Double Ginger Cocktail

Of all the Christmas cookies my mother and I crafted this year, the ginger rum molasses cookie (aka Joe Froggers) from Baked Explorations: Classic American Desserts Reinvented (by Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito) is the one I've snacked on the most.  It's insanely delicious, with a robust molasses flavor giving way to ginger and spice.  Plus we made way too many of them.  It turns out quadrupling a recipe sometimes yields way more than you expected.  Oops.  It was a fortunate accident, though, because I can't stop eating them.

So you can understand why I have high hopes for SNAP, a marvelous liqueur produced by Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction  flavored like German spiced molasses cookies, lebkuchen.  That means the rich, dark flavor of blackstrap molasses and the warm spiciness of fresh ginger plus aromatic spices come in a handsome bottle of liqueur.  You can drink the best gingersnap you've ever tasted, people! 

Obviously, I'm excited about SNAP and the possibilities it holds.  Even though my first cocktail made with SNAP wasn't worth sharing, I'm still eager to find the perfect cocktail that showcases SNAP's molasses-ginger-spice flavor.  With my current addiction to ginger rum molasses cookies, it feels right to search for its equivalent in cocktail form.  Thus the Double Ginger Cocktail.  It's SNAP liqueur, dark rum, and ginger ale or beer.  Sounds like it has all the right stuff.  

Alas, though a solidly good cocktail, it isn't what I'm looking for.  Molasses flavor from SNAP and the dark rum are overwhelming any trace of ginger or spice.  So it's back to testing other cocktails in my quest for liquid gingersnaps...  Oh, the suffering! Oh, the cookies I'll be required to sample!

Double Ginger Cocktail

from Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction

Makes 1 drink

Ingredients:

1 oz. SNAP

1 oz. rum (spiced or dark)

4 oz. ginger beer or strong ginger ale

Preparation:

Pour SNAP and rum over ice into a tall glass.  Add ginger beer or ginger ale.  Stir and garnish with a lime wedge, if desired.

Notes:

-This cocktail is all about molasses.  Dark rum has a strong molasses flavor, as does SNAP.  If you were thinking it might be a novel twist on the Dark and Stormy, like I did, you'll miss the bright punch of ginger and lime the Dark and Stormy offers.  Instead, you'll be ready to curl up with a thick blanket and drink this to fortify yourself against winter's chill.  Which is exactly what I'm doing, since Ohio is going through a painfully cold spell. 

Any ideas for what to try with SNAP next?

Happy Friday!

Chipotle Sweet Potatoes

Continuing with the theme of foods I've only discovered in the past few years are sweet potatoes.  Growing up, I can't recall them ever entering our house.  Not even in the ubiquitous form of sweet potato casserole with marshmallows.

Through a combination of food magazines, food blogs, and roommates, I met sweet potatoes and fell utterly in love.  Especially when roasted in the oven with spicy chipotle chile powder.  It's so easy, so nutritious, and so flavorful, it's become a staple in my apartment, especially when served with curry ketchup or balsamic glaze.

Chipotle Sweet Potatoes
A spicy and versatile dish perfect year-round.

Ingredients:
2-3 medium sweet potatoes
Olive oil
Chipotle chile powder, to taste (I use about 1 tbsp. for 3 potatoes)
Pinch of cayenne chile powder
Kosher salt, to taste (I use just under 1 tsp. for 3 potatoes)

Preparation:
Heat oven to 375 degrees Farenheit.

Peel sweet potatoes and chop into roughly 1-inch cubes.  Toss in enough olive oil to lightly coat (about 1 tbsp. for 2-3 potatoes).  Sprinkle with chipotle chile powder, cayenne chile powder, and kosher salt.  Toss to evenly coat the potatoes.

Bake until the potatoes are easily pierced by a knife, about 25-40 minutes, tossing every 15 minutes or so.

My favorite ways to eat chipotle sweet potatoes:

--As a side dish, served with a hefty dose of curry ketchup (Mix 1/2 tsp. red curry paste with a 1/2 tsp. water until it forms a slurry.  Stir into 3-4 tbsp. ketchup.)

--Or drizzled with balsamic glaze

--Inside a soft corn tortilla with black beans, grated cheddar or monteray jack, pickled jalapeno slices, and plain Greek yogurt or sour cream

--Mixed with cooked quinoa and dried cranberries, with a splash of apple cider vinegar and olive oil

--I haven't tried it yet, but I suspect these would pair wonderfully with a raw kale salad, apple cider vinaigrette, and crunchy apple chunks.

Thoroughly Addicitive Apple and Cheddar Scones

I can admit to you that, as a youth, I did not like cheese.  I ate hamburgers, not cheeseburgers, even from McDonald's.  At family parties, I avoided those strange-smelling cubes of cheese as scrupulously as I avoided the raw veggie tray.  I bemoaned the stench of the blue cheese ever present on my mother's salads.  The only cheese format acceptable to my decidedly finicky (i.e. frustratingly picky) palate was thoroughly melted in either grilled cheeses or mac and cheese, which I maintained was only edible if it was made:  A) from the blue box and B) by my mother.  I can't even fathom how crazy and how annoying my food preferences must have been to my parents.  I apologize, Mom and Dad and all my relatives.  I'll make up for lost time, I promise!

Since my anti-cheese attitude lasted far too long (all the way through college), you can understand why I'd never tried the classic combination of apples + cheddar.  Never. Even as my interest in food and cooking developed, even as I was curious about all the flavors I'd never tasted, even as I started to eat cheese by itself, I still resisted apples + cheddar.  It must've been a remnant of my anti-cheese days.

Then I met Smitten Kitchen. Deb promised these apple and cheddar scones would be addictive.  Plus, I wasn't going to the extreme of having unmelted cheddar and apple...so it stood a better chance of success.

It turns out, these scones are addictive. Even if you've never had apple and cheddar before in your life.  They're addictive enough that you make a few batches in a row, because you can't get enough.  And you start to wonder if there are other combinations of apple and cheddar that could pass muster...  Perhaps a pie crust a la Alton Brown?

Apple and Cheddar Scones
from Smitten Kitchen (get the original recipe with Deb's marvelous writing and photography here) 
Makes 6 large scones, which are at their very best directly out of the oven and quite good for 1-2 days after.

Ingredients:
2 firm tart apples (I prefer Honeycrisp and Braeburn, which aren't exactly tart. Oh well.)
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for kneading dough
1/4 cup granulated sugar, plus 1 1/2 tbsp. for sprinkling
1/2 tbsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt, plus a pinch for the egg wash
6 tbsp. unsalted butter, chilled and cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1/2 sharp cheddar cheese, shredded (please shred your own, it is so worth it here) (white is recommended for aesthetics)
1/4 cup heavy cream
2 large eggs

Preparation:
Position a rack to the center of the oven and preheat to 375 degrees Farenheit.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Peel and core your apples, then cut into 1/16th-inch chunks.  Place in a single layer on the lined baking sheet and bake about 20 minutes, until they take on a little bit of light brown coloring and feel dry to the touch.  I know, this sounds finicky, but you're reducing the overall moisture content of the scone, so it will turn out crumbly and perfect instead of gloppy.  Gloppy doesn't sound good, does it?  So gently dry out your apples!

Meanwhile...

Whisk flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt together in a medium bowl.  Sprinkle your chilled butter chunks on top and use either a pastry blender, forks, two knives, or your fingertips to rub the butter into the flour mixture.  You want a shaggy consistency, with a few larger pieces of butter (pea-sized or smaller) and many more small pieces of butter.  I find it best to pinch a quantity of dry goods + butter between my fingers and thumb, then drag my thumb across the row of my fingers.  

Add the baked apple chunks, shredded cheddar, cream, and 1 egg to your shaggy flour + butter mixture.  Stir until just combined.  Don't overmix.

Generously flour your countertop and place your dough on top of it.  Sprinkle with more flour.  Using your hands to gently pat or a rolling pin to gently roll your dough out into a 6-inch circle, about 1 1/4-inches thick. Cut into 6 wedges and transfer each to a parchment-lined baking sheet, leaving at least 2 inches between scones.

Beat the remaining egg in a small bowl and brush on top of each scone.  Sprinkle liberally with granulated sugar; it'll bake into a crunchy crust.  Bake until firm and golden, about 30 minutes.  Transfer to a wire cooling rack to cool for at least 10 minutes before eating.  If you can wait that long.

Notes:

As I mentioned, these are at their absolute best directly out of the oven.  Well, if you can wait 10-15 minutes for them to cool a bit, that's probably better, but it will be challenging.  If you'd like to reheat your scone before enjoying, I'd suggest a toaster oven or oven to preserve the crisp crust of sugar and egg wash.

I've found that after 2 days, regardless of storage method, these scones lose a lot of their winning points - they're much less crunchy and their interiors are turning mushy (especially the apples).  So eat them quickly. And make more soon.

It's A Walk-Off! | Apple Cider Cocktail Battle

Two cocktails.  Both highly anticipated (by me).  One successful, one a halfhearted flop.  Here's their story...

Apple cider is my fall and winter thing.  It's the juice I choose to go with breakfast.  Warmed up, it's a comforting dessert replacement (nothing can replace chocolate and ice cream, let's be real).  With spiced rum or bourbon, its an easy seasonal cocktail.  Made into caramels, a la Deb Perelman, it's a chewy, stick-to-your-teeth bit of heaven.  So apple cider is inherently good.  Particularly when using a quality apple cider that isn't sickly sweet (my favorite? Trader Joe's. Which is apparently off the shelves for the season. Cue my cries of despair.).

When I stumbled upon two cocktail recipes using apple cider, I had to try them.  Yet more perfect and easy seasonal cocktails? Of course, I had to try them.  And I was going to make it a battle.  A cocktail walk-off, if you will.  Spiced Caramel Apple Cocktail vs. Hot Caramel Apple Cider.

Fast forward to the epic conclusion....and the Spiced Caramel Apple Cocktail won by a landslide.  It balanced adeptly between sweet and spicy, thanks to the use of ginger liqueur.  Though I'll admit the Hot Caramel Apple Cider, with just a touch less sweetness, was a strong competitor.  Either way, you won't lose.


Spiced Caramel Apple Cocktail
by Amy Tobin
Makes 1 drink

Ingredients:
2 oz. Domaine de Canton (ginger liqueur)
1 oz. caramel flavored vodka
3 oz. apple cider
dash lemon juice

Preparation:
Combine all ingredients in a cocktail shaker with ice.  Shake and strain into a martini glass.

If desired, crush a few gingersnaps into crumbs.  Rim a glass with plain simple syrup or agave syrup, then dip into the crushed gingersnaps.

Notes:
--To my taste, an excellent balance of sweet (from the caramel vodka and from the cider) and spicy (from the ginger liqueur and the cider spices).  Another good thing - it wasn't pow-in-your-face alcohol, which is still a bit too much for me.  Yes, I love imbibing cocktails, but I'm still a bit of a wuss.  I'm working my way up the ladder, right?

...versus...

Hot Caramel Apple Cider

from Amy Tobin

Makes 1 drink

Ingredients:

6 oz. apple cider

1-2 tsp. ground cinnamon

3 tbsp. caramel syrup

1-2 oz. caramel flavored vodka

Preparation:

Combine cider, cinnamon, and caramel syrup in a small saucepan over medium-low heat.  Bring to a simmer, stirring occasionally, until the caramel is melted into the cider.

Remove from heat and stir the vodka in.

Notes:

--For my tastes, this drink was too sweet.  Next time, I'd cut back on the caramel sauce or use plain vodka. Maybe add a pinch of fleur de sel or Maldon salt as a counterpoint.

--This would be a heck of a lot cozier served in a mug.  Bonus points for a dollop of whipped cream.

Jalapeno Parsley Sour Martini | from WANM

Here's something totally different.  It's not a traditional holiday flavor.  It's not even a typical winter flavor.  I just needed to change things up and temporarily break away from all the warmth and coziness of winter.  We Are Not Martha's Jalapeno Parsley Sour Martini did just that, setting me free from spice, earthiness, and that inexplicable heaviness we feel each winter.  Or maybe that's all the layers of clothing I bundle in to keep warm. Either way, this cocktail is easy, delicious, and an excellent change from the norm.

Bonus: The leftover jalapeno syrup is great drizzled over cornbread, crostini with goat cheese or ricotta, or brushed onto chicken wings.

Jalapeno Parsley Sour Martini
from We Are Not Martha (get the original recipe here)
Makes 2 drinks

Ingredients:
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup water
2 jalapenos, sliced (deseeded if less heat is desired)
1 small bunch flat-leaf parsley
4 oz. lemon juice
2 oz. lime juice
6 oz. unflavored vodka

Preparation:
Make the jalapeno simple syrup. Combine the sugar and water in a small saucepan over high heat.  Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally until the sugar is dissolved.  Add the jalapeno slices, drop heat to low, and simmer for 5-7 minutes.  Strain the syrup into a container.  You can store leftover syrup in the refrigerator for 2-3 weeks.

Note: If you're not a fan of spicy heat, you'll want to deseed the jalapeno peppers first.  Do this by cutting  the jalapeno in half lengthwise, then trimming away the seeds and the white rib the seeds stick to.  All you want is green jalapeno.  Cut the deseeded, de-ribbed jalapeno into 1/2 inch chunks and use in the simple syrup recipe.

Make the cocktail. Put the parsley, lemon juice, and lime juice in a glass or cocktail shaker.  Muddle the ingredients together gently, so that the parsley is only lightly bruised.

I was a bit creative since I didn't use a cocktail shaker and wanted to enjoy my drink from a martini glass.  I muddled the parsley and juices in a small glass ramekin with a wooden muddler, then transferred the liquid to a martini glass. 

Add the vodka and about 4 oz. of the jalapeno simple syrup.  Stir or shake to combine, then pour into your martini glass.  Cheers!

What's your favorite out of the ordinary drink?

Apple Pie for A Birthday

When I asked my friend Manning (well, it's actually Eric's friend from college who has become my friend too) a few years ago what I could bake him for his birthday, he asked for Dutch apple pie.  Expecting an entirely different response, like "a cake", I was surprised.

This isn't the first apple pie I've baked.  I spent years apprenticing at my grandma's table, learning how to crimp the edges just so.  Then I tried my hand, dabbling with a Martha Stewart recipe here and an Alton Brown recipe there.  It turns out, I'm like Goldilocks when it comes to apple pie recipes.  Nothing is just right.  Each recipe has its own pros and cons -- too much crust, too much sugar, double crust instead of crumble topping, a splash of apple cider vinegar for a tart surprise...

This year, as I made Manning's birthday pie, I cobbled together multiple recipes (Alton's classic pie crust, Martha's filling with a splash of apple cider vinegar a la Alton, and a crumble topping inspired by both Martha and Deb Perelman but totally improvised by me) to create what I dare claim is my best pie to date.

Oh don't worry.  I'll keep searching for an apple pie that is just right.  It's the chase that's fun, after all.  Well, that and the eating part.


Dutch Apple Pie a la Ashley
Crust recipe from Alton Brown, Filling recipe adapted from Martha Stewart (with a splash of Alton Brown), Crumble recipe loosely adapted from Martha Stewart and Deb Perelman
Makes 1 pie

In case you're wondering why I made two pies, it's because my father had not-so-subtly hinted he wanted a plain old apple pie for Christmas (even though he'd been steadily diminishing our supply of Christmas cookies for weeks).  

Ingredients:

For the crust:

6 tbsp. unsalted butter, chilled

2 tbsp. lard or shortening, chilled

1 cup all-purpose flour, plus extra for rolling the dough

1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 cup ice water

optional - use 2 tbsp. plain vodka, then use ice water for any remaining liquid needed

For the filling:

Approximately 3 pounds of baking apples (I prefer Honeycrisp, Braeburn, MacIntosh, Jonathan, and Granny Smith.  A mix is even better for flavor and texture.)

1 tbsp. freshly squeezed lemon juice

2 tbsp. apple cider vinegar

1 tbsp. all-purpose flour

3 tbsp. granulated sugar

1 tbsp. light brown sugar

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp. freshly grated nutmeg

1/4 tsp. ground cardamom

1/8 tsp. salt

optional:  about 1/4 tsp. ground grains of paradise

For the crumble topping:

1 1/4 cups old-fashioned oats
1/2 cup plus 3 tbsp. light brown sugar
3 tbsp. turbinado/raw sugar
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp. freshly grated nutmeg
1/4 tsp. ground cardamom
1/8 tsp. salt
10 tbsp. (11/4 stick) unsalted butter, cut into cubes and softened to room temperature

Preparation:

For the crust:

Place butter and lard/shortening in the freezer for 10-15 minutes.  Keep them there until ready to use.

Meanwhile, combine the flour and salt in a food processor.  Pulse 4 times to mix everything well.  Add the chilled butter chunks and pulse 5 times, so the texture looks mealy, with still recognizable pieces of butter the size of peas visible.  Add the chilled lard/shortening and pulse 4 times, so that the texture now looks more like a very rough cornmeal.  

Now pay attention!  Add 2-3 tbsp. of your ice water (or, if using the vodka, add 2 tbsp. vodka and 1 tbsp. ice water) to the bowl, sprinkling it to cover as much of the surface as possible.  Pulse 5 times.  Wait for 1 minute before testing your dough.  Seriously, just wait a moment. It'll keep you from adding too much liquid too quickly.  Continue to add ice water in 1-2 tbsp. increments (add, pulse, wait 1 minute, check consistency) until the dough holds together when squeezed.  Stop adding liquid before the dough becomes sticky/tacky; if you already went there, add a bit more flour (about 1 tbsp. increments) sprinkled around the top.  

Transfer the dough to a sheet of cling wrap and press it into a roughly disc-like shape and wrap tightly in the cling wrap.  Store in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes and up to 2 days.  This allows the flour to hydrate and rechills the fats, which makes for a tender and flaky crust when cooked. (Psst - now is a good time to get started on the filling and the crumble!)

I had to be resourceful and use a wine bottle as
my rolling pin.
Wine bottle is NOT to be confused with the "home security device"
French rolling pin we have at our apartment. 

After the dough disc is chilled, set it on the counter.  I like to sandwich it between two pieces of wax paper when rolling, but you can also go direct contact with counter and rolling pin, sprinkling flour as needed to reduce sticking.  Roll the dough out to a 10-11 inch circle (slightly larger than your 9 inch pie plate).  I find turning the dough a quarter-turn every time helps maintain a relatively even thickness and circular shape.

Transfer the dough circle to your pie plate, using gentle pressure to mold the dough to the pan.  If you're feeling fancy, crimp the edges.  If you're feeling minimalist, just trim away excess dough for a flat edge even with the pie plate.  Dock the dough with a fork.  Store in the refrigerator until ready to assemble the pie.

"Hi!"

Preparation (continued):

For the filling:

Peel and core apples, then cut into roughly 1/4 - 1/2 inch slices.  

In a large bowl, toss the apple slices with the remaining filling ingredients until evenly coated.  

Preparation (continued):

For the crumble topping:

In a medium bowl, stir together the dry ingredients (oats, sugars, flour, spices) until thoroughly mixed.  Add the butter and use either a fork, pastry cutter, or your fingertips to work the butter into the mixture.  It should be the texture of coarse meal, with no visible pieces of butter and nearly every oat moistened with butter.

Preparation (continued):

For assembly and baking:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Farenheit.

Remove the pie plate containing your docked pie dough from the refrigerator.  Pour the apple filling into the pie plate, distributing evenly with your hands.  Gently spoon or place handfuls of the crumble mixture on top, trying to evenly cover the apples without compressing the crumble.

Bake for 50-60 minutes, until the crust and crumble topping are lightly golden brown and the filling is bubbling.  Allow to cool 10 minutes before cutting a piece and serving with vanilla ice cream.  Even better, have a piece cold for breakfast the next morning.  

Happy Birthday, Manning!

Good Things - Holidays 2012

Random good things from the past few weeks...

By happy chance, I discovered a fantastic spice store in a nearby market -- Colonel De.  Jars line shelves above and below the counter, filled with every imaginable spice, dried herb, flavored sugar, flavored salt, pepper, and spice blend.  I was, quite literally, a kid in a candy store.  Their most adorable offerings were samplers packaged in miniature tins, like this flavored sugar kit.  I can't wait to go back for their Some Like It Hot kit to taste different dried peppers and spicy blends!

Trader Joe's continues to rock my socks off.  Pomegranate arils already removed from the pomegranate?  Yes, please!  I've been adding the juicy seeds to everything, but my favorite dishes so far are an improvised pumpkin parfait (pumpkin puree, Greek yogurt, maple syrup, spices, chocolate granola, and pomegranate arils) or atop baked pumpkin oatmeal with maple syrup.

This salad has also been knocking my socks off recently - lacinato kale, granny smith apple, feta or goat cheese crumbles, pomegranate arils, and a mustardy, vinagery vinaigrette.  Since I'm still coming to terms with salads, the fact that I've enjoyed this salad 3 times last week is saying something.

I'd read about a set of four mini bottles of bitters in Bon Appetite and kept my acquisitive eye out for them.  I actually found these two quality kits at Anthropologie, of all places.  In the two sets from Scrappy's Bitters, there are both traditional flavors for bitters (orange, aromatics, celery) and some more unusual ones (lavender, caradamom).  No cocktails with them yet, though I couldn't resist sampling a few flavors with seltzer water.  The lavender is going to make for a killer lavender daquiri, inspired by one I enjoyed at The Winds restaurant in Yellow Springs, Ohio.

Granola.  It's almost a niche market anymore, one that I'd avoided for a few years in search of balance.  See, I went to a rather liberal school...where some people might be labeled with the term granola.  So it just felt over the top to actually eat granola.  Then I rediscovered how dang tasty granola + yogurt is.  Follow that with Sprouted Kitchen's recipe for lemon cremes with thyme-oat crumble (it's granola in disguise, people!), and I was hooked again.

Best of all?  I can make my own granola.  For a lot less money, using only the ingredients I want to eat.  This is the second batch I've made in the last few months.  It's pumpkin pecan granola from The Sprouted Kitchen Cookbook, which is filled with so many tasty AND healthy recipes I actually want to eat.  

Coming sometime in the near future....David Leibovitz's persimmon cake!

Since I didn't have time to make it before Christmas, I frugally peeled and pureed my uber-ripe persimmons and stored them in the freezer.  I love the vibrant orange of persimmon!

Our New Year's Eve spread included the standard snacks (pretzels, salt and pepper chips), leftover tapas from a family shindig (piquillo peppers stuffed with manchego, herb and olive oil marinated feta, crudites), a full plate of Christmas cookies and candies (see the full list!), and a roasted pork tenderloin seasoned with smoked paprkia.  I roasted my first full tenderloin, people!  I even brined it for a few hours beforehand, another first for me!  It turned out moist and tender, perfectly cooked through because - get this - I used a meat thermometer! Bam, bam, bam, I started off 2013 kicking ass in the kitchen, if I do say so myself.

To go with the pork, I made one of Eric's favorites - oven roasted potatoes seasoned with salt, cumin, and chile pepper.  And sitting next to that, looking somewhat questionable, is one of the most delicious regional dishes ever to come from Cincinnati.  Skyline Chili Dip.  It's a layer of cream cheese on the bottom, topped with Skyline's famous Cincinnati-style chili from a can (it's a rather liquid chili, with miniscule pieces of meat and no bean, characterized by its use of chocolate) and lots of cheese.  Add chopped onion and Skyline's hot sauce after warming in the oven and you have some serious crack dip.  Well, I do mean crack.  Even after I ate dinner, I was still shoveling tortilla chip after tortilla chip of Skyline dip into my greedy little mouth. Mmmmmm...

(disclaimer: Eric refuses to acknowledge the glory that is Skyline Chili, claiming the actual chili is awful.  I have to agree, if you're eating it as a bowl of chili.  But on top of spaghetti (Cincy's three way, four way, or five way meals) or on top of a hot dog (coney style), it's amazing.)

(I also admit to eating Skyline's hot sauce on nearly everything.  Seriously.)

The New Year

Cheers!  Happy New Year!!!

Mimosas start things off right

I hope I'm not too late in wishing that!  I feel a bit behind in everything, but I most definitely want to send my own wishes for a fantastic, happy, exciting (in only good ways), delicious (because we're all into food and drink here), and memorable (again, only in the best of ways) 2013.


I'll be back soon with more food and drink. I know I have a lot of catching up to do. I will, I promise!

PS - Happy holidays, since I forgot to tell you earlier. I hope you had a wonderful time, filled with family, friends, and lots of good cheer!