This year I decided to contribute to a Toys for Joys event for kids. Each person was responsible for bringing 3 gifts for 3 different age groups of kids when he/she attended a gala. I ordered mine online but due to the snow storm, two of them couldn’t be shipped on time for the event. I had to stop by the Target store on Fridays night after skating to get the gifts for the Saturday night event. A box of Lego and a football should do the job. Fortunately, a teddy bear I bought online was shipped on time. I almost kept the bear to myself. It’s really cute. 🙂 The event was great but the drive home was a nightmare. The event was held on a snow storm evening. It was nice canceled so I determined to bring the gifts to the event. After the event, it took my close to 2.5 hours to drive home instead of typical 1 hour. And several times, the skip signal of my car was fleshing like fire. My car was also stuck at a couple of spots when no one was around. Fortunately, I managed to get the car going, and arrived home safe and sound. Although it’s a good cause, under this kind of weather condition, I won’t attend it again. Safety first!
Jeffrey, who is friend of mine and an opera singer had a Christmas concert at a church in Wakefield, MA. He has showed me some videos of his performance for an opera company in Hong Kong, and sent me a audio of him singing Happy Birthday for my birthday last year – a very special gift. So I went and enjoyed the performance by the New England Tenors. I have to say that he was the best singer out of the 3 tenors. Wonderful quality, great volume, and excellent technique. I got to day hello before the concert and took care of a late night dinner with him for offering me a free ticket to the event. I was glad to hear him sing in person finally.
Since Sharon, Dennis, Darren, and Kyle hosted the Thanksgiving dinner, I thought it would be appropriate for me to host the Christmas dinner for them this year! My friend Tim also got to join in. I was going to cook lamb shanks but it was not a preference for the guests. I then decided to cook pork shanks, the Oktoberfest style. However, I couldn’t get pork hocks to cook it. With the recommendation from the butcher, I got a big piece of pork with the skin on. When I paid for it, I asked what cut of the meat it. It turned out that it’s part of the meat near the pork butt. I told the butcher “So, I am having pork butt for Christmas.” He returned “I guess so.” Before I walked out of the shop, he said “Merry Christmas and enjoy your butt!” I said “I will!” That got me laughing all the way home. Well, the pork butt didn’t disappoint my guest. They seem to enjoy it. You won’t believe how many jokes they come up with for the butt that night. The pork butt was roasted and served with all kinds of roasted vegetables, including truffle oil roasted finagling potatoes. We also had mixed cured meat for appetizer, rocket salad with grapes and dried blueberries, and a tea pot soup before the butt was served. The dinner ended with a black and white cake. I think I did all right with the Christmas dinner. Especially, with the company of my wonderful guests.
Happy holidays!
