Smorgasbord #12
Celebrations, food, and books
Hello friends! Welcome to another edition of Smorgasbord, a self-service buffet of ideas. If you’re new here, welcome! It’s good to have you. If you haven’t subscribed, I will make it easy for you to do so.
Happy Twelfth Day of Christmas! Tomorrow is the Solemnity of the Epiphany of the Lord, and I wrote about Reyes Magos and Rosca de Reyes for the latest issue of
.A little housekeeping: I’ve turned on paid subscriptions for Peregrino. However, nothing is paywalled yet. If you find value in my work and want to support me, now you can do so. Also, we now have a chat where I’ll periodically start threads for us to interact! We had a lively discussion about whether or not a hot dog is a sandwich, so I guess you could say things are getting pretty serious.
And now, back to our regularly scheduled programming.
Thoughts
Diana and I had our first overnight trip without the kids in nine years of marriage. We celebrated my fortieth birthday by having dinner at Wren and Wolf in downtown Phoenix and visiting two of our favorite cocktail bars. The next day, we browsed a couple of bookstores, drank coffee, and finished the night by going on a double date with friends. Shout out to my mother-in-law for staying with the kids while we were out.
Remember how
threw me a surprise birthday party once? Well, this year, she asked a bunch of our friends to send me birthday cards! I loved opening about a dozen of them. We have the best friends, honestly.Suddenly, it was New Year’s Eve, and we watched When Harry Met Sally in our pajamas and called it a year. By the way, if you’re wondering which French 75 tastes better, cognac or gin, the answer is cognac.
This past year was a good one. I believe I ended 2023 as a (slightly) better person than how I started it. Hopefully, I can say the same this time next year. Praying, writing, and building community (online and in person) have all been crucial.
As I said, my mother-in-law is in town, which means I have been eating all the Mexican food. She already made tamales, homemade corn tortillas, and sopes. Diana even got a personalized tortilla press for Christmas.
Reads
This year, I decided to read at least three books from The Great Books reading list. I started with Confessions by St. Augustine, and four chapters in, this book already has so many gems. I plan to take this book to my weekly holy hour and use it for contemplation.
I also started On Writing Well by William Zinsser, which I believe
recommended on Notes at some point. I want to improve the quality of my writing, so this seems like an excellent place to start. I hope you can tell the difference.I’m taking a course on The New Testament at the Kino Catechetical Institute, and its reading list is hefty. I’m excited to read about the historicity of the Gospels and get into some Christology and exegesis.
Mixing
I haven’t craved alcohol since the French 75 I had on New Year’s Eve. Maybe my body is telling me to take a break. So, how about we take this week off, drink some water, maybe make some ponche, and I can come back next week with something new? Perhaps I’ll finally write that Yerba Mate essay
asked for a long time ago.I was also thinking about having an index for the cocktails I’ve published in Smorgasbord so it’s easier to find, you know? Would you like that? Let me know in the comments.
Sobremesa
How was your New Year’s Eve?
How long do you think you will write 2023 before actually getting the date right?
Have you read any of the Great Books?
Ya the pieces can get a little scattered. But you are penalized if they fall off the board. So the technique is controlled destruction. We need to have to have a board game double date night! We have a lot of fun ones that need to be dusted off and played again. I like to think they are becoming like the toys on the Toy Story Movie. Just longing to be played again!
Y’all are so sweet! Our NYE was lovely--the kids had napped terribly so they were in bed by 6:30 and we weren’t for behind 😂