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Doris' best friend A came over with homemade cookies her mother made - an unbelievably myriad assortment of deliciousness. I loved the mini pecan tarts and wedding cakes (my most favorite cookie). After the exchange of very awesome presents - a pug pin! A brought out her new concert ukulele and we commenced Christmas Karaoke part deux with Disney and children's songs thrown in. We have a number of hits and some stretch hits that will require practice.
They are now...you guessed it, playing Rock Band.
Christmas wouldn't be complete without H, Z and now, little R. He has gotten so big in 2 weeks and H and Z are such incredible parents. Doris cuddled with H's childhood teddy bear - the largest bear we know. We chowed on incredible Filipino food and relaxed. Back at home, there were more awesome spare ribs and Connery entertained us with his famous sit trick. Lastly, Christmas wouldn't be Christmas without Christmas Karaoke - every Christmas song, 1 verse, no repeats, as fast as possible. Doris plays the piano, I'll sing or play the flute, Phil plays the trumpet or guitar, mom sings and dad plays the recorder or takes pictures of us from behind. It'll just be Doris, mom and me this year but it is still a treasured tradition. Update: see the laptop on the piano? That's dad on Skype so we did get to sing to him this year. When we were done with the carols, Doris indulged me in a few show tunes and my love for a very nasally Eponine. We're also starting another tradition where M Skypes us as Rudolph. It has a spastic right eye and is very funny.
Mom has been doing a great job of feeding us from the bounty we purchased at the Korean grocery store. She cut radish cakes for breakfast which I tried to cook and ended up burning myself. I cut myself last Saturday so I haven't been too lucky in the kitchen. Mom made 2 kinds of chicken last night and this morning, her amazing braised spareribs (pork spare ribs, garlic, ginger, soy sauce, rice wine, rock sugar). I've been on a veggie and fruit kick so enjoyed an entire ruby red grapefruit.
As Doris would say, we "chillaxed" after breakfast. I made some vegan almond cupcakes which I think came out really well. So fluffy! And we rocked out. I got 100% on Eye of the Tiger. Aw yeah!
Vegan Almond Cake
adapted from Dairy-free Almond-orange Cake, Vegetarian Planet, Didi Emmons
1 cup whole almonds, lightly toasted
2 cups unbleached white flour
1.5 tsps baking powder
0.5 tsps baking soda
0.5 tsps salt
2/3 cup canola oil
1 cup soy milk
2/3 cup honey
1 tbsp vanilla extract
0.5 tsps almond extract
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9 or 10 inch cake pan by rubbing or spraying it with a bit of oil.
2. Grind the almonds in a food processor or blender. Transfer the almonds to a large bowl. Add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Mix well.
3. In a smaller bowl, combine the canola oil, soy milk, honey, vanilla and almond extract. Pour about half of this mixture into the flour mixture, and stir briefly. Add the remaining liquid and stir until the batter is smooth. Pour into the prepared pan.
4. Bake the cake for 40-45 minutes, or until a knife inserted into the cake comes out clean. Let the cake cool in its pan on a rack for 15 minutes, then loosen the cake with a sharp knife. Place a plate on top of the pan, and invert the cake onto the plate. Let the cake cool completely before frosting.
Isn't it beautiful? Thanks Santa!!!!
Mom: That's funny, it looks like the poles they have at Taiwanese Go-Go clubs. [Mom grabs, jumps on and slides off]. You know, they have classes to learn how to do this.
Me: Yeah, I'm taking one and its really hard. [does ballerina]
Mom: Well, you're just going to have to practice more.
We couldn't help ourselves. I gave M's Christmas present to her last weekend and she told me my present this weekend.
She got me a pole so that I can train at home and compete in the 2012 Olympics! I've been checking out the competition and I am going to have to work really hard if I'm going to beat the Australians. They are hardcore dancers.
I got M the 2008 Ride Rapture board - we hate the 2009 designs so it was challenging to find her the 2008 board at the right size. But, there it is and her Flow bindings come in this weekend. We can't wait to start training for the 2014 Winter Olympics. Halfpipe, of course.
As you may or may not know, I cannot keep a secret. And, I'm a planner so I usually get people gifts way before the gift giving occasion. So, people usually end up knowing and/or receiving their gifts early because I just can't help myself.
We got mom a 32" TV for her birthday/ Christmas present. See how thin it is! Her birthday is the Friday after Thanksgiving. Although we got her the TV, she bestows her deepest appreciation on M who put the thing together (we didn't even open the box). Can you imagine, the DVD player, cable, Wii and XBox 360 are all plugged into the TV and we don't have to reach behind to plug and unplug things. Amazing!
M also took Mom to Woodbury Commons today where she bought 2 bags. M got 7 sweaters - 6 of which are argyle. And I temporarily lifted the shopping embargo to get 3 dresses from Barney's. I was doing was doing so well - I didn't buy a thing from JCrew. But, I got to Barney's and they were taking an additional 25% off sale items and the dresses were made out of 100% silk and 100% wool respectively. You can't get those gorgeous fabrics for that cheap anywhere. When we got home, Mom ran upstairs and brought down a Swiss Army knife for M. "Merry Christmas, M," she said (Mom hasn't gotten her children a Christmas present since the early 1990's).
The keys to mom's heart are to (1) take her to Woodbury Commons, (2) fix electronic/ technological problems, (3) do whatever she says (i.e., risk life changing light bulb). Today Mom asked M if she was coming for Christmas and then remembered that M is going to spend it in Orlando with her mother and brother. Mom then said, "I'm gonna miss you." For me, that was the greatest Christmas gift from Mom ever.
Mom also said that I was good at cleaning and that I should clean M's toilets.
Another nice thing was that M's mom asked if I would be coming to Orlando for Christmas. Very sweet.
Doris' best friend A came over with homemade cookies her mother made - an unbelievably myriad assortment of deliciousness. I loved the mini pecan tarts and wedding cakes (my most favorite cookie). After the exchange of very awesome presents - a pug pin! A brought out her new concert ukulele and we commenced Christmas Karaoke part deux with Disney and children's songs thrown in. We have a number of hits and some stretch hits that will require practice.
