Have A Merry Stomach Virus

Somehow, Danny dodged this one, but mama and papa are both doubled over with pain and nausea. I'm pretty certain it isn't food borne as there's nothing other than pain and nausea (you know what I mean, I'm not going to discuss that on a cooking blog). No matter though, it is Christmas, and if my Danny wants a stollen for Christmas morning, stollen he shall have. I made a very small one this year, from a new recipe (actually, new to me, but quite old) and if it is any good I'll post photos tomorrow.

I also made a jellied Nesselrode pudding (hey, we're already sick, what's some custard and egg whites?) in a new tiered mould. Again, it isn't the classic Nesselrode that is filled with chestnut puree and frozen, but a moulded dessert with gelatin, candied and dried fruit and plenty of eggs. Just a note-this isn't a thing to make when you're sick. It took forever for the custard to come together over the double boiler and then predictably, I turned my back for less than a minute and it began to curdle. I ended up putting it through a fine sieve and "correcting" the problem, but what a royal pain in the behind. Beautiful, sure-but from now on I'm sticking to steamed puddings at the holidays.

Danny put out his carrots and cookies for Santa and his reindeer and Mr. Eat The Blog (still suffering mightily from the norovirus-from-hell), managed to bite them in such a way as to appear eaten by reindeer. Is he great or what? Danny sweetheart, I hope you're reading this when you're forty and know just how much your mama and papa love you. Your poor papa really had to gag just to look at those carrots.

As soon as I'm convinced he's asleep, I'll put the presents beneath the tree. Danny is getting a few books, about eight little toy cars from the Cars movie, a sticker book, pencils, a child's scissors (blunt, very, very blunt), a few pieces of candy, and a transistor radio. I'd call that a pretty good haul. I have a used Light Brite toy for him, but I think I'll save that for Valentine's Day. I also picked up some vintage wooden building toy that looks like a precursor to Lincoln Logs (or a competitor). With any luck, we'll get the electric train running tomorrow and the day can be spent sending the engines and cars around (and around, and around) the tree.

Then, I'm going to collapse.

Happy Holidays.