A Study In Pink

Delicate, soothing, playful, vibrant, scrumptious, soft, femenine, lovely pink!  I love pink!  Too much pink . . . you think?

“Almost all words do have color and nothing is more pleasant than to utter a pink word and see someone's eyes light up and know it is a pink word for him or her too.”

—Gladys Taber

Author, and columnist for Ladies Home Journal and Family Circle

Marital Discord: Two Obsessive-Compulsive Neurotics Sharing Living Quarters

I walked in the house tonight and found this on the kitchen table . . .

I won't keep you in suspense:  This salt-shaker-looking thing is a computer speaker . . . a used, 6 or 7-year-old speaker that my husband brought home from work . . . because they were throwing it out!  Mind you, he didn't bring it home because he found it interesting-looking.  Nope.  My husband, bless his heart, is all about function.  Robert M. Pirsig (Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance) might have said that my DH sees the classic beauty of the object, not the romantic.  He also didn't bring it home because he needed it.  As a matter of fact, he has a new set of speakers that came with the new computer he got for Christmas.  He brought it home because he has a pack-rat compulsion to bring home electronic "things" which even if he can't use immediately, he can save for that rainy day when China stops manufacturing them . . .

I fully realize that we all have our little quirks, and one of mine is trying to keep junk from finding a spot in the house and marking its turf . . . and I can be quite obsessive about it . . . but we just spent Sunday cleaning out part of the basement and organizing the Laundry Room and the pantry . . . I couldn't believe that after all that work he'd bring home . . . more junk?  So soon????  Arrgh!!!

By the way, I read this post to him before I published it . . . he just laughed.  The speaker will make its way to the basement and I'll be looking at this ugly thing on and off for the next decade until he finally convinces himself that it's time to let it go . . . And you know what?  It could be worse.  We have relatives (on both sides) that could give lessons in collecting stuff.  I mean, college-level lessons, Pack-Ratting 101.  Sometimes, I have to remind myself of how much worse it could be . . .

Christmas Eve Part 2: The food, the fam, the gifts . . .

I've been remiss in posting Part 2 of our wonderful Christmas Eve celebration promptly, but I have been a bit distracted with . . . MY BRAND SPANKING NEW KINDLE!!!!!!!!!

I had barely begun warming up to the idea of an e-reader, and voilà!  Santa was listening!  Ho, Ho, Ho to me!

How come no one ever mentioned to me the cool pictures that appear on the cover every time you turn off the Kindle?  It's taking me ten extra minutes staring at the cover before I start reading!  They are so awesome!

Check out this other one . . .

Here's the coolest thing for me so far . . . We've been practicing homeopathy for over 20 years and I'm forever lugging about several reference books to help diagnose symptoms . . . BUT NO MORE!!!!!  I found the books online at a fraction of the cost and weight of the paper versions!

Here it is now!  Right in my very own little Kindle!  Boy, traveling will never be the same again!

Anyway, on to the Christmas Eve menu:

Appetizers

Black Olives

Brie en Croute

Cheddar cheese, fresh fruit

Chicago Flat crackers

Salad of romaine lettuce, cranberries, walnuts and blue cheese crumbles, dressed with a pomegranate-infused balsamic vinaigrette

Roast Pork Shoulder with garlic marinade

Black Bean Soup, Cuban Style

Steamed White Rice

Yuca con Mojo (Casava with garlic-lime marinade)

Dessert

Flan de Leche

Yellow Cake with Chocolate Frosting (made by my sister-in-law, Kathy)

This menu is for garlic lovers.  Cuban cuisine is not spicy hot, but it makes up for it with the garlic!

No self-respecting Cuban would be caught dead without a rice cooker . . .

Or two . . .  Together they made 15 cups of rice . . .

My godson, Scott, and his wife, Jackie, hadn't been with us for the last two years but called us at the last minute to say they were coming.  I was so happy!  They walked in, smelled the garlic, and Scotty promptly said:  "On our way over, I was telling Jackie:  'Boy, she better be making the Cuban dinner!' "  This confirmed my decision to stick to the tried and true menu above and not experiment with new dishes.  It was so nice to relax and enjoy my family without having to worry about fussing in the kitchen . . .

My brother Al and beautiful sister-in-law, Kathy . . .

My boys, John and David with their Mama . . .

My nephews, Colin and Kevin . . .

The whole gang . . .  My battery died just before this picture was taken, so this one was taken with Jackie's point-and-shoot camera propped up on top of four Harry Potter books . . .

It was such a wonderful  night . . .