Badabing's Xmas Eve Dinner

It's been a pretty consistent tradition for the Badabing family to have a fancy Xmas Eve dinner. It really helps to get us in the mood for Xmas day, which is pretty hectic since we usually play host to about 20 family members. Xmas Eve is something I always look forward to, and usually make something pretty elaborate or special dishes that the family has always enjoyed. This year we had only five of us, and for the first time in years both of my children were able to make it. The menu, with the exception of dessert, was very Italian:

• Fried mozzarella with garlic, capers & anchovies
  
• Finocchio salad with parmagiano reggiano
  
• Osso buco (braised veal shanks)
  
• Risotto Milanese
  
• French fruit tarts & chocolates from our local chocolatier
  

We had a nice French champagne to kick things off, followed by a few bottles of Melini Chianti Classico (a nice smooth chianti), and we enjoyed a nice aged port wine with the dessert. Bellisimo!!

I got up bright and early Xmas morning to begin cooking baked ziti, meatballs and sausage for the Xmas day gathering.

Tonight I'm doing something simple on the grill. Buon Natale a Tutti.

Badaboom Badabing...

Bad Santa...The Day After Xmas

I just couldn't resist

A Little Christmas Music

Hear What They're Playing


Nothing like a little holiday music to get one in the spirit of the season. These are a few of my classic favorites:

• White Christmas(Bing Crosby)
  
• Silent Night(Dean Martin)
  
• Chestnuts Roasting On An Open Fire(Perry Como)
  
• I'll Be Home ForChristmas(Dean Martin)
  
• Santa Claus Is Coming To Town(Perry Como)
  
• Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas(Frank Sinatra)
  
• Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer(Patsy & Elmo)
  

Yeah, yeah, I know...Grandma Got Run Over is not exactly a classic, but it's my son's favorite so it is classic in the Badabing household.

Oops...speaking of favorites, I forgot to include my wife's...Alvin & The Chipmunks. Well, maybe I'll add that tomorrow. Okay, I found it over here.

Badaboom Badabing...

Home For The Holidays...

Let the holidays begin!!

Last week was my last business trip of the year. so, no more planes to catch, no more hotels to check in to, no more cars to rent, no more thinking about work, no more drinking in strange bars...at least for a few more weeks. I'll only sorta miss one of the above.

Xmas shopping is done...almost. I tied my record of two hours if I don't count the time I spent surfing online. One or two things yet to get for wifey, but that will coincide with my trip to the grocery store to purchase the vittles for the traditional Badabing family Xmas Eve feast, so I don't count that as shopping...technically. I even ordered a gift online...my second one ever...a new digital camera which was ordered yesterday and is scheduled to arrive today (and I didn't even pay for overnight shipping.)

So now I'm sitting in a Starbucks, drinking my morning espresso, listening to Frank, Dean and Bing sing Xmas carols (I should buy that album), looking at the pretty girls, browsing through some of my favorite blogs, thinking about some things I want to post in the next week, and trying to get into the holiday spirit. Yes...all of these things at the same time, not to mention writing this post...just call me Mr. multi-tasker.

Pop quiz...where did the 'X' in the abbreviation 'Xmas' originate?

Give up? Hah. Here's a hint from an old Francis Albert song I listened to last night...fill in the blank..."Though your figure's less than _____"

I ran into this joke on three blogs this morning, so I'm posting it here as well:

Three men died on Christmas Eve and were met by St. Peter at the Pearly Gates.

"In honor of this Holy Season," said St. Pete, "you must each possess something that symbolizes Christmas to get into Heaven.

"The first guy fumbles through his pockets and pulls out a lighter. He flicked it on. "This represents a candle," he says.

St. Pete says, "You may pass through the Pearly Gates."

The second guy reaches into his pocket and pulls out a set of keys. He shook them and said, "They're bells."

St. Pete says, "You may pass through the Pearly Gates."

The third guy searches desperately, and finally pulls out a pair of women's panties.

St. Peter looks at the man with a raised eyebrow, and says, "And just what do those symbolize?"

The man replies: "They're Carol's."

Ahh, now I'm gettin' into the spirit of things. :-)


Badaboom Badabing...

Older 'n Dirt

Last week, Old Horsetail Snake posted some items that brought back quite a few childhood memories. Then, earlier this week, Duke of Earle posted some pics that he found in his mom's cedar chest. That also brought some memories. Well, this morning I got an email from a cousin that contained more trips down memory lane, so I figured I'd borrow some from each of those sources, add a few of my own, and share them here. If you remember most of these, then you are, as I am....an old fart.

1. There was no such thing as fast food.
2. Most moms were home when the kids got home from school.
3. Most of the time you ate dinner, together, with your parents and siblings. Oh yeah, and if you didn't like what your mom put on your plate you were allowed to sit there until you did like it...or at least ate it.
4. You had to have permission to leave the table.
5. For your high school picture you HAD to dress up in a jacket and tie...and if you graduated in the 60's that tie was a skinny one.
6. You probably came home from school to eat lunch.
7. If you're a guy, your parents beamed with pride if someone referred to you as a "clean cut" kid.
8. Some parents never owned their own house, set foot on a golf course, traveled out of the country, or had a credit card.
9. Your parents never drove you to soccer practice. Mostly because no one ever heard of soccer.
10. If you needed to go someplace, and didn't want to walk, you probably rode your 50-pound bike. If you were really cool, you made believe your bike had a motor by clipping baseball cards to the spokes with your mom's clothespins.
11. And speaking of clothespins...when your mom did the wash she may have used a washboard and wringer...and she most definitely hung the clothes out to dry in the back yard...on clostheline, of course.
12. And speaking of bikes, you may have used pant leg clips if yours didn't have a chain guard.
13. Roller skates had keys.
14. Cars had headlight dimmer switches on the floor, ignition switches on the dashboard, and heaters mounted on the inside of the fire wall.
15. Your dad may have used hand signals if his car didn't have turn signals.
16. You remember Packards and Studebakers.
17. Televisions were black and white...and your family may not have had one until you were almost a teenager.
18. Pizza was not delivered to your home...but milk was...in glass bottles with cardboard stoppers...and your mom put the empties outside so the milkman could reuse them.
19. You never had a telephone in your room.
20. The only phone in the house was in the living room or kitchen, and it was on a party line so you had to check whether someone was using it before you dialed.
21. Phones had a rotary dial and phone numbers had a word prefix, like Ivanhoe-3903.
22. If you were a boy, you had a paper route. Papers cost 5 cents and you got to keep 1 cent. And, if you were lucky, when you collected on Saturday you had some customers who gave you 35 cents and told you to keep the change.
23. You played the following games: hide and go seek (preferably at dusk), kick the can, dodge ball, hopscotch, jacks, mother may I. If you were a boy you also played cowboys and indians, cops and robbers.
24. In the summer, you ran through the sprinkler.
25. There were only two types of sneakers: Keds and PF Flyers...and the only time you wore them was when you had "gym" in school.
26. There were no such things as "play dates." When you wanted to play with someone you walked or rode your bike to their house, went to the back door, and either knocked or called out "Hey, Jimeeee!" or whatever your friend's name was. If you went in a group each person probably took a turn calling for Jimmy until his mom opened the door.
27. Your mom never used paper towels.
28. You made paper chains at school during Christmas season.
29. Your male teachers all wore suits and ties, and your female teachers wore dresses and high heels.
30. If you're a girl, you wore a dress or skirt to school and the hemline had to be below your knees.
31. If you're a girl, you probably all wore the same baggy blue or green gym uniform.
32. When your dad went to the gas station, an attendant filled the tank, checked the oil, and washed the windshield, without even asking...for free. Oh yeah...and you didn't have to pay for air.
33. Nobody owned a pure bred dog.
34. You know who Howdy Doody, Buffalo Bob, and Clarabell were.
35. Wax lips and mustaches, and little wax bottles in the shape of a Coke can that were filled with colored sugar water.
36. Candy cigarettes.
37. Soda machines that dispensed glass bottles.
38. Coffee shops and diners with tableside juke boxes.
39. Your mom probably collectd green stamps.
40. You may have 'gone steady' in high school...or at least you knew couples who did.
41. Mimeograph paper.
42. Hi-fi's.
43. Blue flashbulbs.
44. Drive-ins...both movies and restaurants.
45. Metal ice trays with a lever.
46. 45 rpm records.
47. Butch wax.
48. Cork popguns.
49. If you're a girl, you may have worn stockings when you dressed up, but wearing pantyhose came a bit later.
50. You remember the smell of the paste they used in school.
51. You may have used glue in school that came in black, white, and orange cans...and you spread a little on your desk, let it start to dry a bit, then rolled it up into a rubbery little spitball that you chucked at someone when the teacher wasn't looking.
52. You made silhouettes of Lincoln and Washington.
53. You remember the March of Dimes.
54. You remember Ozzie & Harriet, Micky Mouse Club (if you're a guy you had to have a thing for at least one of the female mouseketeers...for me it was Annette Funicello), Rocky and Bullwinkle, and Kukla Fran & Ollie.
55. For cartoons, you watched Looney Tunes and Popeye.
56. If you're a guy, you know who Gene Autry, Hopalong Cassidy, and the Cisco Kid were.
57. You remember the Jackie Gleason, Dinah Shore, Perry Como, Ed Sullivan, Arthur Godfrey, Steve Allen shows.
58. If you're a guy, you climbed trees and made forts.
59. You may have had a lemonade stand.
60. You know what bobby pins and saddle shoes are.
61. If you wore penny loafers there's a good chance they actually had pennies in them.
62. If you're a girl, you may have worn a poodle skirt.
63. A quarter was a huge weekly allowance...if you were lucky enough to have an allowance.
64. Movie stars kissed with their mouths shut...at least while they were making the movie. Touching someone else's tongue with yours was called French kissing...and they didn't do that in the movies. We didn't know what they did in French movies because French movies were dirty and we weren't allowed to watch them.
65. When you came home from school you changed out of your school clothes and into your play clothes.

You may want to share some of these memories with your children or grandchildren...but, be forewarned...they may bust a gut laughing at you. Growin' up today ain't what it used to be...then again, our kids will probably say the same thing to their kids.

Whew...now I need a nap. If you've got any similar memories, please share.

Badaboom Badabing....