A few of my favorite things...

Over the holidays, I got to enjoy a lot of my very favorite things. Shrimp cocktail for instance, I am a sucker for a good homemade shrimp cocktail with extra horseradish-y sauce. And a nice Old Fashioned doesn't hurt either.

Best friends are also a great treat to have around the holidays. My puppy is best friends with this little basset hound, Ruby. They like to chew on each other's faces and then nap.

Butter. Butter is always a favorite thing. Here's me and my French Laundry cookbook- I tried to make my beurre monté sauce exactly to the book's specifications, including posing with a handful of butter. I then poached lobster in the butter- you totally need to do this.

Finally, eating butter-poached lobster and filet mingon is good too. It's even better when I get to use my Grandmother's table linens, china, and my other fancy things that only get broken out for special occasions- champagne flutes, silver chargers, gold flatware- and a gorgeous floral arrangement given to me as a hostess gift. By candlelight.

Bacon Gimlets, Anyone?

So, lately there's been a lot of talk about bacon vodka. Which sounds like a bad idea, combining two dangerous things into one super-dangerous thing. Also, do you really want to be making alcohol that needs the fat strained out of it?
But then on the other hand, it is bacon flavored vodka. Bacon vodka martini and bacon? Bacon vodka cream sauce and orecchiette with spring peas and prosciutto? Mmmm nom nom nom.