Christmas Day and Dinner

On Christmas Day Dad came over and we toasted to Christmas and opened presents, most of which were supplied by NC Catherine and were greatly appreciated. After that we sat and played a game of Scrabble and then I began to prepare our Christmas dinner. Here is a photograph of our Scrabble board, and one of the chicken salt/pepper shakers that L. gave me.
While I might not otherwise have bothered, I ended up getting a tree so that our little people guests could enjoy the fun of decorating it.
Here is an ornament that J. gave me. I may fast become that woman with all the chicken paraphernalia.
When Dad and I went to Sansom Street Oyster House, we ended our Center City time at DiBruno Brothers, where I went a little cheese crazy. Let's see if I can tell you what all is what. Cabra La Mancha was a semi-soft goat's cheese that I liked very much. A little Delice Bourgogne is never a bad way to go when considering creamy, brie-like cheeses with a little bit more going on in the taste profile. We went with the creamier of Roqueforts something that started with 'Carles.' I'm reading off the receipt, which cuts off some details. Dad also thought that a little Livarot would be a nice addition; I agreed. And then a big hunk of Cotswold. I also put a little citrus/ginger salami out as well as chorizo, also purchased at DiBruno Bros.
I also took out the wooden cheese instruments Dad gave me at some other holiday in the past two years. The tablecloth was one Mom gave me months back after declaring my roommate's dining room table especially ugly.
So he- and she-J. and N. and S. came for Christmas dinner, which was a lot of fun. I worried that the apartment wouldn't be big enough to contain the kids, and I haven't actually been a sit-down dinner hostess type in over three years, so I forgot how much I like feeding people, even if I manage to make every smoke alarm go off and spill wine all over the oven. S. tried a bit of the cheese while working out.
For dinner I made a mushroom lasagna. I read a number of different recipes before kind of creating my own. But I did, for the first time ever, try making a Bechamel sauce, and I was quite pleased with the results.
I also poached a salmon in white wine on a bed of mint with shallots on top. I definitely didn't overcook it, which was my primary fear, but I think maybe I could have given it another five minutes under direct heat before letting it rest. He-J. made a great green bean casserole type dish too. Not really a casserole?

The kids went with apples and peanutbutter. She-J managed to skin an entire apple in one piece; I was very impressed.
Throughout the cheese and dinner courses we went through a bottle of champagne and one or two bottles of white. Maybe Dad will figure out how to leave a comment and let us know what those wines were. Perhaps one was a white Bordeaux and the other a Sancerre? Maybe not. I could be making that up.
S. and Dad had some sort of conversation.

I plugged my television and DVD player in (I watch just as much television as the next person, just on-line) and set the kids up to watch Dumbo. Turned out the lights and gave them a lantern too.

But the movie didn't hold their interest as much as the grown ups did. And I didn't help it by being more than willing to make them quite a bit taller than usual.

This looks like it ended poorly/like I have no defined face...but you would be wrong, S. did not wallop his head two seconds after this photograph. And I do, in fact, have a face with defined end points on the whole. I'm just in mid-no N. you cannot climb on my shoulders while I am still making sure your brother doesn't fall over speaking mode.
The boys also had a puzzle, which both she- and he-J. worked on a bit while N. climbed on and around them.

In this photograph I like how it looks like N. is talking to the tree. Also: note that there are many decorations on the tree, most of which were homemade by she-J. and S. It was the most well decorated per square inch tree in all the land.
For dessert She-J. made cookies. A lot of cookies.


Only one of which was shaped like a chicken. I ate it. Even after someone put their grubby little fingers all over it;)

I forget exactly what was going on here, or why. But it seems that instead of telling N. to get his brother's filthy sock out of his mouth, I chose to take photographs.
For both socks.
Hopefully N. hasn't gotten hoof and mouth disease.
S. was strangely pleased with activity it seems. It was a festive evening and I enjoyed it. It reminded me that I am capable of cooking a proper dinner for other people, and that my house can be cleaned up and made fit for such things (well, this was made easier because I just threw all my roommate's stuff into the hallway). Maybe I'll turn a corner and encourage people to eat with me more often. I'll definitely invite the J. and J. crew back, if they'll come, which I think they would because she-J. told me as much. Woot. Thanks to Dad for underwriting the cost of the meal and driving up to be a part of the holiday.

True Grit, Oysters and Lobster on Christmas Eve

On Christmas Eve I went into work for a portion of the day before returning home and attempting to make order from the chaos that has been our 'living/dining room.' Once I felt some headway had been done, Dad and I met up and went to see the Coen Brothers' True Grit. It was a satisfying yarn, nice to look at and well paced on the whole. I liked the original movie as a kid, and I will say that I feel like the journey that Rooster et al took in that version felt more epic. No actual hate towards the movie though. That Jeff Bridges. That Matt Damon. That new actress.
Afterwards we went to Snockey's for another round of oysters. Dad had lobster in mind but our server let us know that no whole lobsters were left. Lobster fail. They did have a good selection of oysters, including two of my faves: Pemaquids and Kumomotos. These two types of oyster aren't very similar. Pemaquids have the snootfull of salt in your nose taste to them while the Kumomotos are more mellow. I was pleased either way.
Dad and I both ordered the split lobster tails as the next best thing to a full lobster, but I think we were both a bit disappointed. I know I was. Somehow I'm a bigger fan of a lobster boiled than a lobster broiled. At least in this case the meat toughened a bit and wasn't as tender or delectable as a lobster tail can be. I didn't even bother with the corn; I could imagine the large plastic bag of frozen cobs from which it came and eh.
So. The oysters were great, and the host that sat us was friendly and nice. The lobster was forgettable, and our waitress couldn't have been more disinterested in her work. A while after we sat down a family with two grown sons came in and I overheard the father figure getting a bit snooty/annoyed when she began to bring out their entrees before the oysters they ordered...mainly because she forgot to either pick them up or even put the order in. Not awful service, just, you know, unhappy-young-woman-working-at-her-family's-business service.

Oysters, Oysters, Mussels and Baby Fish c/o Oyster House

My father came into town the Thursday before Christmas. After I finished my work day we proceeded to the Sansom Street Oyster House for dinner. We were in time for the 'buck a shuck' deal, though I forget the specific oyster it was. This is because I ordered half of the 'buck a shuck' and half of the Shibumi...which I liked very, very much. Why is it that West Coast oysters are usually so much prettier? And often littler...I'm thinking of Kumomotos as well, which aren't usually very large, or at least not in my own experiences with them. Anyways, I was glad to meet another variety of oyster or two.
We shared the steamed mussels with fennel. Pretty good. Though I'm not an overly big fan of fennel, I still took care to sop up some of the broth with the provided toasted baguette.
We also tried the oysters fried up, which I also found quite to my liking. Very juicy still, the breading didn't mask the oysters' salty selves as much as encapsulate them in a loving embrace. Man, this is why I don't try to write too deeply about food. What does that even mean?
Dad also wanted to try the fried baby fish. They were definitely fried, and they were definitely baby-sized. Neither of us enjoyed them all that much. Salty and crispy were their defining characteristics.
Thanks to Dad for the dinner!

Rillettes and Cheese c/o McCrossen's

Just around, but not on, Christmas Eve, L. and I went to McCrossen's. It was crowded and cold and we sat by the door. I ordered the rilletes and cheese, maybe the Idiazabal? No, I had that the last time. Alas, some sort of cheese.

Then we went to another nearby haunt, where I enjoyed a Young's Double Chocolate Stout.
And L. had some sort of liqueur. I think.

Turkey, Ham and Cheese Primo Hoagie

In my earliest years of working in Philadelphia, all members of the office were under the collective assumption that Primo's didn't deliver. This made having their fare for lunch during the busy season an especially nice treat, as it required someone to actually go into Center City proper and pick up the goods when every minute not in front of the computer was a moment longer you would have to stay at work. Since we realized that they would, in fact, deliver, the frequency of Primo's sandwiches in my life has exploded. While they are consistently good, they are no longer transcendent to me; Primo's hoagies have, in a sense, become pedestrian to me. By that I mean, they no longer blow me away with their awesome combination of bread, meat, cheese and those indomitable long hots. I show respect for the sandwich, but I am not in awe of the sandwich.
The dragon doesn't really feel the same way. It particularly cares for the pickles. Anybody else have the experience of literally eating too much of a good thing?

Meatball Sub c/o Luigi's

The last few weeks have definitely been of the 'busy at work/working all the time' variety, which means free lunches in the office. One of the first meals in that stretch of time was this meatball sub from Luigi's. The dragon liked feeling like it was the 'king of the submountain' but I wasn't as enamored with the actual food. Luigi's does so many things right, however, that I'm not going to hate on them too hard for making a meatball sub I found lacking in most every possible way.

Cocktails, Cheese, Charcuterie and Salad c/o XIX

So, for those of you who don't know, Groupon is a pretty great thing to subscribe to if you live in a city that offers it. For example, one deal I ran across in the last few months was $17 for $35 worth of a meal at XIX. After my positive experience there for Thanksgiving last year, I jumped on the chance for a discounted second act. Then, a while later, she-J. and I met up to actually cash the groupon in. There were a few restrictions; I had imagined us sitting at the bar, sipping on cocktails and eating a huge cheese/charcuterie plate, but the groupon was only good for the main dining room and required us to buy one entree. Regardless. For my first cocktail I tried a drink that included: citrus vodka, pallini lemoncello, lemon juice, and macerated fresh blackberry (and probably more, but their downloadable menu cuts off certain words). I liked it. Tart but not too much so.
She-J. let me pick the cheeses and salami. I made a poor meat selection that neither of us particularly cared for, which I cannot elaborate upon because the menu cuts off all the cheese and meat names. So, I can be just as useless when it comes to the cheeses.
Also it was as dark as a closet in the dining room. Like, really dim. This, of course, made taking good photographs quite the challenge. This was the best I could do.
We shared the lump crab salad to meet the entree requirement, and I will say it was a generous and satisfying salad.
After that we went to Capital Grille so J. could get her dessert fix (three homemade ice creams if I recall correctly). We asked the bartender what her signature cocktail was, and it was something with pineapple that had been soaked in vodka. We each took one.
This was the first time that She-J. and I had hung out without the kids in, well, I would say as long as the kids have been alive and I've been in Philly so 3-5 years depending on how you want to look at things. I experienced a little trepidation on this account. She-J. is such a good friend and I value the time I spend with her and her family...and yet I worried that without the constant punctuation of kids wanting or needing something/just being entertaining, we'd have awkward pauses or a lack of topics for conversation. I was, as you would probably have told me had I expressed this fear to you, wrong. A great and varied evening.

Salty Squid and Udon c/o Pagoda Noodle Cafe

Another day L. and I made plans to have dinner and then watch a movie. We went to Pagoda Noodle Cafe. I ordered their fried squid and pepper appetizer that was billed as spicy but was really just salty...but not entirely in a bad way.
I ordered the roast pork and seafood dumpling soup with udon. I really liked the dumplings and noodles. Probably could have done without the pork. I could have added more hot sriracha/pepper sauce.
Definitely an alright/cheap place to grab grub before going to the Ritz, which is exactly what we did. We had decided on Black Swan, which L. hadn't realized had a 'trippy' element to it and I hadn't realized would be ruined by my reading of most of the movie's reviews. I think I have this stubborn streak in me that makes it very hard for me to be impressed by things that other people are impressed by. It's not because I think I'm smarter than the work, no, it's that I think the work is smarter than me but that doesn't make me feel stupid as much as annoyed. Stubborn stupidity. Anyway. At least now I have an opinion to share with others at cocktail parties. Because I go to a lot of cocktail parties.

Fried Chicken c/o Mr Chicken

A few weeks back, before Christmas, I had quite the hankering for fried chicken. What I really wanted was a juicy drumstick and a crispy breast...but I didn't have the time or wherewithal to venture far in my quest. So I decided to try Mr. Chicken. I ordered their eight piece tender deal...they only had tenders and wings, and certainly couldn't finish all of it. Their horseradish mayo and honey mustard dipping sauces were pretty good. It satiated my need but it didn't entirely quench the vision. What? I am tired.