Inn of the Wandering Dragon

I have been hearing several questions as to the fate of Chalk and his present locked in the kennel. Fear not! For on Christmas morning I opened the kennel, set the gift bag in front of the cat and told him he could open his present now. Chalk wasted no time trying to squeeze his body into the bag in search of the delicious scents. The end result was a box of dried fish treats, a bag of 'super catnip' and a fuzzy toy on a string all wrapped in a neat red bow. All three have proven to be a big hit with the furball, although the Kowabunga chicken treats with real catnip inside took a bit of convincing. They will never replace his favorite pounce treats but he will not turn his nose up at them either.

All in all we had a lovely day yesterday. We spent the day at my parent's house where we all enjoyed good food and games. It is something of a family tradition to pull out one of the many boardgames to while away the hours. The game of choice this year was monopoly and after how ever many hours we simply totaled up the assets and called it quits. No one really wants to go to the wee hours of the morning on a belly full of turkey dinner. I'm trying not to give this cold a reason to stick around either.

I was able to bring home the carcass of the bird and today I finally got around to getting it in the oven to make a tasty soup. The aroma of slowly simmering soup is even starting to penetrate my clogged sinuses and is one of my favorite smells I associate with Christmas. Others include fresh cut evergreen boughs, baking gingerbread and homemade stuffing. Today has been quiet and lazy (how I love these low maintenance recipes for days like this). The snow is finally falling and I am almost tempted to step outside for a bit. If nothing else walking back in will bring a fresh perspective to the lovely aroma of homemade soup.