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Saturday, December 25, 2010

Ho, ho, humbug!

Happy Holidaze to all:

I've been working up to my Christmas letter for this year, by fits and starts.

I started some things but found out they didn't fit.

Such as:

Imagine, you find yourself in a place where magical, non-union elves toil ceaselessly for12 months a year, just to satisfy the egomaniacal, self-aggrandizing, paternalistic impulses of an overweight and jolly (but he's crying inside) workaholic who spends HIS time keeping tabs on billions of little children, violating their Constitutional rights as casually as he flogs his overburdened and underfed (you don't think they're tiny just because of some genetic malfunction, do you? C'mon, how long you been out of school? Wake up and smell the balsam!) beasts of burden the endangered North Slope caribou. Hell, I suppose we should be grateful that at least a certain "outdoorswoman" hasn't just whacked 'em with her Bushmaster, from a low-flying helicopter. "He know's if you are sleeping, he knows if you're awake; he knows if you've been bad or good, so be good for goodness sake!"? Our children is already having enough trouble learning without they gotta worry about bein' spied on by "Big Father Christmas", this affront to our 4th amendment rights...Yeah, that wasn't going to end well.

Then I was thinking about the movie "A Christimas Story", a perennial favorite since shortly after it tanked in the theaters back in 1983 and caused the recession that began in 1982. The movie has nearly everything a good ol' redblooded american--like, well, somebody besides me—would like.

Anyway, it's a great storyline. Young boy gets his ass kicked by bullies on a regular basis, has a crazy dad and ditz for a mom. The only objet d'art in the house is a lamp that's shaped like a lady's nylon clad leg (it sorta reminds me of the Guinness logo--I can't imagine why). The kid's only friends are even bigger looozerz than him and his little brother is headed for a bad end. With alla this stuff going on, the only thing our hero, Ralphie (it'll have to be "Rafe" in the remake) can get his head wrapped around is that he wants, no he craves and he GOTZ to have, a genuine Red Ryder BB gun to make him a MAN! Yowsuh!! Well, I ask you, is that lame or is that like just plain "teh HALT"? I mean , fer cryin out loud, a BB GUN. Nah, what this kid should be finding under the Christmas Tree is a .50 Cal. Barrett MRAD with the BORS integrated optics and ballistic computer. With that puppy he can take out Scut Farkas and his toady, Grover Dill--if they will simply stand in line-- with one well placed shot...hmmm, there seems to be some sort of a "trend" here.

Okay, so, once more into the breach.

Rudolph the rednosed reindeer was pretty much "the black elk" of his family. He never got invited to play the other reindeers' games. He performed beneath expectations in his lessons for “Spreading Christmas Cheer”, rooftop landings and “in flight incontinence”. An early and devastating “jones” for the hallucinogenic fly agaric mushroom (Amanita muscaria) -- the one with the white-spotted red cap that garden gnomes like to sit on* made him prone to flights of fancy. He had a honkin' schnozzola and looked like ye compleat dork whenever he got put in harness. Rudolph was pretty much reduced to being the butt of jokes (among them, a sign slapped on his withers that said, "Quirt me! ") by the varsity reindeer and hauling carts full of crap from one workshop to another while listening to the chief elf give him grief. It wasn't that he was lazy or stupid, it was more about being an "out", in a world of "ins"--hey, that's the way the snowman melts!

So, along comes Christmas Eve, a Christmas Eve like all the others when the A-Team goes out and hauls the swag for the fat man and then gets to spend the next month at an all inclusive stable in Southern Cali, lollin’ on the beach, chasin' the does, lappin’ up the cerveza and hangin' with the Claus.

But, this particular Christmas Eve was different. It was stormin' and foggy, visibilty was zero and the Santageeze was frettin' cuz he had signed some contracts with "performance guarantees" and it looked like he was gonna lose his shirt.

Rudolph was mopin' around his crib, playing with his Xb0x (“Wolf Whacker—The Reindeers’ Revenge) when all of a sudden the door flew open and the Boss stormed in. He said, "Rudolph, I'm told you can navigate in this crap--is that the straight skinny?". "Well," said Rudolph, "I might be able to, what's in it for me?". Claus thought about it for a moment and said. "Get me through this delivery situation and you can go on the "retreat" with the rest of the guys.". Rudolph pressed his advantage and said, "Okay--and I want you to fly in that hot little doe that was Bambi's BFF friend before he got whacked by that poacher.". "Done and done" said his Crimson Corpulence, "Now c’mon, son—lets fly!". As the bewhiskered one ran out to the sleigh, Rudolph took out his new I-Phone, looked it right in its touchpad, and said, "Your battery AND that navaids app, better last, or we're toast, hombre!"…

I think next year I'm gonna have to get the Coen Brothers to help me out; this storyizin' is hard work!

Hey, who likes cheesecake? Yeah, me too, here's a couplea recipes (sort of).

Chocolate cheesecake:
Crust :

6 oz Graham Crackers
4 oz Chocolate morsels or shaved chocolate
½ tsp Cinnamon
2 Tsp Butter (melted)
Break crackers into small pieces, place in bowl of food processor. Add chocolate morsels, sugar and melted butter. Pulse all ingredients in food processor until the mixture is like coarse, damp sand. Pat into even thickness in 9" springform or other pan (On pan substituions, you do the math, it's not my strong suit). Bake in 350 degree oven for 10-12 minutes, remove and set aside.

Filling:

1 ½ lbs Cream Cheese
¼ pt Heavy Cream
6 oz Good quality chocolate
3 ea Eggs
½ cup Sugar
2 oz GOOD Rum (dark or blonde)**
1 tsp Allspice

Pour cream into heavy bottomed sauce pan, heat until near boiling. Add chocolate (shaved or grated) to hot cream, stirring until smooth consistency is reached.

Put one pound of the cream cheese in bowl of food processor, pour hot cream/chocolate mixture over cheese and pulse until smooth consistency is reached, add remaining ½ pound of cream cheese and then three eggs, one at a time, along with rum and allspice. Allow food processor to run until all ingredients are well and uniformly mixed.
Pour cheesecake mixture into pan with pre-baked shell, pick up pan and tap on counter to level mixture (it should be fairly stiff, but not such that it won’t self level this way) and place in 350 degree oven. Bake until instant reading thermomter reaches 160 degrees (eggs will be cooked at that point). Depending on how “stiff” you like your cheesecake you may want to bake it for about 15 minutes longer. I find that it usually sets up pretty nicely if it is refrigerated for several hours.

Pumpkin Cheese cake:

I use the same chocolate crust for this. Chocolate and pumpkin are like chocolate and peanut better—only more betterer.

Filling:

1 ½ lbs Cream Cheese
¼ pt Heavy Cream
1 can Solid pack pumpkin (not that sweetened “pie filling” glop)
3 ea Eggs
2 Tbs Rum (as for chocolate cheesecake recipe)
1  tsp Pumpkin pie spice (cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, cloves, I think)
¾ cup Sugar

As for chocolate cheesecake, heat cream in heavy bottomed saucepan, add pumpkin, stir to thoroughly combine ingredients. Use same steps, as for chocolate cheesecake mixture, to combine and blend remaining ingredients into a smooth and even consistency.

As for the chocolate cheesecake, bake in 350 degree oven and, again, insure internal temperature of at least 160 degrees is reached before removing from oven.

Either of these cheesecakes is enhanced by serving with a hard sauce, raspberry for the chocolate and fig or fig and chocolate for the pumpkin.

* Hat tip to Mr. Michael Heath for his research and publication of this information.
** Rum may be omitted. If it is omitted, use at least one teaspoon of vanilla in its place. If you decide not to use the rum (Flor de Cana, 7 Year Old is an excellent choice) buy it anyway and send it to me—no, better idea, send me $35 and I’ll buy it myself. See, it’s win/win!!

The real news for this past year is that it was great to see many friends and relatives at family events and while visiting their homes. As for MY home; Tim Anderson asked me in a recent e-mail if I had before/after photos of the house. I replied that I only had before/during photos as I have not yet reached the “after”—and I’m not sure I ever will, c’est la construction.

I’m pretty happy, and I hope all of you are as well. Life has some ups and downs, the trick is to ride them both out and remain on as even a keel as possible—something I hope to learn to do sometime soon! I wish you all a very happy holiday season and a stupendous 2011.

Peace and Love, from your favorite dope.

Terry

15 comments:

Mr. Mack said...

Good Lord, man. You've been snow-bound too long. Finally lost it I see. You always did hover near the edge.

Merry Christmas, Terry. Best wishes from our whole family.

democommie said...

Hey, Mack:

I think it's the combination of keeping the house under 55 degrees and compensating for it by drinking Everclearnog (equal parts heavy cream & raw eggs & 190 Proof grain alcohol with a dash of freshly grated nutmeg).

I made both of those cheesecakes yesterday and took them to a party last night where the host had prepared seared tuna, grilled lambpops, several kinds of homemade sausage (some venison) along with the usual dips, chips, wines and spirits. I ate too much and, sensibly, drank a few glasses of Two Buck Chuck red.

My word verification is "allatio", what they can't use the whole word AND they misspell it?

mutzali said...

We met with most of the family on Christmas day, but my sister and her family were mudded in (like snowed in, but less charming). We're not seeing her until Wednesday night, so it looks like pumpkin cheesecake in now on the menu.

my "word" in ingui. I figger that's a center cut of linguine.

democommie said...

Hi, Mutzali, season's greetings. I just had a sliver (less than a 1/4 lb. is a sliver for me) of the pumpkin cheesecake. It definitely tastes better after sitting for a bit--the cake, not the cake eater.

Bukko Boomeranger said...

The captcha couldn't ask you to spell the word properly because it only handles 8 characters max. It would have had to stop at "fellati," which is the Italian plural form for multiple men who have been fellated.

But the real reason I'm commenting is to pass along this link, which you might have seen in light of your love of tree rats: "I Kissed a Squirrel."

democommie said...

Dear Bukko Canukko:

Thank you. It is everything that I loathe and desire about those pests. I just wish there had been some shooting or trapping involved.

democommie said...

jim:

I took the chimbley out, 'cuz it was leanin' on the frame and snappin' floor joists. I could make the house warm with the pellet stove, but it costs more money than I'm willing to spend.

SeattleDan said...

Hey Happy New Year, demo! From your pals in Washington....

word id turvands...guess it could have been turdanvs.

Bukko Boomeranger said...

Happy New Sneer, Demo, and I have another linky for you that's NOT about squirrels. If you need recipes for your Donner Party cookbook, this is a tongue-and-cheeky blogpost. I particularly like the part about softening up your in-laws' cheeks for cooking by slapping them in the face while they're still alive.

Anonymous said...

Yikes! One feels one's arse grow just reading those recipes.

Happy New Year to you and yours, DC.

P.S. Sorry about my blog's temporary demise -- cuz that's what it was: I closed it for a while, not keeping it up and being concerned about so much personal info available to all. But it's open again, though probably defunct for all practical purposes. (Maybe I'll win a lottery, though, and will be able to spend more time on it again. Hope springs eternal.;)

Anonymous said...

P.S. Speaking of silly word verif's: the one on my previous comment was "tingly" and this one is "flashe."

C'mon, DC, tell the truth: you have some kind of a pact with them Goggle Gods to allow suggestive word verfs, no?

democommie said...

Mon Cher Elizabeth:

One can only wish and hope for pacts with the gods of the internetztoobz. It's all random, j-j-j-just like the cavity searches I patiently endure each and every time I travel--even it's only to the corner variety store. One can never be TOO concerned about terrariseKKKurity, after all.

democommie

Nomi said...

My word verification is

" outsicat " !

Well, I live with an indoor cat, but have long identified with outcasts . . .

Those recipes look amazing.

Feel free to repost this on the Grace Paley blog....our readership is understandably down, but it will likely cheer someone who hasn't read it here.... !

Sending Hugs !

democommie said...

Hi, Nomi:

I am still being a bad monkey re: calling you and I can only apologize. I have been a very busy, though still jobless man.

I am currently up in Cow Hampshire and if it looks like I'm heading back to NY via the southern route I'll try to give you a call so you can turn off your lights and lay on the floor of your house until I've given up pounding on the door!

Feel free to cut'n'paste the whole post if you like. When I have more time I'll crosspost it, if you haven't already done so.

cheers.

Nomi said...

When you sneak through Rhode Island, there's a wonderful diner on Elmwood Ave in Providence that the famous ninjanurse frequents. . .

hey

word verification for me is:

seriously: "outing" !!

P.S. We are expecting a nice two inches of snow, and this means run run run and get the milk and eggs !!