Day 338: Chicken Sandwich with Cranberry Sauce
Question: How does one explain to a dog that no, he can’t pee on the tree in the middle of the living room, only on those out of doors? He gave us the most grateful look as we hauled it inside and straightened it into the tree stand, like ‘gosh thanks, you guys… this is so thoughtful of you, especially now that it’s so cold outisde. Oh no really, you don’t have to decorate it with dangly chew toys for me too… wow, what have I done to deserve this?’
(I still remember our family dog peeing all over and then chewing up -or maybe vice versa, I hope- the Herman Treasury my Mom had wrapped up under the tree for my Dad.)
I have a bad case of the warm & fuzzies today, in part because we put up the tree, and dug out all the Christmas CDs, and W finally gets it (kind of), and my hands are permeated with molasses-ginger cookie dough, and I’ve had this constant trickle of love notes from you guys. I know how Lou feels – you are the magnificent, happy, sparkling Christmas tree in my living room.
How could I ditch this blog?
As promised last night (I actually went on this morning to see what I wrote, as if I was drunk, I was that tired) I have come to the following conclusions:
1) I really love writing here. When I come across new things or have ideas, I can hardly wait to tell you guys about it. So,
2) I couldn’t possibly bring myself to stop at day 366. Because although I could have accomplished a great many other things in the time I spent on this blog, possibly money-making things, that’s not really the point. I like it, and it makes me happy. It appears to make a lot of you happy, too.
However.
3) Will the blog lose its lustre if it’s no longer a year-long nightly project? Will it still have the same appeal if I’m not posting every single day, in real time?
4) And will I keep up with it if I allow myself to slide for a day or two or a week? I already know how this policy works when applied to the gym.
4A) Because if that policy was in place right now and I didn’t really have to post tonight, you can bet I’d be in bed. (One of these days I swear I’m going to make it in there before 11.) Not only is this real-time thing a novelty, it’s actually really good writing exercise for me; I can’t just leave it for when I’m in the mood. Or inspired. (A lot of things don’t get done when those are the parameters.)
So my point is – I’m not going anywhere. Thank you so much for all your pats on the back. Really, I wouldn’t be here if you weren’t. Give yourselves a hand. But I’m still undecided about timing – Mike suggested a weekly synopsis, or I could do every second day. I like the synopsis idea, but it seems extreme to cut back to once a week. I could keep doing the every day thing, but wow, it’s every day. Then again, I have managed it for the past 337.
The site will stay up regardless, so long as I keep paying my web hosting bill. I did pitch the idea of a book to Whitecap Books, and they said they’d talk about it later. (I suspect they are tired of me being chronically behind on everything I do. Fair enough.) I could self-publish again, but that would require me to get around to reading my new camera manual and buying a new computer.
But: dinner. Leftover chicken sandwiches with quick cranberry sauce (I couldn’t do without) quickly mixed up with half a bag of frozen cranberries and the last squished half of a pint of raspberries, sugar and water. I was working in the kitchen all afternoon but there was not an extra inch for dinner – I’ve been prepping for our Upscale Bake Sale tomorrow from 12-1 in the lobby of the Petro-Canada building to benefit the Calgary Inter-faith Food Bank. So by dinnertime I was full of cookie pieces and biscotti ends anyway. The very best Calgary bakeries are coming to play: Rebekah from Nectar, Jen from Brulee Patisserie, Tanya from Urban Baker, Pam from Decadent Desserts and Kari from Buttercream Bakeshoppeare donating some of their best seasonal wares, and as it’s part of the CBC Petro-Canada Food Bank Drive, every bit of the money raised goes to the Food Bank. (A good investment: for every $1 they raise, they can distribute $4 worth’ of food.) If you’re in the area (or if you don’t mind spending the money to park downtown) come down and have a visit and a coffee… there`s a Starbucks and Tim Hortons right there too.
I’ve decided that as a wee holiday treat I’ll post either a recipe for or a link to a fabulous cookie for every day of December. Rather than attempt a 12 days of cookies, which would require attention to dates, I’ll just come up with a daily cookie – how’s that? Some I’ve made, others I see potential in. Today’s cookie offering is a Brown Butter Brown Sugar Shortbread from Smitten Kitchen. No I haven’t made them - but I trust that they are fantastic and will be very soon.
December 03 2008 | leftovers | 38 Comments »
