Countdown ...

Whew! For a moment there, I was worried. I thought he eated Sandy Claws. Now I can assure Ralph his Christmas stocking will be filled as usual.

Okay. He doesn't really have a Christmas stocking. What he has is selected bits of turkey, hand delivered. It's easier to wash my hands than to wash a stocking. Thankfully, Ralph doesn't stand on ceremony when it comes to food.

It's getting to be count-down time around here. Youngest dotter Patti and family -- plus a friend who will not be going home for Christmas -- will all arrive here Christmas Day for food and festivities. Patti and I have been having phone conferences to determine who gets to cook what. They're going to do the turkey and I'm going to do the dressing.

That's going to require a bit of juggling because there is a request for traditional dressing, containing giblets. Which means Patti will have to cook the giblets there and bring them down with the turkey. At which point, we'll mix 'em in with that portion of the dressing. The other portion of dressing will have sausage -- my personal favorite. I can't give it that Cajun touch like I did at Thanksgiving because I'm apparently the only one who likes it hot and spicy. That's okay. I can add hot and spicy at the table.

At the moment, I have a loaf of bread in the oven that is specifically for the dressing. Instead of using water or milk for the liquid, I used a strong chicken broth. Tasty. Also, part corn meal with the flour. Sorta-kinda. For some reason (I keep forgetting to ask why) Lee doesn't stock cornmeal at the market -- but he always has grits. What the heck. It works.

Patti will probably make deviled eggs but I'm going to try something a bit different. Have you ever eaten Chinese Tea eggs? There are lots of variations but I used this recipe and loved the way they turned out. Didn't have the star anise or even any cinnamon sticks but that didn't seem to be a problem. They end up with a mild smoky flavor. Very interesting. I quartered them and dipped them in sweet chili sauce. Nummy good! But I think I'll stuff them for the gang.

Ah! The bread just came out of the oven. Smells terrific. Once it cools, I'll cut it into slices and cube it up, then spread the cubes in my jelly roll pan. Into the oven for half an hour at 250 degrees, then turn off the oven and leave it there overnight. Come tomorrow morning, presto-shazaam! Perfect bread cubes for dressing. How shweet it is.

And now I'll close this off and figure out which particular food project comes next. Maybe I'll just slather some orange marmalade on a heel of the dressing bread to inspire my cogitation process. I'm sure it will taste better than Santy Paws, with all due respect to the kitten.