This post is oozing with a warm and fuzzy spirit of Christmas cheer. It may be because of the Kenny G Christmas instrumentals I’ve been listening to all morning or because my free gift of jubilee from the Lord is finally kicking in in full force or the fact that the pounding headache I’ve had for the last two days is finally over and this is my way of coping with the joy. But either way, be warned of copious amounts of fuzziness ahead.

My weekly early morning morning - like a reliable weekly date in WS - has faithfully rolled around once more. I’ve made myself a charming little enclosure with two chairs and a heater to keep the warmth in. The heater only hits one side of me so with my right side tingling with a burning sensation and my left side all goose-bumply, I’ve struck a balance that comes close to warmth.

Somehow this morning I got to Gabe’s blog and he linked to this blog and I started reading and now I am in love. This blog is like a fuzzy electric blanket of tidings of comfort and joy that you wrap up in on a cold rainy freeday when you have nothing to do but snuggle under the covers in your flannel jammies and favorite toe socks (I don’t have my own pair of two socks so if you were wondering what to get me for Christmas…). For real, that’s what this blog is like.

There’s all these warm and cozy pictures of food and these magical easy looking recipes where you don’t have to substitute 50% of the ingredients and she talks about soup on a cold day and ramen and cookies and….and….I love it. Plus she’s a darnly good writer with these very snifty metaphors thrown in every once in awhile (I’m a sucker for metaphors. The man who will win my heart someday will know this instinctively and dazzle me with his metaphoric prowess).

And now, I really feel like talking about food. I feel I should tell you about my lunchtime, since it brings me so much happiness and happiness doesn’t grow if you leave it on a shelf. Well see, what I do is I take a Cup-Of-Noodles and prepare as per the instructions. Then I make myself a lovely stir fry with carrots, brocolli, cabbage, onions, bean sprouts, bok choy, leeks and cilantro. Then I fry an egg. Then I mix it all together and saturate the whole thing in soy sauce and a miracle (not unlike the miracle of our Savior’s gift of love to us by coming to this earth as a tiny babe) is created. For an hour leading up to lunch I’m giddy with anticipation and for an hour afterwards I’m basking in the sweet afterglow of full satiation. It’s a magical, magical thing.

A staple in the mix of things that bring on my Christmas spirit in full force (in addition to the essentials like caring and giving and winning the lost) is Cassie’s eggnog - dubbed Cassienog. Since this is the first Christmas in more than ten years where I won’t be living with Cassie (sniff) she gave me her magical recipe and who would have guessed it was in Joy of Cooking the whole time? Come hell or high water, I am SO making this at some point this month.

I should also point out that the best cookie recipe I have ever found is over on Maria’s blog. I have never not had these cookies turn out less than perfect. Be warned, I don’t go for the whole “crispy on the outside, chewy on the inside” thing. I am all about entirely un-crispy, totally chewy, gooey, fudgy cookies that that’s exactly what these are.

My mommy of love is such an amazing cook. Every Sunday she whips up these amazing feasts for the Home up there (murmur, murmur, grumble, gripe). And every once in awhile I get to be up there to partake of the blessed event. On my birthday she made a feast of savory cheesecake, meatloaf, chicken and meatballs in a wine sauce, carrot-and-onion soup, a delightful bleu (I think that’s how you spell it) cheese and onion salad and a to-die-for chocolate cake which she said she just Googled the recipe for. My mommy is the best ever. In this area she makes me cool by association “you’re Chris’ daughter? OMG, she is such an amazing cook. Your mom is so cool!” and I’m all like “yeah I know, she’s where I got all my awesomeness from”. Here is a picture of that magical spread, and one of me and my mommy and daddy on the same night because I think I look pretty in it.

There ends my thoughts on food. I have other thoughts, like how it’s really hard for me to make short posts. It takes longer for me to condense something than to just spill it all out. Oh well. Another thought is that since I installed Vegas on my pewter, I now have the power to take the very polarized movie of “The Holiday”, cut out each and every scene that has that emotionally hyper-sensitive, freakishly underweight, “let’s talk about our feelings the whole movie long” Jude Law and Cameron Diaz couple and keep all the scenes with the adorable, rotund, completely cool Kate Wislet and Jack Black and have myself a great, not too long Christmas movie. I’m very excited about this.

Another thought, Chuck, is that I’m feeling kind of stressed out that we haven’t made our united stress post yet. I feel like it’s important that we do. How about tonight? I know you’ll be tired but it’s only three days left till we distribute the you-know-what’s and I feel the joke isn’t complete until we make our stress post.