Resolutions

Okay, here are my New Year's Resolutions, in no particular order. In 2009, I want to:

-- cook more tasty, nutritious meals for my family
-- be a better mother and wife
-- be perfect, in fact
-- scrub the kitchen floor more frequently
-- go skiing
-- learn to speak more softly
-- listen more
-- complain less
-- appreciate, appreciate, appreciate
-- take the path of least resistance
-- avoid malicious gossip, while enjoying fun gossip
-- enjoy my newfound energy and health
-- to get through the Inaugural without disaster striking
-- to go to New England this summer to visit my friends
-- to practice my French with Patricia Hermenault, my neighbor up the street, and learn a little more German from the Awodeys next door
-- relish every day, even difficult days, as a gift

So long, Christmas, hello snow, hello Izzy and Smokie

It's been a snowy day today, as I've already noted. A nice gift after the other day's warm spell.Despite the tranquil setting, though, even with a little snow, the hilly, wind-whipped city streets can be... as they say in Pittsburgh-ese... quite "slippy."



Meanwhile, inside the house, Izzy gazes at me with those indigo eyes of hers... heart-rending...








While Smokie is parked on the radiator by the window, her favorite place to snooze all day...






Upside down...











Here's another closeup... notice how dark her eyes look, like she wants to claw my eyes out...
What a little clown!









Here's our front hallway, all Christmasy... until tomorrow, New Year's Day, when it all goes away...

Sigh.

New Year's Eve snow

We got winter back today, albeit somewhat lightly. One of the great gifts of living in Pittsburgh is the blessing of lake-effect snow, even if it only dusts things sometimes. But the wind is howling and the snow is flying and Smokie, our cat, is at the window by my easy chair (God, I sound like an old geezer; Eliza, fetch me my slippers!), riveted. The children are padding about the house, talking baby talk to our dog and our cat -- always a sign that they (the children, anyway) are feeling cozy and happy.

Happy New Year!

Peet's Coffee

My favorite time of day: an early winter's morning, sitting in an easy chair, books all about, in a silent, sleeping house. At least everyone else is still sleeping but I'm reading or blogging or checking emails. sipping Peet's mail order coffee (which I swear is the best I've ever tasted and actually is better than the Peet's you buy at the supermarket... here's a picture of their original coffee shop on Fillmore Street in San Francisco which I hope to visit someday).

One is sort of in a quiet, if a bit caffeinated, communion with the world...

Tarte Tatin

I made a wonderful Tarte Tatin yesterday. I recommend doing this while playing Andre Previn's "A Carnegie Hall Christmas" in the background. Frederica Von Stade and Kathleen Battle are sublime. And so what if it's Dec. 27? It's important to keep Christmas in the house for as long as possible -- especially yesterday, when the temperature outside, bizarrely, nudged 70 degrees.

The tart was gone by midnight... demolished by little chickens pecking away.

Here's the recipe, courtesy of Gourmet magazine. The secret is to have good puff pastry on hand (I got mine from Trader Joe's) and to cook the apples in an iron skillet, enough to steam away a lot of the apple's juices so the caramel takes center stage. Some recipes call for more butter and sugar, but it's not really necessary.... the result is still rich burnt sugar goodness.

I'm dreaming of... watching Christmas movies with Annie

Last night Annie asked me if we had any Christmas movies we could watch. I pulled out my old favorite, "White Christmas," which I've always loved but have probably have seen too many times -- just as with "A Christmas Story" and "It's a Wonderful Life." Still, no Christmas is complete without seeing the first half or third of it.

Impressions after the 53rd viewing: Bing kind of phones it in, and looks completely middle aged and flabby in his tee-shirt, but, oh, that voice! The lush Rosemary Clooney is spilling out of her dress, but, oh, that voice... Danny Kaye is trying a little too hard, but he is adorable nonetheless. Vera-Ellen, I'm sorry to say, is almost unbearable to watch -- painfully thin, indeed anorexic/bulimic -- and in her big, fabulously cheesy/tacky dance scene in Florida with Kaye, she mugs shamelessly for the camera.

But Dean Jagger beats them all, as the gruff-with-a-heart-of-gold major general. What a great, great actor. I should look up what else he's been in.

Two of magical movie moments: when the four leads sing Irving Berlin's "Snow" while choo-chooing on the train up to Vermont ("It-won't-be-long-before-we'll-all-be-there-with snoooooohhhhhwww"), and...." I'll soon be there with snow (Danny Kaye goes chsh chsh chsh chsh in the background) .... I'll wash my hair with snow....And with a spade of snow/I'll build a man that's made of snow...I'd love to stay up with you but I recommend a little shuteye/Go to sleep/And dream/Of snow, snow, snow, snow, snow!"

And then, the lovely, comforting song sung late at night over milk and sandwiches (sheesh, doesn't anyone drink in this picture?) by Bing and Rosemary: "When you're worried/and you can't sleep/Just count your blessings/instead of sheep/and you'll fall asleeeeeeep/counting your blesssssssinggssss."

Sigh.

Anyway, right around this time my 14-year old daughter got a little restless and informed me she was going to bail. This movie, in all its formulaic, schmatzy, late-period-Hollywood Technicolor glory, hadn't grabbed her, needless to say, "You can keep it playing in the background while I go on the computer," she told me.

Sigh.

I just wanted to say how blown away I am by my sister's new Christmas CD, "Come Darkness, Come Light." It is so quiet and strong and subtle. I would have a tough time saying it's the best thing she's ever done since she has so much other wonderful work out there, but somehow, arriving as it did this Christmas, at the end of My Favorite Year, makes it especially meaningful. Why? Not just because of the pleasure I derive from listening to it, but from knowing that she is happy and creatively fulfilled. And when my family is happy, I'm happy.

Here's a nice Q & A she did about the CD with Julia Reed, that wonderful Southern writer, on wowowow.com, a lively website for women. I actually did a short article on Julia's new cookbook/memoir, "Ham Biscuits and Hostess Gowns" after meeting her when she was in Pittsburgh in October. Her spinach and artichoke casserole is unbelievable.