Random Thoughts and Brie With Bourbon Praline Sauce

Random Thought One—This really isn't so much a random thought as what is becoming an obsession. I am torn up about Joseph. Or not so much about Joseph as how he is depicted in my nativity scene. (I'm talking about the earthly father of the Christ Child here.) I’m not going to turn this into a religious debate because we don't do that here under the tulip tree. It's against our rules. Let's just say for reasons of my own, I have never believed that Joseph was old. Now, my belief has been validated by one Adam Hamilton, author of The Journey, which I have been reading along with the rest of the New Community Sunday School class at the First Methodist Church of Decatur. Hamilton believes Joseph was fifteen years old and I'm with him. This is the part where I want to tell you why I believe it. But I'm not. Anyway, I love nativity sets. Love them. I affectionately call the two I have The Baby Jesus and His Buddies. I do not think this is disrespectful. If I did, I wouldn't do it. Anyway. My Josephs are old. I can't have it. Amazon has 5000 Nativity sets and I've looked at, roughly, a quarter of them. All the Josephs are old except the ones where the whole cast is children. And that's creepy. Also, there was one made up of mice. Come to think of it, I don't know an old mouse from a teenage mouse, so I don't know how old mousy Joseph is. But guess how I feel about a rodent Holy Family. Not good. So. I need a teenage Joseph. Stephanie says she's going to find me one. I think she told me that because she is tired of hearing about it. Most people in my life are.

Random Thought Two—There are two occasions in my little town where you can dress up and drop a few hundred dollars in the name of charity and a good time—The Gala and The Pact Ball. My pals and I usually go to The Pact Ball but not the Gala. This year, however, Precious, Fun Girl, Cutest Girl in the World and their assorted spouses went to the Gala. It was two nights ago. I have not talked to them since but they put up a picture on Facebook of themselves in their finery drinking chocolate milk at the Waffle House. I can only imagine they shut down the Gala and every other place in town. I can't wait to hear this story.

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I know it isn't recipe day, but in the name of randomness I am going to supply you with a recipe that I've had requests for.

Brie with Bourbon Praline Sauce

• 2 tablespoons butter
• ½ cup finely chopped pecans.
• ¼ cup of butter
• ¾ cup of dark brown sugar
• 3 tablespoons bourbon
• 1 pound round of brie

Melt the 2 tablespoons of butter and add pecans. Cook on medium heat until pecans are toasted. Set aside.

Melt ¼ cup of butter and add brown sugar . Stir over medium heat until sugar melts. Add pecans and bourbon. Keep warm.

Peel rind from top of brie. Microwave cheese until it's runny—30 to 60 seconds . Pour sauce over cheese and serve with crackers and apple splices.