Cold Christmas.....

Cold, originally uploaded by karlakp.

"I'm cold", he hollers.

We went on a cold Christmas Day walk through Frogner park. We were there with every Italian, Russian, French and American in Oslo. You could tell the Norwegians by the minks and the ski wear. (Mink coats are about the warmest things you can wear...they are actually sensible here, unlike in Texas, where you are really just showing off your money.) The Russians wore very tight jeans, the Italians wore the wrong shoes for this type of weather and slid on the snow, and the French, well, they just always look French, don't they? It was the coldest I have ever encountered in Norway. Not only temperature cold, but with a cutting wind that whipped the snow right into my ears and face. Usually I have no problem with the cold, or the snow, or the wind, but put them all together and damn, that was a bit much.

We had a lovely Christmas Eve meal with our friends Keith and Gilly, and I am very happy to say that my tenderloin of beef turned out GREAT thanks to the use of a new meat thermometer. I have been convinced: meat thermometers actually work and I will use one for all roasts henceforward. The meat was good, the veggies good, the potatoes took twice as long to cook as I expected and still weren't quite done to my liking, and the dessert, Tom Perini's Jack Daniel's Bread Pudding, is a heavenly, evil, decadent taste sensation that never fails to make people lick the bowl. Of course, if you don't like butter, cream and sugar, mixed with whisky, then you won't like it one bit. In which case, you should give me your portion.

Here's to a Merry Christmas. I hope you are surrounded by loved ones and if you are away from home, that you know that you are loved even if you aren't with them today.