Christmas eve brought us dual emergent late cases in the OR, so having the day off on Christmas Day was a relief. We spent the day cooking sides of sauteed kale and brussel sprouts, mashed parsnips, extra crispy roasted potatoes, green beans, and corn chowder to go with the prime rib roast that Melody’s sister was making. Our niece provided after-dinner entertainment with Mancala before we headed home. On the day after Christmas, we joined the mayhem at the mall to score some deals on shirts and sweaters. We enjoyed our post-shopping dinner at Taylor’s Kitchen, where we watched the show from the kitchen counter as we dined on sweetbreads, clams, a burger, and agnolotti. We spent the rest of the holidays lounging at home, working on my first NIH grant interspersed with bouts of dragon-slaying. The expansive game kept us busy through New Year’s Eve, when we took a brief break to watch the Times Square ball-drop from the West Coast for the first time. This week, we received our first delivery from Blue Apron as a gift from Melody’s sister, and whipped up a Southern Beef and Collard Green stew over cheddar grits and Shrimp Paella for our New Year’s Day meals. The packaging of individually-wrapped fresh ingredients (one medium carrot; an ounce of fresh cream) was quite the novelty, but the low leftovers-to-dishes-used ratio makes us unlikely to use this service often.