The Downside of Vacation Time

I was walking back from the bakery this morning, eagerly awaiting that first bite of steaming hot croissant avec jambon et fromage, when it hit me. There were very few cars out on the streets. What's the deal? Is New Year's Eve becoming a big sleep-in holiday, too? Is this normal for a, let see...New Year's is Monday so today must be...Sunday. Sunday! And the mass I would normally go to is already over.

Fortunately, there is masstimes.org, so we are able to find plenty of afternoon masses (at this point, it would take too long to get ready for an 11am).

Fortunately I am not doing anything elaborate for New Year's Eve dinner: French onion soup, salad, pannetone for dessert, followed by cigars and cognac.

No recipes for the blog, though, since they are from other people's books (Julia Child Mastering the Art of French Cooking for the soup, Michael Chiarello's Tra Vigne Cookbook for the pannetone).

So, dear readers, thank you for bearing with my time-impaired fog of pointless observations and useless, recipe-less food nods. My celebration is your penance (although I really don't know what horrible thing you did to have to come reading this blog).