Happy Holidays

   Merry Christmas!!! I want you all to have the best day ever. Hug your partner or call up an old friend or family member. Fix a favorite meal and relax thinking of old friends and days gone by.I'll let Christy sleep in a bit and then start the coffee and a fire.
    We didn't get a tree this year or decorate the house. Just wanted to save a few bucks and not have to deal with all the mess. We went to a party last night and had a really good time. Bobbi and Anthony always put on a great spread of food and there house is always warm and welcoming. Home made tamales, baked ham and lots of other dishes.
     There was traditional Christmas music playing on the TV. Well there was anyway until I got my hands on the remote. With a little help we were able to find my kind of music. The Supremes, Shirelles, Four Tops , Temptations...you know, all that late 50's early 60's early Motown stuff. This gets a bunch of people up and dancing in the living room , myself included. Although to describe my gyrations as dancing would be stretching it a bit. I was actually sort of hopping about the room like a rabbit, a rabbit with bad knees and my arms pumping out from side to side as if to fend off an attacker. Great fun!
   Well eventually someone changed the channel back to more traditional music and everyone sat back down and talked and ate more food. Oh well, we had the place rockin' for a little while there.
    Christy and I are making baby stew today, an old family recipe from my Mom's side of the family. And no it's not made from babys. Small cubed pieces of round steak about the size of a sugar cube. Potatoes cut up the same way. Brown the meat with a diced up onion in a pot with a little oil. Par boil spuds to soften them somewhat. Add water, flour , butter to pot along with worsetrschire sauce and some spices especially pepper (bobby likes his pepper). This, if done correctly makes a thick tasty stew.
    The story goes that my Mom's family cooked this up as they moved to California via wagon train in the 1800's. They used buffalo meat as opposed to round steak and there have been a few other modifications to the recipe as well.
     So have a wonderful Christmas. I'm not a religious guy but I still get swept up in the spirit of this holiday. Gotta go, it's time to open presents and start working on the baby stew. Oh yeah,  almost forgot, the stew has to simmer a long time and needs to be stirred a lot so it doesn't burn to the bottom of the pot. So you'll know where I'll be today, in the kitchen with my sweety.
      Take care and have a very Merry Christmas. Bob of the baby stew