Schnitzel and PJ's

Tonight we made our once-a-year batch of Weinerschnitzel. Oh my, I look forward to Christmas every year, and schnitzel is one of the reasons why. We got started a little late, then we had to toast John's GF bread to make bread crumbs, because the GF breadcrumbs you can buy are just awful. John only bought one loaf of bread, assuming I would use normal-people breadcrumbs. Since I am lazy and don't like to cook two separate meals (except pasta, I can't stand GF pasta), I assumed I would use John's breadcrumbs. Since I don't keep wheat flour in the house, I knew I would be using rice flour on everything, why not use GF breadcrumbs too?

Well, it looked like we were going to be short in the breadcrumb arena, but we got started anyway. We got the meat breaded and in the fridge to chill. John wanted to start heating up the oil. Knowing that our stove gets real hot really fast, and not wanting to have hot oil sitting on our stove for 30 minutes while Libby ran around, I wanted to wait. John won out. I put the oil on medium, because our stove thinks medium is high. John, remembering that Mom's electric skillet has to sit on high for 40 minutes before it is hot enough, turned the burner up to medium-high. 30 minutes go by, and he drops in the first piece of breaded meat. Oil splashed everywhere, and the meat turned black immediately. We are so lucky he didn't start a grease fire. Oh my gosh, the smoke! I ran and opened all windows and propped the front door open. Libby had been deposited at the table with a candy cane prior to this fiasco, so she was safely out of the way. The oil had to be removed from the heat for about 45 minutes before it was cool enough to heat back up, on a MEDIUM heat burner. I explained to John why I had it at that temp, and he explained why he turned it up, and that he didn't know that our stove was so hot. I told him "We cook bacon on medium-low". And I constantly observe how hot the stove gets and how I have to cook at such "low" temps. Oh, yeah, he remembers now.

So we got the oil re-heated and started cooking the meat. Perfect. Libby had her first taste of schnitzel and LOVED it. John pumped the air and yelled "My girl likes schnitzel". Proud papa. We got it all cooked, and while it cooled, we opened our gifts from my mom and dad. Their tradition for years has been to get Christmas PJ's for the grandkids. This year everyone got Christmas PJ's. The PJ's are meant to be opened on Christmas Eve so that everyone can wear them Christmas morning. Since I will be at work tomorrow evening, we decided to open them tonight. And I also know how John is weird about wearing clothes that haven't been washed, and expected he would not wear his Christmas PJ's if they hadn't gone a cycle through the washer, so it was a good plan. John opened his first (Libby's was wrapped inside his box). Blue and black plaid flannel pants and a black long john shirt. He loves them. They are so soft! Then Libby - blue long johns with frogs and snow flakes, too cute! Then it was my turn - white flannel pjs with frogs kissing under the mistletoe. How perfect is that! You probably don't know, but I have a thing about frogs, and get at least one froggy gift a year. I love these pj's! I had to call Mom right away and tell her so. We took pics and will post them later this week.

After all this we put Libby to bed and finally sat down to dinner at 9 pm. Oh, it was so worth the wait! The cucumber salad was perfect, and it is the perfect companion to the schnitzel. I like to drench my schnitzel with lemon juice, then have a bite of that and a bite of cucumber at the same time. The tartness of the lemon and the bitter vinegar of the cucumber salad are perfect companions to the meat. Oh. My. Goodness! 20 minuted of culinary bliss later, we were stuffed. We did a quick clean up, then parked our hinies on the couch (john) and rocker (me), put on my new Josh Groban Christmas CD, Noel, and turned off all the lights, except our Christmas lights on the tree and mantel, and sat back and relaxed and dreamed of tomorrow's lunch and dinner of leftover schnitzel.

Since I have been desperately seeking the positives of being away from my family at Christmas for the first time in my existence, I was excited to find a big one tonight. I could have all the cucumbers I wanted. And there was no one to fight over the leftovers with. All the leftovers are in MY fridge. Not Dad's, not Lauren's, MINE! John suggested we take some to some friends tomorrow. I didn't have to think long about that one. I am selfish with my schnitzel, I am not ashamed of it, either. If he wants to take schnitzel to someone else, he can buy some more and cook it tomorrow by golly!

I'm not excited about having to work tomorrow evening, but I am glad that I will be home no later than 8. It could be a lot worse. And I went ahead and blocked out New Year's Eve. I am terrified to drive on New Year's Eve. For many, many years I heard my mom warn my sisters about all the drunks out on the road and how many accidents there are that night. By the time my age of driving came around, I was sufficiently terrified that it has kept me off the roads every year, except for the one year I had a New Year's Eve dance in the singles ward, because I was 18, in love, and immortal, but stupid doesn't count, does it? Anyway, I am a paranoid pregnant lady who gets sick thinking about all the horrible things that could happen to me, like car accidents, too much second-hand smoke, salmonella, etc. So I will stay home that night and party down with my hubby and baby, pig out on snacks, and knock back some bubbly grape juice. Fun times in the South household!