I like the spirit of Christmas, the getting together and the exchange of gifts, especially for kids. Christmas for children is a magical experience, a time they wait for all year long, making a list of what they want and hoping to get it.
It is not so much like that for me, it’s not like I can make a list of “what I want”. If I want something I probably already bought it, and if I can’t afford it why do I want it anyway.
Come Christmas, I am lucky to be surrounded by people who love me and want to give me presents, yet, I don’t want anything. Do I really want another “scented candle” (just an example), it’s just stuff that will accumulate in my house. I really don’t have a need for anything specific. Similarly, I don’t want to be thinking what to get people. Again I would be getting them a scented candle, or a mug, or something like that. Just a waste of time and money, they probably don’t need it anyway and, although I’m sure they would appreciate the gift and the thought, it is not absolutely indispensable.
So this year I have decided to make a donation to a charity close to my heart, the amount of money I would have spent looking for and buying gifts is now going to a good cause.

Daniella and Maria
Originally uploaded by Maria in Toronto.

Loyal readers may remember Daniella, who moved to Toronto a couple of years ago to pursue her PhD at U of T (she has a blog here: cuatro sentidos -it’s in Spanish, though). She came with a seeing-eye dog, Roger. After years of loyal service and companionship, Roger died unexpectedly in August. Since then, I have learned how difficult and expensive is to get a guide dog for a disabled person. Luckily, charities exist that are completely dedicated to that, and the blind/disabled person does not pay to acquire the dog (they have to take charge of all maintaining expenses and veterinary fees, though).
That is why I decided to give my donation to Canadian Guide Dogs for the Blind, a registered charity that does not have the marketing power of World Vision, The Salvation Army or the United Way (not that these are non-worthy causes or anything).
There will be no Christmas gifts for absolutely anyone this year (I know, it sounds like a Seinfeld episode, George Costanza tried to pull off a scam like this, but I assure you it’s for real). I also am inviting everyone to give a donation to Canadian Guide Dogs for the Blind, or to any other charity close to their heart. In this world of materialism and consumerism we do not need more “stuff”.
There will be no “gifts” this Christmas.

We were all celebrating Blamb and Amber’s wedding and it was time to cut the cake.

Blamb: We should both cut the cake at the same time to stay in touch with tradition.

Amber: But what is tradition? and why should we eat cake? What if we’re on a diet?

Maria: Unfortunately I cannot have any cake, I can admire it, but I can’t taste it. It looks good, though, you should just go with tradition and cut it. I want to see how good it looks.

Blamb: If we freeze a piece of the cake, we could eat it on our first anniversary.
Amber: Oh, we should have ordered fruitcake, we would probably be able to keep that forever as a memento of this, our special day.

Amber: Here you go, my beloved, the cake looks delicious.

Maria: Speaking about wedding traditions, what about throwing the bouquet? You know the unmarried woman who catches the bouquet will be the next to wed.

Maria: Oh, I know. Amber, I will give you twenty dollars and you will make sure I catch the bouquet. This will ensure that I am the next one to wed among all these single women attending the party.
Amber: Oh, no, no, no. I couldn’t possibly cheat like that… Ah well, twenty dollars is twenty dollars, give it to me!

Amber throws the bouquet, and Maria catches it.
Maria: Oh my god, oh my god, I caught it, I caught it. The twenty dollars paid off. Now I’ll be the next one to wed. FINALLY!

At the end, everyone had a great time eating, dancing and congratulating the happy couple.

Congratulations to Amber and Brett!!

The complete set of pictures can be found at:
Brett and Amber’s wedding

On weekends, we usually make the time for bigger breakfasts, almost brunch I should say.
I usually make everything from scratch, except for the tortillas, I buy those in St. Lawrence Market.
Last week we had chilaquiles.

I made the sauce with pasilla chiles (dry chiles, I bought those in St. Lawrence Market as well), tomatoes, onion, garlic and cilantro. The chips were Que Pasa unsalted tortilla chips. We ate them with a side of sunny-side-up fried eggs and pinto beans.

This morning we had enchiladas.

The enchiladas had tomatillo sauce (with green chile, onion, garlic and cilantro), they were filled with corn nibblets and served with fried eggs, avocado and refried beans.

These are all vegetarian and they would be even better with sour cream and crumbled cheese (NOT cheddar, there is no cheddar in Mexican food), but when you’re allergic to dairy you have to make some sacrifices. Ah well.

This post has been cross-posted with Garlicster.

Last week I got an email notifying me about the Joy of Cooking and its new website, The Joy Kitchen. My mother used to have The Joy of Cooking and I used to consult it a lot in my early days of learning how to cook.

The Joy of Cooking is celebrating is 75th anniversary (in 2006, actually) and it is credited to Irma S. Rombauer (the original author), Marion Rombauer Becker (her daughter), and Ethan Becker (their grandson and son, respectively).
It is Ethan Becker who took care of this latest edition includes a note from Julia Child dated 2004, who was consulted as an authority for this revision and helped with the revisions. A letter from Ethan Becker dated 2006 explains all this and also tells about the sampling of the recipes, the work it took to bring this 75th anniversary edition to print, etc.
I do not have my mom’s edition with me to compare, and I don’t remember exactly what it included, but this edition has a lot of helpful information and ideas, including A History of the Joy of Cooking by Anne Mendelson. Apparently the first instruction that the original Joy included was to stand facing the stove and that’s how Anne Mendelson named her book published in 2003. It is an appropriate addition to this edition of Joy.

The book also includes information about nutrition, and an explanation of the Nutrition Facts sticker and how to read food labels. I’m pretty sure this is something recent in the book, since the inclusion of food labels and nutrition facts is quite recent (definitely less than 75 years).
It also includes a heading about vegetarian diets. Too bad it says “in the United States, some vegetarians happily eat chicken, fish, eggs, and dairy products”, ah well, people who eat chicken and fish are definitely not vegetarian, they may not eat red meat but they should not label themselves vegetarian. Too bad a misconception like this is included in such an important book.

There is a section about entertaining, including details that go beyond the menu, such as table decor, table setting, seating, etc. It also includes suggested menus for holidays, special occasions, 30 minute recipes, etc. All with recipes that can be found in the book. A suggested menu for a vegetarian event includes:

• White bean dip with rosemary and garlic
• Tuscan bread and tomato soup
• Gazpacho
• Mushroom barley soup
• Wonton soup

There are, of course, lots of other recipes for vegetarian dishes throughout the book.

The beverages menu has section has a great explanation about coffee and different types of coffee pots, including recipes for different types of coffee beverages. The section also includes explanations for juices, punches, and other soft drinks. But, and this is what is super exciting, there is a section for wine and beer, and a section for cocktails and party drinks. No more fiddling around to find the perfect margarita or martini recipe, everything is clearly explained with measurements and everything.

This is the most complete cooking book you’ll ever find, and what better than getting this new updated edition instead of going back to your mom’s recipe books. It is published by Simon & Schuster and retails for $35 in the US and $39.99 in Canada. Definitely an investment worth making.

On a further note, I am proud to say that they spell “portobello” for the mushrooms, which is how I’ve been spelling it all along. And if such an authority in cooking spells it like that, I very well take it that such is the correct spelling.

OK, after 1 year of on and off knitting, I finally finished the front and back of the “Hooded Cabled Tank” pattern #35 on Vogue Knitting Fall 2007. I believe the pattern is incomplete. It explains how to make the hood and that’s where it ends. It says nothing about the ribbing around the slits on the side and around the armholes. But the picture shows it. I googled and looked at the corrections on Vogue Knitting’s website and I couldn’t find anything. I guess I’m going to have to figure it out myself, maybe pick up and knit for that ribbing. Too bad there’s not a more detailed picture of the top so I can see how to do the sides.