Rainy Days and Mondays

Horror of horrors. My passport expired last week and I forgot all about it.

I hate knowing I can’t get out of a country run by Dubya on a moment’s notice. I really hate that. I’m filling out the forms right now to remedy such a precarious situation.

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Winter has marched in like a big ‘ol lion here in Illinois. It was raining this morning here in Chicago but it's supposed to change to ice and snow.

So, this morning, I cancelled my staff meeting in Springfield since it will be icy down there today and four-to-eight inches of snow are forecast for tonight. I don't want any of my staff jeopardizing their safety on icy roads. Besides, if any of them had had an accident, my job would be toast.

On one hand, I’m kinda bummed out because it takes SO much planning to schedule a statewide staff meeting. Hotel reservations, meeting room, catered lunch, close-caption interpreter, getting speakers lined up and on board, etc. I’ll have to do it all over again.

On the other hand, I’ll be all snuggly in the bosom of my own apartment tonight. Bosoms are good that way.

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Oh, and the case of Sortilège is being delivered today and I’ll be home to receive it. I’ve no intention of drinking a whole case of Sortilège – it’s just that the pretty, 375 ml. bottles of this difficult-to-obtain liqueur make such good hostess presents and Christmas gifts.

Like I said, this stuff is difficult to obtain but I found a distributor here in the U.S. that sold it for less than half price at $11.99 a bottle. I checked back online and now they no longer carry it. Apparently, I cleaned them out.

I just LOVE finding good deals like that. I'm feeling kind of "Sortilegious" at the moment.

If you really want to buy it, (and I highly recommend it) go to Froogle.com and do a search for “maple whisky” or “Sortilege” and a couple of places will pop up selling it anywhere from $22.00 to $29.00 per bottle.

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Right now, my dad and step mother are on their way to Las Vegas for three days. Dad went online and got half-price tickets to see Mama Mia. He said Bette Midler was sold out.

Rock on, Dad!

I reminded him that “What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas” even though I doubt they'll get into too much trouble listening to lots of Abba tunes.

A Wonderful Meal - - With Sortilege

My friends Jack and Steve and Portia put on a grand dinner last night for seven folks. Our friends, Richard and Karen (no, their name isn’t Carpenter) brought lots of tasty treats to eat beforehand.

Karen also supplied the appetizer which consisted of mini-crab cakes on a salad of greens with a sesame dressing. To. Die. For.

She also make crème brulée for dessert, and who doesn’t like crème brulée?

Jack and Steve made an incredible, juicy roast pork with rosemary, a mushroom risotto and fresh asparagus with a lemon-thyme vinaigrette.

Whose two really know how to put on a spread. (Thanks guys!)

Of course, the infamous Sortilege liqueur was served with dessert. Most of the guests had never tasted it, so they were duly wowed by it. Sortilege is the difficult-to-obtain liqueur from Canada that’s a blend of Canadian whiskey and maple syrup liqueur.

I recently tried to place another order of Sortilege with the place I’d found online last time, but they no longer carried it!

NOOOoooo!

However, I found another place that had it at almost half the price, only $11.99 a bottle.

http://www.grandwinecellar.com/

My order should be here by the end of the week.

Anyway, I wrote a song about Sortilege.
It's sung to the tune of O Canada.

First, here are the words to O Canada:

O Canada!
Our home and native land!
True patriot love in all thy sons command.
With glowing hearts we see thee rise,
The True North strong and free!
From far and wide, O Canada,
We stand on guard for thee.
God keep our land glorious and free!
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.

And then here are my words to O Sortilege:

O Sortilege!
We drink a toast to thee.
Sipping liqueur imbued with maple trees.
With glowing hearts, O Canada
With each glass we partake;
We Americans do love thee more
The elixir our neighbors make!
O Canada, free up your stores
With Sortilege upon our nation’s shores;
With Sortilege upon our nation’s shores!

Isn't that clever?

Great Gift Ideas

If you’re like me, you’re having trouble thinking of clever holiday gifts that people will actually use and enjoy.

I’ve embarrassed myself my giving stupid gifts in the past:
1) Gift-card credits to e-Bay for my mother. (She doesn't like using the internet)
2) A season pass to Six Flags for a nephew. (The roller coaster scared the bejeezus out of him)
3) Any CD by Enya

Well, after some hits-and-misses, I got the perfect gift idea for you.

Are you ready?

Here goes:

You know those cool little gift bags you get gifts in? You know, the brightly colored ones with the yarn handles and the tissue paper inside? The ones you always try to save and re-use because they make gift-giving so convenient?

Well, give a whole bunch of those as presents. Now, that may sound funny, but I’ve done that and the recipients really love it.

A couple of years ago, I gave my mom about eight dozen of them in assorted sizes and colors. She’s always running off at the last minute, needing to give a gift at work and she hates gift wrapping. (Who doesn't?) To this day, she still thanks me for all those gift bags. And, she appreciates my gift every time she uses one. Which is a lot.

I did the same thing for my step-mother and she likes them too.

If you order them on line, you can get a whole bunch of them at a really good price. Just go to froogle.com and search for “gift bags”.

If you want to give something way much cooler that is tres chique-n-unique, then there’s that incredible beverage called Sortilège. It's a liqueur made from Canadian whisky and maple syrup and has been produced in Montreal for over 300 years. If you go on a tour of Montreal, they tell you it can only be bought in Quebec.

However, here’s a distributor here in the U.S. where it can be obtained. It’s really unique. You taste it and you think, “hmmm, whisky.” Then it becomes sweet and you think, “hmmm, . . . waffles!”

Everyone loves it and is always impressed. It makes a great gift.
Click here to order it. (If you’re over 21, mind you.)

I hope that helps!

Three-ounce rule

Having flown twice last month, I can tell you that I really don’t like the new rule of having to put all your liquids and gels into less-than-three-ounce containers if you want to bring them in your carry-on.

First of all, I always travel with just a carry-on if at all possible. Jeans, shirts, underpants, socks can easily fit in my carry-on. I travel with one pair of shoes which are on my feet.

Second, I forgot about the rule and had to throw away my hair spray. At least they’re furnishing zip-lock bags for those of us who forget to do the zip-lock bag thing.

And what’s with the 3-ouce limitation on liquids and gels anyway? What’s to keep me from producing more than three ounces of liquid once I get on the airplane?

(Or a gel.)

When I travel to Seattle, I want to bring The Most Delicious Beverage in the Whole Wide World. I don’t want to check bags just for that. Besides, The Most Delicious Beverage in the Whole Wide World will get smashed. Have you ever watched the baggage handlers throw your luggage onto the airplane? They could put the Olympic shot-putters to shame.

So, I’m going to mail The Most Delicious Beverage in the Whole Wide World to Seattle ahead of time.

What’s this beverage of which I speak?

Okay, I'll tell you.

When Lorraine and family were here, we all had a big dinner at my friend’s house, Jack and Steve. Jack had been to a conference in Montreal and had acquired a bottle of Sortilège.
What is Sortilège?

Okay, I'll tell you.

It’s a cordial that is a blend of Canadian whisky and liqueur made from maple syrup. Yes, maple syrup liqueur. Mighty good stuff! Jack had bought it in Montreal at the Sortilège place where they said it could ONLY be purchased in Quebec. It’s been made there for over 300 years. That stuff is incredible. There were many oooo’s and aaawwww’s over it. Jack and Steve were kind enough to bestow it on our dinner guests.

So, I got on the internet and searched and searched and searched and I found an internet supplier! I bought a bottle for Steve’s birthday last month. Then I wanted some more for Lorraine’s birthday but couldn’t find it again.

Until recently. So I bought three bottles, one of which I want to bring to Seattle so everyone can go "ooooo" and "aaaawww" again. It’s that good. It'll also make nice gifts to present. You know, for when I'm invited to other dinner parties by nice people and don't want to show up empty-handed.

I was going to surprise the Seattleites with it but I didn’t know how to get it there because of the damn three-ounce limitation thing. So, I’m just going to mail it and trust that the postal system will ensure its safe arrival.

Oh, and if you want to try Sortilège, you can order it here.

You’ll definitely go "oooooo" and "aaaawww."