Super Saturday

We really did have a great time today with good food (and lots of it) and good laughs (and lots of it). So on with the show:



I can see why cat people get obsessed with getting a good photo of their cats. This is the best of a dozen shots I took of Milo. He doesn't seem to respond when I call his name and ask him to look my way. In fact, he stubbornly keeps his head turned.

 

This is the leftover carrot cake waiting for Round 2.


 

I broke the eggs and beat them for the scrambled eggs. Mary adds milk and I add water. I used to add milk until I read somewhere on the Internet that water makes them fluffier, but I respected Mary's kitchen and added milk. Any opinions on water vs milk for scrambled eggs?





BEFORE: This is the scrambled egg and bacon serving dish. Mary and I do agree on moist eggs and crisp bacon. Meredith taught us how to bake bacon in the overn which is 10X easier than frying it. No work, just shove it in the oven and you don't even have to turn it over.



AFTER: We did everything but lick the spoon. However in our enthusiasm we did unveil Mary's favorite Christmas dish from Meredith's mother showing old-time Santa Claus.



Fran at brunch in front of the bagels which Meredith and Dave brought. Note that Fran wore her Oshkosh finery which she says has held up remarkably well.



Games were scheduled for after brunch. For those who cringe at the thought, you would enjoy playing games with us as we barely follow the rules, we don't do boring board games and we generally make fun of each other. The game must be played without having to expend any physical energy. We decided onTelestrations which is a combination of old-fashioned Telephone game and Illustrations, where you start with one drawing, the next person writes down their guess, the next person draws what the previous one guessed and so on. Very easy. Very little thought. Lots of room to ridicule your loved ones.

 


I brought Milo a Christmas present. This is a little cat, stuffed with buckwheat which you put in the microwave. It was like trying to get a kid to play with a toy. Milo showed less than moderate interest in his present.

 

This is Matt looking for something on the Internet.

This is the most ridiculted guess of the day -- the word was actually cheese cake. Matt had drawn a piece of swiss cheese with a little mouse by it and a piece of cake... cheese... cake...Easy, no? Mary mistook the mouse for a bug, and pie for the cake and guessed Cheese Bug Pie. Sure, Mary. That makes sense. Bear in mind these are all supposed to be real things -- there is nothing like cheese bug pie... but that's how Mary rolls.

Fran and Dave during the game. Fran, who can actually draw, unlike the rest of us, would draw these elaborate scenarios, pass it to Dave who, as a PhD candidate would overthink the entire process, thus holding up the game.

So we had no other choice, after three rounds of exhausting doodling and guessing, to stop for a carrot cake break.

Mary during the carrot cake break.



And just like a kid, Milo loved the empty cardboard box which he turned into his bed and slept through our squealing and screaming. Mary put his new toy in the box with him. At one point, he got up, looked at the toy and changed position so that he went back to sleep looking at it.



Matt went home; Dave had to go do his PhD work which left me, Fran, Mary and Meredith for the lobster macaroni and cheese which I have to say was one of the best things I've ever eaten. It's a recipe from the Barefoot Contessa of Food Network.

Which we enjoyed with sliced apples (Meredith's suggestion) which was so perfect. These are the Honey Crisp apples which I've been hearing about but had never tried. I love apples and these were delicious. And really a perfect complement to the mac&cheese.



As were the peas.



Put them all together and you have the perfect dinner plate. I really can't describe how good this meal was. The mac&cheese was creamy with just a taste of lobster and every so often you'd get a bite of the crusty topping. You could get a few peas to stick to the macaroni and top it off with a piece of apple. Repeat process until full.





Finally, this is by Mary's door and I found peace here when I arrived and when I leave tomorrow it will be with grace. It has been my great good fortune to have the world's best family of choice. One of my favorite authors, Louise Hay, talks about how we need to create spaces where it is safe to be ourselves, and that's what Mary's house is to me.