Christmas Dinner

For Christmas dinner this year I made individual Beef Wellingtons. I had three very small grass-fed filet mignons and two high quality larger filet mignons. I didn't use any foie gras as most traditional recipes required. I used baby bella and shiitake mushrooms. The puff pastry was pre-made. 

  

All in all it came out quite good. Now I have to come up with something even better for new year's eve and day. 

Udon Noodle Love

Udon Noodle Soup, originally uploaded by Judy's Notebook.

We went to my favorite Japanese restaurant yesterday. Every time I took a bite of Udon noodle, I would say to him, "Udon noodle love." I'm sure the Sake had nothing to do with it.

Italian Wine Labels

I came across a brown paper bag with the words “Italian Wine Labels” written on it. Inside the bag there were maybe two dozen wine labels that were removed from the bottle. I was, for some reason, obsessed with this activity about 10 to 12 years ago. So I kept them all these years. Not surprising. I’m quite a pack rat.

My first thought was do something crafty for Christmas. Make them into ornaments. They are mostly 3 by 4 inch rectangles of paper. I thought I might glue them to balsa wood and hang them with a piece of ribbon.

When I mentioned my find and the potential craft, he immediately said scan them and make wrapping paper. What a crafty idea! At the very least it would preserve them as an image that can be reprinted forever.

In Memory Of Uncle Martin

I like pasta so much that I must have some Italian blood in me. I made spaghetti for lunch and it was so fulfilling. I'm not much of a big breakfast eater, so around lunchtime, I'm ready to stuff my face. I need something substantial when the weather gets chilly too. 

  

Plus it helps to promote memories. Ah sweet memories... About six years ago I went on a solo road trip to northern California. At one point I ended up in Occidental and there was an Italian restaurant named Negri's. It was just so Italian and so used to serving huge groups of people, and I was all alone and it was in the off hours so no one was there and the entire staff came out to greet me, seat me, and chat. Like a big Italian hug.