You know that commercial for Jared jewelers? "He went to Jared!" I can say, "John went to my Pinterest Wish Board!" All three of these things came from there. The first I specifically asked for and pointed out in Kohl's. The second and third he totally surprised me with (little bugger).
Spoon roast (beef) (cooked in my brother-in-law's Set It & Forget It -- AMAZING!)
Rolls
Mashed potatoes
Carrots
Squash
Roasted brussels sprouts
Gravy
Dessert:
Cheesecake sampler
Congo bars from my mother-in-law
Jello cups from my sister-in-law
Tiramisu Brownie Trifle (this is another recipe found via Pinterest -- from Pampered Chef) (It came out pretty darn good.)
Cranberry Pear Crumble (this is from Woman's Day) (Not so much...something about the crust just didn't work out. It was edible, but not something I'd make again.)
After we ate, we opened some more gifts from my mother-in-law and then pretty much everyone left! It was an extremely tiring day, but not tiring enough that I didn't get up early the next morning to have my own version of "Black Friday." Stay tuned for the next post!
Christmas Eve
The first half of the day was spent doing some last minute grocery shopping, cleaning, and some food prep.
At about 6PM-ish, John and I decided to stop the madness and have some "us" time.
Good call -- it was the calm before the Christmas Day storm!
I made hot crab dip -- a recipe that I've had for umpteen years from a college friend, Meg. I have the actual recipe written on a scrap of paper somewhere (translation -- I don't know where!), so I cook it from memory and I'll write it here from memory.
Hot Crab Dip
2 bars cream cheese
2 cans crabmeat
slivered almonds (I eyeball it -- enough to give the dip some crunch)
onion (I eyeball this, too -- maybe 1/2 cup?)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Combine all of the above in an oven safe dish. (Use your hands to mix -- it's therapeutic!)
Bake for 30 minutes or until it begins to bubble/brown on top.
Serve with Fritos Scoops!
NOTE: I generally make this for just John and I so I half the recipe and it's a perfect amount for the two of us.
We dined on this and a lovely cocktail that I found on Pinterest! (Where else?)
Poinsettia Cocktail (it's the Mimosa's cranberry cousin!)
3 oz (splash) of cranberry juice
1 oz (smaller splash) of Cointreau (OK people, Cointreau is REALLY expensive, so we used some rip off orange liqueur. Worked totally fine.)
Pour these into a champagne flute and top off with champagne. (We used sparkling wine.)
We celebrate Christmas Eve with the "kids" on December 23rd. Our traditions are to make homemade pizza, open one gift each, and usually play a board game. We did all three of those (for the most part.)
The raw ingredients:
And just like that, you can make these:
left: half cheese with red sauce and half pepperoni & onion with red sauce
right: half cheese with red sauce & half white
Since we're all of age now, we decided to liven up the party with a cocktail I found on Pinterest. Here I am hand modeling our pitcher of Rudolph's Tipsy Spritzer. (Say that five times fast. John kept calling it Rudolph's Piss. Anywho...)
Here's the recipe (short & sweet):
5 cups of orange juice
2 cups of chilled lemon-lime soda (I used 7UP)
1 1/2 cups vodka
1/2 cup maraschino cherry juice (I bought a couple of jars of cherries and just drained the juice out)
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
Stir together all ingredients. Serve over ice, if desired.
Here's Grace with the one gift she opened (DVD of America's Next Top Model Cycle 1). I think she might've liked it...
Grace gave her brother some shower gel (no photos available).
Grace gave John a cookie/treat jar:
She gave me some homemade hand scrub that her peers and staff at her program made. Smells good enough to eat!
Stepdaughter/stepmother love:
We rounded out the evening with a game of Sorry! Guess who came from behind to win? YOURS TRULY!!!
This question was recently posed to me by a complete stranger and was one of a handful of circumstances/occasions that got me thinking about the whole "believing" thing.
Let me back up and provide a little context.
I was raised in the Catholic religion. Baptized. Made my first communion. Make my first confession. Attended Catholic school for grades K-5, 7-12. I'd say around junior high, I "stopped" being a practicing Catholic. I no longer went to church on weekends (but went with school during the week). I started getting notes from my parents to get me out of going to confession with school. I wasn't confirmed. That's pretty much where we're at. I've been to mass for funerals, wedding, and a few holidays. I don't agree with a lot of Catholicism's rules.
That's where we are today and I haven't done a lot of questioning of my beliefs as an adult -- I've just kind of avoided it...until a seemingly innocent shopping trip...
It all started about a month or so ago when I was in Newbury Comics with stepdaughter Grace. She was there to buy some used horror movie DVDs. After roaming up and down the aisles (and pondering whether or not it was appropriate for a 40-year old to purchase a Strawberry Shortcake car air freshener -- and deciding it wasn't) I happened by the holiday CD section. Of late, I've been enamored of Josh Groban's music and decided to see if they had his Christmas CD, "Noel." Lo and behold, they had a used copy for a couple of bucks and I decided to purchase it.
I popped it into the CD player in my car and after listening to it in its entirety and remembering all of the Christmas songs that you forget during the year, I decided that track #5 was my favorite -- "Angels We Have Heard on High" -- a duet with Brian McKnight. You can here it here (from YouTube):
In case you're not familiar with the song (or don't want to watch the video to refresh your memory), here are the lyrics:
Angels we have on heard high
Sweetly singing o'er the plains
And the mountains in reply
Echoing their joyous strains
Gloria in excelsis Deo
Gloria in excelsis Deo
Come to Bethlehem and see
Christ whose birth the angels sing
Come adore on bended knee
Christ the Lord the newborn King
Gloria in excelsis Deo
(Let us sing in excelsis Deo)
Gloria in excelsis Deo
Gloria in excelsis Deo
(Angels we have on heard high
Sweetly singing)
Gloria in excelsis Deo
Gloria in excelsis Deo
In excelsis Deo
Even though there's some Latin thrown in here, it's crystal clear that this is a religious song. It's about Jesus Christ's birth and the fact that he's the King/Savior.
My second favorite song? Track #13 -- "Oh Come All Ye Faithful" (with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.) Another religious song (in case you aren't familiar, the refrain states, "Oh, come, let us adore him."). Oh, and just in case you're wondering (which I'm guessing you're not), this song slid into second place after I was in the car listening to it with Grace and she so kindly reminded me that this is the song that Carol Brady sang when she got her voice back in the Brady Christmas special. (Which then led to the question, "Do you remember the Brady 500?") Being equated with the Brady Bunch is always going to lead to being in second, third, or last place in my mind.
OK...where was I?
As I identified these two songs as being my favorites on the CD, I then started to question if this was "appropriate." What I mean by that is that I'm not the most religious chick on the block (or to put it in the words of the stranger that asked me the question in the title of this blog post, "I'm no holy roller.")
Is it "OK" that even though I might not believe in the words of these two songs that I still like them?
Do I HAVE to believe in the lyrics to like them?
Can I just appreciate them for their artistic quality?
All of these questions started to pop into my head.
Fast forward to a few weeks after I bought the CD and had this bit of internal debate. I was at a memorial service for a co-worker's son. I hadn't driven to the church with any co-workers, so I sat down alone amongst strangers.
Stranger sitting next to me: "Do you attend this church?"
Me: "No."
Stranger (getting even stranger): "What church do you attend?"
Me (thinking what I really want to say is, "None of your beeswax."): "I don't attend church."
Stranger: "You do believe, don't you?"
Me (face getting redder by the second): "I have my own beliefs."
Stranger appears to be silenced by my response but then says, "I'm no holy roller myself."
After said weird exchange, the incredibly moving and emotional service began (the deceased was a young man in his early 30's with tons of friends and family), but all the while I couldn't help but thinking, "What do I believe in?" "Could I see myself attending this church (it was an Episcopal church)" "What does this church believe in?"
After this service, while my Mom was in town, I played the Josh Groban CD in the car and mentioned that I liked the two previously mentioned songs. I said I didn't think one had to necessarily believe in the words to enjoy the songs. She agreed with me and I didn't give it much more thought.
Fast forward to a short time later, while Christmas shopping. While browsing decorations and ornaments, I recognized that I've always loved manger scenes/creches. We always put one up in our house (with fake grass) around Christmas time - even after we stopped going to church. I especially am fond of the three wise men. My Nana handmade a set during the 70's ceramics fad that I couldn't take my eyes off of. They were tall, regal, brightly colored, and very intriguing.
So, while shopping this year, I found myself wanting to buy these types of religious scenes/decorations.
Interesting.
Lastly (and by no means least), the tragic events in Newtown, CT on December 14th where 27 lives were lost (20 of them children) caused me to ask myself the age old questions --
"Why do things like these happen?"
"If there is a higher power, why is he/she/it allowing these things to take place?"
I watched the father of one of the deceased children, Emilie Parker, speak so calmly and bravely shortly after the tragedy and he kept referring to his and his family's faith and how it would guide them through the darkness of the tragedy.
Not only was I amazed by this statement, but I started to wonder what would happen if I was to go through something as horrific? Should I immediately go out and "find" a religion so that I could be as level-headed as he was in the face of darkness? Are my own cobbled together beliefs enough? What ARE my cobbled together beliefs?
I realize that I'm sort of all over the map in this post, so I appreciate you reading this far. I'm not making any profound proclamations in this post, just saying that sometimes life's circumstances prompt you to evaluate your beliefs (formal, informal, cobbled together, etc...) and I think that this is healthy. Often times, it seems like people get defensive of their beliefs (or non-beliefs). I certainly don't think strangers should be asking one another about their beliefs, but if this rudeness prompts some deep thinking, well, then maybe it's not so bad.
I'll end on the wise words of the 80's band Journey --
1/2 cup
(2 ounces) crumbled blue cheese 1 tablespoon
reduced-fat sour cream 1
teaspoon fresh lemon juice 1/8
teaspoon freshly ground black pepper 4
(6-ounce) skinless, boneless chicken breast halves 1/4 cup
all-purpose flour 2 tablespoons
2% reduced-fat milk 1 large
egg, lightly beaten 1 cup
panko (Japanese breadcrumbs) 1 1/2
tablespoons butter, divided 6
tablespoons finely chopped drained bottled roasted red bell peppers 2
teaspoons water 1
teaspoon Worcestershire sauce 1
teaspoon minced fresh garlic 1/2
teaspoon hot sauce
Preparation
Preheat
oven to 350°.
Combine
first 4 ingredients in a small bowl. Cut a horizontal slit through thickest
portion of each chicken breast half to form a pocket. Stuff cheese mixture
evenly into pockets.
Place
flour in a shallow dish. Combine milk and egg in a shallow dish, stirring well
with a whisk. Place panko in a shallow dish. Working with 1 chicken breast half
at a time, dredge chicken in flour, then dip in egg mixture; dredge in panko.
Repeat procedure with remaining chicken, flour, egg mixture, and panko.
Heat
a large ovenproof skillet over medium-high heat. Add 1 tablespoon butter to
pan; swirl until butter melts. Arrange chicken in pan; cook 4 minutes or until
browned. Turn chicken over; place skillet in oven. Bake at 350° for 20 minutes
or until done.
While
chicken bakes, combine remaining 1 1/2 teaspoons butter, bell peppers, water,
Worcestershire, and garlic in a small saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a
simmer; cook until butter melts. Remove from heat, and stir in hot sauce. Serve
sauce with chicken.
When did it turn into December? Last I knew it was December 16th and I was a tad over halfway through the November Photo-a-Day project. I had such high hopes for that little project. ::sigh::
Last I recall, I was going to take a picture of the last thing I'd purchased (the Thanksgiving Day turkey), but it all gets blurry after that.
We were in prep mode for Thanksgiving (cleaning and organizing) and Grace and I had hair cuts on the Tuesday and Wednesday night before (not such a good idea). We did end up having pretty much everything under control (thankfully as sisters and brother-in-law were bringing things) until John's Mom arrived. She collapsed and John and his uncle had to take her to the E.R. Turns out she was anemic and was having internal bleeding.
As John was about to drive away he said, "You'll have to handle the rest of the meal."
Yikes! Please pass the wine.
My brother and sister-in-law were godsends. Christine whipped up the gravy and guided me along through the stuffing. Stephen carved up the turkey. Thanks guys -- I really appreciate it.
We carried on as best as we could without some of the family and waited for phone call updates throughout the day. John and his uncle got home late afternoon once my mother-in-law had been admitted and had their belated meal.
Calm before the storm:
As I mentioned, it was discovered that John's Mom was having internal bleeding and they kept her in the hospital for four days. We visited her and tried to keep her company while she was in there. She was released on a Sunday night and they didn't find the cause of the internal bleeding (they say that happens in 25% of patients.)
The whirlwind continued, as I had to clean like crazy on Monday night and my Mom arrived on Tuesday night. She was here until this morning and we had a lovely visit. We had our fave Chinese food -- twice! It's an appetizer called Suan la Chow Show. If you haven't had it, you must try it. Both restaurants we went to do it differently, but both are good. It's a dumpling dish and even has its own Wikipedia page.
We visited with my aunt and did lots of shopping. It was fun, relaxing, and great!
We were up at 4:45 this morning and she was off to the airport. Sad to see her go!
I then came home and napped for a while and it was off to my urology appointment. I think I previously mentioned that I had a moderate amount of blood in my urine at my last physical (TMI?) so I had to go to the urologist. I had an ultrasound of my kidneys today and a cystoscopy. (Cystoscopy is a telescope put into your urethra to look at your bladder.) The ultrasound was nothing but the cystoscopy was uncomfortable, shall we say. I'll spare you the details. It leaves you with the sensation that you constantly have to go to the bathroom (#1, obviously), which is unpleasant, also. Luckily, I was able to get in a nap this afternoon and I feel better!
The craziness continues, however! I have three interviews scheduled this week for hiring someone in my group, I have a doctor's appointment tomorrow afternoon, I have a dentist appointment Thursday morning, and Friday is John's birthday! (And yes, I realize that this is "normal" for some people, but being busy and I are not friends!)
Oh, and did I mention it's 21 DAYS until Christmas?
