Hope you all had a good holiday. Ours was very quiet as we recovered (and are still recovering) from a damned nasty cold. We used to get over such maladies quickly in three or four days at most. This time we were miserable for almost two weeks. From what I have seen on line we weren't alone. A number of posters complained about suffering the symptoms for two full weeks. We are almost back to normal physically and beginning to reestablish our routines.

The other disruption is far more pleasant--two new cats we adopted from our local shelter. Our colds hit at the time we were supposed to pick them up after the shelter had has them spayed and chipped. Mom was already too sick to drive. I was just barely able to function. They have had almost free rein here. It has been about four years since the last of the old cats exited the scene at advanced old ages. Though we insisted at the time we wouldn't have pets again we found we missed the little devils. Every now and then one should have one's life shaken up a bit. Keeps you from getting stale and bored.

I hope this link works because Robert Reich has a perfect summation of the last year and why it has been so depressing on the political front. Last year, just after the election, I wondered if #45 would be the last president of the U.S. which seemed, and seems yet, intent on tearing itself apart. After nearly a year I adjusted that opinion: #45 is the first president of something called the United States of America (but which is anything but) while Barack Obama was the last president of the experiment started seven years shy of 250 years ago.

An interesting trip down a culinary memory lane. I recognize a lot of this--like using the various canned soups as a base for casseroles or incorporating various prepared, packaged, or frozen foods into meals. As I read the piece I was struck by how much our own food prep has changed over the last decade. We have no canned soups in our pantry--at all. Well, I have to amend that: we do have a selection of ramen noodle soups as an emergency. We actually used one over the last two weeks of our recovery from colds. We don't use Crisco any more but do use butter and lard. We do some of the oils (like olive oil) for salad dressing which we make from scratch now. We don't use any frozen or prepared foods. I have told Mom frequently we are going retro in a big way.