So...whats for dinner?

Happy Christmas Eve, for those of you who celebrate Christmas. Last night we had family dinner at Rincon Mexicano. Once again the chef/owner was in the house and greeted us warmly. The young waiter laughed when I ordered the same ole' thing again. We are becoming recognizable regulars. After eating, we headed home for our annual decorating of the tree. Mr. 02143 already had the lights up, which is a good thing since they seem to give him fits every year. Why do they fail after storage? I mean, you put away lights that work, and when you take them out, they don't. And then we sat, and chatted, and talked. It was a marvelous night.

This morning, I started the beans. Haven't made Boston Baked beans in years, but without the vegetarian we can have ham and beans with pork! In a few hours, they will smell great. Next up is making some bread for breakfast tomorrow. This is a totally selfish endeavor. Everyone else eats the home-made cinnamon buns, but I prefer toast with a bit of this year's Meyer lemon marmalade. Heck, I really don't even want the marmalade. I really am a savory breakfast person, if I am going to eat breakfast.

Red, the gloves and socks are a bit distressing. One of Xeloda's primary side effects is called Hand-Foot Syndrome. Basically, one's hands and feet get red, blistered, and can start to peel. Not only is it uncomfortable, but if the skin breaks, this becomes place that infection can enter the body. To combat this, it is recommended that you slather your hands/feet with a thick and viscous cream before bed, and then put on the gloves and socks to keep the stuff in place. The research nurse is fairly sure that I already have this syndrome from the Ibrance, and recommended that I not wait but instead, start this routine immediately.

My other Xeloda dilemma is the dosing schedule. I need to take these three monster pills twice a day within 30 minutes of eating. I already have to take Synthroid first thing in the morning, and then wait at least 30 minutes before ingesting any food or drink. To complicate things, I have never been a breakfast person. The idea of eating first thing in the morning makes me feel a bit ill. But, I need to take the Xeloda as close to 12 hours apart as possible.

So what do you eat for breakfast?

*susan*

If left to my own desires breakfast would always be 2 chocolate frosted donuts and coffee o r hot chocolate. . However, I do eat the Quaker Oats instant weight control maple brown sugar oatmeal with a cup of blueberries and a ton of cinnamon added. I also like scrambled eggs with hot sauce or scrambled/fried eggs with refried beans , salsa and tortilla's, I also like to make one eyed jacks--where you cut the hole in buttered slice of bread and fry the egg in the middle. Then I put roasted red pepper slices with it.

Christmas with no wine! AACK!

Lacey, I went with bags a couple of years ago. Costco sells really pretty bags for an excellent price and we recycle a lot. We have some bags that have been around so long they have names lol. The switch has made that part much less stressful. Not as much fun to open but a worthwhile trade for me.

I love all breakfast food - just not before 10 or 11am. If I had to eat, I'd be with Nance - 1/2 an English muffin with butter or peanut butter. On the other hand, I do like a big slice of cold pizza. Does Instant Breakfast count as food?

Susan - My derm doc suggested CeraVe some years ago. Then my BS & PS recommended also. It worked for my mild HF syndrome for the Red Devil. You might try it for daytime use since it's non-greasy and lasts through several hand washings. I keep a jar of the heavier cream by my bed and a bottle of the lotion in the kitchen.

One thing about having to mail/ship all gifts, I long ago determined to use only yarn or stretchy string for packages since everything else got crushed. Makes it easy. I do use bags for my few local gifts. Lacey - sorry you won't get to have wine. I hope the Zpac is working.

Cooking happening today. It's based on things I can put in a cooler for the 3 hour trip to my niece's, and on what they decided fit into their menu. Their dinner tomorrow is ham & roast beast w/Yorkshire pudding along with several vegetables & some kind of surprise potatoes. I'm taking a fruit salad. I'm going all out and adding Royal Anne cherries & pecans along with the oranges, apples, bananas, pineapple tid bits, coconut & tiny marshmallows. And I'm cooking Mexican Black-Eyed peas for the next day - with ground pork, chili, celery, onions, diced tomatoes. My friend shared her delicious recipe but this will be my first time to make it.

Grinch here too. The weather keeps changing & now storms are all but sure. I won't go until tomorrow morning since there's less traffic. But looks like there's no chance I can get home before Monday w/o driving in the rain. Three days is way too much togetherness for me, including 6 house dogs - 3 of them Great Danes. Sporadic tornadoes & large hail possible. Urgh - I could be tucked up in my bed reading.

Happy Winter Solstice & festival of the lights & Christmas & Hanukkah

Carole - love the magic marker story. That's exactly what I did for all my DH & DIL's presents when I discovered at 11:30pm that I had no more gift tags and had to wrap & pack their presents for mailing first thing the next morning. Since he's a bit of a grinch, I likely won't hear any comments. But I will get weird glances from my SIL tomorrow. Their presents are wrapped w/a tag, but since I thought I had to mail, that is all. She too does exquisite bows & decorations. Oh well.

Mexican Black-Eyed Peas done and in the fridge. I admit, I had to sample. Good, but next time I'll do either more beans or less meat. Also I would have added more "heat" with more chilies.

Fifteen minutes until the reindeer land on the roof. Santa is going to fill my stocking with several wonderful "gadgets" from Sur La Table and the Container Store. I can hardly wait!!!

Quiet now reigns supreme here. The kids left late morning, the house has been put back to it's former state. My stomach had been rebelling against all the rich fattening foods I've been forcing into it, so for dinner I made soup. A vegetable beef soup using odds and ends gleaned from the refrigerator and freezer. It hit the spot. I was aided in the endeavor by the new pressure cooker that Santa brought. I must say that there is much I like about it, but it certainly is not faster than the stove top model. Although the actual cooking time is about the same, the time that it takes to reach pressure is much longer. Nonetheless, I'm pleased with it, especially the multifunctions. It even slow cooks. Rice will be the next test.

Tomorrow we're off to see dad in what is predicted to be torrential rainfall. That will be fun :-( Well have to be careful not to get caught on the wrong side of a flooding river.

The moon is beautiful tonight. I hope you can see it from where you are and your night is peaceful, my friends.

We got back home about 4:30 and have been enjoying a quiet evening with me crocheting and dh on his computer and both of us watching older Bones tv shows. It's interesting to go backward in time with the characters. I didn't start watching the show when it first came on.

Christmas was good. I particularly enjoyed the four children who were present. One of them just for a short while. She brought her American Girl doll which (her grandmother told me on the side) cost $200!!!! It was a Santa gift at her mother's house. She's an adorable 6-year-old who lives part time with her mother and part time with her father and already has frequent manis and pedis. The other three children are not so spoiled with material possessions and life has not treated them with kid gloves. But they seemed happy today. There were presents and for children presents are exciting.

I got a wonderful present from my SIL Deanna who is a very skilled quilter. She made all of us beautiful quilted throws. They're all different and mine is perfect for our living room. The different fabrics are so pretty.

The dinner, served buffet style, was rather boring but there were delicious sugar-laden foods which I much enjoyed. I am definitely developing the "sweet tooth" with age.

That IS a wonderful gift, Carole! So pleased for you....

I also have developed quite the sweet-tooth, and do not need another cookie or piece of toffee! But boy were they good! Seems like toffee graced everyone's dessert selections this year. The dentists must be happily awaiting calls.

Nance, I do hope today's efforts with your dad go well...and that he had a good holiday.

Our house is quiet, if a bit cluttered still, and I am happy for the frenzy to have passed. We did enjoy two wonderful evenings with friends, and those memories are special.

Our forty-something next door neighbors invited us to the Christmas Eve dinner they host every other year. It is always Bon Appetit mag worthy, and I admire the courage of the two ladies who perfectly cook a massive amount of beef tenderloin and amazing vegetables for the small crowd.

Of added interest was appetizers of huge shrimp Fed Exed in from New Bedford, MA (who knew?) by the hostess' step mother, and speciality ice creams for dessert from a place in Cincinnati that apparently Oprah discovered and made famous. Oh my! And they were good! We each got to select three flavors from eight, and they arrived in these small cups (it made me nuts that the hostesses were going to chuck them out after a single use!!) paired with my pizzelles and the hostess' toffee. Oh, another beautiful appetizer was prosciutto wrapped around persimmon and basil leaves....which I did not eat (sadly) since I'm sure I am allergic to persimmon. .

For that dinner, I'd prepared two huge salads....a spinach with pear, cranberry, pecans, gorgonzola and a maple balsamic dressing, and a Greek (American Greek style, that is).

The evening was fun ( four elementary age kids were there too, and participate in the Yankee Swap with the adults...making the gifts interesting!) and we are touched that our neighbors include us.....especially since DS2 is no longer "available" for the one single gal friend of the hostesses.

DS2 was with us at this dinner....and then afterwards we exchanged our Christmas gifts with him since he was flying out to NC in early AM to join DGF and her fam. Not exactly quality time with him, but when they are back in town next weekend, we will have them both here to do a belated Christmas celebration. So I guess it isn't really done after all...

Last evening, we joined our friends who have invited us for Christmas dinner for the past ten years. It is usually a large multi generational gathering of their family and friends. This year none of our children joined us, so it was eight oldsters around their beautiful dining room table.

We enjoyed stimulating conversation over a delightful meal after shrimp, yet again for appetizer, along with a goat cheese/zucchini tart. Dinner was butternut squash soup with curry, yet another of my aforementioned spinach salads, baked salmon fillets (with almond sauce) over a veggie and quinoa pilaf accompanied by roasted asparagus and roasted tomatoes. It was a delicious and lovely meal. Our friend's sister brought an enormous platter of home baked cookies and confections which we enjoyed for dessert. The hostess had planned on apple pie for dessert, but decided to put it in the freezer instead. We did not need it!

So, after returning home around ten o'clock, DH and I (finally!) exchanged our gifts, listened to phone messages, had a glass of port and crashed.

My Zpac seems to be chasing whatever bug I had, and yet I still have a cough, so I suspect it is allergies due to our unusual warm climate.

One phone message was from DS1 who was unexpectedly driving his family from Denver to Aspen since their flight had been cancelled. This was after traveling from NJ with the two little kids since the early AM. I hope they are safely settled there now......

Today, house organizing, and maybe a movie.

I hope you are all enjoying pleasant memories of the last two days.

Eric, I enjoyed the relaxed and warm picture you painted of you and your fur creatures as you closed out your day.

We had a wonderful holiday! My mother stayed with us for two days, and yes, she demanded attention, but mostly she "behaved." We sat in the living room, all of us, and chatted for hours. Christmas Eve both of the boy's parents were to come for dinner, but his mom got the flu and was unable to attend. The ham was uncooperative so that we did not sit down to dinner until 8pm, an hour late. I bagged on making the stuffed mushrooms to the menu was some roasted nuts for nibbles. Then the main dinner was the ham, a huge casserole of mac & cheese made with two types of cheddar, traditional Boston Baked beans, a radicchio, pear, and walnut salad with a fabulous creamy dressing, and steamed haricot certs. Dessert was a pumpkin pie, a Lithuanian honey cake and the girl's fabulous cookies. I have to say, it has been quite a few years since I made baked beans. Man are they good! In fact, the main part of the meal was fabulous! The honey cake, which my mother purchased at a local bakery was not exactly my style. I packed up a huge bag of food so that the missing mother would get a Christmas meal.

Breakfast the next morning was served after we opened our stockings. I made sausage [vegan and meat], bacon, scrambled eggs [fried for the boy cause he is a nice kid,] English muffin bread, cinnamon buns made by the girl, and a strudel from that same bakery. Skip right pass that purchased food, and breakfast was another wonderful meal.

Presents and then everyone napped. I delayed my nap to spend some time with my sister, a rare pleasure. Generally, I receive very few gifts or stocking items. Not this year! Clearly, there is a bit of "shit" and "last Christmas-itis" going on. Little awkward, but overall, they were very good. No pity looks. No sorrowful glances. There was acknowledgment that this is not fair, but no tearing at hair. A few more hugs, which this Yankee family doesn't do easily.

The mother headed home a few hours and the holiday is over.

I woke this morning with some GI issues, so I have delayed the start of Xeloda until tomorrow morning.

So happy to read about other's holiday..... all good.

*susan*

Why yes. Kitchen stuff happened! I received a ladle to use with my new soup tureen [and then I didn't make a soup!] My mother gave me a Microplane Spiral cutter which I now see has terrible reviews at every single website. I received a 3 cup sauce pan, which I suspect can't manage lots of heat, but could be could for keeping things warm while the rest of the meal is getting ready. The rest of the gifts were about staying warm and someday, winter might actually happen.

I have some rye barm going, and will make the starter tonight. Then bread tomorrow. I need rye bread for my ham sandwiches. We have decided to grill up some burgers tonight, so now I have started some dough for making burger buns. Silly me, eh?

*susan*

Christmas was a mixed bag - like it sounds like most of us had. I drove 3 hours to my niece's Christmas morning. I got there in time to participate in the making of the cherry pie in honor of BIL & nephew who couldn't be there. As it happened, we had too much food so ate the pie for breakfast this morning. SIL has Celiac to the crust was gluten free - and I wasn't impressed.

The house has polished concrete floors, no rugs & no drapes or window coverings - so the echoes were over the top. Ten people, 6 house dogs - 3 of which are Great Dane size, but all are large. Excellent green chili from a SIL in New Mexico that we poured over a hunk of cream cheese & ate w/crackers. Ham from my ex DH was good, but I've been avoiding that much salt. Prime rib was spectacular & I had thirds. The traditional Yorkshire Puds worked, but the gluten free batch didn't make it out before they burned. Potatoes (prepare the night before) had an excellent flavor but didn't get really warmed up. My fruit salad was a hit. One of my gifts was a 1/2 gallon of Bombay Sapphire Gin, with Persian Limes, which I was persuaded to open early & start drinking. I needed two!!!. Then a nice cab with dinner - sorry ChiSandy, I didn't get to look at the label. I took the new Menage a Trois SILK blend and a bottle of Boogle Chard but neither got opened. No people there who drink wine.

I felt so sorry for the baby, the only child - 10 months old and presents coming out of his ears. The poor kid was so tired of people saying "hey look here" or "hey open this present. In addition to everything else, he got four small riding toys and wasn't interested in any of them. As I may have mentioned before, I have no intention of competing with this massive, commercial dumping of gifts on the baby. TOO MUCH STUFF. I gave him a pair of "camo" snoozie slippers I got at the Union Oyster House when I was in Boston, and a copy of "Pat the Bunny". This aunt will stick to books for presents. Not to mention SIL & other grandmother are becoming even worse mortal enemies and my niece is determined on throwing everyone together and insisting that everyone is having fun. Ha, Ha, Ha. Bed was good - a new Temperpedic mattress.

And the grand finale this morning? The baby pulled down the Christmas Tree, which was made of chicken wire decorated w/every ornament over the last 50 years. Baby was fine. Most ornaments were smashed. Wow, what will those pictures be worth then the kid is 20?

So I drove home at 11am today before the predicted tornadoes & hail hit. Nice to be in the peace of my own house. Had two more Bombay Sapphire & tonic delights tonight & will go to bed early.

Enjoyed your Christmas description, Minus. Can easily visualize the baby bombarded with gifts and also see him pulling down the Christmas tree. Prime rib. Lucky you. I might put up with 6 dogs in the house for prime rib. "Might."

GG, interesting that the stepdaughter's husband stayed home. And nice that she and her twins have a place to go to enjoy Christmas.

We had leftover pork roast in gravy and German potato salad for dinner. It tasted really good. I also had a piece of pecan pie. DH has not eaten his piece yet. That's all of the pie. It may have been the best pecan pie I have ever eaten and it was not home-made.

Home-made hamburger buns would be good without the burgers.

Susan - my first thought as I was reading was, oh right, that's tomorrow & I hope it goes well. Then i read your sentence about the clean toilet and laughed out loud. Hope you don't need to be "driving the porcelain bus".

Garden - my DS and DIL apparently have a deepening aversion to Christmas too. I've had no luck figuring out why, but also not related to religion. Last year I gave him a Grinch T-shirt. They're having absolutely no celebration this year. I guess they'll open the gifts I mailed. Wonder if they bought anything for each other?

Carole - the prime rib was really worth it, but you can probably tell, not for very long. Got there at noon Christmas Day and left for home this morning by 11am. Three hard road hours each way at 80 mph. Susan - four of the dogs live in this house. Two of the dogs live at my SIL's future retirement "cottage" just down the road when they're out there. But as a practical matter, all the people & dogs gravitate to my niece's house. Oh, forgot to mention the 3 horses, who were turned loose to wander around yesterday. Too much togetherness for me.

Susan I am praying that the little heat seeking meanies in your pills goes right to the source and KABAMMMMMM! and that it by pass your taste buds and tummy completely. I mean---warfare has changed and surely it will be a selective bombing mission!!! Remember, your the General in charge, so just give it its orders before you pop them......

You are a planner of the highest order.....having your breakfast all set up and all.....that's why you can do so much while I just scratch my head and wonder how it got to this point......

Minus, the baby pulling over the tree trumps the cat climbing mine.....I would b e heartsick if my ornaments broke--they are the objects I attach so many memories too....

Carole your leftovers sound yummy and I too had Chinese food yesterday (Dec 26) My Christmas dinner of Hungarian sausage was just what my Dad wanted. After asking me twice how I cooked it, he told me it tasted even better than what the club cooked (American Hungarian Society). So that was a high compliment. All I did was put it on a rack in a Dutch oven with about 1/2 inch of water and cook it for 2 1/2 hours at 350...... We had green beans with onions, mashed potatoes and gravy and applesauce. Dessert was Orange fluff salad and nutmeg cake. There were leftovers for one more serving, so I left that for my dad in a reheat dish, hence my need for Beef Chow Fun last night.