The beauty of hosting Christmas dinner at your own house is that you get to decide what to put on the table. Thus, this year's feast included:

--Baked ham with brown sugar/mustard sauce
--Butternut squash casserole with cheese and nuts
--Spinach and artichoke casserole (relatively low fat)
--Slow-cooker stuffing
--Whipped potatoes with roasted garlic and cream
and my favorite:
--All those leftover Christmas cookies from the neighbors

My mother brought a massive French-crumb apple pie. She uses tapioca on the bottom to absorb excess juice. I think she used the large pearl tapioca this year, because those babies were huge. The kids called them "spider eggs," and, after that, we could barely gag them down.

I believe that maggiebowgirl may have consumed the finest gin & tonics imaginable. See? Gin ain't just for martinis!

And my favorite gift--Mahder Jaffrey's Simple Indian Cookery, another great addition to my ever-growing cookbook library. I now have at least eight books on Indian cooking, but this is the first that does not call for zillions of spices for every dish.

Second favorite: The one-pound box of Leonidas chocolates from neighbor Tom.

Had I known this was going to take place, I would have been there in a heartbeat. By now everybody in the country knows that some dickweed DC police detective didn't like that his Hummer got pelted by snowballs. So he pulled his gun. Yeah, that's problem solving. But, you know, just watch this vid of the pre-gun action and tell me it doesn't look like the most funnest snowball fight ev-ar!

A double drabble for the current challenge at blackpearlsails, with thanks to hereswith for looking it over.

( Drabble theme of the week: 'Bride' )

I love to laugh, and tiamary wrote a hilarious example of epistolary storytelling for me in the merrypirates fic exchange, -- Home for the Twelfth Night. Don't miss it!

A couple of shots of the blizzard going on outside. Local news outlets are trying to find a name for the storm--Shopper Stopper Storm (cute!), Blizzard of 2009 (bleh), MeteoInsanity!, The Great Dump (heh). First pic is the corner of my street. Guess it looks pretty much like a snowstorm. And the second picture is of my inundated deck. Snow is now 12"-16" depending on where I place my yardstick. Drifts 18" to 2 feet. One for the record books.

Snow falling at a rate of 2"-3" per hour. Thundersnow! About 10" so far, expecting another 8"-10" before all is said and done. Fluffy accumulations with excellent dendritic development! Incredible sight. Will post pix after baking Christmas cookies. Very exciting!!!

DCZ001-MDZ004>007-009>011-013-014-018-VAZ042-053-054-190630- /O.CON.KLWX.WS.W.0008.091219T0500Z-091220T1100Z/ DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA-FREDERICK MD-CARROLL-NORTHERN BALTIMORE- HARFORD-MONTGOMERY-HOWARD-SOUTHERN BALTIMORE-PRINCE GEORGES- ANNE ARUNDEL-CALVERT-LOUDOUN-FAIRFAX- ARLINGTON/FALLS CHURCH/ALEXANDRIA- INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...WASHINGTON...FREDERICK...WESTMINSTER... GAITHERSBURG...COLUMBIA...BALTIMORE...ANNAPOLIS...LEESBURG... FAIRFAX...ALEXANDRIA...FALLS CHURCH 530 PM EST FRI DEC 18 2009 ...WINTER STORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM MIDNIGHT TONIGHT TO 6 AM EST SUNDAY... A WINTER STORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM MIDNIGHT TONIGHT TO 6 AM EST SUNDAY. * PRECIPITATION TYPE...SNOW. * ACCUMULATIONS...HEAVY SNOW WITH ACCUMULATIONS OF 1 TO 2 FEET THROUGH SATURDAY NIGHT. * TIMING...SNOW WILL BEGIN BETWEEN 9 PM AND 12 AM TONIGHT AND WILL CONTINUE THROUGH EARLY SUNDAY MORNING. SNOW WILL BE HEAVIEST BETWEEN 8 AM AND 6 PM SATURDAY. * TEMPERATURES...UPPER 20S TO LOWER 30S THROUGH THE EVENT...LOW TO MID 30S IN COASTAL SOUTHERN MARYLAND. * WINDS...10 TO 20 MPH THROUGH THE EVENT...WITH GUSTS OF 25 TO 30 MPH SATURDAY AND SUNDAY. PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... A WINTER STORM WARNING MEANS SIGNIFICANT AMOUNTS OF SNOW ARE EXPECTED OR OCCURRING. STRONG WINDS ARE ALSO POSSIBLE. CONDITIONS WILL DETERIORATE VERY RAPIDLY SATURDAY MORNING AND WILL MAKE TRAVEL EXTREMELY TREACHEROUS.

New Alice in Wonderland trailer! Fabulous!

To some, cranberry mousse is a hapless concoction made with cranberry jello and Cool Whip. I am not of that ilk, although I have created my fair share of jello-based desserts. To me, the cranberry is one of nature's great blessings, a vibrant addition to American cuisine that ought be presented in its true form, not as a by-product of technology.

To that end, I set about locating a recipe for cranberry mousse that excluded flavored jello, cranberry sauce, cranberry juice, egg whites (allergy), Cool Whip, and pineapple. I have nothing against pineapple but feel that stringy, chunky things, however delicious, do not belong in a true mousse and especially not in a mousse designated for showcasing another fruit.

After fruitless (pun!) searching through my cookbook collection, I found a recipe in a pile of vintage-cookbook clippings that I'd purchased on eBay a few years ago. Perhaps this same recipe exists somewhere else in cyberspace or in one of your own cookbooks. If so, feel free to look it up and go forth.

Cranberry Mousse

Serves 4 to 6

2 cups fresh cranberries
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 orange juice
1 T. orange zest
1/4 t. ground ginger
2 T. Triple Sec
1/2 T. unflavored gelatin
1 cup whipping cream

Wash and dry cranberries. Place them in a medium pot with the orange juice, 1/4 cup of the sugar, the Triple Sec, ginger and orange zest. Bring to a boil.

Reduce heat to medium and cook, stirring constantly, until the cranberries begin to break down--10 to 15 minutes.

Remove pot from heat. Sprinkle in gelatin. Let gelatin proof for a couple of minutes, then stir it in.

Transfer cranberry mixture to a blender or food processor and whirl until smooth.

Force mixture through a sieve; discard solids.

Place mixture in a large bowl. Let cool on counter until it begins to set up. Transfer bowl to refrigerator.

Whip cream until soft peaks form.

Gradually add the remaining 1/4 cup of sugar and then whip until stiff peaks form.

Gently fold whipped cream into cranberry mixture. Spoon mousse into 4, 5 or 6 wine glasses or other pretty serving objects, depending on how much you wish to serve each guest. Chill at least three hours or overnight.