CATHOLIC BROAD FREAKS OUT OVER X-MASS FOOD!

You know I love to cook more than a bee likes honey, more than Calvin (of Calvin & Hobbs) is a meatatarian, more than my husband likes grilled Franks with spicy mustard.   Cooking is a form of exercise for me--a habit--a passion--a sacrament. Truly, as a Catholic broad, food is part of my incarnational universe. Almost as good as the Geminid meteor shower, or, to be honest, better, because I can eat the fruits of my labors, and as far as I know, I can't eat a meteor.

So, because of certain unresolved family tensions, I offered our house as a "neutral gathering space" for our apres Christmas food, music, and love fest.  And now I am in recovery from cancer & chemo, I think I can pull this off. I want to do the best I can to help reconnect as a family, short of offering drugs, therapy dogs, or pole dancers.

I have committed to making lasagna for 10-12 so far, and a smaller vegetarian meal for my trans-son who is a vegetarian. (Smoked lentils with carmelized onions on corn tortillas?) This shouldn't be too hard, right? But I find myself waking up early in the morning (anything that starts with the number 4 is terrible), obsessing about it, or "perseverating" as I like to call it. I once knew of a woman who, when staying in hotels, would slide her fingers back and forth on the silky edge of the blanket, perseverating, and calming herself for sleep. Kids do this too. I also know of an adult thumb-sucking club, to which I do not belong, but find fascinating. Who am I to judge, as my favorite Pope so famously said? And given our terrifying country and world situation right now, taking up thumb-sucking might well be a good idea.

I asked a foodie friend for recommendations for this gathering, easy to serve and not too messy. (Maybe lasagna isn't so good in that department?)  She suggested curried chicken with rice, which sounds good, but it has more than 5 steps. Anything over 5 steps should be discarded, I think. How about scrambled eggs for one hundred? Or a deep-fried turkey on the deck? Maybe I should drive to Micky-D's and just get 12 Big Macs to go, much as our crazed president might do.

Here I am taking a small break from my Advent reflections, because I really need help.  HELPHELPHELP!!!  Please type in food suggestions in the Comment section of my blog:

sheet-pan recipes, roasted whole pigs, steamed snails from the hedgerows, anything that strikes your fancy to help an anxiety-ridden Catholic broad!

Ok, I have to add something here which is really important to so many of us. I have started, 3 days ago, "The 30-Day No Alcohol Challenge" (bk. on Amazon, I use kindle) as I need to re-evaluate my relationship with alcohol; i.e., drinking 2, sometimes a splash more, glasses of wine every damn day! Would you readers like me to post on this,my progress, and invite you go be part of it? (I know, sad to give up wine for a whole month!!!) You can do it. I can do it. Let me know your thoughts and hope the damn Comments section works.