Happy New Year!

Lightning and thunder. Gunfire. Parades on TV. Copious quantities of food and drink. And an acetylene torch. What more could possibly be needed to properly usher in the new year?

That's Tim putting the final touch on the maple-mustard glazed ham. This is exactly what they do at a famous ham company: use a torch to caramelize the outside.

At 5 minutes to midnight last night, we were awakened by the sounds of a thunderstorm. Shortly after the new year began, celebratory gunfire began to echo around the area. All this wasn't too conducive to sleeping, so I wandered out to the kitchen for a snack (I mean, to quality control the chicken liver pate') and then managed to go back to sleep.

Everyone just left about an hour ago. We had a big, all-day family brunch for 12. Stuffed french toast, brie/pear/walnut pizza, ham, baked eggs, stollen, chicken liver pate', smoked salmon, cheeses, several fruit salads and a green salad. And ice cream, apple pie and Christmas cookies for dessert. Do I need to eat dinner tonight? I don't think so.

This is truly the end of the holidays. Back to work tomorrow. But with all the leftovers, I can take a short break from cooking.