Merry Happy Chrismachanukwanzakah: Starting a new job during the holidays is...interesting (I realize this is way late)

[Note:  I realize that this is WAY late, but it happens.  Some things are way easier to write, and sometimes I don't have the patience to deal with the pictures that I prefer to accompany a particular post...
...Also, I got pretty busy with that job-thing.  Ahh, well.]

A story of the holidays:

I started a job!:  I'll pause for your well-wishes... Aww, thanks.  You're pretty awesome too.

  Yeah, so I started this position just before the holidays, which was...interesting.  We're supposed to go out and find people in the community (not selling stuff...that crap makes me shudder and want to punch somebody), but during the holidays, people ain't out.  All that is its own stress, but that's not the focus of the posts I put out there.  It's just a little background.

  In order to get to my place of work, it's close to an hour there and an hour back... it is the suck, my friends.  When I get home, I'm super wiped, and that turns into me not being good about fixing my lunch for the next day.

  I quickly see just how expensive it can become when you eat out for lunch for a few days.

  Yeah, fuck that noise.  I was much better starting week 2.

  ANYhoo, this part leads into the next.

Chanuka PJ Party: My bad.

I get home after a long, but purposeful day, and I'm about to pass out on the couch.
  Picky-eater: "Aren't we supposed to be somewhere tonight?"

  Me:  "Fuck!  Hanukah!"

Yeah, my bad!  So, the party had already started, and there was NO time to cook.  Luckily, the picky-eater had asked that I pick up a pecan pie on the way home and we always keep a bottle of white wine in the fridge.

Non-chip party contribution FTW

Christmas Eve Day: STOCK! 

We decided to do our gift exchange early (probably because I'm an impatient creature), and the picky-eater got a Le Creuset stock pot for me!  It was one of the many items that remain on our registry.  I'm not complaining, though.  It's an easy go-to list for future gifts. 

The picky-eater is very difficult to shop for, so I went ahead and got a game that'd been mentioned.  Oh, word to the lazy, all new Wii games require the Wii motion plus attachment.  And, don't worry, they did not, in fact, stop making them... contrary to what folks at some Gamestops might say.

GoodEats!

Christmas Day:  Chill.

For the puppies?:  Oh, yeah, they get Dingos.  With a solid supply already in the closet, we decided to forgo our customary Dingo Candy Cane.

Potluck!: Rosemary Chocolate Chip Shortbread

4th Annual Pumpkin Party Potluck and Carving Extravaganza:

...we missed the first three, but that's okay.

Guests were asked to bring something with pumpkin (ingredient or theme).  Well... we went a different way.

We were slacking with preparation and have a limited budget, so I went to one of my go-to make-and-go recipes, rosemary-chocolate chip shortbread.  It's pretty amazing and works well during the holiday season.  So, I viewed it as having the ambiance of the season (don't judge; I didn't want to deal with pumpkin).  It's been a big hit, and friends have even requested it, which makes me happy.

I first learned of the recipe from Melissa d'Arabian, and it's really easy.  You can use a mixer to make this happen, but I find it simple enough to do by hand.  Also, it's a small arm workout, so that's always good.

Here's everything you'll need, sans an implement to cut the pieces.
Yes, that's a pizza pan, it works well for this purpose.

Rosemary Chocolate Chip Shortbread:

1 stick unsalted butter (softened)
*if you only have salted butter, lessen or omit salt, depending on your taste
[Note: If you don't have softened butter, cut it into pieces in the bowl you'll be working in and leave on or near the stove for a little while.  This speeds the softening process.]
1 cup flour
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup chocolate chips (can use chunks and the like)
pinch salt (I use kosher)
pinch rosemary chopped finely (there's a bush in the courtyard, so we use fresh)
[Note: A little goes a long way]

• Preheat oven to 300 degrees
• Cream butter with sugar and salt
• Add rosemary
• Add flour 1/4 cup at a time
• Knead or work together
• I use the spatula to do this
• Flour baking sheet
• Put onto sheet

• press down to about 1/2 inch
• (I find it difficult to roll)
• form into a rounded shape
• (I find this easiest)
• Bake about 25 minutes
• Let cool
• you can put it on a cooling rack, but it's not necessary
• Slice into small pieces
• I prefer to use a pizza cutter to do this
• BONUS: you get to eat the funny little pieces that aren't big enough to present
• Put into an airtight container

People seemed to like them and complemented us.  When we packed up to leave the party, there were only crumbs left (not my doing, I only had 1 piece).  That says it all.

Potluck!: how we transport some awesome

I love potlucks.

It's seems like less stress for the host, and guests feel like they contribute, (or, at least, we do).

There are two courses of action that we normally take when going to a potluck:

1. Do the normal thing of simply bringing a prepared dish from home
2. Show up early and cook there

Okay, I know that there are some people that scoff at the latter, but it's not just making the dish.

With us showing up early, there's also lots of helping the host with prep work, and the hosts of the parties that we've done this for have always been happy. Bonus: this means that the options for dishes open up, and more deliciousness can be had.


Potlucks are starting to kick up again, so I'll post about what we cook.