There is a big glowy ball of light in the sky, and I'm taking that as a portent of better weather and better everything for the coming year.

Strix, ND, Andi, bonny, any others of you out there sick and sick at heart, all possible best things being shooed in your direction, wherever you are. Life should be kinder and more merry. Dammit. And less fraught and difficult and sad.

H and I are running away from home for the day to bask a bit--either on a mountainside or on the curve of a bay, possibly both. And then we'll run home to open the wine, light the candles, lay out a few munchables and welcome a neighbor or two for some quiet merriment and well-wishing.

Happy New Year, loves. I'm glad you're here. Stay here. Here is good.

I had about 10 friends come over--and around 11pm I said "fuck it, I like champagne, and I don't want to wait until midnight to drink it", so busted open the champagne, we finished off three bottles in a few minutes, and everyone left around quarter to midnight. A little ridiculous, but it meant Roomie and Girl and I could run over to watch fireworks shoot off the space needle. Yay?

We have the kind of drizzle that makes you want to sleep forever. The dog is sleeping the day away, except for occasionally making me open the door to prove it's still raining. Dogs don't take "I told you so" well.

It's actually shockingly sunny here today, though wicked cold. Roomie and I are going to go take a walk in a park, momentarily.

Will and I made mashed potato soup yesterday for our New Year's Eve dinner - with local cob smoked bacon! I halved the recipe and there's still a ton of leftovers. It's milk based - would it be any good if I froze it?

Next time I make it for the two of us I'm going to wing it and see if I can make 2 servings.

Totally overdid my first ever attempt at a spanish omlette this morning. Half a sweet potato, 1/3 of a red pepper, 1/4 red onion, couple cups wilted spinach...so much filling I had to up to 3 duck eggs. It's so big it barely fits on my (salad) plate. Delicious, but will likely end up being lunch also. I suppose that's ok.

It's milk based - would it be any good if I froze it?

I'd freeze it. Better than throwing it out.

Yummy - I wish you could send some to me.

I think dinner is going to be red beans and rice with shrimp. Probably some broccoli on the side. But askye's soup sounds really good and I kind of want that now.

t edit Oooh, with pumpkin pie for dessert! I had leftover coconut milk from the pie I made for Christmas, and wanted to use it up before it went bad, so Tim requested a pumpkin pie. Since he's relatively un-demanding, I figured I could make him a pie. (We always have canned pumpkin in the pantry, because I'm a junkie.)

From the LaGrange, GA Junior League Cookbook:

Baked Potato Soup

4 large baking potatoes
2/3 cup butter
2/3 cup all purpose flour
6 cups milk
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
4 green onions, chopped and divided
12 slices of bacon, cooked, crumbled, divided
1 1/4 cups shredded cheddar cheese, divided
8 oz sour cream.

Wash potato and prick several times and bake at 400 F for 1 hour (or until done). Let cool and peel skins off potatoes and dice cooked potatoes (size depends on how chunky you want it).

Melt butter in heavy saucepan over low heat; add flour, stirring until smooth. Cook 1 minute, stirring constantly until mixture is thickened and bubbly. Whisk in milk and then whisk in 1 cup of cheese, until it's melted. Add diced potato, 1/2 bacon, and 2 tablespoons of green onions. Cook until thoroughly heated, mashing the potatoes if desired and adding extra milk to get desired consistency.

Serve with remaining green onions, bacon and cheese. Makes 10 cups.