Operation Limoncello

Friend and Neighbor VICTORIA has been working with me for days now, diligently creating home-made Christmas cards {for herself to give - NO, she's not helping me reach my stated goal of 125 for 2008!} ... and if she doesn't stop coming up with cool recipes for us to "make and give away for the holidays", I will never, never, never A) get my cards finished and B) lose a single ounce!

First we had the bright idea {well, it IS a good one, this ...} that we should make HOMEMADE LIMONCELLO {you know it - the oh-so-potent Italian lemon-infused liqueur}. Being half-Italian, I jumped all over that like chocolate on peanut butter. But wait, I'm getting ahead of myself.

Not just any Hooch {er, I mean Limoncello} recipe would do, though. NO. Victoria asked her friend Eugenio, down at our neighborhood Vigilucci's {Italian restaurant} the "best" way to do this. His answer, of course, required not one, but two phone calls to Mama in Roma ... I swear it. They were horrified that anyone would attempt to make Limoncello using Vodka {as many recipes call for}. OH NO !!! No, instead, they insist -- INSIST -- that one use Pure Grain Alcohol. You know the stuff -- aka "Everclear". Anyone out there have their very own special memories of this stuff? I do, but I'm not telling.

There's a reason they call it "Everclear", you know. It will forEVER CLEAR one's sinuses out. Did I mention FOREVER?! Yes, and not only that - it's so industrial-strength, it comes with 84 warnings on the bottle, seriously. It could embalm an elephant, just one bottle. With some to spare.

Oh, and did you know that it comes in two "proofs" {ie, strengths}? Yes, it does. 150 proof -- but that's for wimps; and 190 proof. And according to Eugenio and his darling mama, 190 is the ONLY way to go. I'd sure like to meet his Mama some day ...

This presented a bit of a problem. 190 proof is illegal to buy or sell in California. Wow. Although we couldn't find proof in writing that it's illegal to POSSESS it in the Sunshine State, so we procured it via secret sources in Arizona ... and are only USING it here to make our 1,000 proof After Dinner Limoncello. God have mercy, this stuff can clear a ROOM, not just one's sinuses.

Then there's the matter of the LEMONS. One can only use lucious smelling lemons, of course. We used what God provided ... lemons from V's friend John, and a bag full hand-picked by V from another friend's garden -- albeit unbeknownst to them, since they had the good sense to be out shopping on Black Friday when she stopped by to raid the tree!

We zested. We laughed. We got lemon rind all over my kitchen! My friend Debbie stopped by, and thought that for inspiration, we should pull out the commercial-variety of Limoncello {by Caravello} and do some shots. We tried it straight. We then topped it with heavy cream, which "softens" it a bit and makes it like a Lemon Shake. Holy Toledo, did we have fun!

Stay tuned, 'cause this stuff has to brew for ten days, during which, one inverts the jug carefully ONE TIME and then sets it back upright. No shaking. No stirring. And please God, no earthquake. Given the warnings on the bottle of Everclear, we would not survive one of those!

Yours in making home-made Christmas gifts ...

-- D.

I almost forgot to tell you -- yesterday was Day One of Operation Limoncello. TODAY, my friends, it was all about her mother's famous recipe for BUCKEYE BALLS. I kid you not. It's a heart attack in a ball. Melted butter, peanut butter, and powdered sugar -- rolled into balls -- once cool, you dip them into melted chocolate chips with nothing less than Paraffin Wax. Honestly, this is scary stuff. EACH LARGE GUMDROP SIZED BUCKEYE BALL has 153 calories, and we're afraid to calculate the FAT GRAMS. Photos to follow.

Come December 15, Victoria is going to take me by the hand to WEIGHT WATCHERS and they are going to hog-tie {no, really, I mean literally HOG tie} me into a new regime. This is ridiculous! And I'm not even consuming all this stuff. I'm just looking at it and the ounces creep on. I swear. Stop laughing at me !!!

the Christmas Card Magic ... continues

Just so you all know, I am STILL STILL STILL making our 2008 Christmas Cards ...

Mark's been a good sport, allowing all the bits & bobs to be spread all over the dining room AND the breakfast nook ...

It's quite the production!

I'm halfway there, or so, and with today being Thanksgiving, there's not a whole lot of time for crafting. I am getting the next batch of ten ready to glue together -- they're still in pieces and parts at this point.

A HAPPY THANKSGIVING to you all ...

Davi ... aka, Princess Magpie {please visit my creative blogsite at http://iamprincessmagpie.blogspot.com to see what I've been up to}

Thanksgiving

Here in So Cal, we've had scattered showers, and I am still convinced that the gray skies of the last three days were entirely due to my playing Christmas music ... early. {had to, in order to be totally immersed in the Christmas Card Making Mood}.

Happy Thanksgiving to you all !!!

About a month ago, I received a delightful e-message from my cousin's wife, Diane ... who our middle daughter got her middle name from ...

The message included a charming Thanksgiving painting {above}, and the following details about the artist:

Doris Lee, born in Aledo, Illinois, was one of the most successful female artists of the Depression era. Her earliest major career achievement came in 1935 when she was awarded the Logan Prize at the Art Institute of Chicago for her painting titled Thanksgiving. The painting received overwhelming support from the public and critics alike and was acquired for the Art Institute's permanent collection. Shortly after receiving the Logan Prize, the Treasury Department awarded Lee the commission to paint murals in the Washington, DC Post Office Building. This was an impressive accomplishment for a young woman struggling for acceptance in the male-dominated art world of the time.

With Diane's permission to post the image and the information, I saved it up just for today.

Whether your Thanksgiving ends up looking like Doris Lee's depiction, or a Normal Rockwell painting, or more like our family's ... a potluck buffet where everyone serves themselves {and usually way too much on the plate!} and sits wherever they like ... ENJOY THE DAY, ENJOY THE PEOPLE YOU ARE WITH, AND REMEMBER TO BE THANKFUL ... for all your many and varied blessings.

I count you as one of mine, that's for sure.

-- Davielle

FREE is still a GOOD thing ...

... and according to a nifty little STARBUCKS giveaway called GOOD, "good is a collaboration ... of individuals, businesses, and nonprofits pushing the world forward."



Have you seen this little newspaper-like rag at your friendly neighborhood Starbucks? Looks like this:

And speaking of GOOD, you might notice that I have a new nail gal -- her name is Sue, and my friend Debbie has been going to her for years -- now that Andi is retired (even if temporarily), I was on the hunt for a really good and affordable nail gal -- and wow, have I found her! She's fast, yet meticulous. I love her !!!

So back to GOOD from Starbucks. The edition pictured herein is No. 011, and it is dated November 20-26, 2008. From the cover ... "This is the Good Sheet. It's a weekly series breaking down an important issue to help make sense of the world around us. Exclusively available at Starbucks." { visit www.GOOD.is to see each of the Good Sheets }

No. 011 is entitled "Holiday Economy", and boy, does that hit close to home. For me, for us, for just about everyone in my universe. Of course, being Starbucks, they do say 'Tis the Season to be Spending', right on the cover !!!

What I learned from this Good Sheet, and I wonder ... did you know that:

30 - 35 MILLION real Christmas trees are sold in the U.S. every year ???

20 BILLION cards, letters, and packages are delivered by the US Postal Service between Thanksgiving and Christmas ??? {compared to 192 billion pieces del'd by USPS during the rest of the year}


$9.3 BILLION was spent on "BLING" {ie, jewelry store sales} during November & December of 2007 ???

$700 MILLION in candle sales were reported during the 2007 holiday season ??? { that's 350 million pounds of wax !!! }


and 67 MILLION turkeys are eaten at Thanksgiving and Christmas ??? {the turkey industry produced an estimated 269.8 million turkeys in 2007 ... so where did they all go !???}

Those are some ginormous numbers. I had no idea. Call me clueless!

I won't go into what the Good Sheet has to say about ... consumer debt and all that. It's depressing, and it's mind-boggling.

FREE is good, yes, it is.

-- D.

The results are just about in ...

The little holiday survey to the left is about to expire - tomorrow, I believe -- and so far, the results are pretty much how I thought they'd come in. Shown below the possible answers is the # of votes each has received thus far, and the percentage it represents. Interesting !!!

So the question was:

When is it okay to exclude FAMILY MEMBERS from a family gathering?

The answer choices were:

Never - if everyone cannot be included, don't throw the party
-0- 0%

Only under Extreme Conditions - like they are certified sociopaths or recently escaped from Prison on Murder Charges
-3- 16%

When they are Step Relatives (like that makes a difference?)
-0- 0%

If the cut-them-from-the-list-mood strikes, like "I can't handle too many guests, so I will just leave out some of the family"
-2- 11%

Ooooh, that's not cool - in fact, in OUR household, ALL comers are welcomed - even NON-relatives who might not have anywhere else to spend that day
-13- 72%

Being the author of the blog, and so the Survey itself, of course I voted - but one can only vote ONCE - if one tries to vote again, it CHANGES your vote - you get ONE chance to voice your opinion. I like that. {if only political elections were this smooth ...}

I'm the first to admit: YES, I am grousing about this issue. Still. Call me crazy, I don't mind; my husband does, and so do some of my friends. I still love them {mostly, anyway}.

IF YOU HAVE NOT YET VOTED, now is your chance!

And by the way, there is no end-purpose for this Survey. If the individuals that "inspired" it in the first place ever visited my blog, I'd fall out of my chair -- although I have my wonderings -- might they have cast those two votes, making up 11% of the responses? Technically, the choice above re: "step-family members" and the one beneath it re: "leaving out some of the family 'cause I can't handle too many guests" -- could & should have been combined, because after all, that IS where the line was drawn.

OK, now I just sound paranoid. And I'm not. Now, I simply don't care any more. They win !!!

-- D.

Like they say in the movies: Names Have Been Left Out to Protect The (semblence of) Innocent.

Herbs de Provence ROAST TURKEY

So here's a tasty sounding recipe from the fabulous CHUCK WILLIAMS of Williams-Sonoma fame {and, no doubt, fortune}:

http://www.williams-sonoma.com/recipe/recipedetail.cfm?objectid=88366342-7B0B-40CF-A050DABF6D26E20F

How simple, yet tasty, does THAT recipe sound!?

Because I {sometimes, we} go to my brother and sister-in-law's home for Thanksgiving, we typically roast a turkey for ourselves a day or two AFTER Thanksgiving ... nothing makes the house smell yummier than a beautifully roasting turkey. Lots of butter is involved, I have to admit. But man, oh, man, does that bird come out MOIST and FLAVORFUL.

This year, I'm baking pumpkin pie {no, not from homegrown pumpkins; sorry to disappoint anyone who was hoping for messy-kitchen-with-pumpkin-guts-stuck-to-every-single-surface photos !!!} -- and I'm making my Davi's Famous Dressing. We don't stuff the bird in our family; we bake the dressing on the side. That's why we call it DRESSING and not Stuffing ... 'cause we don't STUFF the silly bird.

Our really delightful friend {and fortunately for us, our neighbor} Victoria is going to join us for Thanksgiving this year -- YAY !!!

Can't wait for Wednesday, the designated BAKING and FIXING OF THE DRESSING day. Victoria's making her father's killer Cheesecake here with me that day, too. I can't imagine it's going to make it to Thanksgiving entirely intact ... :-)

-- D

{remember to visit my creative blog to see how those Christmas cards are coming at http://iamprincessmagpie.blogspot.com }

funky formatting

Okay, so it drives me crazy when things don't work like they're supposed to (or usually do) work. Take this morning on BLOGGER ... the "returns" between paragraphs -- I have edited the post on The Migraine Brain -- seven times now. I give up. Just pretend that there are paragraph breaks in there, okay?

-- D.