I’ve never been a huge car person. I like them. I enjoy long drives, even, but I’m no Speed Racer. I’ve never liked to work on them, though my parents (correctly, in my view) insisted that I learn enough to take care of one when I was a younger.

At some point in the last couple of years, I sort of had a thing about Mini Coopers. In spite of my big size, and the (obvious) smallness of the make, I wondered what they’d be like to drive. We even stopped by the Mini dealer here in the Seattle area, and I took a quick spin in one. Fun. Very fun, and very cool. “Someday,” I thought. I went to miniusa.com and built one, for fun too.

Then of course, quite recently, I blogged about how silly commercials showing folks getting cars for Christmas are. Get real, I said.

So then Jeri surprised me with a Mini. Well, a model Mini, a keychain for a Mini, and an appointment with the dealer to order it.

So the picture above what it’ll look like; yes, its a convertible. They are a kick in the pants to drive (I’m getting a manual 5-speed), very low to the ground but sturdy. Nice and roomy in the front, but the back “seat” is a joke, and pretty much an admitted one. they get great reviews, hold their value well, and get super good gas mileage…not like a hybrid, but very good. It has a nice package of options, including a very nice stereo system my Ipod will hook to.

Anyway, I’m psyched, and I’ve been showing off the pics and the model at the office enough that I’m sure everyone hates me now.

Here’s another pic of one that’s pretty close to the one I’ll be getting that was at the dealership. Mine gets here in March.

So here’s to my wonderful wife for having us do something fun and getting the Mini for me. This one might also get something I haven’t done to a car…give it a name. Any suggestions?

Santa was pretty good to the Smug Family this Christmas.

For instance, Santa was able to find a Nintendo Wii at the Anchorage midtown Wal-mart, with the assistance of power-shopping friend Brandy. This was a gift to all the guys in my family, and they are very, very pleased. Game recommendations are welcome – Bryan likes sports games, Ben likes RPGs and Zach is a first-person shooter fan. I want games that take advantage of the Wii’s unique controllers and social aspects – we don’t want to use this cool new system just like we’ve used all other game consoles.

The Smug Husband was also very, very good to me, getting me the perfect jewelry gift. As a jewelry maker and newbie metalsmith, I like interesting pieces and unusual finishes – and he scored. This one is sterling silver, 14K gold with a raw diamond centerpiece.

And speaking of husband, he got perhaps the coolest gift of all… but I’ll leave that story for him to tell. ☺

I hope everyone else had a wonderful Christmas too!

This has been a very surreal couple of days.

We’ve spent the pre-Christmas weekend with my in-laws; Christmas will be with my family. We essentially treated Saturday night like Christmas Eve, opening presents to and from that family and indulging a very yummy appetizer spread.

Lots of odd circumstances crept into the weekend, though. We received news about not one, but two deaths in the family – my mom’s brother, and a man my mother-in-law sheltered and fostered as a teen and young adult. Both men were estranged from family and there had been little communication in the last decade – but the grief is still there, made perhaps more thorny by the challenging relationship in life.

Then I developed a really nasty migraine, which lasted about 36 hours. It felt like someone was ceaselessly pounding a rusty railroad spike through my right eye. Not functioning was not an option, and Imitrex wasn’t helping, so I took the first narcotic painkillers I’ve had in many years. It made the usual hubbub and stress strange, almost psychedelic, I felt detached and everything seemed blurry and slow-moving.

And finally, our old, old dog Lyza had a really rough time of it. I’m afraid that she is probably near the end. She takes a half-prednisone every other day for long-term breathing & coughing problems, and it typically makes her a little agitated and hyper. It’s a balancing act between keeping her breathing comfortable, and stressing her old, enlarged heart. Yesterday, though, she spent the afternoon and evening frantic, anxious, panting, pacing, heart racing, and throwing up or peeing incontinently every few minutes. My theory is that she may actually have had a minor heart attack. She finally slept late in the night, and seems fine today… we were ready to take her to a 24-hour vet hospital if she kept it up, and I will take her to the vet after Christmas.

The combination of the early Christmas celebration, the grief, the drugs and the pet challenges made the whole weekend surreal, like a fever dream where things don’t quite follow logic and make sense.

I’m thankful to my mother and sister in law for soldiering through all the weirdness and being gracious hostesses and supportive family.

Yesterday, to help battle Bryan’s cold, I decided to make chicken noodle soup from scratch.

I make it a lot, but use organic broth or bouillon as a base. This is a bit of a challenge, as I’m MSG sensitive and have to find the rare packaged product that doesn’t contain MSG. That means organic, extra $$ and lots of vigilance. (Hydrolized soy protein also is MSG, it’s just… disguised.)

This time, I decided to try broth from scratch. I looked up several recipes, although I mostly used them as guidelines. Alton Brown’s came closest.

Broth:

1 ½ gallons water
Tablespoon sea salt
12 large chicken drumsticks, cut in half
8 chicken wings, cut in half
6 mashed garlic cloves
3 bay leaves
1/2 tsp thyme
Pinch rosemary
3 stalks celery, cut in half
1 large onion, cut into sections

Bring to boil in large stockpot, and simmer for 2-4 hours. The longer you cook it, the more flavor it will have. Skim foam every half hour, removing any scum or particles from surface of soup.

Dip solids out of soup with a slotted spoon, saving chicken. Pour broth through a fine mesh strainer into large heat safe container or second stockpot.

If I was a purist, I would have refrigerated the broth overnight, so I could skim all fat off once it hardened on the surface. But I’m not – there wasn’t much fat – nor am I patient. So, I returned the broth to the burner.

After solids have cooled, pick out chunks of chicken and set aside to return to soup. Dispose of remainder.

Soup:

Chicken broth
3 stalks celery, sliced
5 medium carrots, peeled and sliced
1 medium onion, coarsely chopped
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
4-6 ounces white wine – I used pinot gris
Shredded chicken from stockpot
Salt and pepper to taste
1-2 cups of water
8 oz wide egg noodles
Handful of frozen peas for color

Add all ingredients except water, egg noodles, & peas, simmer for 45 minutes to an hour until vegetables are tender and onions are transparent. Add 1-2 cups of water, for the egg noodles to absorb, depending on whether want to further concentrate your broth, and add egg noodles. Simmer, stirring occasionally, for another 20 minutes. Throw in the peas, and serve.

The homemade broth was wonderful – rich, concetrated, and complex in flavor. I don’t know about curing Bryan’s cold – but with corn muffins, it sure was a good rainy day dinner!

The smug puppies wish you happy holidays!

Black Tibetan Spaniel Lyza just turned 15, she’d like to retire from the sleigh pulling business. Red Murphy, our rescue mixed breed, will probably wake up the whole North Pole, barking at Santa. White Pekingese Panda is small but in charge, she’ll light up her red nose and lead the reindog team.

They would like to share with you their very favorite recipe for homemade dog treats, in the hopes that someone who loves them might make the treats for them. It’s very easy:

Dog Crack

1 cup hot water (hot from the tap)
1 cup creamy peanut butter (Adams is best)
2 cups whole wheat flour
1 tbsp baking powder

Mix all ingredients together until smooth – the hot water helps make the dough more workable. Roll out 1/4″ thick on a floured surface, and cut into 1″ squares. (Or, if you’re OCD, you can use a mini cookie cutter for trees at Christmas and hearts for Valentine’s day. The dogs DO NOT care.). Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes and cool.

Keep in an airtight container in the fridge for 2-3 weeks, or freeze.