December 25th, Tuesday, Christmas Day

[karlinann]

Merry Christmas Rounders. Hope Santa brought you everything you wished for this year. We got a visit from our neighbors yesterday afternoon, the one who spent the night in the ER and his wife. They came bearing a gift and visited with us awhile.

We found out that they ran a CT Scan and an MRI and could not find anything wrong. They ended up concluding that it was age related. I'm sorry but when your B/P goes 183/119 there has got to be more to it than age. I worked in the medical industry for 16 yrs and I'm not buying it. Anyway, he is fine now and we exchanged numbers so that I can contact her if he has another episode while outside and I happen to witness it. I'm outside almost every morning year round, except for when it's cold. I will for sure keep an eye out. I'm just so thankful that he happened to call his wife at work and she picked up that something was off. She told him to put their dog in his area in the house and unlock the front door and sit down on the couch and just relax. That was smart of her. She called 911 immediately because he kept repeating the same thing over and over on the phone.

It's Christmas Day y'all! We will open gifts later this morning. I'm making ham, sweet potatoes, green beans, soft rolls and cheesecake for our meal. No I'm not making the cheesecake. It's from the grocer and will have strawberries on top. Yum!

I have seen the moon for 4 or 5 nights in a row and it's big and beautiful and has a sphere around it. Lovely! I'll be back...….

[bethina]

Good morning! Merry Christmas!! Exchanged gifts with family last night. I can’t pick a favorite I loved all my gifts! If I did have to pick I would say my new black pants for work. They are super comfy!

dinner last night was amazing!! We had home made lasagna but used zucchini slices in place of the noodles. We also had a very fancy dessert.

This morning we are going back to my sisters for a huge breakfast and movie fest.

have a great day everyone

[Paula A]

Oh, Beth, thanks for letting us know the lasagna was good that way! I have been thinking I want to try it with zucchini noodles.

[maxie]

Yes Beth, I have been thinking about using the zucchini also...did you grill the noodles first? Heard that cuts down on the moisture in the slices.

[JoGee]

Good morning, and a very Merry Christmas to you all.

We we are expecting rain today, but for now it is an overcast gray morning. Temps are dropping.
E planned for us to go to the movies today. I will be in my best warm pants and sweatshirt. Hello new Mary Poppins, and maybe something else that catches his interest too.

Yesterday I fixed meatloaf burgers with BBQ sauce and potatoes. He was happy. I’ll probably do the last of the pork tenderloin with BBQ sauce later today, unless he feels like eating out. I have plenty of leftovers I can serve in new ways.
Then it doesn’t look like leftovers. And he isn’t very picky.
Our microwave is definitely dead, but we are holding off on getting a new one til we move. Meanwhile, he offered to wash all the pots and pans that I use. I load the dishwasher with the rest of dishes, cups, etc.
I’m thinking of getting all new microwave ware as I need it. Most of what I have now have missing parts anyway.

We have lots of citrus to use up right now. Oranges for me, and tangerines for him. Apparently the company sending my brother’s gift to us had messed up on delivery dates. When he saw that in his order, he called and must have really given them what-for. Because the gift I got last week, was followed by another gift later in the day. That is a LOT of fruit. I hope the neighbors will take the grapefruit (it messes up our medications). The apples and pears fit snugly in one drawer in the fridge. But there is no room in the fridge for the oranges and tangerines!

Well, HO, HO, HO! Time for my mocha and breakfast. And to get on with today.
Again, Merry Christmas!

[maxie]

Merry Christmas Morning! It is a slow morning here with no celebrating but a quiet day of left overs. Jon is working and I have no idea what Sierra's plans are. By doing our festivities early it just seems like another day here.

Yesterday I picked up the Christmas mess of paper and boxes and cleaned up the kitchen. Washed the sheets on Scott's bed but they are not made up yet. Andrew and his mother stopped by to drop off the gooey butter cookies they bake for me each year. I have no idea the recipe but love those things! Today will be probably be the day I kill off the cookies and put an end to the leftovers.

Have a wonderful day no matter how you celebrate.

[karlinann]

Are they Shortbread cookies perhaps.

[Paula A]

Merry Christmas! I have been up and getting food prepped and added to my menu because my mom called last night and asked me to call her cousin (obviously, my cousin,too, 1st cousin once removed) and ask her to dinner. She said, you know Crystal, she won't come, but then we will know we asked. So, I made the call and oh, my goodness! She didn't even hesitate. She said, Yes, I would love to come. Which made me go into a slight hyperventilating state and tellher (looking at Becky, like can we so this?) We will eat at 3:00. Is that good for you?
Mentally I was going over my menu which was made up of Things We Like and I Don't Mind Cooking. Another person meant I needed to add a few items but luckily, I lhave them...Unluckily, we ate all the good rolls, except two, in the last couple of days and we will have jKings Hawaiian rolls today. but served in my special wooedn bread bowl, so that makes it ok, right?
And I was thinking that I had bought the world's tiniest turkey: 10 pounds. But, this is my mother's older cousin and the thinnest person in our family (DNA genes were very good to her!) and I told Becky we will serve Crystal first and then my mom and go from there.

But, the piece de resistance (pretend the little accent mark is over the first e in piece) is a Real Cheesecake that Becky decided she wanted to make yesterday morning. Which I went to the store and bought all the ingredients we needed: more cream cheese and graham crackers and...amaretto liqueur. (Don't ask how many attempts it took me to spell that just now.) Which, not being a drinker I thought would be very easy to find in the store. No, it was not. I went to the right aisle and found the sign with the Liqueurs, but none that said amaretto...I thought I might have to go to a liquor store, but finally thought to Google it and when I did a brand name came up and there was One bottle of it on the shelf! And a real Plus was that it wasn't as expensive as I thought it might be. But seriously, those people who make the little bottles should also make a 6 ounce bottle for those of us who need it for baking. My friend who always had alcolhol you need for baking and sauces moved and I have no one to ask if they have a 1/2 cup of Grand Marnier (that was the one I bought and found out what the word pricey meant!) or 1/3 cup amaretto... So if you find yourself needing some, you know whom to contact
I do have a bottle of pinot noir that I will use for a wonderful beef burgundy recipe form Williams Sonoma/

Gifts have been opened, and some opened early.
So, no mess at all to clean up. Amazon gift cards and checks don't create much mess.

Merry Christmas and I hope you are enjoying your day! Besides the cooking aromas we have Christmas carols playing and we took a Christmas morning photo for Facebook.

I am now heading back into the kitchen and will probably give in to my need to get the tiny turkey in the oven and then (as usual) fret about keeping everything warm while we wait on guests...Timing is my challenge.

Bless you all!

[karlinann]

10 lbs is a lot of turkey.

[cookielady]

A 10lb bird is plenty big! If it gets done early, just slice it down, and drizzle some broth on it, then make your gravy with the rest. Now in our family we also make homemade noodles or kluski noodles to go with our turkey dinner, and that requires some of the broth too. Then microwave it when your company arrives. Easy peasy.

[JoGee]

Pour extra wine over the turkey while you wait for guests. It will be a happy turkey experience!
what kind of stuffing do you make?

[JoGee]

Would baking the zucchini slices be about the same as grilling ---- for those of us who don't grill?

[Aunt Maye]

Good Evening, my first attempt at post, and
my post disappeared!... hope you had a great Christmas day.. mine was quiet, the guys and I stayed home, and just relaxed. all day.. and I could feel the tension leaving my body... ...lots of things on my Plate that needed tended to,, but I can handle them with ease now...