Old Lady Post: Thiiiiiiis close

Chievo Verona 1:1 Juventus 

Geez Vince!  For crying out loud.....





This year, Dirtbunny asked Santa to send Juventus a striker who can finish.  I don't care much how he does it as long as it doesn't involve illegal potions that show up on drug tests.  If he fixes the ones we already have, that's great.  If he brings us new ones who know what they're doing, that's fine too.  But OMG if I see Vincenzo miss a sitter one more time I am going to have to cut a bitch.  Santa doesn't actually have to produce for me until January 6, so that should give him and his elves a little extra time to craft something extra-special, or even a little special.

As far as this match is concerned, I have to keep reminding myself that technically it was not a loss.  Sure, Milan lost so Juventus had a wonderful opportunity to pick up points, and I suppose they did, officially, but goddamn it I thought maybe they were past this whole-give-up-the-equaliser-in-extra-time bullshit that they started the year with.

Aftermath

It's the fourth day of Christmas.  There are fresh English football matches to watch and frigid windy weather to keep us inside and stale Christmas cookies to throw away and I'm starting to dream about my job again and to make lists of things I gotta do again and new books to read and old knitting to finish and I'm only sleeping twelve hours a day now instead of sixteen.  Time marches on, but before I start on the final 2010 clean-up and embark on 2011, let's review Christmas 2010.

It snowed:

Just barely, but there were five minutes of "Ooh!  Pretty!" to go along with the cocoa and kringle.  Note to self:  write thank-you note to MIL.

Thoughts on the Lady Baltimore Cake

When I was an infant, the cookbook most frequently consulted in our house was an old edition of the Betty Crocker Cookbook. It was full of exotic delights. For example, the recipe for Spanish Rice was accompanied by a stylized drawing of a senorita in a mantilla. One of the recipes that caught my imagination was the Lady Baltimore Cake. I can't remember why I was so captivated. Was there a photo? Was there a blurb that made it sound especially enticing? Was it because it was a *gasp* three layer cake? That would have rocked my eight-year-old world because all the cakes I knew only had two layers. (Little did I know at the time that the rest of America had already moved on to cake mixes. Frosting came in mixes too back then, but shortly evolved into tubs of ready-made frosting when the concept of adding your own water became too much for the American cook of the 1970s).

Dirtbunny wishes you a very beagle Christmas

So's me and Mr. D were out for about an hour and a half just now and on the way home, I thought "The dogs are not going to be happy with this."  Tiki in particular has a penchant for staging protests when people are not home at his suppertime or when people go out after suppertime.  Also, he has a thing for paper.  And so I thought "That dog is going to show his displeasure by attacking the Christmas presents."


And lo!

It was only the one.  Big mess, but no particular harm done.  If it's chewed a little at the corner, it will fit in nicely with the rest of my books.

Old Lady Post: The End in Europe

 Juventus 1:1 Manchester City



zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz...zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.


Europa League has come and gone for the zebras, who finished with an unbeaten overall record and a measly six points from six draws in their group.  The final meaningless match against Manchester City was probably even less exciting than you would have guessed knowing that the result makes no difference to either side.  Soooooooo boring.

Old Lady Post: I....I.....can't believe it

ORIGINALLY POSTED ON DECEMBER 13, 2010


JUVENTUS 2:1 LAZIO

JUVENTUS 2:1 LAZIO



at last Of Blacks has found someone willing to hug him.

Juventini have seen this sort of thing before, plenty of times, even a few times this season:  the match looks sewn up, the result certain, and then something shitty happens in the dying seconds that changes everything.  Boo.  Well, it happened again, only this time, Juventus saved itself from an unsatisfying draw with a last-gasp goal to take the win over second-place Lazio.  \o/  Let me tell you, it may be crappy when it costs your team a win, but it's magical when it gives your team the win.  Juve now sits second in the table courtesy of a massive goal differential.  SECOND!  I know, I know.  Don't count on anything.  It'll probably all go to hell against Chievo, but let's enjoy the moment, shall we?

Old Lady Post: Unbeaten Streak Continues

Catania 1: 3 Juventus

Heroes.  Who'd a thunk it?

Last season, it was the home loss to Catania, then at the bottom of the table, that sent the Bianconeri on their downward spiral, at least that's how I remember it, so I approached this match with some skepticism.  We all know that the zebras are going to collapse.  It's just a question of when.  Could it be Catania would again be the spoiler of zebra dreams?

Well, no.  Maxi Lopez is kind of sucking right now, and the remaining Argies of the Elefanti were non-magical.  On the other end, Quags was wide awake, Marco Motta sat on the bench where he was unable to fuck up too badly, Of Blacks decided to actually defend the right-hand side, and our boys bounced back from a bullshit call rather than collapsing in despair.  This is oddly encouraging and that scares me.  I suspect we are being lulled into a sense that it is possible to compete well with Lazio this weekend, so that we can be disappointed all the more when it doesn't happen.  Plus, I hate Lichsteiner.  On the other hand, maybe everyone is really going on strike this time.

Loooca Lunedi

It has been a while, but he's still around.

BBP: 2007 is done

When we last examined the Bunny Baking Project, she had two last recipes to try.  The first was a Lemon Tart.  I've made a bunch of lemon tarts.  This one was delish, but did not stand out from the others and in fact, the crust was unnecessarily fussy when an ordinary pate brisee would do.  I give it two stars:  a do-over, but not a stand-out.

And that brings me to the Mother of All 2007 recipes:  The Black Forest Cake.  And here is what I learned:  If you cannot find really really good tart cherries, then don't bother.  I was only able to find mediocre cherries.  They would have been fine in a pie doctored up with sugar and cornstarch, but not so much when they stand alone (aside from a soak in kirsch).

Old Lady Post: Football is Suffering

 Lech Posnan 1:1 Juventus



I'm pretty sure that zebra is Vincenzo.  When you put them all in hats, gloves, and tights, cover them with snow, and freeze them solid, they tend to look alike.


Ugh.  What can be said?  Does anyone really give a shit about a 14-game unbeaten streak when it means Juventus can't even advance out of the group stage of the At Least We're in the Europa League?  Sure, they aren't losing, but not losing is not the same thing as winning, exactly.  Is there a silver lining here at all?  Perhaps.  This means Of Blacks can play babies against Man City and let his A-squad give it their all against Lazio and Chievo, and it means no more twice-a-week schedules except for Coppa weeks (Ale's knees and I are grateful for that), and it means no more matches in the snow unless it's friendly Italian snow.  Those are all very good things
AND YET THEY ARE NOT EVEN THE SMALLEST CONSOLATION FOR THE EPIC DISASTER IN POLAND.   AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHy4r1bciodffoijw2e31908e43%#@%$%*^