That time of the year

But first, an update on Mister Itchy. His booboo is benign and does not have to be removed. It is going away on its own, albeit in a crusty, draining sort of way. Poor baby.


And now, back to the regular post. It's a difficult time of year for Dirtbunny. Dirtbunny wants to go all out for the holidays, and believe me, she can shop, spend, cook, bake, and decorate out the wazoo. But our little household is only two humans, one beagle who can't have treats and doesn't understand toys, and one beagle who already has a zillion toys and is too fat for lots of treats. Plus, Bunny is 1.8 billion dollars in debt. And she has a job where they actually expect her to show up for work every now and then. Time, funds, and the ability to consume goods is limited. Bunny must draw lines and set priorities. This is not easy, because Bunny is an all-or-nothing sort of person. Seriously, I could easily bake a thousand cookies no problem. And who would eat them? I would. Let me assure you that 1,000 cookies is not good for Bunnies.


What food items are essential for Christmas? Well, the unanimous vote here is that the Candied Fruit Slices (a shortbread cookie with candied cherries) is absolutely required. Sugar Cookies, cut in the shape of airplanes, frosted with icing colored "Air Superiority Blue," and decorated with sprinkles make The Man very, very happy. I tend to want our family recipe for fruit cake (dates, pecans, candied cherries, and candied pineapple, with just enough batter to hold it together in a loaf), only I doctor it up by soaking it in booze. The problem is that the recipe makes something like 17 loaves, and I only want a slice or two. I'm probably not making that this year.


After much internal debate, I have made my famous almond-ginger biscotti, from a recipe published in The Washington Post maybe ten years ago. These are the quintessential biscotti as far as I'm concerned, and there's nothing particularly Christmas-y about them except that I only make them in December for some reason.

There are many more options. Many more. Chocolate spritz, chocolate butter cookies, pfeffernusen, gingerbread cookies, sugar cookies decorated in a non-Air Force theme, whole Cook's Illustrated Holiday Baking Issues full of cookies, and today the Post's annual Christmas cookie food section came out. But three kinds of cookies is enough for two people. I'll draw the line this year and not feel too deprived.

Another dilemma is the Buche de Noel. It takes about half a day to put together. A nice almond-orange spongecake baked in a sheet pan. A chocolate Italian meringue for the filling, then enriched with cocoa for the frosting. It is a big production, and it is fucking fabulous. There is nothing I can get from the Fresh Fields or Balducci's that will compare. But do I really want to expend the effort? I can't decide.

We have a tree. It's out on the deck waiting for the humans to care enough to bring it in. Kirby doesn't like it. We don't normally have a Christmas tree on the deck, see, therefore this is something different, ergo it is scary. Once it's inside and up, he'll adjust. He liked last year's tree. Yarn Bandit will probably mark it. He's been unusually leaky lately. Yesterday, he protested our trip to the grocery store without him by getting leaky on the kitchen rug and destroying The Man's newest New Republic. He's very naughty and may spend the rest of 2007 in his crate.

However, when he chose to wreak havoc and mayhem on the humans' toys, he FOR ONCE chose something belonging to The Man, and not Dirtbunny. The Man was quite put out. Ha ha ha, sez Bunny. Let's see how easy it is for you to remember not to leave your books and magazines lying about when you get up for a minute.