From Product Placement in the ER:

“Pulling back on the paperclip and stretching the rubberband, he took aim at the back of Dr. Studd’s head. He suddenly let go, and thus transferred the potential energy of the rubberband into kinetic energy of the paperclip. He watched as the paperclip took flight toward its intended target.”

A hilarious must-read from over at Doc Around the Clock!

What really goes on in the ER when no one’s looking … !!! 0.o

“I think you’ll like the way this Viagra pen writes. It’s big, long and thick and fits so nicely in the palm of your hand. Just be careful, because if you squeeze it too tight ink will unexpectedly spill from its tip and make a big ol’ mess!”.

*blink!*

That’s what my Windows partition did this morning. It went: BOOM!

I booted into Linux, but I haven’t used my Linux partition since school started, so I have no shortcuts … no bookmarks … and no automatic “log ins” or “passwords.”

Took me a minute to remember how to even get into here!

Hopefully, someone will be able to restore the munched file, and I’ll be back up and running in XP again …

For now though … I’m off to the kitchen. Pies today - 6 of them. Plus a lot of other goodies. Plus the rest of the cleaning to prepare for a houseload of guests tomorrow night. Plus wrapping the rest of the … well, you get the idea.

I will check into here in between pies! ;-)

11:30 AM

Am considering going back to bed … and starting over … or maybe rebooting the day? 0.o

My XP partition is on the critical list … in a coma, I believe. Don’t know if it will survive or not - since replacing the munched file didn’t help … and …

… I was getting ready to make my pies, and decided some nice Manheim Steamroller Christmas music would help enhance the “spirit” a bit. I put in a CD (since the MP3 part of the player died last week, and now it only plays CDs) and turned the player on … and turned the player on … and turned the, um … well … you get the idea. No music. That means no music for my guests tomorrow night either, unless I can find enough pennies in the crack of the sofa to get another one before then … Annnnd …

… My car died. *LOL* … are we having fun yet? ;-)

Half afraid to turn the oven on … *blink* …

5:00 PM

Last two pies are in the oven. The entire day has been a comedy of errors … but at least I’m almost done with the cooking. Only a few more food items to deal with tonight … none of them as tedious as the pie making.

I have a very computer savvy son. Actually, two of my sons - and their dad - are very computer literate. They not only all program in a variety of languages, they can take computers apart, modify everything … set up networks, routers, hubs … build new computers from piles of old ones … you name it! I’ve been a web master for years, and done my share of C++ and other languages … but I don’t hold a candle to any of them. Anyway - my son is backing up my XP partition, and is going to do his best to save as much of my data as possible.

What worries me most is that I need my XP for school - one of the labs which I’ll be using in January will only work in IE. Can’t afford a new lap top right now … *blink* …

When you use something as much as I use this little computer, it’s bound to have problems eventually …

Well, my tourtières and cretons are all done. I simmered the pork all afternoon. When my son got home from college, the first thing he did as he came through the door was sniff in appreciation of the aroma wafting through the house. They smelled so good that even my non-Franco daughter-in-law tried some today!

Tourtières and cretons have graced French Canadian holiday tables for a very long time. If you’re on a diet, you may not even want to enter the same room they’re in … the savory delights are very fattening.

They’re also very rich. When I small, I remember visiting with a Dominican Brother on Christmas Eve. My parents dressed us all up, and we went to bring him a bit of holiday cheer. While we were there, he told us about some poor fellow in the parish who had eaten so much toutière earlier in the day that he’d gotten sick and died! *boggle!* Frenchmen really like their tourtières, but that might have been a case of carrying things just a bit too far …

If you look at the picture above, the “toutière” is the pie in the center of picture, and the cup just above the pie is the cretons. Tourtière is a traditional pork pie - and cretons is a pork spread for use on crackers, toast, etc..

1 pound of ground pork
2 medium onions
salt and pepper to taste

Chop (not mince) the onions finely. Mix the onions and pork, add the salt and pepper. Cover meat with water, and simmer slowly until there is barely any water left. This could take a while, depending on your stove. (Count on at least 2 hours … best if even more.)

Once there’s hardly any water left, add the following spices:

1 teaspoon cinnamon
3/4 of a teaspoon of cloves
1/2 of a teaspoon of nutmeg

Stir carefully. Continue cooking until the meat looks wet, the bottom isn’t sticking, but the water really is almost all cooked out. Let the meat spread cool off until it can be poured into an attractive container without breaking it. Refrigerate. The meat will set up firmly.

Before serving, garnish with dill or parsely and a few cranberries. Serve with crackers or toast.

Pastry for 2 crusts - 8 inches

1 lb ground pork
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup water
1/4 teaspoon of pepper
1/2 teaspoon of cornstarch
1 clove of garlic
1 medium potato

Mix all of the ingredients, and simmer slowly. The potato and garlic will become soft, and be able to be mashed in with the meat when you’re done.

When the meat has been simmering long enough for everything to be soft, and for the liquid to be almost completely gone (could be more than 2 hours,) add the following spices to the meat:

3/4 teaspoon of cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon of cloves
1/3 teaspoon of nutmeg

(You can adjust the spices to your own tastes … I always make mine a bit spicier.)

Stir it all in together. Once the water is just about completely gone, and the meat looks a bit like a meaty pudding, pour it into your already rolled out pie dough. Assemble the pie by putting the top crust on, and fluting the edges. Bake for between 40 minutes to 1 hour at 350 degrees. You’re only trying to get the dough cooked through … since the meat is already done. You want to take the pie out when the dough is cooked - and a nice golden brown.

Tourtières can be served warm or cold. Some people like their tourtière with ketchup (ewww! ;) …

I’m bumping into things today - can barely find my way across a room! ;-)

No, I’m not into the egg nog yet (well, not until after lunch, anyway ;) … but I did spend until about 3 AM this morning answering questions which ND left for me as a comment on the Doctors Who Pray post. I reread them in the light of day, and my face is a little red, but I’ll let them stand unchanged. *

I’ve added the discussion to the Conversations page under the title of Reality - and much more. Take a peek, and if you want to add your two cents, please do so in a comment on the Doctors Who Pray post.

And now … I’m off to the kitchen. Today is the day I begin my Christmas cooking. I will make “Tourtières” and “Cretons” this afternoon. Both are French Canadian (and by way of immigration, FrancoAmerican) traditional Christmas treats. If I’m not too tired, I’ll post some recipes and descriptions tonight for those of you who may be interested.

My son and little daughter-in-law are on their way home from college, and I’m counting on them to decorate for me … and maybe Sarah will even be willing to wrap a few gifts *cough* … ;-)

One last thing before I catapult myself headlong into the day … my chef son gave me a new word today - complete with a definition. This should perhaps be in my Five Reasons to Avoid Eating Beans for Breakfast post, but here it is instead, in all of its glory … and yes, my son did coin it:

S p l a t u l e n c e : When you thought it was just going to be gas …

0.o

* Note: I reworded the paragraph on the “value of life,” in order to clarify my meaning.

Dogs Cats Kids Life: Commentary on Commentary…

Think twice before refusing to post someone’s comment … someone did just that to T.J., but now she’s having her say anyway - and what a say it is!

Take a look at T.J.’s rant - all she wanted to do was let them know that she cared about the “stupidity of Christmas vs. Holiday issue” …

GO T.J.!

And by the way - a very Merry Christmas to all of you - and for those of you who are Jewish, Chanukah Samecha!