Dim Sommers

Great holiday! Christmas at Bill and Jean's. Best lasagna in the world, dice, family, presents and good times. I was ripping on the billiards table, only time I lost was the one time I beat myself scratching on the eight to win the game. Settled some old pool scores, the kid couldn't be touched. Our friend's gave us soup spoons for Christmas which was both thoughtful and prescient, since we are going to a soup party tomorrow night and have been instructed to bring our own bowls. We will have our own hardware as well. And soup is on our mind as we test run the duck soup tonight.

Today was Christmas and that means Dim Sum of course, the two couples we were meeting down at Jasmine both got there earlier than we did and figured out that they were fellow friends of ours by the looks of each other, which is kind of cool. So they were seated together when we arrived in the cavernous hall. One person was gluten free and the other was vegetarian so we had to be a  bit more discerning than usual, Leslie and I more in the habit of "firing first and asking questions later."

We tore through multiple metal baskets of dim sum like a couple million buzzing cicadas waking up from a long nap. I barked out orders with the authoritative tone of a third world despot. Duck, roast pork, scallops, shrimp, crab claws, chicken, turnip squares, shumai, lotus wrapped rice, the works, all found their way to our table,  the meal ended with a stunning crescendo of sesame balls filled with their luscious paste. Great palette cleanser. The place was jammed but curiously and unlike the last three years, I didn't really see many other yids. Maybe they go to the reformed dim sum place now? It was mostly asians at the restaurant this year. Didn't know they ate this stuff.

After brunch we went next door to check out the takeout express and I snapped this barbecued pig head. Looks interesting, anybody in?

Wonder Warthog unmasked.

We then went to the Chinese curio shop around the corner and then on to the Vietnamese herbs store next door on convoy and I bought some american ginseng and handed everybody their own little root. We took a group picture outside and I asked everybody to imagine that they were a tree. Michael is actually an italian cypress, if you were wondering.

We are now comatose for the afternoon. I am prone on the couch, digesting my whole week. Got homemade tamales to take home from two sources, sweet and conventional. I have been a real chazer this holiday. Make it stop, mommy! Hope that everybody is having a great Sunday. It is Christmas, you know.