Surprises

And so it would be--- a couple Call-Ins who are sick would throw a wrench in my upcoming evening of endless cocktails and jingle jangling.

Tonight I will be wearing sneakers, jeans, a tee shirt, and a chef's knife. To the heat of the kitchen!

Lobster and steaks. Prawns and garlic butter.

And ohhh the champagne :o)

I make a fast wardrobe change...and the clock strikes midnight.

New Year's Eve Day

Well..after nearly consuming $30 worth of Caribou in 24 hours yesterday I have returned back to Decorah. It was a super fun weekend.

In fear of getting snowed in, I woke up @ 6 AM and got on the road shortly thereafter....Eesh.

I anticipate a very busy New Year's Eve behind the bar...and hopefully a profitable night!

Have A Driver!!! :o)

goodnight---I'm cashing in.

Cleansed!

How can it be summed up? Only one way:

Wonderful!

I needed this break so badly. SO badly. A MONDAY, without work!?!?!?!? COMPLETELY FREE.

It was glorious. Really. I spent it holding a 5 and a half week old baby *(SOOO beautiful), eating (multiple times, and always in great company) shopping, commuting (Which I have this super quirky satisfaction from....City driving...I don't know why, but I LOVE IT!!!!), and catching up.

My "Christmas Vacation" up here in the TC area has reminded me of who's important in my life. Good people. Honest people. Loving people. Joyful people. Connected people. Adventurous people. Brave people. Entertaining people.

It makes me realize how much I miss them, and how incomplete my life in Decorah presently is. These are people that I need in my life. That I love and cheerish and admire.....that I will give much more efffort in communication with. Today, tonight, this mini-adventure-----it's been the perfect timing, the perfect reminder, the perfect cleansing interaction that I have needed and wanted for a very long time.

Safe travels to the bold, beautiful, and beloved.

Oh Sunday---What a day...

Mmmkay. Cut to the chase:

I woke up quite early this morning---Brunch shift @ the 'Yat. LONG day. Where do all these people COME FROM?!?!? And WHY does everyone have to eat between 11:31 and 12:13 ???? WOW.

I lived--it actually wasn't that painful at all. What was and is painful---this ginormous burn that extends the circumference of my right arm from the wrist and lower palm to my elbow. If you could see the blisters.....mmm photo booth tomorrow. Note to Self. The color is...a site.

I feel hot. I'm going with a 2nd degree burn. The Minimalist Story approach:

Soak sink. Suds on top. The drain 18 inches below the surface. 1 sterile glove and ninja reflexes that weren't nearly ninja-y enough....

the wise cook would have grabbed an empty 1/2 gallon container and simply removed hot water until the drain could be reached with tongs, perhaps even running cold water when there was only 5 or 6 inches of water left.

Obviously my brain was clipping along at a bit faster pace than my common sense.
I was tailed by a psycho-path from Zumbrota to I-494. I got to Jordan and Jeanette's house. A brief Christmas was had (minus Jeanette who was @ work) in which a bottle of gin and some books were passed from one set of hands to another. A short trip to Houlihan's ensued followed by catching up, NFL follies, and cook talk.

Cook talk with Jordan is great. Our restaurant of the future will be a Ring-A-Ding-Dinger...promise.

Home Alone

Home alone with Gracie tonight... excellent.

Movies, books, couch...blankets..dog on my lap...

a Breakfast/Brunch shift early in the AM and a Road Trip to the center of the universe.....Minneapolis.

So quiet. So nice.

Miracles

I love Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.

I think there are some flaws with the show, but I think it's important to see the side of America that the show portrays. Sides, actually.

The side that literally lives day to day "right down the street." The side that scrapes by, works late [everyday], shops @ the Thrift store and local food pantry because it's cheaper--and there are 10 mouths to feed, mortgage and bills to be paid each month... The side of America we feel uncomfortable watching and reading about on t.v. The side, that while we may acknowledge exists, we seldom take the time, action or thought to engage and interact with. The side we prefer to keep at a distant gaze rather than arm's reach.

And then there's another side of America that we can watch in each episode. The side of America that remembers. The side that is willing to be stupid and goofy on camera in effort to bring a smile and a laugh to a face that's forgotten how to. The side of America that refuses to settle into the comfy spectator's cushion of the upper middle class. The side that acknowledges circumstance, and is slow to judgment. A side of America that values families, community, education, safety, faith, and opportunity, and Living Alive [as opposed to "just living"]. The side that chooses to give themselves when they have no money, no resources, no materials to donate or offer up instead. The side of America, that consciously chooses to make one person's Miracle--a living, breathing, connected reality.

Volunteering. 2009 New Year's Resolution.

What side of America do you want to be on?

December 25th

Ahhh! So nice :o)

Few things top traditional Felde/Steele Family Fondu on Christmas Eve, opening presents to Classic Holiday tunes on Minnesota Public Radio 89.5 F.M, and a joint Christmas Day Feast @ the Bril's house....

SO FULL. So content. A movie and a nap here and there...a book [one of many!] and a blanket...

a dog on my lap :o) Merry Christmas.

Best part-----> more Christmas to come this weekend...aiiiyyye!

Imagining

It's Christmas-time (almost). Sometimes, I think the season of Advent and the hype/anticipation of Christmas often leaves us rather blinded to the Present. To reality. This time of year can almost be overly mushy gushy luvy duvy, rah-rah-ooo-and-ahh. The softly falling snow, cut-out-cookies, candy cane espresso, and Double Chocolate Mocha specials @ coffee shops, big wreathes complete with red bows hung on front doors, twinkling lights lining eaves and evergreens, bustling towns and cities, and those holiday shopping lists getting checked off while Christmas tunes pour out of radio stations are a mere pin prick to all that is truly this Holiday Season.

Trying to choose my words carefully in this post...
Lately, I've been a bit turned off by all of the "Extra Christmassy" hooplah. And while I've been looking forward to Christmas and the spiritual affirmation it brings me each year, I have been approaching the 25th with some unrest. I've struggled to free myself of this internal affliction and "immerse myself in the Christmas Spirit" because my mind knows that just 20 some miles down the road there's a small town [that is now even SMALLER] which is still reeling from what various media sources and officials boasted as “the largest single-site [raid] operation of its kind in American history.” It frusterates me that people have forgotten about the events back in May....and even more-so that people use the Christmas Season as an excuse...as a reason....a shield...to put on a Happy Face, smile really wide and ignore and justify a detachment from the Truth and Reality of NoW. (Typically, I think this behavior is because there is an exhausting, uncomfortable price one pays to truly "Live in the Now [of Postville]" )

Frankly, it sucks. It mentally, emotionally, and physically sucks for most people to think about those truths on a daily basis. Perhaps to the point where it pisses them off so much that they just choose to ignore what little news there is on the TV and radio.....because it's TIring to continually hear and read about Bad Things....Besides, too occupied with that Ho-Ho-Ho list, and getting the lights out on the roof and the driveway cleared. Ironically, it seems, the vitality of Jesus' prophetic humanity is surprisingly forgotten about.

*I'm struggling whether to use past or present tense* They were and many still are illegal immigrants (currently serving jail time somewhere in Texas/New York/Southern California/wherever there's room). They are people. They were peaceful. They are humans. About 75% of Agriprocessors’ 968 employees in May 2008 were illegal immigrants. There were 697 arrest warrants, but when 900+ U.S. Agents engulffed the town and surrounding areas, late-shift workers had not arrived to the plant, so “only” 390 were arrested: 314 men and 76 women; 290 Guatemalans, 93 Mexicans, four Ukrainians and 3 three Israelis who were never seen in court. Some were released on humanitarian grounds: 56 mostly mothers with unattended children, a few with medical reasons, and 12 juveniles were temporarily released with ankle monitors or directly turned over for deportation. 306 were held for prosecution. Only five of the 390 originally arrested had any kind of prior criminal record. There remained 307 outstanding warrants.

Over the course of this summer and fall, the Truth, the details and legalities of the event have been painted a wonderful muck of smeared fine print and dead-end-inquiries, in large part because little Press was allowed access to the Fast Track induced hearings, Sentencings, and Jailings of these people. Many were guilty of Illegal Immigration, and by law, rightfully faced deportation....the majority were Innocent of the Identity Theft charges they were coerced into pleading/signing Guilty toward.

*I suppose, if I had 2 children who were left completely unattended to, a wife and virtually all of my known friends were no-where to be found--shipped off to county jails, holding facilities, and security stations across the state, and a starving family of 8-9 relatives living in extreme poverty, malnurished and in daily fear of militant gun squads and firing lines terrorizing the hillsides of my [Guatemalen] homeland....I suppose under those circumstances I might also be trembling in absolute fear standing shackled hands, waist, and feet to 9 other people in front of a magistrate, and 2 attorneys who don't speak my language, but try to write/scribble phrases to me on a notepad via a bilingual translator (even though I can't read or write).

In this Chrsitmas season, I've been imagining and remembering. Remembering what it was like to be 12. To play baseball in the park down the street with my neighbors in the summer...and to play soccer on Saturday mornings through the Park and Recreation Program. I've been going through old family photo albums looking at all of the years of tradition and memories we've created and documented. I've been Imgaining what it must be like to watch 900 people pour out the doors from busses wearing dark sunglasses, navy coats, kevlar, and weilding hand guns, blocking off all roads, and simply swarming my town. The world seemed so big when i was 12. I've been imagining what I'd do, if I were 12 again, and did not speak the language of the country I was in, was separated from my parents and put on a plane in chains and sent to a different country (where I actually had no living family left....) I've been imagining what kind of traumatic spiritual questions must be in the hearts and minds of the victims of the Postville raids. And sadly, I know what kind of traumatic spiritual questions are in the hearts and minds of the victims of the Postville raids. Because I'm one of them. We all are victims.

That type of governing. That type of leadership...manipulative, deceptive political behavior makes everyone of us victims. It forces us into the slaughterhouse and makes us look like a bunch of uninformed zombie sheep who don't really care about citizenship, or human rights. I've been imagining families reuniting, safe plane flights, and opportunities for people to be together---just like my family is now. I've been remembering the redeeming power and justice of the REAL Christmas, the NoW of Christmas...and hoping the greater world intrinsically connected to Postville families do too.

I have to go wrap Brandon's present.

Christmas Came Early

Unable to get home after a looong 14 hour Saturday of work.... sucks.
7:00 alarm to go put in another 6.5 hr. shift in the kitchen....See Also Insomnia.

3:00 P.M. HOME--glorious.
3:02 P.M. Steaming Hot Shower----Surreal.
3:24 P.M. -----8 minute power nap.

3:35 P.M. 2nd Wind.
3:43 Kate/Relatives arrive---- JOY.

early dinner [ham balls, garlic mashed potatos, carmelized honey walnut carrotts], present opening, [COOKBOOKS HOORAAAAY!], cocktails and vino @ the 'Yat ..... family board games.

high light of my day. :o)

Warming Up: YUM

So that last post was depressing. Real, but depressing. I'm still bitter just seeing the title...regardless--my blog is itching for some warm thoughts and balance. Call it "a remedy" to the recent cruelties of the physical world (the thermometer currently reads 33F with an -8 windchill...do the math). BURR.

So tonight:

A table setting for 4. Yay! Family meal

--Zitti & Mini Meatballs from scratch with homemade tomato sauce, shallots, oregano and basil
--Oven Roasted whole heads of garlic and sliced baguette
--Spring Greens (haha...as if they'll really make the cold weather warmer) with yellow pear tomatoes, and a lemon-cilantro vinaigrette


...time to get meatball-making. Ciao!

Lost and Found

So I'm not really a fan of cats....I've had a cat. He was a Christmas gift when I was 6....dad brought him home from work one night, (a residence-hall-confiscation-kitty!)... I named him Happy. He was an all black kitty, with green eyes and a little white patch on his tummy. He was a good cat in his youth--very playful...loved balls of tinfoil, string, and the 'Nip. But he was rather owly in his later years--not nearly as affectionate. Maybe I was too rough on him while he was a young kitty. Well...maybe my sister, brother, and I were too rough on him while he was a young kitty. Maybe it was the addition of a new four-legged pet with a tail when he was 13.....her name was Gracie. But I highly doubt it was the dog that made Happy ditch his namesake...she loved him even when she was a tumbling, curious, chewing, pointy eared ball of CUTENESS. When Gracie came to the house, we put them in the same room together and blocked all exits....I remember it so well:

Happy scowled for awhile in the corner as if he were annoyed and pouting. Gracie eventually left the human attention and went over to check him out. He sat next to the wall, staunch and not in the slightest intimidated by the pink collared push-over of a puppy ambling toward him. She trotted right up to him, sniffing the air as she approached. He rose to all fours, towering over her a good 3 inches, and flicking his tail slowly from side to side. Gracie moved toward his tail, and with one swift right paw--he swatted her little nose and she went rolling. And then she knew--it was his house :o) (Not that she would care in 2 and a half years when she was bigger than him)

Anyways. All that to say I am a pet lover, and have owned a cat and a dog, and a fair share of fish that I'd won at various county fairs from tossing ping pong balls into floating jars 8 feet away. I, however, am not a big fan of felines.

But today, while I was at work---on perhaps the coldest day of this winter (with freezing rain, a chilling wind, and a predicted 4-7" of snow/freezing precipitation in the next 48 hours) I found a box under the shelter of an eave. It was 3 P.M. and now I feel terrible that I didn't notice it when I'd arrived in the morning. Inside was a shivering orange cat, a can of food, and some newspaper....it was uncollared and skittish. I was mad. I'm still mad. Who does that?!?!? IT IS FREEZING OUTSIDE!!!! I called the police. An officer came to try and bring it to the station, they'd found a temporary holding location to take it to. Sadly, the cat was too frightened---I'm assuming by the thoughtless act of abandonment, the owner was perhaps abusive and inattentive to make the cat that fearful of human contact---and scampered beneath an ice cooler.

I'll be surprised if the cat is there in the morning...I hope it's left in search of food and a warmer place...like the Subway down the street...or a heating vent behind the Hair salon. Sad....my blankets don't feel as warm as they normally do.....

Jingle Jingle Jingle... :o)

It occurred to me tonight, while I was making a Candy Cane Martini, that I am pretty dam good at what I do. And even though I confidently blurt out answers when I'm asked "where" and "how" I learned to bartend, I have to wonder myself sometimes...."how the heck do I do this?"

Then I remember the stack of magazines in my room of Gourmet, Bon Apetit, and Wine Spectator, and the 3 different folders of Bookmarks on my Firefox browser that are chalk full of cocktail recipes, and links to websites, forums, etc. ranging from estate vineyards, to brewing, and successfull Google Search hits.

And then remember the notebooks I have tested myself with, reciting and writing recipes from memory until they literally are "memorized"....proportions, ingredients, and mixing steps, as well as glasses, garnishes etc...

Oiy. I will say this: I like it when my pockets jingle and my wallet bulges... :o) Which is why I'll love this weekend.

Do I miss Christmas At Luther?? Umm....not a whole lot actually. I've seen/been in this big production for the past 10 years of my life....annnnnnd it's streak that would have been neat to maintain, but I need a break. I'll watch the edited and recorded version 3 or 4 times in a few weeks.... PBS Dec. 22 9 P.M. C.S.T. Check it out.

Oh...and how could I forget:

Introducing the one and only: Norman.

News and such and Nothing's In Particularzez

I have a new mouse. It's name is Norman. It is fast, clean, and sleek. Norman cost me $70, but it was money well spent. He travels well, stays warm in my coat pockets, and is extremely hassle-free!!! I like my things to have names. I think Norman is quite attractive....

I know: It's weird. "Sue me."

Christmas @ Luther week----> means lots of out of towners, lots of old friends returning, lots of drinks to be mixed and tips to be made. Sounds like my kinda weekend! Which, remember, starts on Wednesday and ends on Sunday in my world. :o)

....Norman is waiting for me. Pictures to come shortly!