Merry F-ing Christmas!

Can anyone just wish anyone else a Merry Christmas anymore without spitting those words at me as if they are some sort of threat?

Yes, 'is the season when everyone is smiling and happy and wishing everyone merriment ... except for my Christian friends who say "merry Christmas" with a visiousness that immediately implies that they threw down a challenge and are daring me to not say it back. Sheesh, Merry Christmas already! and happy holidays and whatever else makes anyone happy.

My bible-thumpy friends have been blogging about what assholes (those who say "happy holidays" and call Christmas trees "Holiday trees") we are. Makes me never want to use the word "Christmas" again. December 25th is ONE DAY -- and not even the correct date.

I celebrate everything. Christmas, Hannukah, Festivus, New Year's and Ninja Day. There is a lot going on this time of year. So, at home I may talk about Christmas and the memories it brings to me of Mom and Grandparents and excitement waiting for Santa, but when I'm out and about I know there are lots of people who don't celebrate that particular holiday. Or, like me, they celebrate it without the religious aspects. Or it's full-on Jesus mania for others. Great! Enjoy it! But don't get mad at me for saying "Happy Holidays" just to be polite.  I know you won't be offended if I wish you the merriment of a holiday you don't celebrate. But I'm covering my bases. 

So why so angry? Nothing is happening to your holidays. If anything, they are bigger than ever. Each year getting more overstuffed and bloated. Starting before Halloween now. Yet you want more, more? Who is suppressing whom? Certainly not me. I'm offering a friendly greeting, and being scolded for it.

So next time you're out and about and want to say "Merry Christmas" to me, just say it. And leave off the "and I don't care if that offends you!" part because that snotty attitude takes the sincerity out of your greeting. You might be surprised at how much more friendly people will be when they reply. Might even end in a hug.

Happy holidays. Peace and love to ALL!! :) xoxo

Ratatouille's Ratatouille

This was so much easier to make than I expected! It was a lot of fun to put together and was delicious! This is a more simplified version of the original recipe (for people who didn’t study with the French masters). Look up “Confit Byaldi, Thomas Keller” online if you want the original recipe.

In the movie they used an oval baking dish; I used a 9” glass pie dish (before the tomato sauce is in the dish, you might want to trace your parchment paper which will top the vegetables; you probably want it a little larger than the dish so it can tuck in around the edges a bit).

On the bottom of the dish, spread 1 cup of tomato purée or tomato paste (I’ve also used canned prepared diced tomatoes). Then, on top of that, add 1/2 onion, finely chopped and 2 garlic cloves, very thinly sliced. Stir it all together with 1 tbsp olive oil and then season generously with salt and pepper (and thyme/parsley; optional). Then spread it out evenly again. Put a little up the sides of the dish, too, as it will keep the vegetables from sticking to the dish.

Using a mandolin or, even faster, a food processor with a slicing blade, cut the following into 1/16-inch-thick rounds after trimming off the ends: 1 small eggplant (if you can get “Italian” or “Japanese” eggplant that would be a better size. I couldn’t find that, so I used a regular eggplant cut into quarters the long way, and only ended up using about 1 quarter. You can see in the picture that they end up like triangles, but put the rounded skin-side on top and it’s hardly noticeable); 1 smallish zucchini; 1 smallish yellow squash (the closer to a uniform cucumber shape, the better, but maybe get a couple of small squash if they're cheap, so that you have more of the larger rounds to use); 4 firm Roma tomatoes. So now you have four separate colorful piles of veggies. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

On top of the tomato sauce, arrange a circular strip of slices of the vegetables going from the outer edge to the inside of the baking dish, overlapping so just a smidgen of each flat surface is visible, alternating vegetables.

My order was: zucchini (green), tomato (red), eggplant (green), squash (yellow). If you can get some help, this will go quickly. Think ‘assembly line’. I’d put 4-5 piles together in my hand at once, then gather the piles and lay them in the dish.

Drizzle 1 tbsp olive oil over the vegetables and season them generously with salt and pepper. Remove the leaves from a few thyme springs with your fingertips, running them down the stem. Sprinkle the fresh thyme over the dish.


Cover dish with a piece of parchment paper cut to fit/tuck inside.

Bake for approximately 45 to 55 minutes, until vegetables are clearly cooked, but with some structure left so they are not totally limp. And you should see that the tomato sauce is bubbling up around them.

We served this on top of a helping of rice — make sure the rice gets some of that tomato sauce!