family affair

my mother has three sisters and every year since before i can remember, my mother's side of the family has gotten together for christmas. typically, it is a weekend or two before actual christmas day - christmas eve and christmas day are usually reserved for the immediate family. this year is no different. my family (parents and two younger brothers), along with my grandma (only living grandparent), great aunt, and my mom's three sisters and their families (8 cousins + 3 cousins' spouses + 1 fiance + 2 babies + a gf/bf here and there = about 28 people in total) will be congregating at my aunt's house in west fargo (separate city from fargo) the saturday before christmas. each year, the grandchildren (my brothers, cousins and i - now including their spouses and children) exchange names and buy a gift for another cousin. this year, i have my cousin's fabulous wife, becky's name. becky has, however, been ignoring my many emails asking what she would like for christmas. i think she wants me to surprise her. what shall i get becky?

actually, that was just a tangent. i really need advice on what to MAKE. that's right. i have to MAKE something. and by something, i mean food product. my aunt sent an email asking for everyone to bring something (a pot luck, of sorts). I originally signed up to bring cheese and crackers (mostly because it's easy but also because usually whatever crackers they have, i dont like). but then i realized, i should actually attempt to MAKE something. bake or cook. it will be great fodder for my posts at mad tasty, where i have (due to a relentless travel schedule) been absent for the past 3 weeks. there will be a new post tomorrow, however, so be sure to look. anyway, i sent an email to my family stating this:

no, i changed my mind, i need to do some baking for my mad tasty blog so can someone suggest something really hard to make? wait. really hard and something no one is worried about not eating in case it turns out badly....

and no one has written back! i'm rather annoyed at my family. don't they care about what they eat? don't they care about what i attempt to make? don't they care enough to email back so i don't "accidentally" poison them?? actually, i shouldn't joke - what if i really did accidentally poison someone. that would not be good. in any case, i need some help deciding what to make...

fun stories from the menier christmas's of past to come. until then, dare me to make something really tough.