Ode to Caryn: New Year's Day in the Kitchen

"Do you want pie crust on your chicken pot pie, or do you want me to cover it with biscuits?"

"Biscuits," Davis replied. Stephen never had a chance to answer.

I went into the kitchen and pulled out the flour, the butter, the new dough cutter I got for Christmas. I kneaded dough while vegetables cooked on the stove. I'd just wiped flour off my forehead when Davis entered.

"I thought we were going out to eat," he said.

"What made you think that?" I flattened the dough, preparing to cut out biscuits.

"Because we haven't done anything all day but watch football."

"Oh." I  nodded, reflecting on the two online literature courses I uploaded this morning before cooking Harley burgers for Davis's lunch. I thought about the laundry I'd done before he'd gotten up (at 11:30) and the hour of aerobics I'd done this afternoon while he and his father watched the Dawgs lose the Gator bowl. I considered the the two additional syllabi I composed before stopping myself to ask what topping my nineteen year-old wanted on his pie. Yes, I could see how he'd think that added up to a bunch of nothing. "You haven't said anything about going out to eat. I'm already making chicken pot pie."

"Well, are you going to bake the biscuits first, or are you going to put them on the pie and let them bake?"

"I'll bake them first," I answered. "I've tried it the other way before, and the bottoms of the biscuits don't cook." I stirred the vegetables in the skillet to keep them from scorching.

"Oh…" He frowned and pondered my dough.

"Do you want the biscuits to bake on the pie?"

"Yes," he said, nodding vigorously. "I like them better that way."

"I'll make you a tiny pot pie like that, but I can't promise the biscuit will cook all the way."

He pointed to the skillet. "Are you going to put okra in the pie?"

"Yes."

"Oh…"More frowning. More pondering.

"You don't like okra?"

"No, not really. Could you not put okra in my pie?"

I eyed him with one brow elevated. The expression should have been self-explanatory, but still he lifted his palms to the air and asked, "What?"

"Do you talk to Caryn Dronzek that way? I hope not." I put the pan of cut biscuits in the fridge before pouring a little chicken broth into the vegetables.

"Oh, no," he said. "Caryn always asks me what I want for dinner first."

I shoved him away from the stove. "Guess what, Dorothy? You're not in Oz anymore."

I couldn't help noticing he ate two helpings of chicken pot pie at dinner. Four biscuits. But on his plate were several picked out slices of okra.

Remlerville Holidays

Remember Cindy Lou Who? The tiny tot of Whoville who convinced the old Grinch that Christmas meant much more than stuff?

She sure was cute, wasn't she?

I've been thinking about Cindy Lou a lot lately as I review all my holiday photos. Not because anybody tried to steal the Remler Christmas, but because as I browse all the photos of family gatherings and jocularity it occurs to me that the Remlers are a lot like the Whos. Especially when it comes to meals. We haven't eaten any roast beast, but we ate a lot of other roasts, and we had much fun doing so. 

Christmas Eve

JoJo and Pop Pop hosted a Christmas Eve dinner for their children and grandchildren, and everyone except the Ulmers were able to attend. Cousin Carol Ann from Tampa also traveled north to join us, so we had two tables full of siblings, cousins, and in-laws feasting on the beef tenderloin JoJo cooked for us. 

Her tables were beautiful, with each setting adorned with a musical Christmas tie for each male and a Santa hat-adorned sleigh bell for each female. We almost hated to mess up the table settings by putting food atop those dishes. But somehow we managed, and we filled ourselves better than any family in Whoville.

 Leaving no stone unturned, JoJo also accompanied

each place setting with a small flashlight in a box--

just in case the lights went out.

Fortunately, that didn't happen.

And after a satisfying Christmas Eve dinner, we all retired downstairs for the opening of gifts, the viewing of Brian Remler's fifth grade performance in the Christmas pageant, and family photos.

All the men made sure to wear their musical ties.

One Christmas treat was that Lawson agreed to have his photo taken with me.

And he smiled! Oh, joy!

The highlight of the gift exchange was Pop Pop's gift to JoJo:  a stunning diamond and emerald bracelet that would rival the star of Bethlehem. For security reasons, I won't post the photo here, but imagine the diamond and emerald bracelet you'd like to see under your tree and then multiply it by about six thousand. That was JoJo's gift. She's going to have to lift weights just to hold her arm up now. But something tells me she won't mind.

Christmas Day

The Stephen Remler family has created its own traditions over the years, and most of them have to do with food. Stephen loves to get up Christmas morning and make pigs in blankets for breakfast. We munch on them throughout the day as we open our presents:

No piggy survived the day.

And in keeping with the food theme this year, Davis and Lawson gave me a food saver, which vacuum seals just about anything to keep it fresh. As luck would have it, we had some fresh venison in the cooler outside that needed to be packed up and frozen, so part of Christmas day involved meat processing setup out by the fire pit. By sundown, I had about a dozen vacuum sealed packets of meat ready to go in the freezer.

Another form of family togetherness in the kitchen.

But that wasn't all! Lawson gave me a dough cutter, so now I can make buttery, delicious biscuits to go with our venison stew. And I'd be remiss if I overlooked my own Christmas tradition. I like to make a seven-layer salad for Christmas day. Some folks like fruitcake. Some like candy canes. I like seven-layer salad. So I munch on that throughout the day. Stephen, Davis, and Lawson are welcome to have some, and Stephen will partake of a bowl or two, but Davis and Lawson generally decline. That's fine. More for me.

Stephen stepped up to the Big Green Egg for Christmas dinner, presenting us with a beautiful boneless standing rib roast we'd bought from M&T meats. It was better than any roast beast the Grinch would have tried to steal.

Suffice it to say, nobody starved to death in our house that day.

Cork Club

Then the following Saturday, I traveled up to Atlanta to Sabra and Martin's house for her monthly cork club party. Because of the holidays, this month's theme was sparkling wine, and a house full of friends and relatives gathered around Sabra's breakfast room table to sample about, oh, a dozen bottles of various bubbly spirits.

And of course one must have food to go with wine, and Sabra had plenty, complete with a chocolate fountain!

I enjoyed visiting with my Davis/Klein family members, including Aunt Mary, Buz, and Elizabeth. And I was especially delighted to see Rhonda, my former roommate, and before that Sabra's college roommate from the University of Georgia. So cork club was a reunion in several different ways.

The nice young man on the left is David Ocampo--

Elizabeth's boyfriend. We think he's not only 

a great guy; we think he's blog-worthy!

Elizabeth is next to him, and Aunt Mary is on the right.

Roommate reunion: Sabra, Rhonda, and Nancy

Food, spirits, and fun didn't stop when the cork club meeting ended. Afterward, several of us gathered around the table for a spirited game of Smart Ass. If you've never played that game, you should. It's a hoot! Think Trivial Pursuit with donkeys.

Aunt Mary won with her lightning-fast knowledge of history, geography, and popular culture.

And I couldn't help noticing that once again, nobody starved to death! Thank heavens!

So now we begin 2014 with full tummies and anticipation of health and prosperity. Of course, the holidays aren't about the food, but somehow it seems to bring us together.

And here are some other fun photos from Christmas

Davis and Lawson smiling--Can't get enough of that!

Stephen makes pigs in blankets

JoJo poses with the guys in their ties.