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Funny how Christmas comes and goes. Christmas Lite begins the day after Halloween, which is when the stores start putting out the Christmas displays, and there aren't 12 days of Christmas but usually at least 30, the first actual day of Christmas being the day after Thanksgiving. And yet for as the long as the Christmas season is, I invariably find myself wondering on the night of December 25th how Christmas Day could have come so quickly and be over so soon. And now, as usual, I find myself musing over some of the random small, warm moments that made the season twinkle:
 ...but oh, what it seemed to be.  The Wednesday before Christmas when the Panera Posse met at my house, bearing gifts of yummyness to share, some too beautiful to eat,   ...but of course we scarfed them down way. From friends and neighbors gifts of home-made cookies and fudge, and a beautiful fruit basket,  ...and the trays of cookies I likewise delivered.   ...having some music, 
 ...eating Christmas dinner at the Iron Chef Japanese Steak House. 
 ...and fun.  At the bar there was a TV on which we saw a wonderful Apple commercial with a lonely Frankenstein who sings "There's No Place Like Home For The Holidays". If you haven't seen it yet you really should check it out, it'll tug at your heart and make you smile. 
The day after Christmas I headed out to the Columbus airport.  Seasons greetings to all from Los Angeles! 
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This year we celebrated Christmas Eve as we traditionally do, feasting and singing carols with family and neighbors and lighting up our street with Christmas luminaries. The preparations for Christmas Eve always start for me weeks in advance with planning and cooking and freezing some items, like the stuffed mushrooms,    …and the cookies.     And, of course, there’s the decorating, inside and outside, each decoration and light set in the places where they always go. To this end I take photos every year of where everything goes so I won’t have to try and remember the following year.              Our cat Lucy photo-bombing my shot. 
 ...and more advance cooking and baking. When Christmas Eve finally rolled around it was all hands on deck for cleaning the house,   ...putting together the luminaries, which are made from votive candles in baby food jars placed inside 1/2 gallon plastic milk jugs - saved all year long - each with a hole cut in the front, 
 ...fixing the food,  
   ...and waiting for the guests to arrive, which they did at 7 pm. We had been planning on 24 adults and kids, but in the days before Christmas Eve, one by one the numbers dwindled - sickness, changes in family plans, etc - until we were down to seven family members and three neighbors. I was afraid with so few of us the party might not, you know, pop; but in fact the ten of us ended up seeming like the perfect amount of people and we all really had a great time eating,  ...chatting around the kitchen table and catching up on the latest gossip around the 'hood, 
 ...while the others sang Christmas and Chanukah songs around the piano.  We sang the holiday songs for a while then people began making requests: "Amazing Grace," "Hallelujah", some of the old church songs like "Peace Is Flowing Like A River", "And I Will Raise You Up", and "Speak To Me", and some pop ballads, among them "Dock Of The Bay" and "Midnight Double Feature Picture show". People found the words to the songs on their I-phones and used them to sing along while I played.
I was grateful to be in a house filled with singing on Christmas Eve, and also grateful that most songs use the same five chords. Happy Holidays to All! Columbus, Columbus, it's a wonderful town. Seems the longer I live here the more I appreciate it. There's always some gem to discover or re-discover, especially at Christmastime.
 In 2010 The Columbus Metropolitan Library was ranked the number one library system in the United States by, well, whatever outfit gets to say whose library is number one.  But even if we're not number one anymore, our Main Library is still a beautiful place,      ...especially now that it's all decked out for the holidays with a miniature train display,  ...which offers a "Can You Find?" activity, 
 We all also enjoyed visiting the Children's section, which has two entrances, one for big folks and one for little folks,  ...on the other side of which can be found a wonderful and accessible world of books,  ...as well as other delightful and educational activities for little ones,   ...in a light, bright, open space.  Another Columbus icon we recently hit was my favorite eatery, The Spaghetti Warehouse, by me a great place anytime,   ...but at its best when all done up for the holidays.     And I have to give a shout-out to the staff of the Spaghetti Warehouse who are always so over-the-top friendly and accommodating. I once read (online) that the best Christmas lights display in the USA can be found at the outdooor Christkindlmarket in Chicago. Well, I've been to the Chicago Christkindlmarket and, while I wouldn't disparage that display, I'm willing to put it out there that our Christmas display at Easton Town Center in Columbus is an even more beautiful holiday wonderland,  ...inside the mall,   
         There's no place like Columbus for the holidays. Question: Prior to November 9, 2016, when is the last time you gave any serious thought to the Electoral College? When, in the 240 years since the birth of our country, did the vote of the Electoral College register one way or the other to most Americans? When did this vote, in most of our minds, mean anything more than a formality that was carried out as part of our national tradition? After what past election was the whole country anxiously aware of the exact day, the exact time that the members of the Electoral College would be voting? Who would have imagined in the history of this country that the day would come when millions of Americans would turn in fear and desperation to the members of the Electoral College to beseech them to refuse to vote for the person who was declared, according to the rules that govern our elections, President of the United States? Who would have imagined fraught Americans pinning a Hail Mary hope-against-hope on the members of the Electoral College to save them from their future president? But of course the Electoral College isn't going to save us from Donald Trump. It never was going to. The Electoral College is what made Donald Trump's presidency possible, not the votes of the American people, who chose his opponent over him by a margin of almost 3 million votes. And so now the results of this election, debatable as they may well be, tainted as they may well have been by interference from a hostile foreign power, are not going to be disputed by The Electoral College but affirmed by it. Because the job of The Electoral College is and has always been to finalize the outcome of the election process, whatever that outcome may be. Theoretically the members of the Electoral College have the power to deny the presidency to someone who has given every indication that he will be a deleterious, possibly dangerous leader. But few if any electors would be inclined to upset the established order, and so events will simply have to play out and history will march on, as it always does. And we'll all see.  ...Continued from yesterday: A note on that pecan pie from the post from 12/12/2016 : Though it was my first attempt at a home-made pecan pie, and not a difficult endeavor at that, this was the best pecan pie I've ever tasted - and I've tasted quite a few, though now that I think of it, I'm not sure I've ever had pecan pie that wasn't either store- or restaurant- bought.  But the filling of this pie was so smooth and mellow and at the same time so pecan-y that it was definitely a cut above all my previous pecan pie experiences; and if you, too, happen to be a pecan pie aficionado I highly recommend trying this super-easy recipe. To that end, I'll re-share the recipe as I prepared it (I strayed ever so slightly from the original recipe) for anyone who might want to try it: 
Anyway, on Saturday afternoon while we finished making - and sampling - the pies (see posts from 12/12 and 12/15), a light snow began falling,  ...which by dinner time had escalated into a standard Chicago snow storm, but which didn't keep us from venturing out,   ...to a small nearby restaurant called Township, where the lighting was low, 
 ...and the burgers with aioli sauce fantastic. 
 After dinner we walked back to Claire and Miguel's through the lovely city snow scene.  We had a farewell round of pie and said our good-byes then Tom and I walked back to the Urban Holiday Hostel,  
  
  
 ...from where we were treated to a view of the city.   Then we said good-bye to the Urban Holiday Lofts, 
 
 ...which took us back home to Columbus.  ...Continued from yesterday: On Saturday morning Tom and I walked from our hostel back over the 606 walking path (see post from 12/10/2016),  ...to Logan Square to pick up Claire and Miguel, then we all headed back to The Cozy Corner (see yesterday's post) for breakfast.    Though the Cozy Corner had been quiet and not too busy the previous morning when Claire and I went there, on Saturday morning the place appeared to be where all of Chicago met for breakfast. But we took our number and found a spot to squeeze in - cozy indeed - among the crowd. Still, inspite of all the bodies waiting for a table we didn't wait overly long for ours thanks to maitre de who ran the seating with the efficiency of a military operation and the quick, efficient wait staff who zipped through the crowds with trays of food then to and fro throughout the restaurant like a hive of busy bees. I also imagined an army of cooks toiling away back in the kitchen. We were seated within about fifteen minutes, and the food, which arrived also without much waiting, was as good as it had been the day before, including those glorious has browns. 
After breakfast we walked back to Claire and Miguel's house - thank goodness for all the walking which hopefully helped mitigate all the eating - from where we drove - that is, Miguel drove us - to our next destination, the Swap-O-Rama.
...where one can find all sorts of interesting things,     
However we had come to the Swap-O-Rama in search of something specific: Nacimiento figurines. A Nacimiento is a traditional Mexican nativity scene which typically includes a variety of human and animal figurines set in a miniature environment that can include plants, structures, and bodies of imaginary or real water.
Claire and Miguel have been adding to their Nacimiento collection over the years and wanted to pick up a few more figurines at the Swap-O-Rama, which has a number of shops that offer a wide selection of Nacimiento figurines of all sizes.   
... and so did I, having decided to start a Nacimiento of my own. After we'd made our purchases from the Swap-O-Rama we drove back to Claire and Miguel's place.
They were some memorably good pies. And we all did indeed forget the world's troubles for a while.
To be continued... ...Continued from yesterday: When we arrived back at Claire’s house with our pie supplies I jumped into making first the cherry almond streusel pie,  …then when that pie was done,  …I asked Claire to pull up the recipe she’d found online for pecan pie. I noticed the name of that pie was Epicurean Pecan pie and that the total preparation time was listed at 5 hours. Somehow I had the feeling that this wasn’t the recipe for me, a feeling that was affirmed when I read the instructions, which called for the clarifying of butter and a slew of pots and pans – which would have to be washed afterwards- in the preparation. I had a hunch there must be an easier pecan pie recipe. I asked Claire if she had a cookbook kicking around somewhere or, I wondered, do youngsters get all their culinary training online these days? But no, Claire did have a cookbook collection which she showed me. I found a book called something like “Easy-fix and enjoy”, which was what I had in mind, and which, sure enough, offered a blessedly easy pecan pie recipe,  ….which I followed,   …and which produced a most lovely-looking pecan pie.  Alas, it would be the next day before I got to taste the results of this day’s labor,  …nor did I get the apple pie made that day since by the time pies number one and two were finished there wouldn’t have been time to finish pie number three before dinner. After Miguel arrived home from work and Tom from his visit to his friend we set out for dinner at our favorite Chicago pizzeria,  ...Pizano's.  ...which is always cheerfully decorated at Christmastime.     We started off with an order of super-yummy garlic-mozzarella bread to share,  ...then moved on to the pieces de resistance, a couple of those incomparable Pizano's pizzas, one pineapple and cheese,  ...and one half cheese-half pepperoni  There's always something about that first bite of a Pizano's pizza that makes your whole mouth light up as you taste buds spring to attention. The sauce is so over-the-top tasty and the crust is, well different. Crustier than you're used to pizza crust being. It's a truly phenomenal combination.  Tom, not a great pizza fan, not even of such sublime pizza as Pizano's, ordered spaghetti with meat sauce, which he declared delicious.  We spent so much time enjoying the ambiance - and the food - at Pizano's  ... that by the time we left the restaurant it was late and Tom and I were too tired to head back to Claire and Miguel's for pie, so we told Claire and Miguel to go home and try the pie for us and we headed back to the Urban Holiday Hostel.
We still had one more day left in Chicago to taste our pies and make another. To be continued... I’m not exactly sure where it came from – I think maybe Tom made it up – but we have a sort of ritual in our family that goes with the serving up of pie; that is, whenever a pie is set upon the table for dessert somebody invariably declaims: “In time of trouble: Pie!” Of course if pie were actually the remedy for troubled times, then what the world would really need now would be pie, sweet pie. And lots of it. But then even if it doesn't end up solving any of our current national and global worries, what’s not to like about a slice of good pie even in the worst of times? And so I suggested that during our visit to Chicago I make a pie to cheer us all up during these troubled times. The consensus was that this would be a splendid idea, especially if the pie were everybody’s favorite, Cherry Almond Streusel Pie,  ...the recipe for which can be found in several previous posts, but which I’ll re-post here for the sake of anyone else who might be needing some good pie to help them cope: Cherry Almond Streusel Pie The Pie: 2 cans of tart red cherries. 2 tablespoons of quick-cooking tapioca 1 cup sugar 1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon 1 9-inch unbaked refrigerated roll-out pie crust The Streusel: 1/2 cup butter or margarine 1/2 cup brown sugar 3/4 cup flour 1/2 cup slivered almonds Mix the cherries and their juices with the tapioca, sugar, and cinnamon. Let stand for 15 minutes. Mix the flour and brown sugar then cut the butter into the flour and sugar until the mixture is crumbly. Mix in the almonds. Roll out the pie crust, place it in a 9-inch pie pan and spread the cherry mixture into the pie crust. Spoon the streusel mixture over the cherries. Bake at 375 for 45-50 minutes, until the filling is bubbly and topping well-browned. Since in times past I’d not succeeded in finding canned tart cherries in any of the supermarkets in Claire and Miguel’s neighborhood, this time I brought the cherries with me from Columbus and also a box of Minute Tapioca just in case that item likewise proved elusive. I figured we could find the rest of the ingredients locally. So on Friday morning pie-baking was on the agenda. Right after breakfast. As Miguel had to work and Tom was spending the day visiting a friend in a Chicago suburb, Claire walked from her place in Logan Square to pick me up at The Urban Holiday Lofts,  …then we walked back to Logan Square,     …until we arrived at the restaurant that Claire had picked out for breakfast, which turned out to be closed. But we’d passed another place along the way called The Cozy Corner that Claire had never been to, but which looked promising,  …not to mention confident of its quality.  It was, in fact, a cozy place,  
 The staff was friendly, the service good, and the food great. The French Toast and pancakes were the fluffiest,   …though especially praiseworthy were the hash browns. I’ve had manys the great breakfast potato of the sliced or chunky variety, but it’s rare to come across really good hash browns. These were some great hash browns. 
 …. that we decided to bring Miguel and Tom back the following morning. After our very satisfying and gratifying breakfast we walked back to Claire’s house,  …to drop off the canned cherries and tapioca that Claire had been schlepping for me since we left the the hostel.  Along the way we passed: ...a little tree for which some caring Chicagoan had knitted a scarf,  …a moonscape on a building, 
 ...and inside.   After we dropped off the cherries and tapioca and said hello to Sassy,   …we headed back out to pick up the rest of the pie ingredients at a nearby Mexican supermarket, where the walls were painted to look like a hacienda.   Rather than make a pie crust from scratch - which I can do like ringin’ a bell – I wanted to buy a package of Pillsbury pre-made pie crusts to save time. But doing so presents the dilemma of there being two crusts per package and only one crust is needed for a Cherry Almond Streusel Pie. So I suggested that I also make an apple streusel pie to use up the second crust.
Claire liked the idea of having an apple pie as well, but admitted that she’d prefer a regular two-crust apple pie. This meant that we’d have to buy a second package of pie crusts for the apple pie, which would bring us back at where we started, still with an extra crust. To solve the recurring quandary of the extra pie crust I suggested that I make one more one-cruster, maybe a pumpkin or pecan pie. Claire immediately cast her vote for a pecan pie, so pecan pie it was to be. The only snag was that I’d never made a pecan pie before and so knew neither how such a pie was made nor which ingredients we needed to purchase. But that problem was easily solved when Claire pulled out her phone and pulled up a pecan pie recipe from online, from which we learned that the only additional ingredients we’d need to buy were pecans and light corn syrup. Our shopping done, we headed back home laden with the necessary provisions to bake not one, but three pies. But it was all right. We’re living in times of extraordinary worry and anxiety. These are definitely three-pie times. To be continued… …Continued from yesterday: After the 7-hour Megabus trip from Columbus, through western Ohio,  ...and Indiana,  …including my favorite leg of the trip, through the Indiana wind farms,  ...that always remind me of graceful ballerinas or acrobats,  ...we arrived at our terminus in downtown Chicago from where we rolled our luggage to the Clinton Street el (as Chicagoans call their elevated/underground city train),  ...and then took the el to the Damen stop in the Wicker Park neighborhood,  ...from where we walked through the neighborhood,    ...to the hostel where we stayed during our visit, The Urban Holiday Lofts. 
 ...in truth, the IHSP has been progressively more run-down and less well-kept on each of our last few visits, and the WIFI was always terrible, so we decided to try someplace new. And we're glad we did. The Urban Holiday Lofts is located in Wicker Park on Wabansia Street,  ...next door to a beautiful little grocery store called Olivia's.  And even though we did really like the place, as soon as we stepped into the hostel it became clear to us that this may not be an ideal refuge for the terribly out of shape,  ...or those with a fear of heights. View from the top floor, where our room was. 
 ...where we checked in and made the acquaintance of our friendly, helpful concierge, Ian. 
 Our room had super-sized, super-comfy, super-clean bunk-beds (Tom gallantly took the top bunk, though the bottom was plenty wide enough for two),  ....a brick wall, a desk, a nice view of the city, 
 The communal bathrooms out in the hall were also nice and clean,   This one even had a fancy sink  After we settled in we took a once around the hostel.   The day room was on our floor.     After our tour and a brief rest we put on our under armor - it was Chicago-in-December-freezing the whole time we were there - and headed back outside and began walking towards Logan Square, a neighborhood about a mile from Wicker Park, where our daughter Claire lives. The plan was that we'd start walking towards Logan Square and Claire would start walking towards Wicker Park and we'd meet somewhere around the middle. Which we did. Along the way we walked the 606, an old, out-of-use elevated train line that has been transformed into a wonderful walking path,     While on the 606 we met up with Claire, who took us to a cute, funky, low-lit little local restaurant, called The Handle Bar,  ...where Miguel met up with us.  Though the service was good and our meals attractively plated, the food got mixed reviews. Claire ordered a vegetarian dish called The Green Meanie that she really liked, and she especially liked her side of creamy mac and cheese,  ...and I was likewise very happy my tasty tuna steak sandwich with hot, crispy fries. 
 ...and Miguel found his pasta carbonara a little on the bland side.  After dinner Miguel and Claire pointed Tom and I in the direction of our hostel, then they walked their way and we walked ours, back to our room at the Urban Holiday Lofts where I discovered to my surprise and delight that the WIFI was great!  To be continued...
It seems I always appreciate downtown Columbus the most when I'm about to leave it. This is probably because these days about the only time I ever spend any time walking around -and subsequently appreciating - downtown Columbus is when I'm about to leave Columbus for Chicago via the Megabus, which departs from downtown Columbus.  Yesterday, Thursday, Tom and I once again found ourselves perambulating through downtown Columbus to catch the Megabus for our customary pre-Christmas trip to Chicago to visit our daughter Claire and her husband Miguel. As always, this trip began when we stepped out our front door at 7:35 am and started off down the street rolling our luggage behind us through our now tree-decimated but road-widened neighborhood (see post from 7/21/2015, "Good-Bye, Trees"). How our walk down Hamilton Road to the bus stop looked in December of 2014:  ...and in December of 2016. 
  ...and at the stop at Hamilton and Broad in Whitehall where we transfer to catch the Broad Street bus to downtown, directly behind which bus stop - FYI to the local thrifting aficcionados out there - is located one of the very best thrift stores in Columbus.   When we arrived downtown the streets were already busy and decked out for the holidays.   We made our way to our usual spot for catching breakfast before catching the Megabus, the Einstein Bagels across from the Ohio Statehouse, which was crowded with folks who appeared to be getting ready for their work day.  
 After our breakfast of yummy Einstein Brothers’ bagels we left all the working folks behind and walked several blocks,  ...taking in the scenery along the way,           
 We boarded and were soon our way to Chicago with our fellow travelers, having a final look at the city from the bus windows.     And as we left Columbus I was reminded, once again, how much I like this town. View from the glass roof of the Megabus.  To be continued...
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"Tropical Depression"
by Patti Liszkay Buy it on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BTPN7NYY 
"Equal And Opposite Reactions"
by Patti Liszkay Buy it on Amazon: http://amzn.to/2xvcgRa or from The Book Loft of German Village, Columbus, Ohio 
Or check it out at the Columbus Metropolitan Library
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