Christmas shopped today at Housing Works Bookstore, a volunteer staffed used-and-new book store in SoHo that donates its profits to helping the homeless, and helping HIV sufferers. Haven't bought any new clothes for six months. I have enough Stuff, I have finally decided. (Okay, I actually DON'T have enough shoes. Fine. Be that way.) Asked my mom for copies of family photos, which, in our family, can be quite amusing: on Mom's side, there are usually four generations of hard-to-kill and even-harder-to-get-to-express-emotion WASPS, usually gazing in well bred stoniness at whatever new baby has been the occasion of the Photography Studio Visit. On Dad's side, there are various tintypes of kindfaced but weary-seeming Jewish men,often in shirtsleeves and bearded.And there is one terrifying photo of a woman we know only as "Binah" (pronounced "Bean-uh"), who is being photographed in her hometown of Psyczymycz [no! really! it's pronounced "Psyczymycz"). She is apparently angry that she and her fellow townspeople are too poor to avoid vowels. Honestly, the woman has, as my Dad put it, a "face like a catcher's mitt."
For generations, my father has peered apprehensively into the cradle of every new family child, and then sighed with relief, as he realized that, once again, the Binah Face had been miraculouslyy avoided.
Anyway. It was an odd night tonight. A huge full moon, so bright that every time it came out from behind a cloud, I thought I was being interrogated. The streets were filled with packs of roving, drunken santas and assorted elves. After the twenty first santa went staggering by the cafe window, I asked the person next to me, "Please, just tell me ou can see these santas too?"
"What Santas?" was her deadpan reply.
Turns out it was a Santa Pub Crawl, where people dress up like Santa and his inexplicably-mini-skirted-female-elves [apparently, the North Pole isn't as cold as we thought], and they go from bar to bar. Until, at around 2 AM, the streets are filled with staggering, puking Santas. -Well, at least now we know why his nose is "as red as a cherry". -I felt a little cheesed off by this, partly because I had to listen to a bunch of concerned parents trying to explain the "Multiple Santa" phenonomenon* to their baffled 4 year olds. I expected some streetwise NY urchin to pipe up with "Yes, I get wh the're so many, but Mom, why are they all totall PLASTERED?"

Anyway. Quiet night, at home taking care of a sick boyfriend, which consists of making coq au vin and reading him rousing 19th century poetr like "The Charge of The Light Brigade" and "The Highwaman." He's snoozing now, or perhaps faking his own death to get away from the poetry. But the Coq Au Vin was AWESOME, and here's the recipe, from Julia Child via www.elise.com/recipes. Enjoy on a cold night in front of a fireplace with an attractive boy/girl/other/honestly-I-don't-want-to-know, of your choice. If you don't have a fireplace, simply set the trash in your garbage can ablaze, and if you don't have a partner, there's always other, totally viable options, such as your pet, or Match.com, or abduction.

Enjoy!
Coq au Vin Recipe
INGREDIENTS
1/2 lb bacon slices
20 pearl onions, peeled, or 1 large yellow onion, sliced
1 chicken, 4 lb, cut into serving pieces, or 3 lbs chicken parts, excess fat trimmed, skin ON
6 garlic cloves, peeled
Salt and pepper to taste
2 cups chicken stock
2 cups red wine (pinot noir, burgundy, or zinfandel)
2 bay leaves
Several fresh thyme sprigs
Several fresh parsley sprigs
dried fines herbes, or herbes de provence (optional)
1/2 lb button mushrooms, trimmed and roughly chopped
1/2 cup dried mushrooms, soaked in 1/4 cup hot water for twnty minutes
3 tblspoons brown sugar, if desired
2 Tbsp butter
Chopped fresh parsley for garnish
METHOD
1 Blanch the bacon to remove some of its saltiness. Drop the bacon into a saucepan of cold water, covered by a couple of inches. Bring to a boil, simmer for 5 minutes, drain. Rinse in cold water, pat dry with paper towels. Cut the bacon into 1 inch by 1/4 inch pieces.
2 Brown bacon on medium high heat in a dutch oven big enough to hold the chicken, about 10 minutes. Remove the cooked bacon, set aside. Keep the bacon fat in the pan. Add onions and chicken, skin side down. Brown the chicken well, on all sides, about 10 minutes. Halfway through the browning, add the garlic and sprinkle the chicken with salt and pepper. (Note: it is best to add salt while cooking, not just at the very end. It brings out the flavor of the chicken.)
3 Spoon off any excess fat. Add the chicken stock, wine, and herbs. Add back the bacon. Lower heat to a simmer. Cover and cook for 20 minutes, or until chicken is tender and cooked through. Remove chicken and onions to a separate platter. Remove the bay leaves, herb sprigs, garlic, and discard.
4 Add mushrooms to the remaining liquid and turn the heat to high. Boil quickly and reduce the liquid by three fourths until it becomes thick and saucy. Lower the heat, stir in the butter. Return the chicken and onions to the pan to reheat and coat with sauce. Adjust seasoning. Garnish with parsley and serve.
Serves 4. Serve with potatoes or over egg noodles.
Love
peri