December 30, 2002. Hello! Hi! Here I am! I had a lovely Christmas, with five days off, which was very decadent. My mom came to visit us on Friday with her dog, and we had a great time. The cats weren't quite sure what to do with Otis (the dog), but they held their ground. Or, well, Theo did. Otis knew right away that Theo was not to be messed with. Peatie spent most of the time in the basement, acting like he had much better things to do than pay attention to some dog. Then, last night, we were watching a movie (13 Conversations About One Thing -- I really liked it), and Otis was sleeping on his bed on the floor. Peatie walked into the room and did this whole stealthy covert operation to Smell the Dog. It was a successful mission, and Peatie was a bit more open about being in the same room as Otis after that. Of course, all this happened about 12 hours before my mom and Otis left, so we never got to see them all playing together or sleeping in harmony or anything.

Go see what I made everyone for Christmas!

December 11, 2002. Here's the big tree in Portland:

It's in Monument Square, and if you squint, you can see the monument. It's our very own statue of Lady Liberty. It's the pedestal thing in the background, not that box near the tree. I have no idea what that box is. Ignore that.

I've noticed an odd trend in holiday lawn ornamentation this year: giant inflatable snowmen. And by giant, I mean maybe 12 feet tall. I can't be the only person who is creeped out by these things. They're just strange. I mean: lights, reindeer, Santa on the roof, I can handle all of that. But these snowmen. I think it's because they're so big. They look like they're capable of organizing a lawn ornament rebellion and staging a coup to take over the house. If I had one of those on my lawn I wouldn't be able to sleep at night. I definitely pick up my pace when I'mwalking by one.

In other news: ages ago, I wondered why some recipes instruct you to leave the tails on shrimp, when you're only going to have to wrestle the tail off later when you're trying to eat it. Recently a reader named Matt asked if I ever got an answer to that question. Why, yes I did! I just neglected to tell all of you about it. I got an extremely nice email from a shrimpmonger, who said:

"I sell wholesale fish and seafood on the West Coast of California as my family has done for over 70 years.

Anyway- the reason some of the larger shrimp or prawns (usually the same thing in this part of the world) have the tails on is that size does matter in the shrimp world... the bigger, the more meat, the more expensive- and just like some status symbols- perceptive value is the key--- Just like in Texas- if it's bigger It's better and costs more.

And some restaurant buyers have told me a few things over the the years- I know because if the tail is accidentally cut or pulled off- they won't buy it- so that's not good for me....Anyway I have heard 2 things about this.

1. the tail is left on to help keep the prawn in tact- that is to keep it whole so the customer knows he is getting one big-ass piece of shrimp. If the cooks are over zealous and an inch or so is cut off in the cooking method- I assume tossing it around the frying pan.... the patron of the restaurant could feel pissed off spending $60 for a plate of pasta with "small prawns", even though the meat is still there- They want to see the the $$ on the plate.

1a. Also if the bigger prawns are butterflied or stuffed- the tails helps them balance and stand up on the plate- kinda looks like a scorpion- but it is impressive to get a scampi with 6-10 stand-up beauties- just awaiting for you to taste.

2. There is also a few people out there who are allergic to shell fish- I'm sure you've heard of this- but there is also a subset of folks who are allergic to touching them but NOT eating them.....so they can enjoy bay shrimp (those tiny ones in a shrimp cocktail) with a fork-but if they want the big galleywonkers-and they do- they want to see them in-tact- not cut up. People like to feel the heft of the meat- feel what they are paying for....So that's why the cooks leave the hugie's with the tail on... the customer grabs the non-allergenic tail, and find themselves in a shrimpy, prawnie sweet heaven when they bite into that 8 count morsel.... ("count" is # of shrimp per pound- the lower the # the bigger the prawn.)

After all is said about this- In your own home- if you want to take the tails off... take them off. No flavor crystals, no magic potion in the tails.....

Shrimp is Shrimp."

So, there you go. His name is Scruff Montgomery, and if I ever had a wholesale shrimp need, I would definitely go to him.

December 3, 2002. Overheard on the bus: "So, I was only in the deepest pit of soul despair for a little while." Great, as long as you were only there for a little while! Sheesh, who talks about that on the bus? A few minutes later the same woman said, "But I told myself, what do you have to be depressed about? Get up and clean the house! So I did clean a bit. I cleaned the public areas, but didn't get into the hearts of darkness." You know, my closets may be messy, but at least my home is free of hearts of darkness.

Speaking of the bus, there's a woman who lives on my street and takes the same bus home that I do. The first time we both got off at our stop, I turned to her and said, "I thought you looked familiar! You live on my street! Hi!" She just grumbled something at me and turned away. The second time, I made a small effort to walk down the street with her, but since she walks incredibly slowly, and was also obviously trying to ignore me, I gave up. A week or so ago I saw her in the grocery store, and I tried to smile at her a few times, but she turned away. Finally we were next to each other looking at dish detergent, and I turned to her and said, "Hi!" and she said something like, "Mrfmjm." So I'm done. I tried to be nice. It didn't work. Now I'm not even going to bother. I don't think she's distressed or in need of help or even shy. I think maybe she just hates people.

Cold today! It was 16 degrees this morning, and 22 when I got out of work (yes, Fahrenheit). Brrr!