Since my last post, I think I've gained one hundred pounds, maybe one hundred and two. With the festivities surrounding Christmas, my brother's graduation, upcoming family birthdays, a friend's engagement and so forth...I've eaten more food than I care to admit.

This holiday I've taken a break from my vegetarian preferences and I've given a little meat and fish a try, and admittedly, most of what I've had has been really damn tasty. But I also long for my simple veggie meals, and I think I'll return to that simplicity when I get back home. First and foremost, I want some brown rice, an avocado, and some steamed kale smothered in a really spicy curry sauce accompanied by a pint or more of Alsip cider when I get back to California. Mmm!

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As was alluded to in a post many months ago, this was the last year that my family gathered in Illinois for the holidays. Everyone except my parents will be relocating this next year...and our future holidays will probably be spent in Texas drinking margaritas and eating tostadas and maybe also in Washington DC trolling through the Smithsonian!

This year, though, we followed tradition one last time, and we gathered at my Aunt Kris' place on Christmas day. Her house is a magical one nestled next to a small forested area in Wacounda, Illinois. Standout memories from Christmas Days past are many. Many years ago, my cousins and I stayed over night after the festivities and were initially petrified that the static 'lightning' in the sheets was actually ghosts sparking us as we slept; another year our older cousin Jeff from Colorado showed up with dredlocks down to his butt and offered us hemp seeds, which we ate thinking we were really daring; in college, I became the first cousin to bring a boyfriend with me, and I still remember the relentless teasing that Kevin got that year as we forced him to wear a goofy hat and hand presents out to us all.

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This year, only the immediate family was together, but it was wonderful nonetheless. My Uncle Tom tended the bar downstairs and my aunt put the ham in the oven upstairs as the rest of us caught up with each other after a year of separation. My Uncle Greg had driven up from Texas in near monsoon-like conditions so that he could fish before the festivities; my cousins came from Austin and Dallas and shared their stories of living in big Texan cities; my Aunt Kris and Uncle Tom were full of excitement for their impending retirements in June; my Aunt Colette was sporting the cutest spiky hairdo I've ever seen her with, and my Grandma was crying with joy to see us all together. I was just plum happy to be drinking an entire bottle of Riesling! It turns out my family can't even tell when I'm totally sloshed :)

One of the first things I notice when I come back to the midwest is the strong influence of European culture. There are nearly one million people of Polish descent in Illinois, and it is said that Chicago is the second largest "Polish" city in the world, the only other city having more Polish residents being Warsaw. My Uncle Tom's family roots are Polish, and our meals on Christmas day have always featured delicious Polish food.

This year was no different, except that I actually tasted almost everything (instead of heating up my own veggie dog in the mircowave), and it was delicious! We had kraut pierogies, cheese pierogies, and potato pierogies from Alexandra Foods in Portage Park;

we had smoked polish sausage (my favorite!) and the regular polish sausage;

we had my grandma's famous potato salad and my aunt's delicious spinach salad. For dessert, I'd made a flourless chocolate torte and apple pie, and my Mom had made a coconut pie.

The girls finished up the evening reading each others' tarot cards, which led us to have quite an emotional adventure on Thursday :) More to come on that.

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On Tuesday, my cousins and I took the Metra in to see Kurt, Masha and Krysa downtown. Chicago is, architecturally, one of the most interesting cities in the United States, in my opinion. Along the river, there are soaring skyscrapers; in amongst new construction are old, historic brick buildings that puff smoke from their chimneys; on the side streets are rows of cozy Brownstone homes; the railroad yards are worn and covered in graffiti; the bridges are dark and strong. It's awe-inspiring, and the city is always bustling with life and color. It's a wonderful place to come back to.

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Our dinner was amazing. I would highly recommend that anyone coming to the city who has a taste for contemporary Mexican food visit De Cero taqueria. We started with house margaritas which came in hefty glasses generously salted at the rim. For dinner, amongst us, we had Ahi Tuna tacos, Roasted Red Pepper tacos, Duck tacos, Chorizo tacos, Battered Salmon tacos and so forth...it was a feast for the eyes and the belly!

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That night, all five of us crowded into Kurt and Masha's tiny one-bedroom apartment for a good night's sleep. Being neither a cousin nor a wife to my brother, I got the short end of the stick and got stuck sleeping on the hardwood floor as the others dozed in comfort. I did have a few pillows, though, and I slept just fine :) Krysa is their cat, and she's adorable, but very shy and pretty prone to biting. She slowly warmed up to us and by the morning was playfully (in her mind) nipping the legs and toes of my fearful cousins as they slept in the family room :)

more to come when i have time tomorrow...