Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Festival Celebrations Notes, Pictures and Recipes

Gordon made an excellent post about having one's own festival of festivals and I decided, why not!

Agonalia – December 11
My sacrifice came in the form of continuing to work to reorganize our condo so that I will have an easier time crafting and working on putting together our office in Spare Oom. I put together a new centerpiece on our living room table - green/gold taffeta (cha-ching!), gold yarn balls in a trifle dish, green crystals and small bits of metal with words like "love" and "inspiration" on them. I also spoke extensively to my crafting partner about starting to go to shows, etc.

The Feast of the Virgin of Guadalupe - December 12
The Lady of Guadalupe has been v. kind to myself and my family and I wanted to show my appreciation to her for all the kindness she's shown me. So I got her a bouquet of flowers in whites and blue-purples with a blue cloth wrapped around them. I also gave her a small chocolate cake and lit her candle and said a Hail Mary and read her psalm and gave thanks.

Longest Night - December 13
When I think longest night, I will confess, I think of Kushiel's which means I think of alternate history France, Terre d'Ange where they would have sexy naughty parties to celebrate, while toasting to the Longest Night with tiny cups of joie. Which sounds exactly how I want to celebrate! It's also Jow's birthday. Since money has been a bit tight this year for everyone, my friend who was going to have a Longest Night Masque had to cancel. We made a menu of French inspired food that also has bright sunny flavors and lit a lot of tealights in the living room. We also decided to watch an old movie that took place in France. Jow and I decided celebrate anyway. The author has gone on record saying that St. Germain is the closest equivalent to joie. I had never had St. Germain before, but I got to try it in a cocktail recently. We started with a straight shot of it to toast the Longest Night and it was like drinking delicious flowers. Our bottle happened to be unreasonably difficult to open, but we eventually managed it.

Appetizer: Lemon-Thyme Ricotta Appetizer

1 cup part skim ricotta
8 sprigs of thyme, leaves only
1/2 lemon, juiced and zested
1 tablespoon honey
bag of bruscetta toast
salt and pepper to taste

Mix all the ingredients together except the toasts. Microwave for 1 minute. Put on toasts.

Cocktail: French Greyhound

2 pink grapefruits, juiced
12 counts vodka
6 counts St. Germaine

Mix together in a pitcher. Serve chilled, in martini glasses. Makes . . .8 cocktails? That part is admittedly a little blurry.

Dinner: Ribbon Pasta in a Pistou Sauce with Sausage

1 package egg ribbon pasta
2 bunches basil
2 vine ripe tomatoes, deseeded
4 cloves garlic
1/4 pound good gouda (I recommend 5 year)
1/2 lemon, juiced
3 capfuls of olive oil
Salt and Pepper
1 pack Chicken Andouille Sausage

Put the basil, tomatoes, garlic, olive oil, gouda, lemon and salt and pepper into a food processor and pulse until it's at a pesto consistency. Grill the sausage on a Foreman grill and cut into pieces. Make the ribbon noodles according to the package. Drain. Mix the pistou together with the pasta and sausage. Serve.

By now, if you're doing things correctly, you are likely v. drunk.

Dessert: Sugar Cookies with Lemon Curd

1 package of soft baked sugar cookies
3 tablespoons of lemon curd

Put the lemon curd in a ramekin. Dip the cookies which came made in the package into the lemon curd. Nom!

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