
genius. never doing them another way, done, boom. move over macklemore and minaj, i might just have another sous chef.
speaking of...
4) my
sous-chefs
i am thankful for 18 months of constant support from my excellent imaginary sous chefs nicki
minaj and macklemore. without you i
would be lost in my kitchen, desperately searching for a hoppty hoop hoop and
putting my hands up like the ceiling can’t hold us. all of us function better with a good supporting cast, imaginary or otherwise. word.
5) my community
perhaps most of all, and especially at this time of year, i
am thankful for friends old and new; those people who always have my back, who are there for me
no matter what, and who make this place my home. you awesome people, you complete me.
now let us gather around the droopy charlie brown christmas tree,
let us carve the roast beast, let us sing as if the best way to spread christmas
cheer is by singing loud for all to hear (or perhaps like the ceiling can’t
hold us) and let us realise that the holidays don’t come from a store, they mean a little bit more. goddammit, people, happy bloody THanukkahGivingMas, INNIT!!
