Holiday Memories

We had just moved into our new house and had begun ripping out EVERYTHING! Carpets, tile, kitchen counters, floorboards.  In our compromised mental state that I believe all those who have ever moved have been in, we (read: I) decided to invite the entire family over for Christmas Eve Dinner.  This was not well received by my adoring wife, needless to say.

T-Minus 13 days.

With only half the floors completed and some painting done, we persisted.  The kitchen sink and oven worked.  Perfect to cook my mother-in-law’s “best-you-ever-had” stuffing. Despite our valiant efforts, we epically failed to complete the whole house upgrades like those fine folks on TV always do.

We have a loving and very understanding family.

Christmas Eve arrived. It went off completely without a hitch, except for one glitch. I had forgotten to remove the staples from the subfloor after I took out the tile!  After the customary pleasantries, I spent the next two hours taking the staples out so we all could have dinner together. Everything turned out wonderful and we enjoyed some amazing food and wine.  The star attraction were ribs smothered in my original barbecue sauce that I’ve been perfecting over the past 8 or 9 years (yes, I wanted something nontraditional for Christmas, hey, it’s my house!).  If you want to try it at home, download the recipe here.

Enjoy with ribs (you get to choose!) and a bottle of Renwood Old Vine Zinfandel.

Cheers!

Joe Shebl