after Xmas

My last two posts were about my Xmas eve (transporting the kitties from hell) and then Xmas day (forging for food in a casino buffet). So before it gets to be February, let me finish up my holiday tales.
I flew home a couple of days after Xmas. My sister Carolyn arranged for us to have a post-Xmas get together at her house. All my siblings were there except for the Arizona family, Jeannie and Carl. But they were there in spirit.
Several months ago, I started working on what I consider a special Xmas birthday present for my Mom. So thank God we had the family get together so I could give her this present. I've almost been in pain trying to keep this "secret" from her, so it was a relief to get it out in the open. Mom loves to watch Paula Deen on the Food Network Channel. I thought this was rather odd, since Mom's idea of cooking is making her coffee every morning, and pouring milk over her cereal. But then I started watching Paula, and understood. The woman is a riot! And not only funny, but she and Mom share a lot of the same beliefs. Paula believes that it's diet food if it doesn't contain a pound of butter. And being southern, a lot of her recipes involve frying. Anyway, I found out that Ms. Paula Deen was doing a cruise in April. Not only do you get to cruise to a bunch of islands in the Carribean, but Paula will be doing cooking classes and authograph parties and a Southern BBQ. So I signed Mom and me up for that. April 2, we leave out of Ft. Lauderdale for a week on the high seas. Maybe by then, I will have learned how to add pictures to this blog.
Oh, the other thing about the family get together is that I supplied dessert. No, I haven't changed my ways and started cooking. But maybe that would have been easier. Instead, I hand carried a pan of white chocolate bread pudding through three airports and three security check-ins. I had ordered this delicacy from a restrauant in Covington, about 20 miles from me. They told me that this pan would serve 18 people. I really intend to go back and ask them if that meant 18 people who happen to play on the front line of a NFL team. That pan weighed at least 20 pounds. And that's not including the chocolate sauce that I also had to transport. At last count, I think at least 30 servings had been cut from that pan. But it was worth every grunt as I heaved that bag over my head into the bin over the airplane seat. I will miss some of the food I have discovered in Louisiana. But that's another blog.