Happy Birthday, Jesus.

 

And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.

For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.

And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.

And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,

Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

 

may have forgotten the significance of the day, butt we didn’t.

Merry Christmas from MOTUS, Raj and Little Mo to all of our friends and family here! Have a wonderful day.

After the “Present” Votes were counted: MOTUS WON!

Woo-Hoo! MOTUS already got her first-est and best-est Christmas present! The coveted Doug Ross Fab Fifty 2012 Medallion!!!! 

That’s right: MOTUS has now won the the prestigious award in the category “Best First Lady Blog” 4 big years in a row! As you can imagine, the competition was brutal in that category. Anyway, it’s a record! At least for me.

I want to thank each and every one of the MOLs, MODs, MYLs, MYDs and FOMs for your continued support, which has made this little blog the fun place it is. Also congrats to all of my MOTUS blog friends who also won the much anticipated award in other blog categories, including butt not limited to: Gerard Van Der Leun, Clarice, Fausta, Keith Koffler, Gateway Pundit, Pundit and Pundette, iOwnTheWorld, Sondrakistan and The Peoples Cube.

So before MOTUS gets about her very busy day I just want say thanks to all of you in the only way I know possible: a picture of Lady M that doesn’t include either the face or the butt:

Yet still, instantly recognizable!

Yeah, I don’t know what’s going on here either. Apparently it’s high fashion. Or something.

Since I’m on the road today I don’t have any more holiday recipes to post, butt please continue to include your faves, as I’m saving them all for post-Christmas taste testing. Who knows, maybe we’ll have a contest!

So in lieu of another sugarplum recipe, I wrap up today’s post with a Christmas Eve re-broadcast from year one of the occupation. I’m sure it’s what led to my first FABULOUS FIFTY blog award from Doug Ross. (note: you may have to open the link in Firefox or some other browser, IE doesn’t always want to open Doug’s posts for some reason )

 

Mele-Kalik-Obama

Linked By: BlogsLucianneLoves, and NOBO2012 on Free Republic, Thanks!

Do You See What I See?

Here we are the Sunday before Christmas when our thoughts should be turning towards peace on earth, goodwill towards men and what do we get instead? A snarky little piece in one of our most reliable left-leaning propaganda outlets. In an article titled “Today we are gathered…to hear more about me”, the author notes that “Obama likes to see events through the lens of his own life’s chronology.” And then she impertinently proceeds to demonstrate:

Someone needs to tell Barack Obama—it must get particularly confusing this time of year—that his own birth is not Year One, the date around which all other events are understood. His much-noted, self-referential tic was on cringe-worthy display Friday when the president gave his eulogy for the late Sen. Daniel Inouye, who served in Congress for half a century representing Obama’s birth state of Hawaii.

Apparently there is still some question regarding BO’s birthplace.

While Slate is not the first to note how inappropriate BO’s self-centric eulogy of Senator Inouye was, it’s certainly the first liberal rag to drop a piece of coal in his sock. In return, the publication received this Holiday token from the Big White:

Plus, they were required to return the official T-shirt they were issued at the DNC.

Expect an apology and/or retraction shortly after the New Year.

And now back to our normally scheduled programming: another sweet treat for breakfast. This one is brought to you by MOTUS’  little sister who skipped the partridge and went for the fruit of the pear tree. A delicious make-ahead.

Pear Gruyere Strata

4 c. sliced peeled Anjou pears

2 tsp. butter, melted

6 tbsp. granulated sugar, divided

12 slices cinnamon swirl bread cut in half diagonally

Cooking spray

1 cup 4 ounces shredded gruyere cheese

1 1/2 cups milk

1 c. eggs

½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 tbsp. turbinado (or regular) sugar

½ c. maple syrup

Combine pear, butter, and 1 tbsp. sugar in a large bowl, toss gently.

Arrange half of bread in an 11 x 7 inch glass or ceramic baking dish coated with cooking spray. Spoon pear mixture evenly over bread; top evenly with cheese. Arrange remaining bread over cheese.

Combine the remaining 5 tbsp. granulated sugar, milk, egg, and cinnamon, stirring with a whisk. Pour milk mixture over bread, pressing down to submerge. Cover and chill 8 hours or overnight.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Uncover dish. Sprinkle the  tbsp. of turbinado  (or regular) sugar evenly over bread. Bake at 350 for 55 minutes or until a knife inserted in center comes out clean.

Let stand 10 minutes. Cut into 8 pieces, drizzle with syrup.

Great with bacon and/or sausage.

Musical interlude:

Said the night wind to the little lamb,

do you see what I see

Way up in the sky, little lamb,

 

do you see what I see

A star, a star, dancing in the night

With a tail as big as a kite

With a tail as big as a kite

As you know, I could go on and on, butt as a special pre-Christmas treat, I won’t. Now get out there and bake some cookies!

Linked By: BadBlue, and Larwyn’s Linx on Doug Ross@Journal, and Thor Hammerhead on facebook, and BlogsLucianneLoves, and NOBO2012 on Free Republic, Thanks!

Sweets,Treats and Tweets

“Closed until next year”

It’s a good thing Big Guy doesn’t have Jake Tapper to kick around any more. Because if he were still ABC’s chief White House correspondent, and if BO had taken any questions after telling everyone to drink their eggnog (Kool-Aid?) he might have asked again where he’s been for the past 4 years.

As I noted the other day, just because Big Guy said “I don’t think I’ve been on vacation,” doesn’t mean he hasn’t been.

Concerns about falling off the fiscal cliff caused us to economize this year. We only took one plane to Hawaii.

So hopefully we can just forget about them let the Won’s enjoy their holiday away from the public eye while we are once again free to move about the mainland. And since Big Guy has authorized the liberal use of eggnog and cookies during our “cooling off period” the balance of this post is dedicated to your recipes for Sweets and Treats.

This is my traditional Christmas bread because I’m always so busy this time of year I forget to eat the bananas and they all turn black and mushy. As it turns out, that is the key to:

Best Ever Banana Bread

2 ripe bananas mashed (by ripe I mean  black – to the point of fermentation BLACK – is that racist?)

2 eggs

1 3/4 c. flour

1 1/2 c. sugar

1 cup chopped walnuts

½ c vegetable oil

¼ plus 1 tbs. buttermilk  (I seldom have buttermilk on hand so I use 1/4 milk and a heaping tbs. of sour cream – which I do usually have)

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp vanilla

½ tsp salt

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease and flour  9x5 loaf pan. Combine wet ingredients in large bowl and dry ingredients in another bowl. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and mix just until well combined. Transfer to prepared pan. Bake @ 325 degrees, until top is golden brown and splits slightly -  approximately 1 hour and 15-20 minutes. Can be baked in 3 smaller loaf pans in which case start checking for doneness after about 40 minutes.

I’ve been making this ever since I found the recipe in the December Bon Appétit magazine in 1981. Wow! That’s over 30 years! Where does the time go, mon chéri? Only 3 days till Christmas, and 10 to the Eggnog Summit.

 

Also in the news today: Coming Soon, the much anticipated Annual Announcement of Doug Ross’ 2012 Fabulous 50 Blog winners. MOTUS has been fortunate enough to have WON every year since Big Guy was swept into office -“co-inkidentally”, the first year Doug gave out the most coveted award in the intertoobs! I sure would like to add this year’s professionally designed icon to my collection in the sidebar, so keep your fingers crossed!

Linked By: BlogsLucianneLoves, and NOBO2012 on Free Republic, Thanks!

Christmas “Gouls” and Goulash

Don’t say you didn’t get anything you asked for this Christmas.

The Tea Party gave Boehner’s Plan B from Outer Space a giant thumbs down last night, thus ending this season’s finale of Washington’s kabuki theatre with a real cliff hanger.

The kabuki dilemma: Rebuilt the cliff or move the house?

It wouldn’t have made any difference. Had the Speaker herded his troops up to voluntarily march off the cliff, Harry had already announced that he was getting’ nuttin’ for Christmas.

Senate majority leader Harry Reid, a Democrat, made his “fiscal cliff” position clear in a press conference today. “We are not going to do anything,” said Reid.

Reid added, “We are not taking up anything they are working on over there.”

And BO had already said he would veto the Boehner Bargain if it somehow miraculously made it to his irresolute desk before Christmas.

Empty desk, empty chair

So the Christmas Pass the buck bill had no Christmas future anyway, butt now it has no Christmas present either.

Sorry Jon-boy, no money for Christmas presents this year.

Not that any of this matters, as the Mayan’s have deemed today the end of days anyway.

Lady M did not receive the news well, and she took matters into her own hands. She and Harry have been busy in the food dessert, working out a deal with the devil to avoid earth falling off the map of the universe. Here are some exclusive photos of them performing an ancient Mayan ceremonial ritual. If successful, their grand bargain with you-know-who will extend our Occupation of planet earth for at least another 4 years:

         

We should know by midnight if the devil took them up on their offer. BTW, has anybody tried to call Australia this morning?

In the meantime, in case this evening’s meal is your last, what would you fix? Remember, you can afford to sell all your earthly possessions in order to finance it, so the sky’s the limit. Would you make Adrienne’s standing rib roast? Or would your tastes run to lobster? Or maybe just a great burger, pizza or pan of lasagna? Tell me, tell me!

Here’s what I’d fix. It’s humble fare butt holds a special place in many people’s hearts around here because Dewey’s Mom used to make it by the 5 gallon kettle every year for Christmas Eve. It fed everyone who still lived at home, was coming home, or simply stopped by to wish everyone tidings of the season. This makes enough to feed a small herd of reindeer, a choir of angels and a few Grinch's butt it can easily be doubled. Dewey’s Mom  called this “Gump’s Goulash” as her Dad (“Gump” to the grandkids) always made it on Christmas Eve when she was young. We just call it “Mom’s Goulash” now. 

 

Mom’s Goulash

1 lb. bacon (find a good one that doesn’t have any “natural smoke flavor” added, butt is simply naturally smoked – Oscar Mayer is a decent choice)

3 lbs. ground beef or chuck

4-5 medium onions, chopped

3 large cans of good tomatoes with juice, squeezed by hand into chunks if whole ( or roughly pulsed)

2 stalks celery, finely chopped

1 1/2 tsp. garlic powder

Salt, pepper to taste

1 lb.pkg. of noodles

Chop bacon into small pieces and cook until brown and crisp.

Remove bacon and – now this will scare some people, butt remember, the world is coming to an end anyway – cook the onions in ALL of the bacon grease. When lightly browned, add chopped celery and cook another 2-3 minutes. Place onion/celery mixture in a bowl and set aside.

Return pan to heat and brown the ground beef. Drain most of the fat (if you must) add salt and pepper to taste, garlic powder, tomatoes with juice plus a cup of water, onion /celery mixture (including the bacon grease they cooked in), and reserved bacon pieces. Stir well and bring back to a simmer and let it cook while you prepare the noodles.

Cook noodles according to package directions (don’t forget the salt!). Drain and add immediately to goulash mixture . Stir to combine and continue simmering  pn a very low heat for about 30 minutes, adding a little extra water if it begins to stick.

You can eat it now if you must, and it will be delicious. Butt trust me on this: if you can make it a day ahead and rewarm it slowly the next day it’s even better!

Gump’s original recipe called for a cup of chopped green bell pepper, butt since nobody in Dewey’s family would eat them, they never once made it into the Christmas Eve pot. I leave it to your discretion, butt I can assure you that it is perfect without them.

Crusty bread, green salad: it’s a humble feast.

As a wise man once said: “it don’t get no better than this.”

Linked By: Larwyn’s Linx on Doug Ross@Journal, and Mireille Buser on facebook, and BlogsLucianneLoves, and NOBO2012 on Free Republic, Thanks!

Peas On Earth, Good Shrill to Men

I see we’ve returned to what somebody called the “smartest man in the room” swagger. This “eat your peas” scold was last heard during the fiscal cliff talks 2011.

Butt yesterday’s presser completed Big Guy’s on the job growth curve: from whiny baby,

to petulant child,

through cocky adolescence,

                

before emerging in tact as the peevish, hubristic adult he is today.

All the while staying true to his community organizer roots.

And when asked where he’s been on gun control for the last 4 years by that uppity ABC reporter, Big Guy really put him in his place: “I don’t think I’ve been on vacation,” he said.

Like many of BO’s statements, the facts do not bear his words out. And just for the record, I should note that it hasn’t exactly been a picnic for the rest of us either, Big Guy.

Anyway, I thought I should dedicate today’s holiday recipe thread to the little green legume in honor of yesterday’s second annual “shut up and eat your peas” speech, butt aside from pea soup, I don’t really care for peas very much.

Fortunately I ran across another story to inspire today’s culinary direction. It also qualifies as this week’s most ironic story: “Iodine Deficiency – An Old Epidemic Is Back”. As the Instapundit put it, “It doesn’t help to put iodine in salt, if people quit using salt.”

Since it turns out, despite everything you’ve heard to the contrary, salt is actually good for most people, I’m focusing on salt-centric recipes today. This is all I’ve got, but somebody must have a a good recipe for corned beef, pickles, sauerkraut and gravlax. Or pretzels! And how about salted caramels?

 

Salt Crusted Baked Potatoes:

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Russet potatoes: 1 per person, scrub clean and dry thoroughly. Pierce the flesh with a fork 6-12 times; make sure you poke deeply to allow the steam to escape.

Using olive oil or canola oil, coat the potatoes generously.

Roll the spuds around in kosher salt or sea salt to coat.

Place your spuds directly on the oven rack. Put a cookie sheet underneath to catch any salt that falls off

Bake at 400 degrees F for about 1 1/2 to 2 hours – again, dependent on size. Test for doneness by piercing flesh with a fork, should be soft all the way through.

Cut the baked potatoes in half lengthwise, squeeze the potatoes a bit by adding pressure at both ends.

Add any or all of your favorite toppings: sour cream, butter, chives, cheese, bacon - although it will taste quite fine unadorned if the skin has become properly crisped. Butt remember: fat slows down the rate of absorption of carbohydrates, thus giving your potato a lower glycemic index! And that’s a good thing, so load ‘em up.

Oh, and while you probably won’t need it if you eat the skin – and you should – feel free to add more iodized table salt if you want. It’s good for you.

Note: some real chefs skip the oil, beat an egg white, add kosher salt and smear it over the skin before baking. More salt sticks this way, butt I like the olive oil flavoring.

Hmmmm…maybe this would’ve been a better choice.

Linked By: BlogsLucianneLoves, and NOBO2012 on Free Republic, Thanks!

Hudson’s, the Buhl Café and Mrs. P’s Maurice

If there’s one thing you learn as former Speaker of the House, it’s how to effectively place the blame. And Nancy took advantage of that experience yesterday:

“How does something like this happen? Because a person with impaired judgment had access to firepower that should be outlawed. There is no reason why these assault magazines – and that’s what they are. We’ve got to call them what they are.”

So now you who to blame for the Newtown tragedy: Assault Magazines.

STOP TH-EM! BEFORE IT’S TOO LATE!

Maybe San Fran Nan should watch this video (h/t Nancy/Guest – not Fancy Nancy) before she discusses assault magazines again or leaps into a discussion of “assault bullets.”

I return you to now our regular Christmas Season programming: Salads.

My contribution today, while technically a salad, is actually more of a lunch or dinner, and a summer one at that. Butt as December thoughts turn to Christmas, Dewey’s thoughts turned to the old Hudson’s Department Store - where they claim to have invented the Maurice Salad – and he sent me this recipe that he got from Mrs. P. Dewey remembers the version served at the now defunct Buhl Café best, butt they’re essentially the same.

Here’s the original version, complements of  Mrs. P of Patum Peperium:

 

J. L. Hudson's Maurice Salad

(serves 6-8)

2 tsp. white vinegar

1 1/2 tsp. lemon juice

1 1/2 tsp. onion juice (grate onion with fine grater)

1 1/2 tsp. sugar

1 1/2 tsp. dijon mustard

1/4 tsp. dry mustard

1 cup mayonnaise

2 tbspns. chopped fresh parsley

1 hard cooked egg, finely chopped

salt to taste

14 oz. ham, cut into strips

14 oz cooked turkey breast

14 oz Swiss cheese

1/2 cup slivered sweet gerkins

1 head Iceberg lettuce, shredded

12-16 pimento stuffed olives

Combine the first 6 dressing ingredients and stir to dissolve the sugar. Add remaining dressing ingredients and mix well.  Combine the ham, turkey, cheese and pickles together in a large bowl.  Toss together with the dressing.  Divide lettuce among the plates, top with salad and garnish each plate with 2 olives.  Serve with fresh bread.

Garnish with tomato wedges, hard boiled egg wedges, radishes and olives to make it The Buhl Cafe version.

Little Mo recommends adding to the gerkins or replacing the gerkins with watermelon pickles. I don’t know if he really likes the salad with watermelon pickles or if he just wanted me to say “gerkins” two more times.

Ah yes! Detroit. Dewey at one time worked in all 4 buildings standing at the intersection of Larned and Griswold in the city’s Financial District: One Woodward, The Guardian Building the Buhl Building and the late-to-the-game Madden Building. Remembering anew what once was.

 

 

             

 

 

  

The Madden Building: late comer

Madden Building aka 150 Jefferson

PS Please pray for MOTUS’ little brother mirror who is having open heart surgery today. Thank you.

Linked By: Larwyn’s Linx on Doug Ross@Journal, and Peter Hekking on facebook, and  BlogsLucianneLoves, and NOBO2012 on Free Republic, Thanks!