Quelle Bonne Chance, N'est-ce Pas?

Thanks to Dad and the Fays for hosting the kids so we could have a weekend away to celebrate our 14th anniversary.  We left Montreal before 7:00AM (it was still dark as night!) to get home before this snow.  Good thing, too.  We made it just in time.

We stuffed ourselves with couscous, lamb, chicken and merquez at Au Tarot (and oh, the mint tea at the end is so perfect!) and rich, deeply flavored French at our very favorite bistro, Le P'tit Plateau.   We went to a special exhibit at the Contemporary Art Museum and shopped for cheese at La Vieille Europe, but because it was so cold out, we mostly just curled up by the fire.  And that was nicer than anything else I could imagine.  



P.S. While I was looking to see if P'tit Plateau had a website, I found this cool blog.  

Too Much is Always Enough, or; Food is Love

The Stoddards are really pretty over-the-top in a lot of ways. We're all just a little too loud and obnoxious and some of us can be awfully self-righteous. We're passionate about our politics, beliefs and ideals. We're verbose. And there is no doubt that we are all prone to excess, particularly when it comes to food. Food is love, right? And we love big. So we eat a lot.
Weeks prior to any major family gathering, we start communicating about food. Since the advent of e-mail, we do this with a million reply-alls and much tangential discussion, such as whether or not anyone ever /actually/ drove themselves crazy with excessive verb usage (or with extensive or excessive usage of verbs). And we often end up with way too much food. Except for that one old home weekend about 20 years ago when Wayne missed dinner and there was no food left. Remember that travesty? Wayne does.

This year, I am hosting Christmas at my house for the very first time. We generally alternate Christmas between Vermont (Auntie Sally's house) and Maine/New Hampshire (Auntie Rae's house). This year Sally didn't feel her house would be comfortable for everyone, what with all the fish tanks, so I jumped at the opportunity to officially become a grown-up and have Christmas at my house. This way I don't have to travel. We're really excited about moving furniture around to accommodate lots of people around the tree and I'm looking forward to a sleep-over with many of my cousins and aunties (Sally, you should sleep over, too, even if your own home is 5 miles away).

So back to the food. This holiday's food planning started like this (I started it):

Christmas Eve:

Lentil soup (my dad)

Corn Chowder--vegetarian (Henekis)

Galupshugas (Gram)

Homemade Bread (Zoe)

Green salad (Zoe)

Christmas Morning:

Strata (Cindy Mom and Zoe

Various fruits (Zoe)

Christmas Dinner:

20 lb organic turkey from Penny!!!(Zoe)

Ham or pork roast from the pig my dad bought(Zoe)

Stuffing and Gravy (Cindy Mom)

Potatoes (Zoe)

Squash (David Dad)

Brussel Sprouts (Zoe)

Amazing Party Cake (not from the auction) (Zoe)

Other hopes and dreams:

(Cindy Mom):Crabcakes, Chinese dumplings (I have loads of ground pork for these and will help make them ahead)

So my mom agreed to the crabcakes and dumplings and added her homemade danish. Then Henekis requested clam dip. Then Raetha offered roots veggie stew and more fruit and offered to plan a hike, which obviously we'll all be way too full to participate in. So when you consider the above list, we're probably all set for 24-hours and 15-20 people, right? But then yesterday Sally weighs in with the following:

I'm bringing Thai -- shrimp, cauliflower, lo mien noodles and carrots in a peanut sauce (Shani I'll leave out the shrimp in some). Also, I am bringing at least 4, but probably 6 quiche, all vegetarian. Jen, Kali and I are bringing 2 lime key pies that are pretty basic but we like them (Jen smiled when she ate some and I love her smile; they do have some Cool Whip I am a bit ashamed to write...). One chocolate éclair pie (these are all graham crust size not Zoë's and Rae's usual big pie shells). A crock pot of my Ntozake Shange rice/broccoli/cayenne peeper/nutmeg etc dish. I'll add some of the wedding type mandarins to the fruit. And, something else I don't know about yet. I have 6 cans of crabmeat and -- on my wish list, I am asking for Zoe to make me the ugliest possible cake. You can even make it poorly right now and freeze it, maybe that will make it a little soggy when thawed. Love, love, love etc.

I particularly love "And, something else I don't know about yet." Because clearly we will need something else. There might not be enough. She's too cute!

Lest you think I have had any direct influence on this crazy family food fetish (as opposed to just being a product of same) here's my dad at the end of Christmas Day in 1982 (I was only 11) reading a list of food and drink he (and others) had consumed that day. It's a pretty great, classic clip. And I particularly love the supportive cheering at the end.:

This year, I've had some moments of worry that there really will be too much food and that will mean waste; a deadly sin, especially for us frugal New Englanders. But since I have freezer space and anticipate about 15 house guests for New Year's Eve, I'm breathing through my panic that we will literally be overun by our amazing culinary creations and looking forward to embracing the joy that is feeding the people you love. Anyway, I could no more ask any of the cooks in my family to NOT bring food than I could ask them to stop loving each other, or me. I imagine stomping my foot and the ridiculous futility of either scenario: "Stop it! Just stop it! Stop it right now!" And why would I want to convince anyone of such silliness?

Love Song

Raetha made me a cd last weekend which included this song by Sonya K.  It's just a perfect love song from Harper to Patrick.  Or Henekis to Kali and Shani.  

Just Because

 Netdahe and me at Camp in the fall...probably around 1980.  I love us.

And Now They're 20 and Singing at Their College...

Jordan and Kayla are a couple of the youngest descendants of Champ in my generation. Our mothers are sisters. They are beautiful and sweet and creative and talented, each in their unique ways. I love them. Here they are as babies...

This is Jordan:

This is Kayla:
Or at least that's the family consensus on which twin is which. They looked a lot alike back then.

Kayla and Jordan have been singing this song and making us cry since they were 7 years old. Last night they sang it at the college talent show and won 2nd place! I think they should have won first place.

Achieving Perfection

On a sunny morning (or a cloudy, rainy or snowy morning) pop Astral Weeks into your car cd player (or ipod, or hifi stereo system or tape deck) on your way to work (or school, or a friend's house or on a walk or sitting in your living room).

Because it's so good.

Van Morrison achieved perfection with this album. With the poetry, the strings, the reminder that being a stranger in this world is pure and true and redemptive. The celebration of everything that can't be named or held on to and which is the essence and adventure of being alive. It's all there and it's as hot as it was 40 years ago.

Vieques

In front of a Peace Mural.

This is an abandoned bunker for ammunition storage. There are many of them on the western end of the island.

(Ignore the date stamps on my pictures--they are mistakes I don't know how to fix.)

I've just returned from 6 days on the island of Vieques with two dear friends. Vieques is a magical, incredibly beautiful place with a complicated history. Shamefully, the U.S. Navy occupied much of the island for more than 60 years, displacing thousands of people and exposing thousands more to a plethora of carcinogens. The Navy is now mostly gone and, ironically, much of the natural beauty of the place has therefore been preserved and protected from the mass developments that have wreaked havoc on many Carribean islands.

Thanks to a home exchange, we stayed in a great house just outside the major town of Isabel II. Feral chickens, horses and dogs wandered the narrow, steep streets and the coqui sung us to sleep at night. Our house sat atop a hill and we had views of the ocean and enjoyed constant breezes. The beaches we discovered were breathtaking. On our first day we just splashed around in the ocean giggling and whooping like maniacs because we were overwhelmed by the beauty that surrounded us.


As an indication of how relaxed I felt on this vacation, at one point while I was standing up from my beach chair, I actually drooled! And I'm not a drooler! Truly, I can not remember ever feeling so completely relaxed. It was quite a blessing.

We made some stupid videos of ourselves. In fact, much of the delight of this vacation was the complete, silly abandon in which we indulged. Really, I think there is nothing more fun than acting really stupid and laughing at your self. I particularly like this two part series where Carolyn and I are preparing to visit the bioluminscent bay.

Incedentally, I was stung by a jellyfish in the biobay. I had been in the water and was splashing around, digging the light my body created and the drips that turn into stars when I raised up my arm or leg, when I felt a stinging on one ankle and then the other. I quickly swam for my kayak as I just wanted to get out of the water; it was dark and there was something in there that wanted to get me! It hurt a bit, but I did not, as our guide suggested, pee on myself. It would have to hurt a lot more to suffer the humiliation of peeing on myself in front of 10 or so strangers. One other man in our group was stung and my friends said he freaked out way more than I did, so I'm proud that I maintained my composure. During our paddle back, Carolyn had a fish jump into her boat (a glowing fish--it's all a-glow in the bay) which made her yell, "fish in the boat, fish in the boat!" And we all got to see fish swimming and jumping and creating light and sparkles in the dark of night. It was mind blowing. The next day, and still now, I feel as though it were a dream, and this sensation is only enhanced by my jellyfish sting. I hope someday to bring the kids to the bio bay, though I may not encourage them to swim, at least without good, fair warning about the possibility of a sting.

Here CB, and I give a tour of our neighborhood.
On the ferry to Vieques.