Ratatouille Around the Tree

I've been making ratatouille, or caponata, or vegetable ragout, or some variation thereof all week long and finally, I just cracked. It had smelled so delicious, looked so rich, that I had to simply had to have some for myself, too. So, no worse for the wear after a long December work week, I broke out the cast iron dutch oven crock and simmered a batch of this soul-warming goodness this evening.

I think I shall add it to my holiday favorites, along with chocolate-covered bourbon balls, sledding in a restaurant bus tub, the smell of frankincense at midnight mass, bugle calls at dawn (my sister and I had to wake up the parents somehow so we could hurry up and see if Santa came), bread pudding at Nighttown on Christmas Night (when every other place in town is closed), cardinals on the snow-covered rhododendron, a gaggle of new toys for the dogs (all shredded to ribbons by nightfall), a long and lonely trespass on a closed-for-the-season golf course, and a never-ending loop of Run DMC's carol for 80's, "Christmas in Hollis".

Yep, that stuff makes a perfect holiday for me. I had my delicious ratatouille. I watched red birds flitting about for seed today. The dogs seem to know something is afoot. YouTube helped me with Run DMC. It snowed just a bit today. Now...if I can just get my hands on a bus tub, my joy will be complete!