IF YOU'RE CELEBRATING . . .

 

To all of my friends, both old and new, may you have the very best that the holiday season brings.

No joke.

THE FRIDAY FUNNIES

 Christmas Eve Edition.

All right, all right, let's not get a-head of ourselves.

If you're still shopping for Christmas presents, the clock is ticking.

If you're wrapping Christmas presents, you still have a little bit more time.

If you're into the Christmas Egg Nog already, you probably can't read this so let's go to the pictures.

So, all of you Christmas Critters, there you have it, the special edition of The Friday Funnies just for the holiday.

Now, if your various duties aren't done yet . . and whose are, really . . better get to it but remember to take a moment now and then to truly enjoy the days ahead.

And always remember to keep laughing!

Here, kitty-kitty . . .

(. . and your friends . .)

THE TRUE MEANING OF CHRISTMAS

 Please join me in thanking one of my most prolific contributors to the Comedy Vault, Carol the Comic, for this timely message.

PUDDING HEADS

 You'd think with all the cookies we've been baking and that huge food assortment we got from Judy's son recently that we wouldn't have to have more, wouldn't you?

Well, you'd think wrong!

I had picked up a package of what were billed as brioche buns recently but after eating one we decided they didn't live up to their billing.

SWMBO had said she could turn them into bread pudding and yesterday I asked if it was something I could make and she studied me carefully and replied in the affirmative.

So I prepared it, with a splash of some frozen blueberries in the mix and put it into the refrigerator to "meld the flavors", as the chefs are wont to say.

This morning it came out and went into the oven and about 45 minutes later it came out, hot and steamy and smelling wonderfully of cinnamon and vanilla.

It was a little crusty on top but that gave it a nice crunch before getting to the sweet, creamy filling.

Judy topped hers with some Greek yogurt.

I opted for some whipped topping.

I think mine looks better, don't you?

Either way, we agreed it was delicious.

A breakfast for the holidays.

THE GRAYEST OF DAYS

 It's D-Day, i.e. Depression Day.

The First Day of Winter.

It arrived today with characteristicly gloomy skies but thankfully no snow.

No sign of the sun this morning but there is one note of brightness on the horizon.

The all-knowing Google tells me that beginning tomorrow the days will be ever longer, leading us onward to the joy of Spring.

In the meantime, Judy's old wreath is once again decorating our front door, beckoning to any wayward Santas in the neighborhood.

OMG, IT'S MONDAY

 I decided to try something in the kitchen this morning that the New York Times' Sam Sifton would call a No-Recipe Recipe.

So I threw a slosh of EVOO into a saute pan, broke a couple of eggs into a large mixing cup, tossed in a fairly large pinch of salt, some Cayenne pepper and then decided I needed something green and some additional flavor.

I went to the spice rack and grabbed a bottle of Herbs de Provence, twisted the cap off and shook the bottle liberally over my egg mixture.

That is when I found that particular bottle of herbs doesn't have a shaker top.

A good three tablespoons or more of Herbs de Provence now coated the top of my breakfast mix.

As I told SWMBO later when I was relating this saga, I didn't scream obscenities or pound the counter.

Just a quiet "Oh, shit" and then I got a teaspoon and scooped the excess off and threw it in the sink.

After beating this mess up, I poured it into the skillet, let it set slightly and then pressed a flour tortilla down onto it.

The idea is that the egg mixture will adhere to the tortilla which one can then lift out of the pan with a spatula, fold it and dig in.

All of that went fine except when I tasted it it seemed to have a non-discernible flavor of salt or cayenne and only a faint flavor of the Herbs de Provence, though that was the prominent taste.

I ate it anyway, though not with any real relish.

On a brighter front we heard from our management company this morning and learned that a week from Wednesday a crew will arrive with two new HVAC units and a crane to hoist them to the roof.

Installation will all be done in one day, they say, and our heating and air-conditioning problems should be solved.

As will our neighbor, Bill's, though he told me the other day he's had no problem with heating.

Both units were nearly 20 years old and he said that's about the life span of them so they were due to be replaced.

So that's my Monday. 

How's yours going?

VACCINE THOUGHTS

 Health care professionals say 44 percent of people of all ages in my county have been vaccinated to protect them from the Coronavirus.

The hospitals are filled to capacity and people continue to die.

Over 900 in just my county so far.

And yet . . .

In our consumer society, one Internet meme offers a solution.

In spite of these sardonic thoughts, the Coronavirus is no laughing matter.

Get vaccinated and get your booster jabs.

Please.