Another Year is Almost Gone

We had a good Christmas, and hope you all had a good one, too. We ate too much, bought too much, spent too much and stayed up too late! LOL

But seriously, folks, we tried to tone it down as much as possible this year. We got a few things for the kids, wished everyone a very Merry Christmas, and had a relaxing day. We got some nice sparkling wine, Barefoot Sparkling White Zinfandel, and had a small meal – we still had turkey! We also tried a new recipe that I found in a magazine and it turned out great! I'm posting it below because we liked it so well, and also because I promised Grandpa that I would post it so Steve could try it out.

Grandpa, I know you're not fond of brussels sprouts, but give it a try and tell me what you think.

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Roasted Brussels Sprouts
With Pecans
2 lbs. fresh brussels sprouts, trimmed and halved (we could only find frozen so we thawed and drained them in a collander so they wouldn't be soggy)
1 c. pecans, roughly chopped
2 T. olive oil
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
Kosher salt and black pepper

Heat oven to 400° F. On a large rimmed baking sheet, toss the Brussels sprouts, pecans, oil, garlic, 1/2 tsp. salt and 1/4 tsp. pepper. Turn the Brussels sprouts cut-side down. Roast until golden and tender, 20 to 25 minutes. Serves 8. (But we 4 demolished it!)

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We aren't planning to do much for New Year's Eve. We'll toast the new year with some more Barefoot sparkling white zin and have a couple of glasses of tawny port and maybe watch a movie or play some cards.

How did we get to 2009 so quickly? The year 2000 was supposed to be far into the future, a futuristic world with flying cars and people living on Mars... But, here we are, no Enterprise to explore strange new worlds and civilizations... no flying cars... no colony on Mars... not even one on the moon. I guess mankind's dreams have always exceeded his reality.

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A couple of quotes to leave you with:

You know you're getting old, when Santa starts looking younger. -- Robert Paul

I stopped believing in Santa Claus when my mother took me to see him in a department store, and he asked for my autograph. -- Shirley Temple

Merry Christmas and
Happy New Year everyone!

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Things I'll be doing today: Wondering where in the heck I'm going to put all the Christmas decorations, dreading packing up all the holiday stuff, housework, figuring out something for supper, and enjoying the fair weather while it lasts.

Thanksgiving At Our Place

We hope your Thanksgiving was as nice as ours. We spent the morning cooking, watched live webcam feeds of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade and listened to some beautiful classical Christmas music on Pandora.

Our menu included roast turkey (of course), Volcano Potatoes, Roasted Glazed Vegetables, Turkey Stuffing from Simply Recipes, Pumpkin Pie and Apple Cranberry Currant Crumble Pie also from Simply Recipes. We also had a nice Malbec from Argentina. (No award winner, but it wasn't bad.)

We have a family tradition of going around the table and sharing with one another what we're thankful for. It's always nice to hear what each one of us has to say.

I thought I'd include the recipes for Volcano Potatoes and Roasted Glazed Vegetables in case anyone is interested.

Volcano Potatoes

• 5 lbs. Yukon Gold potatoes, quartered
• real sweet cream butter, as much as is needed
• milk or stock, as much as is needed
• salt, to taste
• pepper, to taste
• 1 cup shredded havarti, american, gruyére or other favorite cheese
• 3/4 c. cream

Cover potatoes with enough water to cover them, boil until fork tender, drain. Mash potatoes with butter, milk or stock, salt and pepper to taste. Turn potatoes out into a baking dish big enough to hold them with a bit extra room. Use spoon to move potatoes to sides of dish so there's a hole in the middle.

In small bowl, beat cream to soft peaks. Fold in shredded cheese. Pour cheese mixture into center of potatoes.

Bake in 375° oven 30 minutes or until top is lightly browned.

Roasted Glazed Vegetables

• 8 medium carrots, cut into chunks
• 8 medium parsnips, cut into chunks
• 12 baby beets, or 4 small beets, quartered
• 2 medium turnips, cut into chunks
• 1 small to medium winter squash, cut into chunks (any favorite winter squash)
• 1/4 c. butter
• salt, to taste
• pepper, to taste
• 1/4 c. brown sugar

Cook carrots, parsnips and turnips in boiling water 10 minutes, drain. Mix all vegetables with melted butter, salt and pepper in baking pan. Bake at 325° for 1 hour, stirring occasionally.

Remove from oven and mix vegetables with brown sugar, coating well. Return to oven and bake 15-20 minutes more.
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Happy Thanksgiving, all, and Merry Christmas and Happy New Year while I'm at it!

And Time Moves On

Hi, folks. It's me, again!

I've spent the morning making Chex Mix for Josh to take to preschool for snack, reading the news, responding to email and being incredibly ill because I ate a Wendy's cheeseburger last night for supper. (It's the cheese – EVERY TIME I eat fast food's version of cheese, I get sick. Why'd I do this to myself. SHEESH!)

We (Chris, Bee, Josh, Mom and I) spent the day yesterday in Garden City getting tooth work done. Chris and Josh were easy - no cavities, no problems. Bee had a missing filling, three teeth that needed to have sealant put on them and two small cavities. (She didn't even need any anesthetic.) I, lucky me, had to have a crown put on my back molar because it was cracked and giving me a lot of trouble. (I can't believe how much crowns cost! YIKES! Our loverly Blue Cross/Blue Shield doesn't pay for major dental work. Nice, huh.) I didn't think the dentist was ever going to stop drilling.

I've approved my classes for the Spring semester and they don't sound too bad: Technology in Society, Intro to Leadership Behavior, Current Political Issues (that one should be interesting) and Industrial Management. I'll have a busy semester, but I'm looking at that for the next three years anyway.

I think I'll end here, as I seem to be rambling, with an interesting recipe: Mrs. Paxton's Raw Apple Cake, it sounds really good for this time of the year. Let me know if any of you try it and how it turns out.

Things I'll be doing today: Homework, housework, finishing up Josh's Halloween costume (he's a ghost) and pulling out our now dead tomato plants.

Oh, by the way, here's a couple of sites with really wonderful, amazing carved pumpkins: Masterpiece Pumpkins, Ray's Sculpted Pumpkins, & Pumpkin Gutter. Wish I had talent like that, don't you?!