Boxing Day Photo Dump

So where have I been during this foodiest of food months? Cooking like a madwoman, actually, in expectation of a Christmas guest. Days of shopping, cleaning, and cooking finally culminated in my going to Oakland Airport on Friday, December 23rd, to pick up our guest, who was expected to arrive from Los Angeles at 4pm.

Housing for people who would otherwise be unsheltered.

Downtown Oakland, looking West. If the day were clearer you would see the San Francisco Bay instead of the smudgy bright blue.

More industrial Downtown Oakland. The pandemic hit this part of the city hard.

Liberties were taken in i-photo.

Well. Perhaps you heard about the “bomb cyclone” hitting the US, dubbed Elliott, a snowstorm of gigantic proportions. I knew of it, but this was a one-hour flight within California. What could go wrong?

Never ask that question. By way of analogy, I give you the above, a shot of my husband’s lunch, cooked with a plastic bag clip, which yours truly stupidly placed on the tinfoil instead of putting it back in the drawer, where it belongs. Do not try this at home.

Silly, silly me. Four o’clock came and went. Our guest texted to inform us her flight was delayed: the crew was grounded.

In Chicago.

Downtown Oakland.

As the evening wore on, the airport grew louder with the screams of weary toddlers and their parents, who compensated for the din by shouting into their cell phones. One child of perhaps eighteen months ran around the terminal shrieking incoherently, his parents apparently oblivious.

Meanwhile, our guest’s flight vanished from the arrivals board. It was agreed I would return home.

A few hours later, our guest’s flight was cancelled for lack of crew.

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So it was a great deal of food was purchased, cooked, and will now be frozen. This is not a complaint. Below, I give you our Christmas dinner, complete with tissues and paper napkins. I could pretend such objects never grace the table, but I’d be lying.

I hope your holidays were pleasant, even enjoyable, and the weather behaved in your part of the world.

The next post promises an actual recipe.

Thank you for reading.