The Feast of Saint Lucy

First coherent thought of the morning: "It's Sankta Lucia today." Followed immediately by: "Ah, crap, haven't baked lussekatter again this year." Always good to start failing early in the day. I guess it would be good to learn to think of such things as, at the very least, supererogatory, rather than as obligations. Must add that to my To Do list, so I can fail to get around to that, as well. Meanwhile we have guilt, the gift that keeps on giving yea, even unto the seventh generation.

This evening I was hunting through a stack of things, trying to dig out the Seasonal cards in a measured, orderly way so as not to precipitate an avalanche, and found (along with a bunch of old sketches of mine, some fanzines from Corflu, and the complete proofs to the Potlatch 13 program book) a mysterious yellow binder that has someone's Xeroxed assemblage of texts relating to medieval and Renaissance cookery. The collection is entitled Cook Books of the Time and Age and includes items variously entitled To the King's Taste, Fabulous Feasts, and Dining with William Shakespeare. That latter is, I'm sure, the reason that I have the collection -- Dining with William Shakespeare includes a recipe for "fricacee of chicken" that I wanted ever since I tasted a version cooked up as a final project for my high school Shakespeare class. The thing is, I have no recollection of when or how I acquired this thing. I have this horrible dread that I borrowed it from someone -- I certainly didn't assemble it myself -- and am now years overdue in returning it. Wah, I'm crap. Well, if it's yours, sing out and I'll return it. Meanwhile, I guess I'll shelve it with the cookbooks so I can finally try that "fricacee".

And for now, it's back to addressing envelopes and so forth. Happy Lucia, everyone.