chentreyu

Sunday, during a break in the Pats lurching over Buffalo, Christmas Eve dinner came up.

We're not Italian. I didn't even know about the Feast of the Seven Fishes till I was middle-aged. The closest we ever came to a Christmas Eve feast was sauteed lobster meat once, a sinful nod at the "no meat on Friday" tradition that extended to "fasting" on the eve of Church holy days.

When all that went the way of Mass in Latin, Christmas Eve became the occasion for my mother's annual attempt at Swedish meatballs -- hamburg golfballs in cans of Franco-American beef gravy, congealing in a square electric frying pan my brother still lives with. A pot of boiled egg noodles waited.

We hated the tough meatballs in brown slurry, but she didn't seem to remember this from year to year. Even mentioning them now made my brother nervous.

"Grilled cheese sandwiches!" he growled. "I'm not here for the food, I come for the good company."

My daughter got nostalgic over that square electric frying pan on four sturday legs. We asked him to bring it.

You’re the reason we’ve come so far,” Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), told advocacy groups supporting reform at a press conference in the capitol today. DeAnn Friedholm, director of Consumers Union’s healthcare reform campaign, was there representing CU, which has endorsed the House bill and supports passage of the Senate bill. “You never let us forget this fight isn’t about politics, it isn’t about partisanship,  it’s about people--real people,” said Reid.

Also joining Senator Reid, were Senators Chris Dodd (D-Conn.), Max Baucus (D-Mont.) and Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), and leaders and activists from more than 15 other groups, including Doctors for America, Small Business Majority, U.S. Public Interest Research Groups, Families USA, National Puerto Rican Coalition, Community Catalyst, Japanese Americans Citizen League, American Association of People with Disabilities, American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, AARP, American Heart Association, National Jewish Democratic Council and others. Yesterday the American Medical Association endorsed the Senate bill.

But while all of these groups support passage of the Senate bill, many are also working for improvements during the conference committee, the process that combines the House and Senate versions. “There’s a lot to like about the Senate bill,” said Friedholm. “But there are some things that are better in the House bill. If we can convince the conferees to combine the best elements of the House bill with the best of the Senate bill we will have health reform that helps consumers access more affordable, higher quality and safer care.”

In a historic vote of 60 yeas to 39 nays the Senate passed a far-reaching health-care reform bill that would extend health insurance to more than 30 million Americans. The vote came shortly after 7 a.m. on Christmas Eve. The House passed its bill in early November. After the Senate vote, President Obama said health-care reform would be the most important social reform since Social Security in the 1930s, and the most important medical reform since the creation of Medicare in the 1960s. In a moment of levity, and perhaps exhaustion, Senate Majority Leader, Harry Reid (D-Nev) accidentally voted against the bill that has been his top priority for months. The Senator brought his hands to his head and then quickly changed his vote to yes. Senators could be seen sharing congratulatory hugs in the aftermath of the vote. But the work in Congress is not done yet. The two bills will now go to a conference committee, where negotiators from each house of Congress will merge them into a single bill. Then they’ll have to vote again. “The bill lays the groundwork for an enormous number of ways to save money and save lives in the future. It extends the life of Medicare and helps protect every insured American family from catastrophic, out-of-pocket costs. We look forward to working with policymakers as the final proposal takes shape,” said DeAnn Friedholm, director of Consumer Union’s health reform campaign.

Tian de Boeuf aux Légumes
(adapted from Mireille Johnston's The Cuisine of the Sun)

1 pound mushrooms, sliced
6 cloves garlic, minced
6 shallots, minced
1/2 cup fresh bread crumbs
1/2 cup chopped parsley
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
8 to 10 slices cooked beef, or 3 cups chopped (use what you have -- exact proportions are not essential)
1/2 cup dry white wine
1 tablespoon olive oil

Preheat oven to 375°F. In a bowl, mix the mushrooms, garlic, shallots, half of the bread crumbs, parsley, salt and pepper. Oil a large baking dish and spread half of the vegetable mixture on it, lay the meat on it, and cover with the rest of the vegetables. Add the wine. Sprinkle with the remaining the bread crumbs and the olive oil and bake 30 minutes. Yield: 6 servings.

I can easily imagine adding another layer of leftover vegetables to this, or even mashed potatoes.

I'm on vacation, blogging may be light.

Eating triggers the release of acetylcholine, a chemical that stimulates the flow of various bodily fluids. Those include not just saliva and stomach acid, which aid digestion, but also nasal mucus and sometimes even tears. While the extent of the reaction varies among people, spicier foods tend to worsen it, and it seems to increase with age.

If the running is causing embarrassment or annoyance, you could try taking one of the following drugs before you eat (all available generically as well): an oral antihistamine, such as chlorpheniramine (Aller-Chlor) or loratadine (Alavert, Claritin), or a decongestant nasal spray containing oxymetazoline (Afrin) or phenylephrine (Neo-Synephrine)—though the sprays generally shouldn’t be used for more than a few days in a row. For severe cases, the prescription nasal spray ipratropium (Atrovent) may help, though it can cause bothersome side effects including headache; nasal dryness, irritation or bleeding; and sore throat.

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