HUNGRY GERALD

Christmas.Day began with warmed Panettone, marmalade and coffee. Rain ceased. Sun appeared. Lovely meandering walk around the Riverside, RI, shore following the excitement of present opening. Imaginative gifts. Mexican good luck amulets from Gifted Daughter Lesley R. A large collection of mini photo cards (created by Exquisite Maiko) depicting the family and little ones. SJ gave HG Geechie Boy grits and some other culinary wonders including a bottle of handcrafted rye whiskey. Gorgeous Granddaughter Sofia displayed one of her distinctive talents by fashioning a book cover for HG which satirized hilariously one of HG’s traditional and well-worn Christmas jokes. The traditional gifts of books, carefully curated, from Lesley and Massimo R: A winter’s worth of stimulating reading. A beautiful sweater and a colorful watch from BSK. Colorful socks from Lesley R. (HG receives them with joy every Christmas). This just skims the surface. Lots of generosity, originality. And, love. Dinner was a replay of the Seven Fishes with a happy addition. SJ, The Latkes King, made a big batch of crisp potato pancakes (a bow to our collective Jewish heritage). HG covered five raw Dutch herring filets with chopped onion. Gave them a squeeze of lemon and a shower of ground pepper. Flanked them with SJ’s latkes and sour cream. Drank cold half-and-half. Also managed to knock off some smoked yellowfin tuna gilded with very good, fruity olive oil. Happy jingles, one and all.

This might be the best Christmas holiday ever. It began with the surprise gift to Beautiful Granddaughter Sofia R. of Pippy, certainly the most enchanting puppy HG has ever encountered. Then the traditional Feast of the Seven Fishes (Jewish-Japanese-Italian style as befitting the multi-ethnic group). Three types of smoked salmon; smoked tuna; wasabi enhanced flying fish roe (Tobiko); whitefish; sable; red salmon caviar. All prime stuff from Russ & Daughters on New York’s Lower East Side. SJ also provided the table with plenty of scallion cream cheese and superior Kosar’s bialys, bagels and that baked rarity — the old fashioned “pletzel” (onion roll). Big bowls of sour cream plus raw onions, capers, lemon wedges and three varieties of pickles (sour, half-sours and green tomatoes). Lesely R. made her ethereal blinis and crepes while SJ sizzled his superb, crisp potato pancakes. But, for HG, the star of the feast was herring, namely raw Dutch herring from the cold waters of the Netherlands coast. HG coated the delicious morsels with chopped raw onions. Chilled Tito’s Vodka. Black and Tan (Guinesss Stout and Bass Ale, mixed half-and-half). HG drank these accompaniments to happy excess. Christmas morning, HG received gala gifts — a cane topped with the ivory head of a fierce eagle from Lesley and Massimo R.; a soft and warm flannel nightshirt plus nightcap; A Russian faux fur hat emblazoned with the hammer and sickle (warming gifts from BSK who likes a Heated Hubby); old time candy bars and a wanted book from SJ; a copy of the latest installment of Robert Caro’s monumental biography of LBJ and other literature from L. and M. R.; granola of the gods handcrafted by Gifted Granddaughter Arianna R. L. and M.R. gave BSK the complete Hellen Mirren/ “Prime Suspect” DVDs (perfect for chill weather viewing), SJ presented BSK with her own website, putting BSK’s glorious pottery online. Everyone else received thoughtful and glorious gifts. Wishes were fulfilled. Joy was unconfined. Sometimes materialism is sheer fun. Christmas Day dinner was a rerun of the previous feast with the addition of chopped liver plus pastrami and tongue from Katz’s Deli in New York plus smoked ham sourced by SJ from the illustrious Polish butcher, Jubilat Provisions in Brooklyn. Because of eccentric schedules and the arrival of Restaurateur Daughter Victoria F. on the day after Christmas, the Christmas dinner of brisket and assorted good things will be delayed for a day. Worth waiting for. (Also, HG must fully recover from much ingestion of an after dinner alcoholic digestif, Limoncello, handcrafted by Lesley R. for her bibulous Dad).