So...whats for dinner?

We ended up going shopping at 6 p.m. last night.  There are good deals to be had in every store, and you don't have to join the frenzy of early birds to save money.  Christine and I hit the local mall and I got all my Christmas jammy shopping done!  And by that time all the early bird shoppers have flown the coop, so there were no lines/no waiting.  I'm guessing that Cyber-Monday will bring some good electronic deals, maybe as good as yesterday's.  We need a smaller LCD for our bedroom and I will order one if the price is right.  Then I have the challenge of getting rid of the 47" LCD that weighs 140 lbs (yes, that's right...it has a glass overlay to protect the screen and it's insanely heavy).  I'd like to get that thing out of the room -- it's way too big.

That roasted pear salad was a hit, really really good and I'll be making that one again!  We had leftovers for dinner and everything was yummy.  Christine had made peas with shallots and pancetta - now that was a nice twist.  And she makes an onion, raisin and almond relish that is excellent. 

In a couple of hours, we'll be off with our friends to the mountains on our Christmas tree excursion.  I am looking forward to stopping at some little shops along the way and finding some unique things, including maybe another collectible coffee mug.  We have reservations at a hotel right in the Presidential Range of the White Mountains and they've had snow, so it will be lovely.  My camera batteries are charging so I'll bring back picture.  We'll have a nice dinner somewhere tonight, then tomorrow morning we'll drive the rest of the way to the tree farm, cut our trees and pick up some wreaths and other greenery, then head back home.  I rearranged the living room yesterday morning so I think we have room for a nice, tall tree.  I like mine big!!!

Enjoy the weekend!!!

Just reading these posts are getting me in the holiday spirit! Sometimes i can be pretty grinch like around the holidays. I do hate the commercial ness and the shopping, but I love the decorations and music! Enjoy your second tgiving dinner Carrie. My son took his GF downtown yesterday, and I think today we may take a ride to valley forge or long wood gardens. Going to an old Italian restaurant in south Philly tonight where the waiters sing opera! Looking forward to it!

Watching the civil war game between oregons state and oregon ducks are kicking the beavers butt, 49-21 what a game! Sitting here cheering all by myself but lovin it!

I may be overly confident, but, because I am going to be off work for three weeks + between Thanksgiving and Christmas, I have decided to enroll in an online cooking academy that is self paced. I'm going out today to buy all of my supplies!

My BMX is tomorrow.  I get bored easily.  It's hard to keep me down.

So, ina week or two when I am up to it, I'll start cooking, and posting "what's for dinner".

Shechirple- What a great idea for online cooking! Best wishes tomorrow!

Carrie- Now that sounds good, I think it would be very tasty, maybe flash fry it after breading and then put your melted jack or mozz and marinara sauce on it.!!

SheChirple - Good luck tomorrow. As soon as you're feeling up to it, let us know how you're doing.

I have the first cookie sheet of another one of my traditional gift giving cookies in the oven - Oatmeal Cranberry Chocolate chip. These are one of my favorites and another cookie that freezes well.

Here's the recipe

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cranberry Cookies

2 sticks butter or margarine, softened

1 1/4 c packed brown sugar

1/2 c granulated sugar

2 eggs

2 tbl milk

2 tsp vanilla

1 3/4 c flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

2 1/2 cup oats (quick or old fashioned)

2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips ( I use mini chips)

1 cup dried cranberries

Preheat oven to 375

Beat together butter and sugars until creamy. Add eggs, milk, and vanilla; beat well.

Stir flour, baking soda and salt together. Add to batter, mix well.

Stir in oats, chocolate chips and cranberries.

Drop by rounded tablespoonfuls onto an ungreased cookie sheet. (I use a 1 or 1 1/2 inch cookie scoop.) Bake 8-10 minutes until edges are lightly browned. Cool on sheet 1-2 minutes. Then move to wire rack to cool completely. Makes 4-5 dozen.

These are quick and easy cookies to make. In the time it took me to type this. I've baked 2 more sheets and the last one is in the oven. Using a cookie scoop really speeds up the process of getting the batter onto the cookie sheet and you end up with uniform size cookies.

Hauntie - yum, yum!!!   And apple - that is a great idea!

We got home in time to watch most of the Patriots game.  We had a fabulous time with our friends and the tree farm was incredible.  It is family owned and operated, and the owner's daughter recognized me from Facebook!  And they knew who we were when we told them we had trees shipped to MO.  That's amazing - they ship 2000 trees every Christmas season, plus they sell another 6000 or so wholesale, and 2000 who come to pick and cut a tree.  There were hundreds of thousands of trees, as far as you could see!  Here's a link to the Facebook album with a few pictures:

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.2137323402099.2097269.1516543662&type=1&l=16ea4d27e7

Joyce - I've had that lasagna before, I think it's pretty good for a frozen meal. I might be using a few of those over the next few weeks if I don't feel up to cooking.

SheChirple - good luck with your surgery tomorrow!

Shechirple, good luck with your surgery tomorrow. Hope all goes very smoothly.



A little more skinny on the GF: she is very nice, from Minnesota and 2 years older than my son. The crazy thing is that she is an ordained minister. I say crazy because I am Catholic and my DH is Jewish. We had almost all religions represented at thanksgiving dinner. She works as a chaplain at a hospital. I don't think I could ask for anything better for character. and she and my son seem to get along very well. And, my son is coming home for Christmas, so all is well.

Kay, thanks for telling about the girlfriend,   glad you like her,  what a great world when all tpes of relegion can sit at the same table and be family.  i was just curious, as my son at college has a fairly new girlfriend and the topic of conversation is always whether she is "the one"  He will graduate in May and will have to decide to stay in Ohio where she is from or come home.  I support either decision, we like her alot!

Michelle  sounds like a blast, how did you ever decide on a tree with so many choices?  Would have sent my OCD husband into a panic attack.

Debbie,  I am struggling too, think the tamoxifen is making me constantly hungry  Hawaii sounds wonderful, we were there in the early 90's  and really need to go back.

i also freeze the cookie dough.. With a mixer (mine is hand held) it's a piece of cookie.

Carrie - so here we were in the middle of all these trees, and one of the workers told us that the ones with green tags were the ones they picked for mail orders...that they were the best of the best because the farm wants to make sure that people are completely satisfied with their tree.  So I let DH pick the tree - he did pick one with a green tag so someone else had already looked at that tree and determined it was a good one.  Honestly, they were all beautiful and I think any one of them would have been just perfect. 

I'm having chicken noodle soup...and home made bread.... lots of starch.

My Aunt made the mose delish Butternut Squash, I'm still eating it.  I think I will freeze some of the Turkey for a soup later on.

Anyone know how to make Turkey Croquetts? 

Kay...........there are a few good italian restaurants in Delaware county............We have Anthony's in Drexel Hill...................There is also Giuseppi's on W. Chester Pike, and also Tavolo's at the Springfield Country Club............very good food, all 3, and the prices are good.........But no one can beat downtown South Philly .