What are you most looking forward to this holiday?
Category Archives: cooking
STAY AWAY FROM THOSE CHRISTMAS COOKIES!
“Believe in yourself! Have faith in your abilities! Without a humble but reasonable confidence in your own powers you cannot be successful or happy.” – Norman Vincent Peale
I received this from a friend and I thought it would be a great segue way into my future posts. I know it applies to many people, myself included.
Here is a little light humor for the holiday season. Enjoy this video of Ormie the pig!
CHRISTMAS AT OUR DAUGHTER’S HOME
“He who has a why to live can bear almost any how.” – Friedrich Nietzsche
I’ve been waiting to post this. Two people were supposed to send me pictures taken with a much better camera then I presently have – I haven’t received them yet. If I wait much longer, it will be Valentine’s day – so I’ll just post this with the pictures I took.
Update – I received the pictures and have added them to the slide show.
About one month before Christmas, right around Thanksgiving, my grownup daughter, who was visiting asked us to spend Christmas at her home. Now I have never relied on my daughter for much of anything because after all she is my daughter and I’m the mommy. Added to this was my angst about leaving our home on such a holiday for just a few hours, because we were burglarized two years ago and the aftermath is still vivid in my mind. Now to add to my fear was the fact that my daughter wanted us to stay overnight. In past years we always had a reason to stay home – there was our stallion Max, 4 outdoor cats and 4 poodles, all who needed to be fed. Granted we could go for the day and bring the poodles, but it was like packing for 4 children. Anytime we went anywhere, all 4 dogs had to have a bath and a hair cut by none other than me. Then their little beds had to be pack along with wee wee pads just in case the older ones had an accident. There were bowls for food and bowls for water that needed to be packed along with the rubber mats the bowls and their font paws rested on when they ate. The rubber mats prevent the bowls along with the paws from sliding around during the all important event of eating. And most important was to remember to pack the food. Then, when they were loaded into the car, there were the throws placed on the rear seat to protect the seats from nails and dirt, harnesses to attach to the dog and the seat belts and a carry case between the two larger dogs had to be strapped in for the two little older dogs. Let me tell you, it was quite an ordeal to prepare to go visiting for a day.
So this time, when my daughter asked us to come to her home for Christmas, most of our reasons were no longer valid. This year alone, we lost 3 cats, 3 dogs and a horse. I only had to bathe and groom one poodle, and put food out for one cat. There was still the matter of the burglary, but they got all our good stuff – not yet replaced, and now the property has a locked gate and video cameras – I guess we could take the chance. So after much thought, and a week or so, we decided to go to our daughters’ for Christmas.
As Christmas drew near, I asked Rob what time did he want to leave on Saturday? SATURDAY he said, I thought we were just going after church on Sunday. Now our daughter lives in Tampa, a good two-hour drive away. The last thing I wanted to do was drive for four hours (two each way) on Christmas day. I calmly tried to remind him that he was the one who convinced me we could go this year since there were no animals to feed. Well, let me tell you, he tried every trick in the book. First he tried the guilt trip – how he was looking forward to time off to relax and putz around. If it were a three-day weekend that would be one thing, he said. I looked at him and said, “It is a three-day weekend – next reason! Then he tried the old – “you two hoodwinked me, somehow I got tricked into this by you and Veronica”. I told him that wasn’t going to work since it was he who had to convince me to go overnight in the first place. It took him a day, but he came up with another one. At dinner the next evening he told me he heard on the radio that this weekend would be the highest weekend for burglaries. I reminded him of the locked gate and camera. The next day he tried the “I’m going to be bored routine”…What am I going to do when you and Veronica are out shopping on Saturday? What am I going to do in the morning? You know I’ll be up before everyone else … I hope there’s coffee blah, blah, blah!! You would have thought we were going to a deserted island or something. I told him he could go shopping with us, or he could look at TV – you know, the box attached to the cable with 100’s of channels. Veronica has a coffee pot so you can make coffee and sit at the table and turn on the computer and surf the net. The next day he took another approach, he came at me with this question “Do you think people will think we are away when they see the locked gate and come up anyway, or do you think the locked gate is a deterrent?” By now I was exasperated and just looked at him and said “We’re going, we’re leaving on Saturday and we’ll be back on Sunday night end of discussion!!!
So Saturday came and we left for our daughter’s home. I wasn’t quite sure what the day, and evening would be like but I knew it would be fun. We went to an early Mass, and after Mass we went out to eat at a Chinese buffet. It was delicious and filling and when we were done, we took a stroll at the outdoor mall. The stores, streets and courtyard were all decked out with Christmas lights. People were walking about even though the stores were closed and it was beautiful. Unfortunately, the Chinese food made its’ was through my body quickly, and we went back to our daughter’s home sooner than I would have wanted. After getting rid of the food, my daughter and I went back out to pick up a few odds and ends and finished the evening watching “It’s a Wonderful Life” – a great Christmas classic.
The next day was quite impressive. Rob and Veronica were up first and began making the sauce for the lasagna. Once the sauce was well under way Veronica began fixing greens – something that is not on my top ten list of favorites. Next the turkey was washed and prepared, and I showed Veronica the secret to my famous turkey stuffing. Meanwhile, grandma and grandpa – Rob’s parents – arrived and grandma helped with the meal as well. Regular and sweet potatoes were peeled, the green bean casserole was put together and the ham was readied for the oven. Then, the noodles were par boiled and the lasagna put together while the turkey cooked in the oven. Of course while we were cooking, there was eggnog to drink, or sodas – I opted for the eggnog with some B & B in it. I was really impressed, I didn’t think our daughter had it in her, but after all she grew up on home-made meals and large gatherings where there was lots of food – why should she be any different. Finally the ham and lasagna were put in the oven, along with the sweet potatoes, green bean casserole and greens while the regular potatoes cooked on the stove top. Finally, the turkey gravy was made, the ham was glazed and the potatoes mashed. All was ready. Everything was laid out buffet style and we filled our plates and took a seat at the table. The food was delicious and there was nothing wrong with anything! Desert was equally plentiful and tasty – there was pumpkin and apple pie, and cheese cake too.
ABOUT THE PICTURES
- The first picture is of the room our daughter prepared for us to stay in.
- The next is of Rob with his new NOOK
- The third and fourth are of our granddaughter Ali showing us the book she made for her mom.
- The next is of Rob discussing the nook with our granddaughter while watching the nook charge up.
- Then there is great grandma having a pretzel after we all opened up our presents.
- Who could forget the dogs; – the next two are of Louie our poodle and Diva our daughter’s dog.
- Then Veronica and great grandma are preparing food.
- The proof is in the oven for all non-believers —-Veronica can cook!!!
- The feast is laid out
- Come and get it
- the company seated for a great meal
- relaxing after dinner
- The children have some cotton candy for desert.
Mme Jocelyne 