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[bk]

Well, you've read the notes, the notes were stirring, and now it is time for you to post until the stirring cows come home.

[bk]

And the word of the day is: PERSPICACIOUS!

[Ben]

Morning all.

That is all.

[Ben]

It's a quiet morning here on Long Island. It's cool (I went outside to get the newspaper, his parents still get printed copies of the Daily News and Newsday) but no snow.

We have a couple of errands to do but the rest of the day will be slow and easy.

[Ben]

Oatmeal with walnuts, raisins and cinnamon and coffee.

[Ben]

I could have had French toast with sausages and coffee but I opted for the oatmeal.

Perhaps tomorrow when I get up I'll treat myself to FT & S.

[Ben]

With all the eating going on I should avail myself of the treadmill in the basement.

Don't know if that's gonna happen.

[KevinH]

Happy Christmas Eve!

[KevinH]

I arrived safely and soundly in Buffalo on Saturday.  I did a lot of shopping for my 7 year old great- niece and newborn great-nephew.  Just about everyone else is getting gift cards.

[KevinH]

My sister and I went to see "The Guilt Trip" yesterday.  She loved it.   It was my second time and I liked it just as much as the first time.  I don't know why it's not doing better at the box office.

[KevinH]

I still have a few more gift cards to get.  While the supermarkets and drug stores sell a lot of them for all different places, I still have to go to a couple of places I can't find cards for. 

[John G.]

Good morning, all.

Happy Christmas Eve!

Glad you made it safely to Buffalo, KevinH, and you out to Long Island, Ben. Travel vibes for all those in motion.

[John G.]

I have to work today. And I need to get in relatively early to get this badge replacement stuff done.

[John G.]

Congrats on your Dutch oven, Vixmom. Hope you get great use out of it.

[ChasSmith]

Good morning, all.

Must be efficient about coffeeing myself up and getting out to buy a few last minute supplies this morning.

[Ron Pulliam]

Happy Day Before!

[Jrand74]

Christmas Eve Day.

Party and Parking Vibes for MR BK.

[Jrand74]

Happy belated birthday to DR JANE's son Bryan.

[Jrand74]

We are expecting 6 - 8 inches of snow beginning tomorrow evening.

[Druxy]

TOD:

Certainly my most vivid Christmas memory occurred when I was seven or eight years old. 

If I hadn't spotted my father's familiar checked shirt under the sleeve of his Santa Claus suit, I might still believe that St. Nick was real.

 

[Jrand74]

The three people charged in the House Explosion here will appear before a judge for the first time in about an hour to hear the more than one hundred charges faced by each of them.

A local attorney said on Sunday that the prosecution's best bet will be if one of them opts to plead guilty for a lighter sentence and turns on the other two....because there has been no confession by any of them.

[elmore3003]

Good mornng, all!

At 11:15 last night, there was a terrific crash in my apartment, as if a shelf had fallen over. It woke me and scared the hell out of me. When I got up to investigate, I found nothing. I guess the ghost likes playing pranks. After my nerves settled, I went back to slept and slept quite well.

I have three packages to deliver to a doorman, a stop at the bank, and a trek to Toyland. I won't be there too long today.

Christmas Eves in my family were usually a trip to Franklin, Ohio, for dinner out since my mother would be cooking all the next day, followed by a stop to visit my Aunt Dorothy, my mother's oldest sister, and her family. Christmas Day was the family gatherng at our house, and it was pretty muchthe same brouhahaas Thanksgiving at my Aunt Jean's: lots of cousins making noise, and my mother's six siblings and their spouses waxing nostalgic on all matters family between 1918 and whatever year we were then in. In college I found them intolerable, but now I'd give a lot to spend time with many of them again. I've just enteredEmily's world in OUR TOWN.

[Ginny]

Christmas Eve morning greetings!  We are hanging out at the hotel until noon checkout and then we'll find someplace else to hang out until we're due at church at 4pm.

[Ginny]

Usually I go shopping when we're stuck staying in Lima, but there's NO WAY I'm going near the mall today!

[John G.]

I'm dreaming of homemade egg nog.

I've got the ingredients. Now I just need some time off.

[John G.]

Usually I go shopping when we're stuck staying in Lima, but there's NO WAY I'm going near the mall today!

You are a wise woman.

[John G.]

Here's a great TED talk that eventually works it way around to Sondheim.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=9KICv1Zy92k

[Ron Pulliam]

Christmas in South Carolina, part 6:

For a couple of years, my mother has bemoaned the presumptive death of the VHS player/recorder.  She does not have TIVO nor does she have a cable company that offers DVRs to subscribers.

I have had an HDD player/recorder for a couple of years and was aware that this was a viable alternative to her problem.  Still, I was operating my HDD through my DVR and was not reliant upon it for the tuning of my TV.

She has a couple of VHS players, but she worries they'll give out and she'll miss her 90-minute soap block each Monday through Friday (her days are filled with activities) which she likes to catch up with each evening.

This year's main gift is a silver chest (for up to 18 place servings), bought and shipped six months ago and sitting in the guest room closet until night before last when I wrapped it and placed it near the tree.  That, plus several jewelry items and some See's Candy, is her Christmas.

Still, when -- earlier last week -- my aunt asked my mom, during a game of SkipBo, whether she had asked if I could advise her on what to get along the lines of an HDD, my mom waved her off and said she hadn't because it would be too expensive.

Sigh.

So, I went online and found an HDD player/recorder similar to mine and ordered it for one-day delivery.  As it was not in stock at Amazon but available through another entity, I worried it might not get here in time.  I wanted it before the weekend because I'll be leaving Thursday a.m. and I wanted enough time to have her familiarize herself with it.

It arrived last Thursday afternoon.  That evening, I tested the programming features on my mom's HDTV in her kitchen.  All worked beautifully.  Friday morning I set it up on her much older analog TV...and ran into a hitch.  I had no functioning remote for the TV and could not access auxiliary channel settings.  The remote she had for the TV would not work.  I reconnected her VHS recorder and set it for her soaps that day.  Then I pondered how I would solve the problem.  I went online and ordered a replacement remote for her TV, but it would not get here before I left.  I decided I would set the HDD up in the kitchen until she could get one of her techno-proficient friends  to help her change it over the the standard TV.

Last night, I was distracted from a commercial by a remote that was pushed back behind a VHS tape on her entertainment center top.   It was the "original" remote for the TV...different from the one she had given me when I was attempting to set up the HDD.  This remote afforded me access to many alternate video input sources and I decided I'd give it another go this morning.

The happy news is that on this Christmas Eve, my mother has HDD capability...and she'll never have to worry about VHS tapes again.  I've set her up to record her soaps ever Monday-Friday, from 12:30-2 p.m. ("The Young and the Restless" and "The Bold and the Beautiful").  It's a particularly festive day as a result even though my mom insists she's going to pay for the HDD.  I don't think so, I don't.

[Ron Pulliam]

As promised last week:  "Buttermilk Pecan Pie"

This recipe is a featured recipe from the book P. Allen Smith's Seasonal Recipes from the Garden.

Now, don’t be thrown by the title of this recipe. This is another great “golden oldie” from our family cookbook. Along with roast chicken and mashed potatoes, it is on my short list of favorite comfort foods. Think of it as crème brulee’s culinary cousin.

Ingredients

1 cup pecan halves
¼ cup firmly packed light brown sugar
¼ cup dark corn syrup
8 tablespoons (1 stick) butter, melted
1 ½ cups sugar
3 eggs, beaten
¼ cup all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup buttermilk
1 pie crust

Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a jelly-roll pan with aluminum foil, and lightly grease the foil.
Stir the pecan halves, light brown sugar, and dark corn syrup together in a small bowl. Spread the mixture out on the jelly-roll pan, and bake, stirring every 4 minutes, for 12 to 15 minutes, or until the glaze thickens.
Remove the pan from the oven and spread the pecans in a single layer on wax paper. Let the pecans cool complately, separating them with a spoon as soon as they cool.
Lower the oven to 325 degrees F.
Combine all the remaining ingredients in a mixing bowl, and pour the mixture into the unbaked pie shell. Scatter the chopped glazed pecans evenly on top of the pie filling.
Bake for 50 minutes to 1 hour, or until set. Let the pie cool on a wire rack before serving at room temperature.

[John G.]

What a sweet thing to do for your mother, Ron.