Christians and Pagans

It’s past time to leave some tracks here, I know. To say that things have been hectic isn’t really adequate, the daily bump and grind has been placed in some sort of quaint historical perspective by the near-constant bumping and grinding of the last week or so. It would be tedious just to attempt a recounting, but things are as of today assuming more of a look of being in place for the upcoming show.
Christmas is a project and KG is a project manager. She has lists of lists and if she had MS Project, she’d likely have Gantt charts of when things need to be done and by whom listing all dependencies and resources.
So, my brother and SIL arrive today. I’ll go to the Schmidlaps’ place later and we’ll do a bit of bottle shopping, then I have some beers for sampling and G-lo is putting out a bite to eat. I hope it’ll be low-key and that I’ll be home early enough to get a head start on tomorrow before things get crowded and complicated out in the world at large.
Tomorrow we need to purchase the remainder of the vittles, mostly see-food (and eat it) and a few remaining details. I found some cheap blue crab today which influences the menu if only by its availability. Clams are cheap as well, so Clams Casino looks to be on the menu, and maybe some Calamar or fried oysters to round things out. We already have shrimp so the scampi is assured. We only have a family-sized deep fryer instead of the institutional sized one we should have, so sequencing of things is important as is using the oven and stovetop when possible.
Poor Jade (Princess Jade of Eastern Colesville) has a little cold and she’s sitting next to the PC while I type and sneezing on me. Holiday illness always reminds me of Sam’s mom having faux-appendicitis while I was visiting a few years back. I kept making fun of her (come on, appendicitis on Christmas Eve?) and when the ultrasound came back negative she protested so loudly (she’s an RN and knows the buzzwords) they removed her fucking appendix just to shut her up. Bless you, Jade.
Funniest gift of the season, so far, is a leg of lamb from Dean and DeLuca from the Schmidlaps. This thing was from a pretty big lamb, it’s like a carcass in the freezer and KG is ready to buy the thing a saddle and see if we can ride it around the neighborhood. It’s funny because the Universe is always talking to us (yes, all of us) and both KG and I are on the cusp of vegetarianism so for this giant leg of dead meat to show up in the mail is simply absurd, I mean it had joints on both ends of the leg and you could use it for a bat or a medieval weapon. Blech, when are we going to make that? Funnier (?) yet is that my brother and SIL also received one and my SIL is already a vegetarian. What funny gifts one receives from the elderly.
We’re giving everyone little bottles of Limoncello. I spent much of yesterday bottling and labeling it. Yes, that’s me, but not recently.

I bought a heating pad recently to keep some of my beer warm, at least while it’s trying to bottle condition and carbonate. The Imperial IPA I made a month or so ago was flat and going nowhere fast until I put it on the pad, now it’s having a great old time carbonating with a whole new fermentation going. It’s all cloudy and frothy and, while it’s still a bit too raw to enjoy, I enjoy it anyhow. The holiday ale fermented nicely and when I tested and tasted it the other day was no longer like a chocolate malted, the wormwood bitterness was more forward and the sweetness mostly gone. It’s compelling, I’m very much looking forward to bottling it after all of the Christmas guests return to their own worlds. It’s amazing what you can make with some malt, water, and yeast (and sugar and cinnamon and nutmeg and various strange herbs.) I’m still very excited by this brewing process in spite of finding a general shortage of time to pursue it of late.
The Gertrude’s Holiday Party was last Monday and the bar manager is also interested in beer. I told him about Wild Horse Belgian Sour Ale and Beneath the Kilt Scottish Ale and he begged me to give him some (beer.) Consequently, I’m stopping at Gertrude’s on the way to the Schmids today to give him a taste of each. Hey, it’s the holidays and it’s already noon somewhere.