happy new year...almost...

we have had quite the time!!!...first the prep...pounding, flattening, rolling up and otherwise preparing chicken breasts...and then the feast.....imagine seven adults, five children and three golden retrievers...all gathered on sunday to celebrate christmas. of course the kids had to open their gifts right off the bat...keeping the dogs at bay as best we could. they had a high old time and then went off to play and wreak havoc on the house...this time the flat screen in the basement was spared!!) the colts game started at 4 so we decided to do our presents at half time and then eat dinner after the game...more time for rummykub for the girls, of course....so it was COLD!!! - and the guys were snuggled on the porch, smoking cigars and drinking beer and scotch and wrapped in hats, coats and blankets..what a hoot! when it came time to start up the deep fryer, the guys realized we hadn't thawed the peanut oil left over from thanksgiving (did i mention it was cold?)...and things were just not working! - water and oil don't mix, after all...so the girls ran out to get more oil and we poured out the old and started over. we sat down (quite late) to our chicken kiev..our christmas dinner tradition...what a wonderful feast with all the trimmings and the dishes and pots and pans that go with. i always use my good china at christmas...hand washable......so we wake up monday morning - and after the dogs come in from their morning ablutions in the back yard, we notice ruby's not acting quite right...drinking lots of water and nuzzling me even more than usual. then i smelled her breath. the tell-tale scent of peanut oil with just a hint of kiev told me all i needed to know! - what on earth?...then we found a pan of oil on the ground - part of the first batch that had been poured out and she apparently helped herself! - think about how good a greasy meal is going down and then how bad your tummy can feel later...times twenty five, i'm thinking!!! i won't go into the gorey details but she threw up in the family room - BIG time - and then had continual little grease burps all over the kitchen, where i decided to contain her. then she had huge outside explosions..from both ends...and i finally called the vet. davey had gone off to work of course and i had the whole aftermath of the feast to deal with...a task i usually relish because i take my time and remember all the fun...but with a sick doggie?? - thank heavens she's all right and back to her wild and raucous self, dragging things around...and i'm cutting this short (*short?) because she's at this moment trying to climb up in my chair with me. i'm going to start posting the kids pics. the one above is baby joey - from their christmas card. and as an after thought i 've added some pics of my grands from our thanksgiving gathering...the first is their thoughtful pose and the second their normal pose....here's to a happy and healthy 2011!!!