LOOKING BACK

 

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.

THE FRIDAY FUNNIES

 Only a week now.

Got all your cards in the mail?

Not I.

Not a one.

Maybe I'll send New Year cards

Maybe not.

At least I have all my decorating done.

And one more, for the holiday.

That's my little contribution to your Christmas cheer, comrades.

Now don't get caught in the last-minute crush of commercial chaos and try to have an enjoyable weekend.

And never forget: always keep laughing!

Here, kitty-kitty . . .

(uh-oh, this doesn't look promising . . .)

AMAZEMENT

 I strolled out to the mailbox yesterday to see what folderol our postman had brought.

As I was scanning through the Christmas specials like $10,000 OFF the marvelous snap-on dental implants . . . (makes you wonder what the full price is) . . . and approaching the front door, I was stopped in my tracks by the sight of a BIG flat box leaning against the wall.

As usual, the agents who delivered it . . whether USPS, UPS, Fed-Ex, DHL or whoever . . . had not bothered to ring the bell to alert us to its arrival.

Who knows, it may have been there for days as I don't usually enter or exit the house that way.

On the other hand my neighbor, who lives in the other side of our duplex, usually sees such deliveries before we do and rings or knocks to let us know of whatever has come if it has been there for most of a day.

Well, we suspected this was a Christmas gift from SWMBO's only son as he is wont to send us a package of pre-packaged food for the holidays.

I struggled to open the box and finally accomplished that task and "what to my wondering eyes did appear" but this wonderland of goodies!

If you click on the picture it becomes even bigger and will allow you to read the labels.

As the tag on the package said, there may be enough here to last until Valentine's Day!

Apparently he knows that the way to a man's (or woman's) heart is through his or her stomach.

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good feast!

MISCONCEPTION

 What you think Arizona looks like:

What it really looks like:

The view outside my window after a brief midnight snowfall moved through the area.

GETTING LIT

Sometimes I just can't wait til Friday.

 

THE DECORATOR

 At least someone (SWMBO) in our home has a wee bit of the Christmas spirit.

Me: "Yingle Bells, Yingle Bells, Yingling all der vay . . ."

She: "Oh, shut up!"

BRUCIE'S BAKERY

 When we woke to a chilly house yesterday and our maintenance request was met by a report from a backed up heating company that they could probably come by Monday afternoon we panicked a bit.

(It's 21 degrees outside as I am writing this!)

A second call to our rental management company got a visit from the nice lady who handles things with a couple of electric space heaters.

We already had our small fireplace going and the oven was on in the kitchen.

But a short time later a second call from the heating company told us they'd had a cancellation and a guy could be coming by within the hour.

Elation!

He came, he climbed to the roof, he fiddled and tested, he came down and said the circuit board was failing but he had managed to jerry-rig (or jury rig) it and the furnace was once again throwing out heat.

A new circuit board apparently is in our future.

There is still heat this morning so we can wake up smiling.

Now there's an even bigger smile on the face of this story.

I made about 5-1/2 dozen Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies yesterday!

They come from an old recipe found in SWMBO's recipe box, which includes dry oats to give them body, raisins to make them chewy, chocolate chips to give them their name and a combination of brown and white sugars and a slash of vanilla to make them . . well, you know, to make your dentists as happy as you'll be eating them.

SWMBO, who usually prefers a shortbread version of the classic cookie, has declared these the best ever.

And praise from that master of the kitchen is well-received by this rookie.

THE FRIDAY FUNNIES

 So how's every little thing this morning/afternoon/evening where you live?

Not too bad here except, as every year at about this time, our furnace seems to be acting erratically.

Not good when the cold weather is upon us like a shroud.

But there is one thing good about today.

Oh, and of course there are "The Holidays".

That's it for this week, Gentle Readers.

Now try to keep your holiday angst at large and enjoy a snow-white weekend.

And always remember to keep laughing!

Here, kitty-kitty . . .

(er, kitty-kitty-kitty . . .)