All I Want for Christmas is a Vitamix

I really love smoothies and I don't like Jamba Juice (too sweet) or Daily Juice (too far from my house/filled with hippies.) So, I make them at home.

Trouble is, my crappy blender can't blend all of the delectable things I put in (greens like kale, romaine lettuce or spinach have found their way in, as have beets, carrots and of course assorted fruits).

A man was selling fancy blenders at Costco once for $300 and I wouldn't let John buy one. The Vitamix 5200 pictured here retails for closer to $500 and I'm pretty serious about wanting one. Because even if you like beets in your smoothies (who doesn't!???), trust me when I say that you want them blended up really well.

My recipe, you ask? Sure...
1/2 cup soy milk
1/2 to 1 cup water, depending on thickness
4-6 ice cubes
2 cups assorted frozen fruit (banana, mango, blueberries - all fantastic!)
2 big handfuls of leafy greens, the greener the better

The blender should be full all the way to the top, and if you have a crappy blender like mine you'll have to periodically stop/re-start to shake it up to help things along. Half an apple gets rid of the kale taste - the other greens are easier to hide.

Craft Services

Just finished what is hopefully the last night of shooting for our submission for the Rewind Kindly Filmmaking Frenzy. Even though I'm not in this one, or hanging out in a sweltering shed reeking of creamed corn, this has taken a lot out of me. Longer shoot and too many cooks in the kitchen, basically. Plus I'm just tired lately and fretting that I don't have enough time to do the things that I love to do. Lord help me if I ever have kids.

The one part that I do get a kick out of is my self-proclaimed role as head of craft services. I've been more into cooking for the last few years, but between no-spenduary (which I should probably explain at some point) and mostly working from home I've been going overboard with the home cooked meals lately. Tonight was Spicy African Peanut Soup, salad, and a tofu chocolate mousse for dessert. Good stuff.

Ah, the holidays

The in-laws arrived on Thursday evening and since then almost every moment of each day has been about food - shopping at Central Market, preparing to eat, eating, and then cleaning up. Tonight we're headed to III Forks, which I hear is quite good if you like steak. Unfortunately, the smell of meat is really starting to bother me (yes, I'm becoming one of THOSE kinds of vegetarians), so we'll see how it goes. I'll be wearing the new dress and coat that the nice personal shopper picked out for me at Nordstroms, so at least there's that.

Hardly doing any "Christmas-y" things, though I did enjoy the heck out of "White Christmas" last night. Bing Crosby is always fabulous and I love marveling at how small Vera Ellen's waist is. I've been baking fruit cakes, and all of the presents I bought are wrapped and under the tree, and sometimes I hear Christmas music and don't have the urge to vomit. I guess I haven't really enjoyed Christmas since Dad died, and I wonder if holidays really ARE harder once you've lost a loved one, or if they just seem harder because everyone says they should be. I do find myself thinking about him more, and missing him more, and I'm certain Mom feels the same way. I haven't watched "A Christmas Story" yet this year - it was always a thing for us to do together, and it always reminds me so much of the way he described his childhood. But it must be done - it's not Christmas without Ralphie.