Calm After the Rush

The day after Thanksgiving Steve called and gave us some awesome good news.  He and his girlfriend, Shannan, and my sister Debbie and her husband, Brian were all coming home for Christmas!  They would be arriving the Saturday before Christmas and staying until the 27th.  I could hardly wait!  Deb hadn't been home for a holiday in years and Steve hadn't been home for one since he moved to South Dakota in 2012.  I just knew this was going to be one of the best holidays ever!


The first item on the agenda was to call our friends Al and Lisa to change our annual holiday meal to another day.  It was my turn to cook the meal and the 19th was the scheduled day.  Of course they understood my reason for wanting to change when I told them what was going on.  We re-scheduled to a date after Christmas, January 9th.  I have my menu together and it should be a great time.  It seems my Christmas season has been extended. 


The South Dakota gang arrived early afternoon on the 19th.  Much hugging, laughter, and talking ensued. Steve brought his two dogs, Jimmy and Blanton.   Dinner was at the restaurant.  It was the first of many delicious meals.  Each night was a culinary delight.  One night we all pitched in and made homemade ravioli. 


The week flew by and Christmas arrived.  Kristi hosted a fabulous Christmas Eve with a spread of food beyond imagination.  Mark and Yolanda arrived.  It was the sort of Christmas Eve from years past, much food and drink and laughter.  The "familyness" was bursting at the seams.  The night ended with exclamations of seeing one another the next day at my house.  Everyone arrived early and dinner was once again a wonderful time around the old dining room table.  My table was Grandma and Grandpa's table and I'm sure if tables could talk it could tell so many tales of hundreds of meals with our family sitting around it.  More memories were made again on Christmas day.  A few hours after the meal was finished and the dishes were done - Abbi called.  She would soon be here with Danni.  We told her to go to Grandma and Grandpa's house - we would all meet there.  The party moved on and we enjoyed watching Danni open her presents.  Such a sweet little girl.  Christmas seen through the eyes of a child is so full of wonder and excitement!


The day after Christmas we met early and headed to the West Side Market, Great Lakes Brewing, and Penzey's Spices.  A fun day to end the fun times.  Jon and I said our goodbyes and headed home to pack.  We had reservations on Chincoteague Island for the next week and needed to get everything together.  The South Dakota gang headed west and we headed east. 


The next week was spent eating at our favorite seafood restaurants, walking the trails on the refuge, catching up with our friends who live on the island, hunting, and relaxing.  We had great weather and spent a lot of time on the beach.  I found a whole sand dollar one day; something we have only seen on the beach one other time years ago when Steve looked down and picked one up. 


Monday we went back to work and our normal daily grind.  We are still enjoying fresh oysters brought home with us.  The last dozen will be eaten tomorrow.  But the memories of this wonderful time will last forever.  Tonight we have a roaring fire and are sipping on glasses of red wine.  Every once in a while one of us will make a comment on something that happened over the past couple weeks.  I have a feeling these past few weeks will be hard to top!

Morning Coffee and Choices

I'm hoping I just made my toughest decision for the day!  I don't think I've ever had to make this choice before, and I was torn between the two choices.  What were my choices?? 


Sit on the porch and enjoy my morning coffee with porch puppies by my side, or sit in my living room and enjoy my Christmas tree lights with couch puppies??  I don't recall ever having that first choice in December before!  Well... I could always sit on my porch but normally enjoying my coffee while sitting there in December wouldn't happen.  Unless sitting in freezing weather with snow up to my ankles is considered enjoyment. 


I threw a hoodie on and took my pups outside this morning with my steaming cup of coffee.  It was pitch black out and I could hear rustling in the woods.  So could the dogs - they were on high alert even though they had done border patrol just 15 minutes earlier before their breakfast.  My coffee was about half gone when the door opened and Jon asked if he could steal Annie.  He wanted to go down to the dog club and see if he could get a goose for her to retrieve.  I knew I could never sit on the porch with Suzy while they left so I came inside and turned on my tree lights.


Here I sit, finishing up my coffee with Christmas lights on and dog sleeping beside me on the couch.  Later we will head out for an afternoon of winery hopping.  We have four more wineries to visit on the Tannenbaum Wine Trail.  The rest of the weekend will be spent finishing my shopping and baking.

Playing Teacher

Several months ago I decided to start making pasta.  I had thought about it for a long time, but when my son called and told me how great his homemade pasta was I could not stand to be outdone by my kid!  So, I did a little reading up about how to do it, watched a few videos, listened to my son, bought a pasta roller and decided to give it a try.  The day I planned to try it we had a slight change in our plans for the day -- Jon's cousin, Barb and her husband, Tim, came over for the afternoon.  She saw the roller and asked about it.  I told her I was planning on making pasta, but could make it the next day instead since they were there.  She wanted to try it with me, but I like to try things out alone for the first time; in case I failed miserably nobody would be the wiser. 


I ended up being very successful and I have made quite a few batches of fresh, yummy spaghetti and fettucine.  For Mother's Day Steve sent me a ravioli mold.  I have had success at that, as well.  When Steve and Shannan came home in September we made lasagna.  Steve used my kitchen-aid for the mixing and kneading of the dough.  Why had I never thought of that?  The only downside to making pasta is the kneading hurts my fingers and hands.  Now it is ready for rolling in no time!


Every year we get together with Barb and Tim around Christmas.  This year, due to the unexpected and sudden death of Tom (Barb's brother-in-law) there was not going to be the usual party.  Barb invited us up to spend Sunday with them and have a brunch.  I brought everything for mimosas and baked a cheesecake for later on in the day.  We had a "twist" on eggs benedict.  Barb grilled some thin steaks and placed on toasted English muffins.  Then topped with poached eggs, fresh spinach, a slice of cheese and a slice of tomato - topping all with some hollandaise sauce.  Delicious!!


Barb had mentioned she really wanted to try her hand at pasta and make ravioli for their Christmas dinner with Tim's family.  I brought all my pasta making tools and after we ate we got to work.  I played teacher and instructed Barb on just what to do.  We made around 175 raviolis!  She grilled some seasoned chicken breasts for the filling.  We placed the chicken, sun-dried tomatoes, garlic, ricotta cheese, mozzarella cheese, and spinach in the food processor and chopped it all up very small.  It was a delicious filling that I plan to duplicate soon!  We boiled up a few of those delectable goodies and Jon doctored up a jarred sauce Barb had.  We all declared them definitely worth the effort!  She froze what was left for their Christmas. 


This day was a day spent not only having fun but also accomplishing something.  Now if I can get my cookies started!

Food for Thought

Food for thought.  Food is usually in my thoughts.  I spend a lot of time thinking about what to eat, when to eat, where to eat, and who to eat it all with.   Most of what we do is centered around the food. 


This week will be no different!  I have already sat down and wrote out what we'll be eating.  I even have already bought the things I could buy that would not spoil.  The turkey is in the freezer and will be coming out to start it's thawing process very soon.  I know some people who just don't understand the fuss over making a big meal.  I feel sorry for them.  They have no idea of how sitting around the table with loved ones, eating a meal, and reminiscing is not only fuel for the body but fuel for the soul.  When I was a kid we spent many meals around my grandparents' table.  That table has now been sitting in my dining room for a very long time.  If that table could talk - it could share so many stories from so many birthday's, Christmas, Thanksgiving, Easter, and just meals where the family and/or good friends have gathered!   Sometimes the number of people are not so many; while other times there are so many people we have to set up tables in the living room to make space for everyone.   Many of the faces are the same people, while others have come and gone.  In my mind, I always imagine that Grandma and Grandpa are sitting around that table, enjoying the family-time.  I can remember being small and having my Great Grandmothers at the table.  As some of the faces at the table change, so do the dogs that lay around hoping for a dropped crumb or two.  Or three. 


This year we are getting double-time out of our Thanksgiving.  Not only are we gathering for the big Turkey Day; but on Sunday we will be gathering once again for an After-Thanksgiving Luncheon.  Some of the family that can't make it here for Thursday will be here to celebrate then.  I'm hoping we can have more of these get-togethers.  When Steve was home this past summer for a quick weekend visit while picking up his girlfriend and her truck, we had a few large get-togethers.  One meal was a brunch where I fed 17 people breakfast!  There was much laughing and talking.  There was no shortage of eating either.  These times together are precious to me - my family and my friends are my life. Time spent with them makes for more memories, and more memories gives us more to talk and laugh about at the next gathering.

Summer in a Jar

Every summer we spend some time in the mountains of Virginia, along the Skyline Drive in the Shenandoah National Park.  There is everything we love there from beautiful trails to hike to wineries.   One of the things that has become tradition for us is to spend some time at the orchard picking peaches.  The first few years we did this we picked enough for me to make a few peach cobblers upon our return home.  Then, three years ago we lost track of how many peaches we were picking.  It doesn't take long to pick a ton of peaches.  We came home with more peaches than we could use up before they would rot.  Since I had just recently started canning it was only natural to can some of those beauties!  They looked so pretty in the jars and it gave me great satisfaction to see those jars lined up on the shelf in the basement.  I wanted to open a jar right away.  But I made myself wait until the leaves had all fallen from the trees and the first frost had come and gone. 

Opening that first jar of peaches was like opening a jar of summer!  They smelled so fresh!  And the taste!  It was like a jar full of sunshine, they were so sweet and delicious!  I somehow managed to make those jars of peaches last us all winter.  When the last jar was opened and eaten, there wasn't much time left before we would once again be back in the orchards. 

The next year I decided I wanted to try my hand at peach jam as well.  That turned out perfectly!  I ate more English muffins with peach jam on them than I had ever eaten before.  The peaches once again came out beautifully!

This year we picked a fair amount of peaches once again.  I still had a few jars of jam so opted to not make any of that this year.  But once again I have a shelf full of peaches!  Last night was a cold and rainy day; one of those really miserable Fall days.  I made a pot of soup for dinner and decided we needed a little taste of summer in our day.  Down to the basement I went and brought up a jar of peaches.  They were just what we needed to brighten our day!  

Day Off!

Today is one of those wonderful days known to us working stiffs as "A DAY OFF!!"   I love those days!  I made plans for today and most of those plans involved me just doing what I like to do best.  I got up early and enjoyed my cup of coffee with a cat on my lap and dogs snuggling at my side.  Jon left for work (Poor guy!) and I decided I should do a few chores.  So, I emptied the dishwasher and hung our Fall-themed shower curtain.  I also cleaned my Keurig.  After my shower I decided that was enough work for one day.  After all, a day off is supposed to be just that -- a day off.  Then I rounded up the dogs and we headed to the hike and bike trail near the apple orchard.  After an almost 4 mile hike, I left the pups in the car to rest and I went to the apple store.  I got a small bag of apples to make some apple crisp with and a gallon of apple cider. 


Tonight when we get home from the restaurant, we are going to make hot toddies our way.  We warm the cider with cranberry juice and add some tequila and triple sec.  A cinnamon stick and some fresh-grated nutmeg and... voila! A delicious hot drink for a chilly Fall evening.  Maybe we'll even have a fire.  We have plenty of firewood....


The dogs were a little tired after our hike and so was I.  I don't want to lie.  So, once home I made a cappuccino and snuggled in with my book.  I can't think of a better way to have spent my day! 

There's a New "Writer" in Town!

Sometimes I find myself talking to Annie and Suzy as if they were people.  I know if they could talk they'd probably tell me that is an insult; for to be a "people" when you're a dog has to be a step down.  I decided that sometimes a story could be told from a different point of view so I helped Annie create her own blog: http://adaywithannieandsuzy.blogspot.com/   


In her first blog she confesses she's going to allow Suzy to even submit a post or two.  We'll see how that works out - I know how much Annie likes to be the one in the spotlight! 


I think she'll add a little spice to my posts.  She can find more fun in a day than most folks can find in a month.  She makes me smile and I hope she does you, too!  Please stop in and read what she has to say from time to time!