Every one fondue tonight

It started the day after Christmas, when Heidi posted this classic fondue recipe on her web site.

Days later, I went to Williams-Sonoma to exchange my Le Creuset for a bigger size, and upon entering the store, I was confronted by a large display of lovely fondue sets.

"Everyone is into the fondue," the lady behind the counter commented, ringing up another.

Then Courtney talked about how she got a fondue set for Christmas from the Jacksons, and then the Jacksons themselves showcased their own fondue party on their blog in Switzerland. (I mean, just look at the glee on Brett's face? Don't you want to have one?)

I sighed and felt saddened that no, that would never be me, I would never have a fondue party or a fondue set because the day I came home with one, my lovely fiance would tilt his head to the side and throw his hands in the air and scold, "Baby, no. Too much kitchen stuff. Where are we going to put that?"

It's true. We don't have room for fondue sets, but I still want one. And the fact that (with the help of my mom) I have been able to get the Le Creuset into my apartment with zero argument was a huge feat, believe me. (I plan to store it in the oven).

Dan came home yesterday from his yearly trip to California. In his weeklong absence, he had three boxes delivered to him. He had told me before my trip not to look at them because they were likely to be Christmas presents for me. I didn't snoop at all--I swear.

I came home from grocery shopping to see a concerned looking Dan sitting on the couch. scratching his head.

"I think Amazon sent us something that I didn't order," he said, all worried. "I even double checked to see if I ordered it by mistake."

"Well what is it?" I asked.

"A fondue set."

And that is when everything came together.

"It's from the Jacksons, of course!"

And that is how I got a fondue set (and a fondue cookbook)--just like everyone else. Now I can have my fondue party and Dan thinks it's swell because it was the Jackson's idea. THANK YOU BRETT AND EMILY. It wouldn't have been possible without you.

Now where to put it?

10 Resolutions for 2009

1. Be more frugal.

2. Cook and bake and eat adventurously.

3. Write when I can.

4. Plan a kick-ass wedding.

5. Start a new personal project/venture.

6. Take care of myself and be healthy.

7. Take lots of pictures.

8. Travel.

9. Focus on the things that make me happy.

10. Be fun!

2008: A year in review

It is my usual tradition to sit by the Christmas tree on Christmas Day and write in my journal about my year and my goals for the year ahead.

I couldn't find my journal and so instead I read through my blog until I grew bored (how do I have so many faithful readers?). While I have been feeling a little blue and unaccomplished the last few weeks, I have to say, I didn't do too bad:

My resolutions for 2008 were:

My life should focus on people, not work.
For once, it really did.

Find a job that interests me, pays the bills, but doesn't take over my life.
I somehow managed to launch a successful freelance marketing career which doesn't interest me very much, but DOES pay the bills and doesn't take over my life.

Keep on traveling.
Took some wonderful trips to Buenos Aires and New Orleans--plus some weekenders to Philadelphia, Chicago and Boston.

Practice my Polish.
Yeah, didn't do that at all.

Nurture my artistic spirit.
I tried to write my book but failed miserably. I wonder if I really have it in me. But to give me credit, I wrote more this year than I have since high school. I took my photography class. I didn't become great overnight, but who cares?

Don't forget to be FUN.
Sometimes I forgot. But sometimes I was fun.

2008: The Good
Dan and I got engaged in New Orleans.
Turning 30.
Moved to a better apartment on the Upper East Side.
Meeting my new friend, Heather Prince.
My freelance career takes off.
The balloon ride with Dan, Annette and Kent.
A successful March (and April and May and June) Madness.
Sister Cooking School.
Seeing Argentina with Dan's family.
Reuniting with my high school friend Stacy.
New Orleans with Dan and Mom.
Audrey's birth.
Chicago Cupcake Crawl.
Weddings: Dan & Zoe, Dan & Jacey, Julian & Liz.
One hell of a sandwich with Matt Apice.
Four day work-weeks.
Summer classics. I did it!
Shakespeare in the Park. Finally!
Jackstock.
The Danes Visit NYC.
My Pierogi party.
My Sibling party.
The white dress dinner.
Photo class.
I get an iphone.
Barack Obama gets elected president
Facebook.
Annie.

2008: The bad
The death of the polar bear pants.
The death of the yellow gloves.
My horrible winter wardrobe.
To Dan's "I-told-you-so" amusement, I never made these dolls.
My permanent writer's block.
I STILL haven't figured out what I want to do with my life...and I am still complaining about it at least once a month and not doing anything about it.

2008: The ugly
The dead mouse in my apartment.
The sty.

Favorite books read in 2008 (not necessarily written in 2008):
Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life
The War of Art
The Invisible Wall

Favorite movies seen in 2008 (not necessarily made in 2008):
Juno, No Country for Old Men, The Apartment, 2 Days in Paris, All that Jazz, Slumdog Millionaire, While the Widow is Away.

Christmas.

If you want to know what I do for Christmas, this is it. It never changes.

This year was different because:

My sister got stuck in Pennsylvania due to freezing rain and couldn't make it. So my mom had to make the fried shrimp.


Mom making fried shrimp. It came out pretty good. But I still missed Annette.

It was my grand-niece's Audrey's first Christmas. She's grown a lot since the last time I saw her.

Audrey and me.


Kasia (my mom's ultimate helper outer) and her family were a little late, so my stepbrother Martin and his wife Iza donned some aprons to help fry the fish. I think flowers are very becoming on Martin. As usual, Kasia had an apron on as soon as she walked through the door. She made the cheesecake this year.


Kasia's husband, Andrej with the king and queen of Poland. Maxim, the king, wasn't having it.


Dillon eats his borscht. I love a kid who eats his vegetables. He was more interested in the brownies than the presents.


Good thing my SIL Jen made some salad, otherwise there would be zero green on my dinner plate.

Since my mom was so delayed in getting home from New Orleans, she didn't have time to make Christmas cookies. We managed to get by--barely.


Santa was good to me this year and I finally got the pot of my dreams, the one I have been pining for for over a year, the Le Creuset Dutch Oven in my favorite color: YELLOW. I got the 5 quart version--I will probably upgrade to the next largest size. It's smaller than I thought it would be. (As always, I knew what I was getting this year.) Lots of good food to come!

Cookie Bonanza 2009

So I am not sure if I have what it takes to run a bakery. After spending a day on my feet baking cookies for my annual Cookie Bonanza, I was completely wiped out. Waking up the next morning, I felt like I was run over by a truck.

But it was fun and satisfying in that way that only manual labor can be. For the first time ever, I prepared everything at my mom's house. She has a big oven and the master of baking equipment--a KitchenAid mixer--and so it was a nice change of pace. Mom was preparing some things for Christmas too, but soon it was clear that me and my bonanza were taking over the kitchen and she just had a small little space to work in. She didn't complain--much.

(These pics do not display the awesomeness as well as they should, but better than nothing):


I usually make all new recipes but this year I bought back peanut butter surprise (Pete's favorite) and snickerdoodles (Annette's favorite) along with newbies key lime pie thumbprints, chocolate peppermint and Aunt Mary Dillon's pralines. All recipes by Martha Stewart. The chocolate peppermint were a total pain in the ass to make. Had I read the recipe before I started, I would have never had made them, but they sure look pretty.


These praline cookies were inspired by my recent trip to New Orleans.


Usually I toss the cookies in some plastic containers, but this year I was inspired to be more crafty so I bought these pretty snow-flake patterned boxes from The Container Store, lined them with tissue and wax paper, displayed the cookies in rows, sealed them in plastic tied with a bow. A tag displayed the cookie names. I was kind of proud how they turned out.


Dan misses the Bonanza every year, but of course, like the good girlfriend I am, I always save him one of each. Odds are 97.5% likely he will eat these in one sitting the day he comes back.

A note about tea.

Like many Polish people, I am a big tea drinker. Nothing fancy--Lipton is just fine. Though unlike many Polish people, I like my tea with milk.

In the Northeast region where I live, when you order tea at a restaurant, you get hot water with a tea bag. In order to get the cold stuff, you need to specify "iced tea."

In the New Orleans Starbucks, when I ordered tea, they gave me tea with ice.

"I don't want this," I said.

"Oh did you want hot tea?"

In New Orleans, iced tea is the norm, so when you order tea, that's what you get.

You need to specify "hot tea." I got a kick out of that. Hot tea. I never heard anyone say that before in my life.

Back in the New York groove.

I am happy to report that I will be home for the holidays!

Mom and I were stuck an extra two nights in New Orleans, which we mostly spent Mom-travel-style (days spent sitting in coffee shops and park benches around the French Quarter and evenings in the hotel room watching "What Not To Wear," "Say Yes to the Dress," "Elf" and "The Wizard of Oz.")

We arrived at the airport this morning at 7:30 am, nervous about what to expect. Weather looked bad in Newark. My iPhone weather application was sprinkled with snow. We got there early and our flight to Houston was already delayed, so we tried to get on the earlier flight which then got delayed as well, meaning we'd never make our connection to Newark. New Orleans is one thing, the last thing I wanted was to get stuck in Houston. Their airport is named George Bush...is that a way you'd want to spend Christmas? (No joke, I heard one of the travel agents tell a passenger there were no flights until Christmas Day! So the nerves was on. I told my mom, if we get stuck for the holidays, at least we have each other.)

Somehow, I manage to get us on a direct flight from New Orleans in the afternoon that the flight attendant told me had a good chance of being canceled. I took my chances.

When the flight was delayed for three hours, it was like deja vu of Friday's mess, but then suddenly, miraculously, we began boarding. We were going home.

Never in my life have I been so happy to see Newark, NJ, even though it's 29 degrees and feels like the North Pole. (New Orleans was a balmy 70 degrees the week we were there, so I was shivering my my jean jacket). The runways in Newark were covered in slushy snow and at one point, I am certain the plane skidded a bit, but I was more excited than scared.

So now, it's back home, wedding decisions to be made, cookies to be baked, presents to be wrapped. And after my long hiatus, I am finally motivated to hit the gym. It's the daily dose of fried shrimp that did it. And come on, let's be real now...I won't be starting until after Christmas.