Hi Booger, and Merry Christmas to you and yours!!
As of today, I am enjoying the holidays. All the gifts are boughten and/or completed (although a couple still need wrapping), the cards are all sended out, the decorations are up and behaving themselves (which means I've swapped out all the suction cup light hooks that were weak and falling for better ones). And the OIC that's been badgering me for too long is ready to mail out -- the client is coming Monday to sign forms, and he has promised that all the copies of all the supporting documents are ready in a folder.
My daughters and I spent most of today making a -full- batch of the filling for the traditional Christmas ravioli, made to my great-grandmother's recipe (it needs to set at least overnight to develop the flavor fully). And I've discovered this is -way- easier to pull off with two mostly-grown girls. The last time we tried (a couple years ago) we made a half-batch and I was teaching as we went along. The time before that I was working all on my own while trying to keep both eyes on two very active little girls. That was not fun. When I was a kid, we did this for Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Easter every year -- with two grandparents and two grandchildren busy as beavers with preparation for two days straight.
This year, Gwen's boyfriend's family (5 of them) are coming for Christmas dinner, and so we also have the promise of ravioli making assistance on the day itself from a strapping 17-year-old young man. (This is also why we went for the full-batch recipe with five pounds of riced potatoes, one pound of ricotta, another pound of fresh-grated (with the big grater my grandfather made by hand) Parmesan cheese, and all the rest -- lots of people coming to EAT!) My husband has made me a new maple pasta board and a new clamping system for the pasta roller machine. Doug is off picking up the porchetta roast, my older girl (Fiona) has gone off to buy a few last-minute gifts, and Gwen (who did -lots- of cooking with me today) is tuckered out and napping on the sofa.
I am a very happy Catherine right now. :wub: