It’s 4am, about 20 hours before midnight as I write this, but it’s still New Year’s Eve in my book.  I’m not one of those people who calls this an overrated holiday or amateur night.  Before I had kids, New Year’s Eve was always my favorite holiday.  I love dressing up and drinking champagne and being showered in confetti.  I love wearing sequins and party hats and breathlessly counting down to midnight.   The night is so full of promise:  it lets you wipe away the past year and make proclamations of doing it better next time.  But that was then…this year I’ll be in bed by 9pm to be fresh (and sober) for our three-hours of F&F tomorrow.  As for resolutions:  I will try to have more stamina for the round-the-clock job of parenting the three adorable toddlers I call “my children” in the coming year and of course I’ll try to find interesting things to bring to you on this blog in 2008.  

What are your resolutions?  And what were your most memorable New Year’s Eve’s?        

I haven’t forgotten about you guys.  I miss blogging more regularly and the After the Show Show but I must say I’m enjoying filling-in for the Judge on Brian & the Judge’s radio show this week.  Don’t worry, I’ll be back with a vengance on Monday.  But it’s a nice change of pace to be able to wipe off the lipstick, kick off the heels and settle into 3-hours of talk radio.  We certainly had a lot to cover today with the assasination of Benazir Bhutto.   Here are the big questions we’ll address on F&F tomorrow: what does her assasination do for the presidential race here?  for national security here and in Pakistan?  for the cause of democracy everywhere?  I’d love to hear your thoughts. 

Check out the pics our makeup artist, Maureen Walsh, took of me doing the radio show with Brian.

  

  

I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas and some peace, tranquility and rest.  And if you did, can you tell me about it?  May I live vicariously through your holiday?  Mine was exhausting.   Having three children under three years old does not make for a lot of, how do you say…rest?  We went to my in-laws where our kids were joined by their beloved cousins, ages 19 months and 3.  There was lots of laughing and tickling and tantrums.  Oh, and how do you get two toddlers to transition from sleeping in cribs to “big girl beds” from without them roaming loose around their room or worse, the house??  Any suggestions would be welcome.

Oh, by the way, I’m filling in for Gretchen for the rest of the week, PLUS I’ll be in for the Judge on Brian and the Judge’s radio show all week!  I hear Brian does the show in his underwear.  But maybe that’s a myth.  So, forgive my sparse blogging — I’ll write when I can.  I look forward to telling you all about it!

It’s 8:30 Friday night and here I sit in a different greenroom, waiting to tape Red Eye.   What was I thinking working a 17-hour day, you ask?  I forget.  I’m too tired to remember.  But I do know that being on Red Eye is always a blast.  So, here I am. 

Here’s a home video of the Doocy clan celebrating Christmas!

Brian’s beautiful wife Dawn and adorable kids, Kirstyn, Kaitlyn and Bryan are sitting here in the Greenroom. (Actually, they’re mopping up the water that Kaitlyn just spilled on the floor. Ah…kids). Kaitlyn, the four year old, is nervous about being on t, and at the moment, refusing to go on. Brian is gently cajoling her.

So, while I have them captive, any questions you’d like to ask?

Mama Kilmeade’s Struffoli (also known as STRUFILI)

4 cups flour

1 ½ cups honey

1 tsp. baking powder less than ¼ cup sugar

½ tsp. salt Rind of one orange

½ bar butter Colored sprinkles

6 large eggs or 7 small

In large bowl add flour, baking powder and salt. Add butter (break up with fingers if necessary to be sure its well mixed). Make a well and pour in beaten eggs..now take sides of flour and work into eggs a little at a time to get solid piece of dough. On floured board knead dough for at least 15 minutes- cut dough to see that there are no bubbles - if there are, knead until gone. Now, take a little piece of dough and roll into a noodle shape and cut off small pieces about

¼ inch size. In large pot, heat oil. When hot, drop pieces into oil…stir occasionally and cook until golden (not too brown). Cook entire batch. Next, in big pot add honey, sugar and orange rind..boil for 3 minutes stirring constantly.Now take strufili and stir in the honey mixture stirring well. Take small glass and place small greased glass in center of dish…Place strufili around glass in mounds packing it well to keep it firm…Put on sprinkles and let stand..when firm remove glass and place holly sprig or Christmas ornament in middle. Cover with saran wrap and keep in cool place.

Wow!  I’ve just finished reading your posts on the teen pregnancy topic.  I’m so impressed by all the thoughtful responses.   And many of you with personal experience, perhaps a pregnant child or family member who was a teenager, brought up an important question:   Why aren’t we hearing adoption mentioned more in the conversation?  Is putting a child up for adoption a realistic option for a celebrity?      

We did a segment on some trendy Christmas gifts for your dog.   Here are some behind-the-scenes photos of the cute canines before their close-ups.