Have a Time

What a messy day. Ice, rain, freezing rain. 

Slippery stuff.

The Man and I shopped for Christmas dinner this morning, We went to several shops, picking up all kinds of goodies. Each time one of us would add something to the cart, we'd say, "It's Christmas!" and not feel guilty about all the treats we were buying. 

One of our last stops was at the butcher's to get the beef tenderloin.  We have to drive a little farther  to get there but this shop has very nice meats. And meat pies. And chicken pot pies. And shrimp. Can you tell we've bought several items from this shop?

I picked out the piece of tenderloin I wanted and the Man looked it over. 

"It looks a little fatty," he said. 

I put it back on the shelf and told him to pick out the piece he wanted. "No, no. You pick it," he said.

But I insisted that he pick it out. So he looked through lots of pieces of tenderloin and after about five minutes he hands me back the piece I originally picked out.

"This is the best one," he said, rather sheepishly. I just smiled.

I wanted to look at their eye round roasts for future use so I asked a young fellow where they were. He was kind enough to take me over to the section they were in and I found just one roast left. 

"Oh no, is that the only eye round roast you have?" I heard a woman behind me ask the young fellow.

I turned around and saw a woman about my age looking at the roast. I handed it to her and said, "Here you take it. I'm not planning on getting it." She thanked me and said she was planning on using it for pot roast on Christmas Eve.

The young fellow overheard her and said, "You wouldn't use that for pot roast. Use a beef chuck roast instead."

The woman looked at him and said, "No. I always use an eye round roast for pot roast. I butter it, sear it, and cover it in sage, bake it and finish it on the stovetop. I've made it this way for years."

"But that's not a good cut for pot roast," he protested. "You really should use a chuck roast. That's what I recommend."

Now he's getting the stink eye from the woman. She's squared up against him and staring hard at him as she says, "No. I've always used an eye round roast for pot roast. That's how my Italian grandmother made it. And that's how I make it. It comes out great every time."

I'm watching this whole thing unfold, tucked behind a chip display, and all I could think was, "Stop talking, young man! You are not going to win! You're fighting with a woman who clearly knows what she's doing AND her Italian grandmother! Get out! Now!" 

He must have come to the same conclusion because he quickly stopped talking and walked away.

Moral of this story: don't argue food with an Italian woman.

We got home just in time for me to bake some gingerbread brownies and shortbread for Christmas day. Then it was back out to run some more errands.

I came home just in time for my dad and uncle to arrive and we all started cooking dinner. My sister and her family were joining us and we were going to "have a time" tonight.

Nana used to say that whenever there was a family gathering. "We'll have a time tonight," she would say and we all knew it meant good food and laughter. She used the expression a lot when she would talk about her siblings. They would all get together on holidays and one of my great-uncles, who had his own band, would invite a couple band members over and they would play music and sing all night long. When Nan would tell us about it, she'd say, "And Charley would come over with the band and we'd have a time."

So as I was driving today, I was listening to NPR and they were broadcasting an Irish Christmas concert with various Irish bands. A young woman from one of the bands was talking about parties that the band would go to on the holidays and she said, "So we'd go over to Sean's house and we'd have a time." I knew exactly what she meant.

I love that expression. Have a time. Good food and good fun.

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Happy Christmas Eve eve! Hope you all "have a time" tomorrow night.