December 17th Dinner Post

[livetobake]

Good Morning!

It is cloudy at the moment with snow and the low 33 and the low of 25.

I pulled pork chops last night and have them in the crockpot with some onions and carrots. I will make mashed potatoes and gravy also and that will be dinner tonight.

What direction will you be heading for your dinner this evening?

[Vera]

We are just going to have a frozen pizza. I don't know why I buy them periodically, but they come in handy in a pinch. There isn't a good one at the stores. We normally get a thin crust and not rising because then it is too bready. I am cleaning the dishes for my Christmas table as I have a dozen people coming. Table will be full. I have one vegetarian and one gluten free, so I am making 14 different dishes - whew. Others are bringing desserts because even with three refrigerators, I don't have the room to make ahead and store desserts. I will be ready to put my feet up Christmas evening. I am putting together my shopping list - it ought to be a doosy,

[rosie]

So stinkin cold. It's 32° the wind chill is low teens.
we had to be in Muncie at 10 am for dgs's fiance college graduation. It took 3 hrs ugh. Everyone went to their house afterwards. She is Mexican and a truly wonderful young lady. Her family came from seymore IN. They cooked all last eve and wow what a spread they had. Everything I had was delicious and I ate too much! They insisted I take home some food so we will graze on that. Her father speaks perfect english, her mother does not but she understands english. That got alittle interesting cause I sat and "chatted" with her. She's super nice. Was a very pleasant day.

[livetobake]

Sounds like an awesome day rosie!

[Sabine]

We are just going to have a frozen pizza. I don't know why I buy them periodically, but they come in handy in a pinch. There isn't a good one at the stores. We normally get a thin crust and not rising because then it is too bready. I am cleaning the dishes for my Christmas table as I have a dozen people coming. Table will be full. I have one vegetarian and one gluten free, so I am making 14 different dishes - whew. Others are bringing desserts because even with three refrigerators, I don't have the room to make ahead and store desserts. I will be ready to put my feet up Christmas evening. I am putting together my shopping list - it ought to be a doosy,

You are a brave person,, not only 12 people for Christmas dinner, but also special dietary demands. Not sure I could handle that.
I had 12 people last year for Christmas day gathering, all family and no special diets, thank goodness. This year it will be so much easier on me, my granddaughter is hosting Christmas day gathering this year, and we all bring some dishes / dessert. Well dessert will actually be a cookie exchange. Everybody will bring a couple batches of cookies, candy , some kind of sweet and then everybody can take some home. I thought it was a neat idea. And we don't do " dinner" , we just do special appetizers, things we all like , been doing that for several years now. I am bringing stuffed mushrooms, jalapeno poppers, and some kind of dip. Still looking for a new recipe .
I don't bake or cook much, but I have a recipe of snickerdoodle cookies that I made for my FIL years ago and he loved it, he is gone now, but everybody likes the cookies and I have a cookie brittle recipe that I am going to make, so easy ! It will be fun to get together again.
Like you Vera, I need to make my list this weekend.

[Vera]

Sabine - I love stuffed mushrooms and jalapeno poppers. Sounds like a winner in my book. The last two years my DIL hosted Christmas so it gave me a break. As you know, they moved to Texas this past summer, but they flew to the DC area last Thursday evening and staying with friends right now until next Wednesday when they drive to our house (50-mile drive). They are staying until January 3rd. Kids get a long Christmas vacation but then I understand they don't take fall and spring breaks like they do in Virginia.

[CharleneG]

It’s been cold and dreary today, that chill you to the bone kind of cold. I left early this morning to go to the cookie baking and decorating gathering at Jeremy’s mothers house. It was fun and boy there were a ton of cookies and decorating supplies ! I made 2 batches of spritz cookies, my first time for those and for using a Kitchen Aid stand mixer. I still don’t want or need one but it was a good test run for me. I got home about 3 pm, I was tired and it felt good to put my feet up.

I’m going to heat up some of the artichoke chicken casserole and I think I’ll make a piece of garlic bread to go with it.

[muzette7]

Hubs and I had a date day. We went downtown to the ghetto where I used to work because there is this Irish deli that has the best corned beef ever. We hopped over to Cleveland's Chineese grocer next, its a huge mall type complex filled with Asian stores. The checkout guy said close your eyes and open your mouth in broken English. I am dumb so of course I did when he squeezed a rambutan in my mouth. Not a fan, it was sickeningly sweet and had an eyeball gelatinous texture, it was an adventure though. Then we popped over to the Italian grocer and got some salami and angel wings. We brought home eggplant sandwiches for dinner. On the way home we stopped at Penzys and stocked up on spices.

The Porsche dealership was the next stop. The Porsche I want and the one in my budget are two different things. I am still thinking it over though. Finally we came home to collect the dog and go see Christmas lights. It was an excellent day.

[Sabine]

Sabine - I love stuffed mushrooms and jalapeno poppers. Sounds like a winner in my book. The last two years my DIL hosted Christmas so it gave me a break. As you know, they moved to Texas this past summer, but they flew to the DC area last Thursday evening and staying with friends right now until next Wednesday when they drive to our house (50-mile drive). They are staying until January 3rd. Kids get a long Christmas vacation but then I understand they don't take fall and spring breaks like they do in Virginia.

Sounds like you have some busy days ahead of you. I am sure you are happy to have your son and family ( grandsons ) home with you for Christmas. Merry Christmas to you and your family.

[Vera]

Thank you, Sabine. The same holds true for your family. Wishing only the best for everyone on this board. New Year's Eve will be a non-event at my house. 2023 - here we come.

[Chayote]

We are still unsure about Christmas. If John is in hospital I'll go and sit with him for the day. If he's not in hospital we'll spend the day with Julia. Too early to know what we are doing. I wrapped most of our gifts today. I sent packages to my both sisters (one in Melbourne, one in Queensland), sent Tiff, Tim and Immy's gifts, another to Charlie and one to my friend, Leonie. That reminds me... I'll go now and put them all outside as they will be picked up by the courier any time from 6am. I assembled the pram and dolls cot for Hannah. Andrew's gift is *huge* and I'll need help with that one. John's gift is a new train for his Lego train set and the box is big as well. Luckily Costco has nice, strong wrapping paper. I'm looking forward to Christmas Day but worried as well for John.

Vera, your plans for Christmas dinner sound amazing. My Mum used to cater a hot meal for 13 people and even though she wasn't the greatest cook in the world, her house was tiny and hot because she didn't have airconditioning, we all enjoyed it. She would use her wedding crystal to hold wrapped chocolates on the table, her best dinner set that only saw the light of day at Christmas and she used her crystal dessert set to serve fresh fruit salad with cream. After the meal we would crack the bonbons and read out the terrible jokes and wear the tissue paper crown from the bonbons. While Mum, me and my two sisters would clean up and wash the dishes while the Dads and kids went out the backyard to play a game of cricket. They were happy times.

I don't remember what we had for dinner. One day is just drifting into the next.

[Chayote]

Thank you, Sabine. The same holds true for your family. Wishing only the best for everyone on this board. New Year's Eve will be a non-event at my house. 2023 - here we come.

New Year's Eve is a non-event in our house too... always has been.

[Vera]

Chayote - You have wonderful memories of your mom and her tradition. I have started to set my table but will wait on the plates. I have my festive glasses turned upside down at the moment. Decorating the table is my favorite thing to do. I was going to send you a picture(s) of my soup and sandwich table but decided no one would really be interested so I didn't.

I am hoping you get to celebrate with Julia and family instead of sitting in a hospital room. Was the hospital able to find an MRI machine suitable for John due to his pacemaker?

[Chayote]

Chayote - You have wonderful memories of your mom and her tradition. I have started to set my table but will wait on the plates. I have my festive glasses turned upside down at the moment. Decorating the table is my favorite thing to do. I was going to send you a picture(s) of my soup and sandwich table but decided no one would really be interested so I didn't.

I am hoping you get to celebrate with Julia and family instead of sitting in a hospital room. Was the hospital able to find an MRI machine suitable for John due to his pacemaker?

Vera, there's not a day that goes by without me thinking about my Mum. It's especially hard at Christmas. I didn't think I'd still be grieving for her after this long but the loss is still as raw as it was the day after she left us.

No compatible MRI machine in South Australia. I didn't think that it would be a problem having a pacemaker inserted in a different state but it turned out that way. John isn't well enough to travel to Melbourne so the surgeon is "going to wing it" (his words) which makes me feel uncomfortable.

You should have sent the photos of your table. Anyone not interested doesn't have to look. I would have liked seeing it.

[rosie]

Vera I want to see the pic!
Chayote these docs are so good they know what to do when they see what's going on. I feel he already has a good idea what's going on. I had no idea either that an MRI machine would be a problem with a pacemaker. There have been couple times my cardio doc has given me the same feeling in that he wasn't sure what's going on but let's get in there and see and fix it.