Christmas 2010 - Part II

For the second installment of Christmas 2010 I thought I would share some pictures from Christmas morning. Lucy was the first monkey to wake up that day. Not because she was excited about presents, but because she was hongry! After breakfast she quickly spied all the goodies wrapped for her by the fireplace. (Yes, Santa wraps the presents at our house. I think he thinks it adds to the suspense, and there's just something about ripping through all that wrapping.) Being the chocoholic that she is, the first thing Lucy went for was the pack of M&M's sticking out of her stocking. She wouldn't rest until I had opened them for her, even though it was only 6:30 in the morning. We finally decided to wake Ty up about 7:30, and the two monkeys quickly commenced opening gifts. Ty's m.o. was to tear through all the presents as quickly as was humanly possible. Lucy on the other hand was content to let someone help her open up a gift here and there. She was really only interested in eating those M&M's.

Chances are, if you have talked to Ty anytime in the past 30 days, he has probably hit you up for a Big Foot robot. "If you have $100 you can buy me a Big Foot for Christmas," he would say. Now, I tried my hardest to convince Santa that Ty didn't really need that Big Foot, as I was fairly certain that although he would play with it for a week or two, it would soon get stowed under the bed, never to see the light of day again. But you know how hard-headed that Santa can be. And sure enough, on Christmas morning Ty found the Big Foot remote control in the toe of his stocking. Boy, you have never seen such a reaction! I believe his exact words were, "Oh, joy! Oh, joy! Oh, joy, joy, joy! Praise the Lord!" Oh, if only I had had the video camera rolling. We'd have a hit on YouTube for sure!

I don't know if you can read it or not, but this was Ty's letter to Santa. He asked for a Big Foot of course, and he suggested a Baby All Gone for Lucy.

This was his, "Oh, joy!" moment.

Lucy had fun trying to beautify Big Foot. Good luck, girl! That thing is u-g-l-y!

Ty also got a cowboy hat and shirt, a Pillow Pet, candy and fruit, clay targets, a mousetrap car, a balance bird, a pair of hunting gloves, a Mickey Mouse watch, and a helmet for this..........

Drumroll, please.............(trumpets sounding)..............

A four-wheeler!

Is Santa out of his cotton-pickin' mind? Why don't we just go ahead and pay our deductible now?

Reese and Faith got a couple of four-wheelers too, and the three cousins had a blast last weekend riding those things. No telling how many gallons of gas they burned in just two days. And no accidents either. Hooray!

What about little LuLu? She got M&M's and fruit, hair bows, a Pillow Pet, a play broom, a Tinkerbell makeup and salon set, a silver Mickey Mouse necklace, a teeny tiny chair just her size, and real, red cowgirl boots!

It's obvious Lucy has some things to learn about putting on her makeup. She always goes straight for her ear with the lipstick!

After all that present fun, Papa, Sandy, Jude, and Shelley came over for a full Christmas breakfast. I cooked Poptarts and Eggos.

Aw. Y'all know I'm just pulling your leg. We had waffles, eggs, bacon, sausage, milk, orange juice, coffee, and grits.

Now these were not just any grits. They were a perfect, creamy concoction of cheese and herbs and spices. Officially they're called Rosemary Polenta, but you and I both know that polenta is just a yankee word for grits!

So here's the second recipe I promised to share with y'all this week.

Rosemary Polenta by Ina Garten courtesy Food Network.com

1/2 cup (or 1 stick) unsalted butter

1/4 cup olive oil

1 Tbsp minced garlic

1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes

1 tsp minced fresh rosemary leaves
1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp black pepper

3 cups chicken stock

2 cups half-and-half

2 cups milk

2 cups cornmeal

1/2 cup grated Parmesan

Heat the butter and olive oil in a large saucepan. Add garlic, red pepper flakes, rosemary, salt, and pepper and saute for one minute. Add the chicken stock, half-and-half, and milk and bring to a boil. Remove from the heat and slowly sprinkle the cornmeal into the hot milk while stirring constantly with a whisk. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, for a few minutes, until thickened and bubbly. Off the heat, stir in the Parmesan. (I served these immediately.)

My Words of Wisdom: This is as far as I followed this recipe. There's actually more to it - something about cooling and cutting into squares and pan frying, but you don't need to do all of that. Grits are not meant to be eaten with a knife and fork. Just pour them into a serving dish and serve them with a spoon. Also you might consider cutting back on the garlic a little. It seemed a little overpowering to me for breakfast. Don't hesitate to make this dish for times other than breakfast, though. It's great as a a side to any meal. Next time I make it I'm considering adding shrimp or ham. Sounds yummy doesn't it?

You really must try this recipe. I promise you won't be disappointed. And don't forget I've got three more recipes to share. A main dish, a salad, and a dessert. So check back with me.