Christmas At Big Bro's

Nice time. Big bro was behaving - a few snide comments here and there but nothing to set off the next World War. I got some cool gifts - including cash, lol. My sister-in-law got me a whole - huge - new set of cookware - ladels and all kinds of stuff in that thing. Pretty nice - didn't ask for it but she seems to know what I need.
Caleb was literally floating on Cloud 9. When he found out I had gotten him an 80 gigabyte iPod, he went bananas. After a while he was looking like he was high on drugs - which I know he wasn't, but it was interesting to watch the expressions on his face. When my middle brother brought in a .22 caliber bolt-action rifle - a vintage mode that had been checked out by a gunsmith to make sure it's safe to fire - it added to the high. Pretty cool stuff.

The only really odd thing was my sister-in-law's sister. She had been there - apparently long before I got there - and had obviously been tipping the bottle - more like putting it upside down in a vertical position and draining it. She was hitting up on me in no unsubtle way. She's a nice girl and all, but she's not my type. I uhhhh - had to sort of hold her at bay. Alcohol can make people do that - the inhibitions disappear into thin air.

Anyway, it was a nice time, I wish our family would do it more often, that's a pipe dream, that was Christmas for me. Tomorrow IS Christmas, I know, and I intend on cooking the standing rib roast/prime rib that I bought at Basha's on the way home. That place was PACKED full of people. I mean - all checkouts were open, all lanes had long lines in them - but the cashiers were either in a good mood or faking it pretty well. They only had one half rib roast left and I was hoping for another. The man that was running the show - literally a show - looked at me inspecting that roast, said he has more in the back, didn't ask whether I wanted a different one or not, just went back there.

Well, the one in my hand had WAY to much fat on it. Now, prime rib fat IS good, no doubting, but I want more meat than fat. He had already wrapped one up and was wrapping another. The second one was perfect and yes, that one came home with me. Once a year, folks, just once a year. That stuff is like $8 to $10 per pound normally. My bro giving me that cash paid for that roast and then some and that's what I did with it - there is nothing like prime rib, nothing. If it's cooked correctly, it's heaven on earth.

I had to call my boss to refresh my memory on how to do it the way my old boss does it. Rub in garlic/salt/pepper. Take kosher salt and add more garlic/salt/pepper, mix it with water and make a paste. Cover the tops and sides of the roast as best as possible with that paste, stick it in the oven with a meat thermometer in the middle, cook at 300 to 325 degrees until the center of the meat is around 145-150 degrees. Pull it out - the paste is now a solid mass, simply remove it and discard. The meat is perfect. The inner portions are pretty rare, the outer portions are fairly well done - good for everyone. That with baked potatoes and gravy and a vegetable, that's plenty of food.

I have put off giving the ham to the family I promised to because I have been so busy. This morning was a rush of getting my middle bro's present - met in a 5 & Diner parking lot to make that exchange, a Gold Canyon Candles distributor met me there and that was his present. Stopped at the post office to mail off the loan mod documents that I had notarized - which has to be there by the 29th. Went to Caleb's mom's, got Caleb, headed to Walmart. He has outgrown his shoes. I allotted him $40 for shoes, he spent something like $27. Got the guest at today's function a Christmas card and a gift card, have spent far too much money on Christmas, but - it's all good. No more presents need be bought and I'm done. I simply intend on spending a quiet time home tomorrow with whoever's here.

As for right now? I must head out to deliver this ham. They live like 4 or 5 miles from here, no big deal. It's all I'm giving them is the ham and I bought that on sale. I don't want to feel like a cheap skate - but - I have helped plenty of people this year with food and I had really scaled back when my hours were cut at work. She had an ad on Craigslist - though I have helped her once before - I hope someone else might have been moved to help her as well.

Anyway, Merry Christmas Eve Day to everyone, I hope this time of year finds you well and rested.

ben