Christmas 2015

Merry Christmas to all!  I hope everyone out there had a very nice Christmas this year!

Christmas here at my house wasn't all that exciting, but that's because we have no small kids in the house anymore.  To me, it's kids that make Christmas fun.  

Charlie and the cats doesn't count.

It was nice to get a quick visit from Steph and Isaac as they were passing through from Fairbanks to Nikiski.  Even though they only stayed one night, it was worth it to see them.

I didn't get any posed "formal" family pictures this year - just didn't think of doing it - so I just have a few snapshots of what went on at our house, which really isn't much.

To me, maybe I'm weird, but one of my favorite things about Christmas is cooking a huge Christmas dinner, even if I do it all single-handedly, which I ended up doing this year cuz Steph and Isaac weren't here for Christmas dinner.  (and PeeWee doesn't like helping in the kitchen).

So I did it ALL BY MYSELF this year!!

We had ham, mashed potatoes, sweet potato casserole, green bean casserole, corn, stuffing, gravy, and dinner rolls.  Plus desserts (pumpkin pie, banana cream pie, and cheesecake.)

We broke a few traditions with our meal this year.  Chuck wanted a ham instead of a turkey, just for a change.  And that was okay, BUT!......  He is one of those people that doesn't like "funky" flavors on his meat, so he insisted that I not put any kind of glaze or anything on it.  So the ham was okay, but I thought it could've used some kind of flavor enhancement.  Anyway, now I have this leftover ham bone to experiment with.

I want to try making some ham and pea soup with it, something I don't remember ever making before, so it will require some research before I attempt that one.

Another tradition broken, but perhaps a new one made, is that I made my own jellied cranberry sauce out of scratch, instead of opening up a can.  What I hate about opening up cans of food, is that I feel like I'm opening up a can of dog food - and then we eat it.  (but that's just me....)  Plus I hate feeling like I'm compromising nutrition for convenience.  But mostly, I was just curious to see if I could actually make a good tasting batch of it, and how hard is it to make?

It was actually pretty easy to make and I was real pleased with the texture of it - surprised that it actually worked out!  And it even tasted good, but if I make it again, I will have to make a note to myself to use less orange juice, and less sugar.  To me it tasted a bit too "orangey", and Pee Wee said it was too sweet.  And if SHE says it's too sweet, trust me, it's too sweet.

Okay, the stuffing.  Usually, I cheat, yes I cheat, I hate to admit it, but I do cheat with this one.  Normally I buy a box of Stove Top and dress it up with onions and sausage and so-forth.  But at the last minute, I realized I FORGOT to pick up a box of Stove Top when we were at the commissary.  And I was NOT about to run to the store on Christmas morning just to pick up a box of Stove Top.  My choices were to either not have stuffing (gasp!), or improvise and make my own from scratch.  Like Chuck often quotes:  "Google is a wonderful thing", so I got on the internet and found a recipe for stuffing that was very similar to how I dress up a box of Stove Top, only it used crumbled up cornbread.  It looked good and sounded good, so I quickly whipped up and baked a pan of cornbread and made stuffing out of it.

At first I thought it tasted almost "bland", but that's because I was used to all those flavors that come in a box of Stove Top.  But it didn't take too long before I realized it was pretty good, and I liked that it didn't taste like it came out of a box.  So, I don't know if I will make it again next year, but it's a good backup plan if I ever forget to buy Stove Top again.

Also something different:  the gravy.

The problem with not roasting a turkey was that I didn't have any turkey drippings to make gravy.  So this too, I had to improvise with the help of my Google friend.  It was good, but somehow I forgot to add salt to it.  But that was okay, cuz people normally sprinkle salt and pepper on their potatoes before they eat it anyway, so it didn't make any difference.  I'm just glad that I had all that extra (homemade) chicken broth in the fridge - that is what made this gravy turn out good.

Anyhoo, now that my fridge is stock full of leftover food (and three kinds of desserts), it's nice to know that I can take a "vacation" from cooking for a few days.  But there's still always dishes to wash.......(.......sigh!)

But what a blessing!  Be thankful for dirty dishes, right?  It means you have food to eat!

May you all enjoy your post-Christmas days before normalcy returns.

Whatever that is!

Thanksgiving 2015

I haven't posted anything since Halloween, but that's because I really didn't have anything to write about.  I've been making my transition between holidays, which isn't very exciting.  One thing that I've been busy with is making my Christmas cards:

I am using the newest window frame die cut from the Stampin' Up! holiday catalog.  I got an earlier start on them this year, which I am thankful for cuz it seems like I stress over them every year, trying to get them out on time.  I am making 50 cards this year - very time consuming.

Here is a little baby squirrel that was running around on our back deck a couple weeks ago.  

It's kinda hard to see him in this picture, but he was really cute.

Then we had a cold spell for a few days:

Then it warmed up into the 40s, we got some rain, and all of our snow disappeared.  Our back yard is all green again.

Anyhoo, my daughter Stephanie decided to come down from Fairbanks and spend Thanksgiving weekend with us, so we were pretty happy about that.

I look terrible in this picture.

She went with us to our annual Thanksgiving potluck dinner with our church family.  There were a lot of people there, as usual.

Steph, Kayla, and Justin

Here are just SOME of the desserts.  Apparently most people filled up on dinner cuz there were still a lot of desserts left over that were almost untouched.

After dinner, they always have a talent show, which seems to get shorter and shorter every year, but it's still always fun to watch.  

Here is Scott and his daughter Maggie acting out "The Raven" by Edgar Allen Poe:

I was quite impressed that Scott had that whole entire poem memorized!!

Then little Jaden "played" the harmonica for us.  He's 3 years old and has Down's Syndrome.  He's very tiny for his age.

Then David got a "haircut" (as if he really needed one!) while Jake told him the backwards story of "Rindercella" who "lell in fove" with the "pransome hince", and when the "mock struck clidnight" she "slopped her dripper" which "fidn't dit" on the feet of her "sugly isters".

  It was pretty funny to hear Jake tell the story (you had to be there).

Then Steve played the guitar while his sons entertained us with that old favorite song from "Hee Haw":  "where or where are you tonight, why did you leave me here all alone...?"

(only those of us in the older generation would know that song)

The also song a song about Little John and Robin Hood running through the forest.

Then Adam and Isaac played a few tunes on their violins:

From where I was sitting, I couldn't get a good picture.

Then Bobbie sang us a song - she actually has a pretty good voice.  I didn't recognize the song, but I'm guessing it was a song from one of the recent Disney movies.

So that was pretty much it for the talent show.  

So today we weren't real sure what we were gonna do, but Steph wanted to go shopping cuz she doesn't have all the stores in Fairbanks that we have here, especially in Anchorage.  Typically, I do NOT! 

go shopping on Black Friday!!!!!  But this year I went just to make Steph happy (oh, the things we do for our kids!).  The stores were pretty busy, but they could've been a lot worse.  After awhile, you just get sick of constantly dodging people.  It wasn't complete insanity, but it was bad enough to make me want to reinforce my personal rule to just stay home on Black Friday and happily and peacefully work on my Christmas cards, listening to Christmas music and sipping on hot tea!!!

Anyhoo, here we are the 5th Ave. Mall:

Here I sat my weary self down and took a picture of people going up and down the escalators while Steph was looking for a new pair of shoes:

Here, we put Chuck in charge of watching all of our purchased goodies while us girls went our separate ways (to quickly go look for something that we were looking for......)

We were also planning on going to the Dimond Center, but by the time we got done here, Steph decided that she really didn't "need" to go to the Dimond Center.  So on the way out of Anchorage, we hit Kohl's to shop for a few more things and that was it.  It felt like a very long day.  I hope Steph satisfied her shopping urges.

That's about all that's going on here.  I might be able to talk Chuck into letting me put the Christmas tree up tomorrow, but I don't know.  He doesn't get too excited about Chri$tma$, and I really can't figure out why.....

Halloween 2015

Happy Halloween!

Well, okay, it's over with now.

So here I am recording how it went for me this year.

First, I must express a special thanks to my friend Tammie who helped make it all possible.   I worked her like a slave.  Thank you Tammie!

Before she came, I got most of my decorating done.  Here is my pathetic looking tree:

Here are a few more pictures of my decor:

Tammie arrived on Wednesday night, and I set her to work on Thursday and Friday, helping me get all the food prepared.  Most of you who read my dreary blog have received my menu in the mail, and I suppose you are wondering what all those items are.  I will explain what they all are by starting with the appetizer.

Jack Splat

Jack Splat was pumpkin hummus.  Very tasty.  When I went to the store to get some dipping veggies, I ran across some "rainbow carrots" which added a nice touch of fall colors.

After whetting the appetite with Jack Splat, we served a bowl of Wiley's Swamp.

Wiley's Swamp

Wiley's Swamp was a bowl of White Bean and Spinach Soup.  I wanted something with spinach in it to give it that "swampy" look.  I also added a can of black beans to give the broth a more swampy color.  I wish I had gotten a better picture of the spinach dangling from the spoon, but you get the idea.  Oh yeah, the soup was served with "Brom's Bones", which were - you guessed it - dinner rolls.  Somehow I neglected to include that in the picture.

For the main entree, our guests were given two choices:  "Sliced Cranium with Jack's Squat" or "Ichabod's Bane".

Sliced Cranium with Jack's Squat

The "Sliced Cranium" was a baked slice of acorn squash, and then I filled the hole with arborio rice, topped with toasted panko crumbs and bacon bits.  And of course, the guests were also free to add their own "Ichabod's Psoriasis Flakes".  I'm sure you are smart enough to figure out what that was.

The second entree choice was "Ichabod's Bane".

They are chicken and cheese quesadillas.  I was trying to go for the pumpkin look, thus "Ichabod's bane", but I was quite pleased with how they turned out, even if they don't resemble a pumpkin by a long shot.  After cutting apart the jaw and pulling it apart, the gooey cheese really added a nice effect that I wasn't expecting.

Now on to the desserts:

First there was "Headless Redneck"

They are Rhubarb-Strawberry Chia Seed Pudding Parfaits.  Tammie did a good job dressing them up with black toulle. (did I spell that right?)  I called them "Headless Redneck" because they resemble a decapitated neck (with blood and pus), and they have a red color marbled in, so a red neck with no head was the first thing I thought of, and no one would be able to guess what it was.

Then there was the "Ichy Schnoz"

How did I come up with "Ichy Schnoz" for pumpkin pie, you ask?  Good question!

Pumpkin pie is pointy and long, like Ichabod's nose.  As you know, a schnoz is another name for a nose, and "Ichy" is short for Ichabod.  So there ya go - "Ichy Schnoz".  I know it's lame, but I was desperate.

And who would be smart enough to figure out what that one would be?  

The last dessert on the menu was "Gunpowder Plop"

"Gunpowder" was the name of the horse that Ichabod rode when he was invited to a dinner at the Van Tassel's house.  (If you read the original story, you would know this.)  So, now you can figure out why I called chocolate pudding "Gunpowder Plop".  I wanted to called it "Gunpowder's Poo", but thought plop would be funnier, just because of the sound that it would make if the horse really did, well you know.........plus "Gunpowder Plop" would be harder to guess than "Gunpowder Poo", especially if they hadn't read the book. I wasn't going to serve this at all, but I knew I needed something on the menu that my kids would eat.   In order to not waste any good food, I generally don't let them order something that I know they will not eat.

As for the drinks, the "Hudson River Sludge" was coffee, and "Tappan Zee" was tea.

By the way, notice in this picture how Chuck's whipped cream has "melted" over his "Ichy Schnoz"?  Now compare his whipped cream to the whipped cream on mine and Tammie's.  See how our whipped cream is still nice and fluffy?  That's because Chuck is eating Reddi Whip.  Tammie and I are eating homemade whipped cream, made with coconut cream - okay I cheated a little and whipped it up with a packet of "Whip It".  But it was SO good.  And since Tammie and I are both watching our dairy intake, we had to make our own cuz, after all, "Ichy Schnoz" just isn't the same without whipped cream. And I gotta say - whipped cream made with coconut cream tastes WAY better.

And I refuse to eat Cool Whip.  Have you read the list of ingredients on a container of Cool Whip? 

Nuff said.

Okay, now here's the bummer part.  Tammie and I spent TWO WHOLE DAYS cooking for this meal, and we were supposed to have 3 more guests show up.  But at the last minute, they bailed out on us.  Wow, talk about a big let down!  However, it turned out they had a very good excuse, so I could not be mad at them - only terribly disappointed that they weren't able to enjoy our hard labor.

But I am so glad that Tammie was there - at least we had ONE guest!  And she even stayed at my "Bed and Breakfast" for a whole week!  And survived to tell about it!

When Saturday came, our hard work was all over and we were able to just relax. Throughout the week, Tammie came and went, visiting with some friends, and I'm really glad she was able to do that.  When she wasn't out, we did a lot of things together and it was so fun having her here.  We went to a play at the Valley Theater  ("Bell, Book, and Candle"), did some shopping, and also did some scrapbooking together.

After she left, I still waited for Halloween to come.  I transferred a few decorations out to the front porch to greet all the kiddos, even though we don't get very many trick-or-treaters at our house.

And then I talked Chuck into helping me carve those big pumpkins.

And of course, we set them out on the porch and lit them up after it got dark.

So now that it's all over, I'm spending two days packing everything up again for next year.

Hmmm........I wonder what next year's theme will be?

"Let me in!"