Christmas went lovely, really. Minor hiccups (like the un-good weather outside, making my Mom *very* nervous) but otherwise well.

The presents went as follows:

HP & the Prisoner of Azkaban game for my X-box & a pearl/gold bracelet (from Jess), Babylon 5 (season 2) on DVD, Danger Mouse (seasons 3 & 4) on DVD, and a gift card to Kohl's (from Tony) and a Hammock from my Mom! I also got a check from my Dad & Stepmom in Texas a few weeks ago, and I'll be buying us a food processor with what's left of it - I also bought some pants for work.

I was going to talk about what Tony got, but I'll leave that for him in his LJ (if he chooses.)

Mom was THRILLED with her DVD/VCR player - went off on the "you spent too much" but we shut that down pretty quick. She also was happy with the DVDs she got: we got her the La Boheme she'd been asking for a VHS of, and Jessica got her a collection of three Audrey Hepburn movies (Breakfast at Tiffany's, Roman Holiday, Sabrina.) She spent a good deal of time last night trying to hook it up - I don't know if success was ever finally reached. ;)

Dinner went well; I didn't make the broccoli/cauliflower but the green beans came out well...Jess didn't know what to do with "crunchy" green beans...I've fed her too many canned beans. ;) The ham loaves came out fine, as did the turkey breast (thank Ghods for oven bags!) and Mom brought the cherry cobbler I love for dessert.

I can also *highly* recommend Penzey's Chip & Dip seasoning...yummy stuff, particularly w/ridged chips. :)

Anyway, that's where we're at today. Now we're hanging out. Need to go to the mall to return some stuff, but we're not going to do that until tomorrow when the hoardes might be somewhat better since so many need to go back to work then. I'm thinking about taking Jess to see Narnia - TLTWTW today; I'd like Tony to come but I don't know if he will.

I'm going to go find something to eat & relax with my kid.

Two more links.

I found this first one through metaquotes and is a link to the actual post, not the metaquotes entry:

Thoughts on political correctness and the war on Christian values. [Warning: Some bad language & a great deal of bitterness.] A quote: "What I care about is that this is getting ridiculous. Christians, you are not an oppressed minority. There is no war on your religious holiday which is the only religious holiday that is also a federal holiday. It's not even your holiday. You stole it from the pagans who celebrated the rebirth of the sun god Mithras on the winter solstice. The Christmas tree is a Teutonic pagan icon that was integrated into British culture during the reign of Queen Victoria on account of her German husband. But hey, if you want to claim it for yourself and call it the birthday of your lord and savior, fine. You do that.

All I ask. All any of us ask, really, is that you shut up about it already. Drink your nog, attend your service, give your gifts, do your thing, but stop cramming it down our throats."

The second one was posted in my friend syreene's journal, and I nicked it:

The Stranger and the Fox: A Christmas Fable. (As posted in "The Huffington Post".) A quote: " 'So some Palestinian walks into town - beard, sandals, looks like a terrorist, right? Says that God can be directly experienced by everyone, without rich, powerful clergymen or their politician buddies. And when folks want to exchange money at our convenient in-Temple banking centers - which is their God-given right - he calls it an abomination. He's part of the war on Passover! What can you do with a guy like that but string him up, right? I'm Bill O'Reilly and this is the No-Spin Zone.' "

What can I say, I'm getting political in my old age. *sigh*

I've been pondering this issue for quite some time, and have thought about writing my own essay/diatribe about it. However, other people seem to have beaten me to it:

The Truth About Christmas: The so-called 'War on Christmas' is a nonexistent threat that does more harm than good for the Christian religion. (Found via royalcrow.)

Over in theferrett's domain, we have In Which I Tell You That Everyone's Crazy: The War On Christmas, with follow-up posts here and here.

There's an editorial in the Boston Globe which is good (albeit short & to the point): Whose Holy Day?

And, an article from our local Indianapolis Star, A holiday hot button.

I may not agree with everything in these articles, but it comes down to the fact that, as dimetherwen states in a post from her LJ here (found via metaquotes) "As for the "Merry Christmas" and "Happy Holidays" issue... for the love of Pete, everyone. Even if you're Christian, there are still two holidays in this particular season- Christmas/Kwanzaa/Hanukkah/Etc. and New Year's. Put that giant yuletide log from your ass and deal with it."

This might not be my most *original* post, but I'll tell you each one of these things really made me think. Feel free to do the same. :)

You know how I can tell it's the holidays? Because I got up at 6:30 am to make green bean casserole for the pitch-in today at work.

Now, to be fair, I LOVE green bean casserole (GBC) any time of year. I've been known, when I've had the ingredients on hand, to make a batch of GBC for myself for dinner. (Yes, just that. Nothing to go with it, just GBC. Yes, I know it's bad for me. Sue me.)

We have pitch-ins at work all year 'round, too, so it's not necessarily the fact that it's a pitch-in, either.

It's that SOMEONE had to bring GBC to THIS pitch-in, because it's Thanksgiving, and we can't have Thanksgiving WITHOUT GBC. The person who has brought it the two previous years is no longer with the practice, so...I went with it. If I hadn't, someone else would've.

So, while I'm not actually making this a recipe post (as it is mostly a commentary on the fact that I got up at 6:30 am to make GBC) I'm going to also post *my* recipe for GBC - with notes.

2 14.5 oz cans french-cut green beans (I've tried making it with regular cut green beans; it doesn't taste right to me that way.)
1 can Campbells cream of mushroom soup (I've tried generic/store brand soup (for this and other casseroles) - go brand name here, trust me.)
1 LARGE can French's Original French-Fried Onions (Another case where brand name matters. The generic ones are NASTY.)
1/2 soup can milk

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Drain the green beans & put them in a 2 qt casserole dish. Mix in (approx.) 1/2 can of the onions. (Maybe less, I use 1/2 the big can on the double batch I'm making...but I like having leftovers to nibble on.) Mix together the cream of mushroom soup & the 1/2 can of milk in a bowl. You don't want the mixture at soup consistency, but at sauce consistency, which is thicker. It should pour, but not be runny. Pour the sauce over the green beans, making sure it's distributed evenly & can get through the green bean layer. (I usually poke it with my fork some to make sure it will seep through in the baking, but I don't like to completely coat the beans in the sauce.) Put this in the oven for about 30 minutes. Pull it out, put the rest of the onions (reserving some for nibbling, if you like) across the top, and bake for another 5 minutes. Serve hot. Reheats well.

The recipe on the onion can calls for salt & pepper. The recipe on the soup can calls for adding soy sauce. I've also seen varients which call for worchestershire sauce - I tried that one once. Didn't like it. I don't season my green beans, I don't salt/pepper/soy anything. It's a purist thing. ;)

So now that I have rambled incessently about GBC, I'm going to go see about getting dressed, which should probably have happened before now. ;)

It's the holidays. I've been fighting it, but they show up anyway, whether you want them to or not. At least (at this stage) there doesn't seem to be any drama about where we'll be for various holidays this year. Everyone seems to be copacetic.

My goal for today: Eat, drink, and be merry - for tomorrow you may diet. :)