Happy New Year!

First, sorry if I worried anyone by not being around much. I'm okay, just run down and going slightly stir crazy not being able to leave my house much. When I get down in the dumps I tend to hide, mostly to avoid spreading my particular brand of crabby to anyone else. Probably not a great thing, now that I think of it.

Anyway! Holiday recap!

We hosted Christmas Eve for my family at our house. I kept the menu simple to prepare but went for wow factor on content and presentation. We had:
- homemade chicken kiev
- beef tenderloin
- mashed potatoes with cheese and bacon (I boiled the potatoes in cream and chicken broth so they were extra flavorful)
- baby asparagus with balsamic vinaigrette
- cranberry sauce with orange, spiked with Grand Marnier

Very little work, except for the chicken kiev. I was glad that I did them, though, because that's what got the most rave reviews. My dad didn't believe that I made them (he thought I'd bought them pre-made) and actually quizzed me on how I did them. I had three extra kievs so I froze them and we had them last week for a weeknight dinner. I have to admit, they were really good.

The crazy fubar moment of Christmas Eve (there had to be one, right?) was when I was broiling the beef tenderloin and my oven locked itself (with tenderloin broiling away inside) and declared itself "too hot." Um. My oven turned into Hal the Computer from 2001 and wouldn't release my roast. Fortunately after a little while the door unlocked and I was able to rescue the tenderloin. No harm done, it was actually just about the right amount of time for it to be in the oven, so it remained edible. I was a bit stunned, though, since I hadn't known that my oven could lock itself.

Christmas morning Lauren opened her gifts from Santa. She got a few sets of play food and some pots and pans. She loves them. Then, for the big gift, we took her downstairs to see her new slide. She just stared at it for a moment, and then said in a hushed tone, "A slide!" Mr. Fro asked her if she wanted to try it, and she nodded slowly. The slide is a big hit. She loves it.

Later Christmas Day we went to my SIL's house for Mr. Fro's family celebration. Lauren spent most of the time chasing their cat around. He found refuge most often by hiding under their Christmas tree, but she was pretty persistent. It was a fun time.

Saturday was Mr. Fro's birthday. He invited his friend over and I made a pork tenderloin with an apricot-mustard glaze, and served it with leftover potatoes and cranberries. They then watched a movie (The Dark Knight) and I went upstairs and went to sleep. (Too worn out from Christmas.)

New Year's Eve was mostly uneventful. Mr. Fro's friend came over again and I made a gourmet meal of mostly fried stuff (french fries, onion rings, coconut shrimp) and I broiled another beef tenderloin, sliced it thin, and served it atop slices of baguette spread with garlic cheese and drizzled with balsamic vinegar. (I ate a lot of those, and the coconut shrimp.) We toasted at midnight, Mr. Fro and friend with cheap sparkling wine and me with sparkling grape juice. The local NYE countdown was hilarious, as the television news anchors who hosted seemed to have gotten into the bubbly early which made the whole thing a train wreck. Good times.

End of Holiday Recap

In other news, I got word today that a favorite nun/teacher from my high school passed away yesterday. I went to a very, very tiny all-girl Catholic high school, which closed in 1994, so the chain of information dissemination is a largely informal group of people who happen to still have each other's email addresses. She was a great lady. My junior year of high school, because of a scheduling conflict, I couldn't take the honors English class that she taught. (I had gym during that time.) Since she was the vice-principal of the school, she used to occasionally let me skip gym to sit in the class when they were doing special things (like watching Dead Poet's Society.)

Anyway, I got an email about her passing, which prompted me to poke around online to see if I could find an obituary with funeral/memorial info. (Not yet, too soon.) In so doing, I found a facebook group of alums from my high school.

I haven't really been tempted to join Facebook previously, even though I know I lot of you are there and enjoy it. I just don't know if I want to keep up with another "thing" and also, I'm just not cool enough for that kind of social networking thing. (I think I take the "friend" thing too literally and seriously.) But, seeing this group on there, and seeing some of the people in it, I'm slightly, just a little, tempted to maybe give it a try. Maybe.

So. What do you think? Talk me into joining Facebook.

With that, a picture: