Tag Archives: Christmas dinner

Thankful Thursday

Posted in California, cancer, cooking, Gratitude, home stuff by

I’m so thankful we had a lovely Christmas and our little family was all here.

We had a very nice Christmas with our 2 adult children, my son’s partner, and my brother. We had a lasagna, some cornish hens( which I didn’t think they were worth it), an antipasto plate, garlic bread, and a tiny bit of ham for those that wanted it. I had it timed perfectly and everything was ready at the same time.

We had fun around the table and then everyone pitched in to clean up. It was really nice. My son’s partner even got us a popcorn maker so last night we used it while finishing up all the Christmas movies. I’m glad it’s over though and clean up can start.

Today I plan to get out the Hanukkha stuff as I was too tired yesterday to light the first night’s candle. I plan on making the latkes with sour cream and applesauce on the side. Maybe an omelette with some smoked salmon I have left over from Christmas breakfast. Something easy at any rate.

It was raining this morning so we didn’t walk. I plan to just do some clean up today and start putting away a few Christmas things. B has labs to go do and then pick up some prescriptions. His labs have been very good so really until the next phase he should be fine. He was able to schedule a video visit with Dr. Neal who is the mesothelioma oncologist at Stanford. Once he looks things over he’ll hand it off to Dr. Lee. It’s still going to be a hard 6 months for us but hopefully, we’ll come out of this with positive results.

I’m thankful that this year is ending on a positive note even though I know there’s some rough stuff ahead. At least as we close the year, it’s closing with lots of hope for a better 2025.

Simple Sunday

Posted in cooking, Flylady, Uncategorized by

I’ve been thinking about the things that make my home cozy or Hygge.  One definite thing is burning beeswax tapers every evening at dinner. This is a throwback to our Waldorf days where they use beeswax candles, beeswax crayons etc as it is beautiful and natural.  These are the ones I use.

 Another thing is using fairy lights / twinkly lights year round.  I’m really into those strands of tiny led lights that are battery operated. I have 3-4 strands all over but the look especially nice in plants.UNADJUSTEDNONRAW_thumb_ed3.jpg

This picture doesn’t really capture how pretty it looks but you get the idea.

I’ll also put a pot of water on the wood stove and add cloves or orange or cinnamon. It smells good. Other wise I burn scented candles. Right now my favorite is the Anthropologie one that’s called Capri blue. I bought it on sale and it lasted a pretty long time. Generally, I don’t spend $24 on a candle but this was big and the scent really was delightful. I probably won’t buy another though as that’s out of my price range normally. But it was a nice Christmas present to myself:)

Tonight is the last night of Hanukkah and I’m making latkes again and I’ll roast  a chicken too.

Today is a gym day and then just tidying around the house what needs to be done. The coming week is the kitchen zone so I’ll do that tomorrow.

I’m done with Christmas stuff  so that’s good. For Christmas dinner, I’ve planned lasagna and manicotti ( vegetarian). The lasagna is done and in the freezer. Plus I’ll make an antipasto plate up and we’ll have some garlic bread too. We’re not dessert eaters at all, but I may get a lemon cake from our local bakery. Lemon cake is my absolute favorite.

Going Uber Frugal with Frugalwoods.

Posted in cooking, Uncategorized by

So starting in January we particpating in both The Compact, and Frugal woods uber Frugal month. Buy nothing new except food, gas etc, is the basis of the Compact. It should be really fun to think outside the box. We actually had our first challenge this week. Our dishwasher stopped draining. It is almost 20 years old . This has happened before and we knew something was stuck but could we ( oh I mean HE) get it out.   Visions of ordering from Home Depot danced in my head and it was not a pleasant thought to think of having to charge $500 for a dishwasher. Especially since we’re doing the The Compact ( nothing new) and trying to be Uber Frugal. But as I was leaving the gym, the text on my phone from my sweet and amazing husband said…”Fixed”!!!!! yeah…. and Whew that was a close call. I’m not really one for hand wash dishes day after day. Some are Okay and I get the Zen of it, but for sanitation and sterilizaton, give me a dishwasher.

 

I’m acutually, really looking forward to this challenge. I always need a goal or multiple and it keeps me focused.

Today is just a home day with chores. B needs to get cat food and a prescription. That’s it.

I’m going to work on lists for Christmas dinner and breakfast. I’m going back to our traditional lasagna. I’ll do a pan of cheese and a pan of meat lasagna.Then a salad, garlic bread and that’s it.

Christmas breakfast will be cinnamon rolls and a breakfast sausage casserole. Plus one just with green chilies and cheese for the veggie:)

Dinner tonight is Baked cod in parchment, couscous, and a salad. Grilled tofu for the vegetarian.