underground holidays

It's New Year's Eve day, and for the past few weeks people on the radio, TV and Internet have been sharing lists to mark the closing of 2009. These lists have only dimly penetrated my consciousness, I think because I'm simply not in a holiday mood this year. I suppose there's always ebb and flow in life, but this year I did not feel the Christmas magic at all. And the imminent switch to 2010 later tonight doesn't feel like any kind of big deal either. I suppose it's my year to "bah humbug." It can happen to anyone, right?

What I did do over the Christmas holidays was cook. The husband and I took on responsibility for the extended family Christmas Eve dinner, so we were on-duty the weekend before, the Wednesday before, and the day of Christmas Eve. Here is what we cooked, and I must say the meal came off quite deliciously. Ocean scallops rubbed with sugar, cooked in butter, and drizzled with an orange-cardamom glace/reduction. Puree of potatoes and celery root. Leg of lamb marinated in garlic-rosemary-lemon-olive oil. Roasted root vegetables (carrot, parsnip, rutabaga, potato, onion) in butter and herbs. Onion pie with Jarlsberg, thyme and tomato. Green beans. A variety of fresh breads. For dessert we had a trifle made with ladyfingers, frozen raspberries cooked down in sugar and cornstarch, and home-made custard. There were various cookies and bars in attendance as well, and some warm spiced cider kicked off the pre-meal appetizers of olives, cheese, crackers and pickled herring. Even though I was a grinch in my own mind, I ate incredibly well for Christmas.

The real highlight of my holiday week was Saturday and Sunday, Dec. 26 and 27. All the Christmas festivities were wrapped up, and the husband and I finished 3 days of watching our neighbors' pets while they were out of town (their being out of town for the holidays meant that we also got to be in charge of shoveling out their properties during a 3-day winter storm!) We stayed in our pajamas for two whole days and settled into our basement TV room to watch the entire 5th season of LOST. It was the best Christmas present ever, I tell you. We were underground, literally, in the basement, and figuratively, not answering our phones or going outside. If you didn't hear from me at Christmas, that's the explanation.

Now it's New Year's and I feel a tiny twinge of obligation to go out and find a party to attend or observe in some way the closing of 2009 and the beginning of 2010 - a new year, a new decade. But we had no firm plans, and no real motivation to find a celebration until two hours ago when I got an email from a friend inviting us over tonight for some food, spirits, video games and mindlessness. Bingo. I will not give in completely to my grinch tendencies and will finish out this holiday season with at least a muffled bang.

Happy New Year!(?)