madbaker | Holiday, Family, and Fud

We drove down the Peninsula to have dim sum with my mother. Which has been our tradition the last few years, because it gives us a defined time with a limit and avoids inviting her to our house. (Medium-length story with vitriol, not something I want to go into right now.) It was fine. She is turning 80 next year and has developed the old-woman hunch.

Xmas Eve dinner with my dad - it's good spending time with him. He wanted to go to a local Mexican restaurant where he has good memories of time with his girlfriend. We went last year on Xmas Eve and were pleasantly impressed. Unfortunately, it was closed this time; presumably the combination of Xmas Eve and Sunday was too much. We hadn't bothered to check because it was open last year. So we drove until we found something, which turned out to be an adequate pizza place. Not what we had our mouths made up for, but I promised Dad we'd visit in January and get Mexican food.

The Xmas pudding flamed beautifully and was tasty. Cheesy jokes from the crackers. A good visit.

Happy Dies Natalis Solis Invicti! We had aged boozy eggnog, popovers with salmon, and a poached egg over arugula. I am thinking about having a second cup of coffee and settling in with a book.