martinimade

But it has become comfortable to me to think that holidays mark the passing of time. That we make our families anew every year. It's no coincidence that this is the darkest time of the year and in many ways, the hardest. It's such a triumph that so many of us have such good associations.

-- Maureen McHugh on Holiday Cooking.

There's just something about this quote that resonates with me. About the making of families anew each year. Smart woman, that McHugh.

On holiday cooking -- I just got back from Hannaford's. O. My. God. Even under the best of circumstances, I'm not a big fan of grocery shopping. These are not the best of circumstances, since everyone who lives in the greater Oneonta area was in the baking aisle.

Two observations --

First, I have a fairly high tolerance for whining children. Ditto screaming children. Ditto crying children. However, there was a kid there who managed to achieve a hellish combination of all three that was truly nerve grating. You could hear said kid no matter where you were in the store. There was one point where I considered jamming a sticky bun in her mouth just to get the noise to stop. I also pondered smacking the crap out of her mom --  not that it was mom's fault but I could slap her without seeming like a total grinch, unlike if I slapped a three year old. Lordy.

Second, is there some new rule that Rachael Ray has to be on every box of crackers currently made?

Posting, naturally, will be light and sporadic over the next couple of days. And then, after x-day, we shall begin the road trip to our respective ancestral homelands. When in Rochester, I think we're going to have to get take-out from Piatza's Pizza because LJC speaks so highly of it. Then, while in da 'burgh, if time permits, I might have to go to Primanti Brothers.  Who's in?