holidays | Jenna's Everything Blog

This is a post about my Saturday night date with the Pioneer Woman’s bathtub and a glass of red. But it’s also a post about Christmas.

Here’s how I tie them together: for some people, Christmas is a time of insane busyness. Running around, shopping, cooking, and doing laundry in preparation for hosting multitudes of guests may not be everyone’s idea of a relaxing time.

The holidays are great, but I’ve talked to so many people who simply get stressed.

After my post documenting the beer in the shower experiment, a number of you planted the seed of red wine in the bathtub. And this seed blossomed into a flower, which grew into a tree, which one day was cut down by a bunch of opportunistic loggers who . . . anyway, the point is, I tried it. As soon as I saw the amazing tub available to me at our room in the Lodge, I knew it was fate.

I love the simple, clean lines of the Pioneer Woman’s bathroom design. The whole room was screaming ‘PEACE AND WELL BEING!’

Except it wasn’t really screaming because that wouldn’t be very peaceful. Think of it more as a screaming whisper.

The only exception to this message of peace was the sink area, which was taken over by a ruffian band of make-up and lotion products.

Anyway, beer in the shower–it was fine. But wine in the tub–yeeeeeeesssss!

By the way, any time you see me type the word ‘yeeeeeeesssss,’ please understand I’m not just saying ‘yes’ in a cute blogging exaggerated way. I’m actually quoting Gimli from ‘The Lord of the Rings’ movie when Aragorn is like “Let’s hunt some Orc” and Gimli lets loose that ‘yeeeeeeesssss’ that could cause the walls of Jericho to fall down on their butts.

The hot water, the spicy red liquid–it’s dreamy.

So my remedy for Christmas stress is: pop into a tub with a glass of your favorite wine. Sit back. Relax. Close your eyes. Enjoy. And keep the bottle nearby for refills.

Normally during my showers I compose mental lists of things I need to get done before bedtime. I think about food. I plan what I’m going to get who for Christmas. But you know what was going through my brain during that bath at the P-Dub’s?

Nothing. Absolute Zero. It was like my mind was in a washing machine. A relaxing, spa-designed washing machine that left my brain white, sparkly, and stupid.

Stupid in the good way, of course. In the empty, Zen kind of sense.

Merry almost-Christmas everyone. Treat yourselves!

*Disclaimer: don’t drink too much! Don’t drink unless you’re not only 21 but also a responsible adult and person! No drunk in the tub/drowning experiences allowed! Please let me know if I need to write anything else to cover my butt in a legal sense. I’m sorry I said ‘butt’!

This dessert is a little jewel. My brother-in-law Mike made it during our Thanksgiving festivities in Kentucky.

It’s kind of like a very moist cake. Picture a Tres Leches cake, but more thin and–dare I say–more delicious? I haven’t decided if I dare or dare not, since I love a good Tres Leches Cake.

This is a South African dessert. Mike happens to be from South Africa, and this recipe has been passed along through the generations. You are making a historical artifact, essentially, and engaging in a cookery lore that has been fine-tuned to hit your taste buds just so.

I had the honor of holding the original, 200-year old recipe card in my own hands, and kissed it with my own lips.

Well, that was the interesting version, but the real version if that Mike hopped on the worldwide web and found this recipe on food.com. Heh heh.

But whether it came from the in’ernet or came from his South African grandmother’s sticky recipe box on a hand-written card with the marks of love, age, and flour all over it, it’s equally delicious.

If you’re dubious about the ‘moist’ part (as I was–I hate anything that remotely rings of sogginess), take your doubts and give them a swift kick in the groin. They have no place here. Here, only deliciousness reigns.

Ingredients

(Serves 6)

For the pudding

3/4 c sugar

2 eggs

1 TBS apricot jam

1 1/4 c flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 TBS butter (generous TBS)

1 tsp vinegar

1/3 c milk

For the sauce

3/4 heavy whipping cream

7 TBS butter

1/2 c sugar

1/3 c hot water

2 tsp vanilla

Let’s get started!

First, find two strapping young men to do the work.

And don’t come out until you have that pudding on a plate!

Then, go watch funny youtube videos with your sister . . . .

. . . and let the magic unfold in the kitchen ‘by itself’ so to speak.

Now get your oven preheating to 350.

Grease an oven dish (a 7×7 square Pyrex dish works, or a circular one like Mike used). Baking spray never hurt anyone if you don’t feel like getting down and dirty with the butter dish.

Beat together the sugar and the eggs until the mixture is thick and yellow.

Add the apricot jam, and mix it in.

Melt the butter, and add in both the butter and vinegar.

In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, and salt; add it to the wet mixture along with the milk and give the whole thing a good beating.

If your mixer has a really deep bowl, be aggressive with your spatula. You don’t want flour hanging around the bottom of the bowl.

That’s what happened to Mike, and he was obliged to pour the batter back into the bowl from the baking pan and remix it.

I’m sorry I had to point that out, Mike, but you may have just saved our readers from making the same mistake! It’s called a ‘moral’ and I always have to include one in my ‘story.’

Pour the whole mixture into the greased oven pan.