Christmas

Once again, I've fallen terribly behind in my postings. I'm going to supply an abbreviated account of the rest of my holiday so I can start to share the newer events that have been happening.

Christmas was grand. There were waaaay too many presents.

Interestingly, the most popular gift in my family this season?

Headlamps.

I received two.

The next most popular?

Netti pots. A pot used to clean out the snout.

LoppyLou received two. Bizarre.

Best present?

A cowboy hat for my Indian!

After exchanging consumer goods, we drove up to the Poconos for Christmas dinner with aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents.

We all made Merry indeed.

Then it was time for a two plus hour drive back home through a wintery mix.

Another highlight of my Christmas ’09 was getting to catch up with some of my highschool BFFs.

We also took a stroll around the world famous Longwood Gardens and took in the Christmas spectacular.

We gazed at the decorations both inside and out.

And joined in some holiday carols.

Then we hustled back to the car because it was COLD.

Why does Christmas end so quickly?

Christmas Fudge

When I was growing up, along with a tree, a Christmas staple was my grandmother’s chocolate fudge. It was the perfect drop fudge. It had a slightly hard outer layer, but as soon as you bit down it melted in your mouth rich and creamy.

Back in the 60s she sold her fudge at Callies Candy Kitchen in Bangor, Pennsylvania. A pound sold for one dollar and she took home 80 cents. Slowly, she saved up enough money to reach her goal – a family portrait of her five children.

When she sold her house on the Bunny Trail and moved into a retirement community, she also retired from making her fudge. This Christmas I decided it was time to re-new the tradition. I asked her to help me make a batch. First she laughed and told me I’d be wasting my time. She didn’t think I had fudge makin’ in me. Then she laughed again and agreed to help, but still insisted we’d be wasting our time. It’s an easy recipe but the execution is difficult. Many have tried and failed to copy this confection.

The following morning I went to the store in search of Baker’s Chocolate and wax paper. I found them and our experiment began.

Ingredients:
1.5 C sugar
1.5 squares Baker’s Chocolate
½ C water
½ tsp vanilla
1 pat of butter
One heavy saucepan
This will make about a one pound batch

The saucepan is key. You want to make sure it has a thick bottom, otherwise the fudge will die.

Put the sugar and water in the pan. You can combine them gently, but don’t stir or it will cause the fudge to become too sugary. Put in the chocolate and turn on the burner. Bring the mixture to a boil.

Turn it down to a simmer. Simmer for about 10 minutes, we simmered for more like 20-25 minutes.

Make sure during simmering that you DO NOT STIR. If it seems the sugar needs to be incorporated more, gently drag a fork through the mixture. But never, ever, stir.

Now it is time for the “soft ball” test. (At this point my mother chimed in that she had learned all about soft balls in college...eh, what? She was a home ec major.) Take a cup of cold water and place a small amount of the chocolate in the cup. If the chocolate forms into a “soft ball” when it hits the water, you’ve reached the correct consistency.

Take the fudge off the stove. Add the vanilla along with a pat of butter. Let it cool a bit. Now start STIRING. You may have to stir for about 10 minutes. You want a slightly thick, creamy consistency.

Now it’s time to drop the fudge on to the wax paper. Take a spoon and simply push off a piece about the size of a silver dollar. If the fudge gets too thick during this, add a bit of warm water and stir some more.

Once you’ve covered the wax paper in fudge, place it outside to cool. I used the garage. We left it outside for about 20-30 minute then flipped the fudge over and left it outside for another 20 minutes.

Now you’re fudge should be ready to serve!

We ate ours with Christmas Eve dinner. To our surprise, it tasted just like the fudge from years past. Now my grandmother isn’t laughing anymore. Instead, she’s reminding me that if I go on to open a fudge shop it is called “Nana’s Fudge.”

Fun in the Capital

I traveled all lllll the way to the other side of the world and who do I bump into?

The Baker!

She’s visiting DC too. It’s hard to recognize her inside her winter duds. We spent the afternoon taking in the sites and visiting her old friends.

We even stopped by Buzz where she used to work.

The Baker insisted the cakes looked a lot better when she was in charge of frosting. I for one believe her.

After a quick cappuccino, I had to make a dash and meet my notary (aka Tex’s big sis). My Hollywood Contract arrived and I had to get it signed, sealed, and delivered so my Beverly Hills Attorney could file it before the holidays.

To celebrate my official entrée into screenwriting, we naturally hit up…the White House Christmas Tree.

It was C-O-L-D.

And reports kept coming in that two feet of snow were heading our way.

Loppy Lou and I took a moment to pose in front of the Pennsylvania Tree. It’s important for Hollywood Celebs such as Myself to remember our roots.

Ogling trees made us work up an appetite. We gathered some of my college friends for dinner at Georgia Brown’s. Over dessert, my pal Home Owner invited us back to his new place for a drink. However, when we stepped outside we realized the snow - that wasn’t supposed to start falling until midnight - had arrived early.

Of course we were not about to let a bit of frozen water stop us from enjoying free drinks.

We really liked Home Owner’s new place.

And he was the perfect host.

The flat has a beautiful, private roof deck but it was a bit chill for alfresco nightcaps.

By the time Loppy Lou, Tex, and I headed home the snow was starting to pile high.

We stopped at a grocery store for milk and it looked like Armageddon.

Carts were abandoned in the isles. Children were sleeping on the cash registers. The only milk we could get our hands on was chocolate! And thank goodness we did because we were trapped in the apartment until Sunday. Plus, it's delicious.

When we finally escaped we had to d-i-g.
Well...they had to dig.

I’m not in Kuala Lumpur anymore.

And We Are...Back!

After a rather long hiatus, I am back! Thank you to the readers who expressed concern that I’d injured my typing fingers. My digits were, are, and always have been functioning, it was simply I who was not. But now my holiday in America has ended. After two snowstorms, two holidays, thirty hours of flights, and a dreadful seven hour layover in Bangkok, I am back in KL and ready to regale with tales of my trip.

After leaving the wind and rain of California behind, I arrived in DC to a much colder wind and impending snowstorms. Loppy Lou had just ditched her DC digs and moved to Alexandria with her fiancée Tex. They live in a Christmas Condo!

After a week of getting acclimated to the new living situation, they were ready to welcome their first houseguest. Me!

My first evening in DC fell on Loppy Lou’s annual cookie exchange with several girlfriends. I had never participated in a "cookie exchange" and I admit I was but an onlooker at this one.

Basically girls bake several batches of a single type of cookie. You then gather together and trade with each other, hopefully claiming cookies that are more difficult to make and more delicious than your own. This way you round out your holiday cookie selection without exhausting yourself kneading dough for oatmeal raisin AND candy cane cutouts. Clever. Loppy Lou invited me along to this hand off of baked goods. I was excited to meet her Lady Baker friends.

where are the cookies?

Along with cookies, they also exchange gifts. Everyone was so excited to open their gifts.

And they were so pleased with what they received.

After the giving, receiving, and several bottles of wine were finished, we walked over to Filomenia Ristorante in Georgetown.

The Lady Bakers become quite rowdy when they get a few drinks in them. And, I'm the first to admit, we indulged in a few more than a few.

By the end of the night all the boys were looking good to the Lady Bakers.
What did I learn? Cookie exchanges = a drunken good time.