RoundAbout San Diego

I took 2 large bags of clothes and Nintendo video games to Goodwill today and it felt great to know that the house is now a little less cluttered. Still a long way to go to become completely uncluttered but I will get there eventually.

Alex and I are going to have a couple of high calorie, diet-busting meals before the end of the year. Tonight's dinner, courtesy of epicurious.com, was loaded with bacon and parmesan cheese.

Fusilli with Asparagus and Bacon



4 ounces sliced bacon, cut crosswise into 1/2-inch pieces
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 1/2 pounds asparagus, trimmed and cut on a long diagonal into 1/2-inch-thick slices
1 pound fusilli (short corkscrew pasta)
1/2 cup finely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano (1 1/2 oz) plus additional for serving

Cook bacon in a 12-inch heavy skillet over moderately high heat, stirring occasionally, until browned and crisp, about 6 minutes. Transfer bacon with a slotted spoon to paper towels to drain. Pour off all but 2 tablespoons fat from skillet, then add oil and onion to skillet and cook, stirring occasionally, until onion is golden, about 4 minutes.

Add asparagus and sauté, stirring, until crisp-tender, 4 to 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

While onion is cooking, cook pasta in a 6- to 8-quart pot of boiling salted water until al dente. Reserve 1 cup pasta cooking water and drain pasta in a colander.

Return pasta to pot along with asparagus mixture, 1/2 cup pasta cooking water, and cheese. Add remaining 1/2 cup cooking water to skillet and deglaze by boiling, stirring and scraping up brown bits, 1 minute. Add to pasta and toss over moderately low heat until combined well, about 30 seconds.

Serve pasta sprinkled with bacon and with additional cheese on the side.

Serves 4

I served it with a green salad to try and make it a little bit healthy.

Fruit cake is the first food item I always buy when I go to England. It is very different from American fruit cake in that it doesn't have large chunks of candied fruit but it does have currents and glace cherries. English Christmas cake is a darker version of the fruit cake. It is rich and moist and covered in a thin layer of marzipan and topped with royal icing.



I cheat a bit when I serve Christmas cake to me and Alex - I always give myself a bigger piece.

I, like many people at this time of year, have been cleaning and re-organizing closets - throwing out the old and trying to simplify things. Yesterday I spent the whole day cleaning and moving things around in the kitchen. It started out as trying to organize all my plastic containers and matching them up with the right lids and then all of a sudden I'm moving everything around - and you can't move things around without cleaning everything.

Today I tackled the spare bedroom. There were a lot of Charlie's clothes in the closet and now that he lives elsewhere I decided to box everything up for storage. After a trip to Costco to buy large plastic storage containers I managed to pack almost everything into 5 of them. Tomorrow I'll finish it up and then put it all into storage under the house.

I'm off work until January 2nd and hope to go through the whole house before then. As I re-organize and clean I will put aside all items we no longer use or need and take them to Goodwill (Alex is a bit of a hoarder so some of this will have to be done in secret). Come the New Year I hope to have a much emptier house.

One of my birthday gifts this year was a very soft pink blanket that I can wrap around myself while sitting on the couch watching TV or working on my laptop. It is really, really soft and very warm. And Boo loves it too!



I don't mind sharing as long as she understands that it is mine.

Roast potatoes brings to mind all the Sunday roasts my family had when I was growing up. The Sunday roast was a major production every week with Mum getting up and putting whatever meat we were having that day in the oven. Whatever it was, beef, chicken, pork, or lamb, it was always cooked first and then it would sit on the kitchen counter until about 1pm which is when we would sit down to eat. And before any of you start sucking in your breath, tut-tutting over the potential bacteria, just remember that meals where I grew up were really over-cooked to death and the sitting on the counter top would be for a very short time. There were 2 reasons to always cook the meat first, 1) room temperature meat could be sliced thinly making it go further, and 2) this is how Mum would get the meat drippings to roast the potatoes in.

My favorite roast potatoes are cooked in beef drippings so I had to do some additional work ahead of time to get the flavor I wanted for my Christmas dinner. My local grocery store, Albertson's, was happy to give me a pound of fat they had trimmed off their beef joints and steaks (after saying that nobody had requested beef fat in years). At home I put it in the crock pot on the low setting for about 7 hours. I ended up with about 3/4 cup of drippings. So with my fresh beef drippings I made the best roast potatoes to go with our Christmas dinner.

Mum's Roast Potatoes



4 - 6 large brown potatoes
Large pot of cold water
Salt (optional)
Beef drippings

Peel and quarter the potatoes, put into large pot of cold water, and salt if you want to. Bring water to boil and then cook for 10 minutes on a low boil (not quite low enough to be a simmer). Meantime heat the oven to 375 and put beef drippings into 2 roasting pans. Melt drippings in oven and when beginning to smoke add the boiled potatoes, round side down. Baste potatoes and then put in upper third of oven for 1/2 an hour. Turn them over and baste again and return to oven for 1/2 an hour or until done. They are done when golden brown and crispy on the bottom edges.

Serves 4 - 6

'Twas the night before Christmas, and it was cold and wet in San Diego. I was snuggled up in my favorite chair next to the fireplace reading a good book and Alex was on the couch working on his laptop with Boo by his side. All that needed to be prepared ahead of time had been taken care of, the house was clean and tidy, I felt relaxed and was looking forward to Christmas day. It was a good time for a glass of eggnog. It took only 2 minutes for me to go to the kitchen and pour 2 small glasses of eggnog - I mean, how much can change in the seating arrangements in just 2 minutes?



It's amazing how quickly this old and arthritic cat can move when she really wants something. Boo spent the rest of the evening on the chair and I was relegated to the couch.

A few of our neighbors get into the Christmas spirit in a big way and Alex and I took a few photos to see how we compared.





And then there is us - a little embarrassing, don't you think? Frosty and Bambi seem a little lonely so we'll have to work on our outside presentation next year.

We had this last night although I served it with couscous and not in pita. Alex and I love lamb and this makes a nice change from lamb chops.

Spiced Lamb in Pita

10 ounces ground lamb
1/2 cup chopped onion
3 tablespoons chopped fresh mint
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 warm large pita breads

Combine first 8 ingredients in medium bowl; blend well. Shape lamb mixture into four 1/4-inch-thick patties. Heat heavy large skillet over medium-high heat. Add lamb patties and sauté until brown and just cooked through, about 3 minutes per side. Cut each pita bread in half; fill each half with lamb patty.

Serves 2

Alex and I bought Astrid and Pippa some Hannah Montana hair extensions and here's Astrid showing them off with her very hip hat.

Parts of San Diego are under water at the moment because of the heavy rain we have had over the last 2 days. I know that what we have experienced cannot be compared to other areas of the US that suffer through this on a regular basis but San Diego County infrastructure is just not built to withstand this type of weather. Driving home tonight the average speed was 35 mpg on the freeway and there were huge puddles of water everywhere that sent a few cars hyper-planing across the lanes.

For some local news and photos of the flooding and some amazing horse rescues go to Signonsandiego.com.

I've just read that it is snowing in Las Vegas and parts of I-15 in that general area are closed to traffic. I guess this storm is heading across the country.

San Diego has had some bad weather lately - wind, rain, flooding, etc. And tonight another storm is coming through. I don't mind the rain but I immediately start thinking about summer when it happens. Looking through this past summer's photos I came across these from an early morning walk through Mission Trails with Alex and Charlie. This summer I worked 4 days a week taking every Friday off and one of the plans was to take an early morning walk every week. The plan lasted for one week only but it was a lot of fun.

Mission Trails Park is one of the largest urban parks in the US. It has hiking, boating, camping, rock climbing, and a really interesting Visitor and Interpretive Center.



The Visitor and Interpretive Center offers a fabulous opportunity to learn about the history, inhabitants, plants, and wildlife of the area. It shows 4 videos throughout the day in the 94-seat theater.

Talking about wildlife, here's Charlie showing off his tan and balancing skills.



Early on the walk we came across these climbers taking advantage of the cool morning. During the summer months it can get incredibly hot in the park so always make sure you have plenty of water with you.



The goal of the day was to walk to the Old Mission Dam. It was a fairly flat walk and on a paved roadway making for an easy first-time walk in the park. We arrived at the park around 7:30am to beat the mid-day sun. The Dam is a cool, relaxing end to the long walk - we just wished we didn't have to walk all the way back.

I spent part of the weekend decorating for Christmas. On Friday night we went to Target to buy our tree and we were in and out in 10 minutes - a record for me. We bought the first tree we looked at - Alex couldn't believe his luck. Once home he quickly set it up the in the tree pot and dragged the decorations from under the house. As far as he was concerned, his job was done.

Target was good to us this year. Here we have a our dining room table's center piece.


The finished fireplace mantle with Frosty by the side. We recently received Frosty from Janet and Klaus and it will be put outside once the weather improves.


These are Christmas cards I've received over the last couple of years and I've framed the entryway to the living room with them.


Here is the finished tree all lit up. In the foreground is my Dickens village.


Close-up view of the village. I was given the village by a friend who didn't want them anymore and this was my first time setting them up. I had some of them on this table and others on top of a bookshelf. Next year I will need to buy some trees.


This picture didn't take so well but I like the way the red berry lights glow amongst the pine cones and pine tree greenery.

This is the side dish we served with the roast pork loin with garlic and rosemary the other day. I LOVE brussels sprouts and insist on cooking them all through the winter months. They remind me of growing up in England, along with cauliflower, parsnips, rutabagas, peas, and carrots - all good winter veggies. The vibrant colors of the carrots and brussels make you want to eat them all.

Carrots and Brussels Sprouts



2 tablespoons chopped shallot (from 1 medium)
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided
1 pound carrots, cut diagonally into 1/2-inch-thick pieces
1 pound Brussels sprouts, halved lengthwise
1/3 cup water
1 tablespoon cider vinegar

Cook shallot in 2 tablespoons butter in a 12-inch heavy skillet over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until softened, 1 to 2 minutes. Add carrots, Brussels sprouts, 3/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, until vegetables begin to brown, 3 to 4 minutes.

Add water and cover skillet, then cook over medium-high heat until vegetables are tender, 5 to 8 minutes. Stir in vinegar, remaining tablespoon butter, and salt and pepper to taste.

Serves 6

I know I said no more photos but I can't help but post this sequence showing Alex installing the last tile around the bathtub. He still has to grout but it was so exciting to see it go up.

Matt, a second cousin of Alex, drove down to San Diego from Long Beach to have dinner with us a few days ago. He flew into Long Beach last week and due to engine trouble (he's the pilot) had to hang around a few days and thought a quick visit to see us was in order. He could only stay a few hours but it was fun to see him all the same.



Alex's Mum thinks they look alike but I don't see the resemblance.