Experimental recipes and other ramblings....

Hola Chickas!

Happy Holidays!! Merry Christmas!! It’s officially that time of year! Are ya’ll going to go see The Nativity Story this weekend? I’m excited about that! I hope it’s as good as the previews make it look!

We went to see The Santa Clause III while sister and her kiddos were here…that movie was cute…I hadn’t seen the II but it didn’t really seem to matter too much…except of course he has a Mrs. Clause now and I guess the II told that whole story lol…but anyways…Martin Short plays Jack Frost and he does such a good job! He’s so funny! So after the movie we were talking and I was telling husband about the movie (because he didn’t go) and I said it was a classic Santa Clause movie with his arch enemy Jack Frost and everyone (except my mother) looked at me as if I were green! Lol Am I the only one (except my mother) that remembers that cartoon Christmas special where Jack Frost tries to ruin Santa Clause and Christmas? Jack Frost has always had it out for Santa in any story I’ve ever seen with those two characters in it….

Blah blah blah…anyways so that was Wednesday oh umm mom and sis and I did go to a pretty little prim shop called Knock on Wood…I think mom bought some candles but other than that everything was a little over priced…but it was fun to look and get ideas.

We had such a good visit with everyone. Thanksgiving day was just busy and blessed. It was my second year to make a turkey so I had a little better idea of what I was doing. Plus I watched the Food network all weekend the weekend before so I’d seen the pros do it a million times….Wednesday night I buttered up the bird. It was still a gross experience getting my hands under the skin and rubbing the butter everywhere…last year, the task almost made me a vegetarian! Lol but I acted like I knew what I was doing this year. I LOVE to cook with Rosemary and when I first discovered rosemary, I put it in everything. Rosemary doesn’t go with everything just so ya’ll know. So my mother sort of gives me a hard time about refraining to cook with rosemary. Well all the Food Network people used rosemary on their birds so I felt like I had a license to use it too and I’m glad I did…I used Rosemary, sage and thyme and my bird tasted divine! Lol…husband helped baste it a lot too…he’s a good helper in the kitchen. He also peeled enough potatoes for a small army! We still have mashed potatoes leftover…and turkey too…I was afraid we wouldn’t have enough so I also got a huge turkey breast…so when we finally sat down to the meal, the spread was humongous!! I asked if we were expecting more people…we barely put a dent in all the food when it was all said and done.

I have a theory. For several years we got together with all the aunts and uncles and cousins too for Thanksgiving and I think we still cook like they are all coming too. If we aren’t having 30+ people, we seriously need to scale down what we make! Lol

Speaking of getting together with all the aunts and uncles and cousins…I really miss that. I know it’s harder to find a place that will accommodate all of our growing families, but I do miss seeing everybody on Thanksgiving. Husband’s family borrows their church gymnasium the Saturday before Thanksgiving and there are usually like oh I’d say 40 or 50 people that gather for that meal. Maybe we should try something like that next year. Not the Saturday before Thanksgiving because we wouldn’t be able to come!!! But umm maybe the Saturday after Thanksgiving? It’s a thought – cousin and sister, I’m putting the bug in your ears! Lol

I tried 2 experimental items this year…lol…one went very badly and one was very yummy. I guess this entry is going to be mostly about Turkey day…sorry! Lol…but anyway, I found this recipe for Pumpkin Bisque and I just thought it sounded yum. I never made it or even tasted it but it sounded different. So I gathered all the ingredients to make it for T-day. It smelled like it was going to taste really good. So it was all hot and bubbly so I decided to taste it…it was the most putrid tasting soup I’ve ever tasted. It smelled as if it were going to taste sweet but it was just wrong…YUCK! So I left it on the warmer because husband said well maybe someone might like it. I was thinking that maybe someone with all their taste buds burnt off might like it…so sister tasted it and so did mom and dad and after a general consensus, I announced that I was going to take it outside and dump it out and husband said something about the starving children and sister said she wouldn’t inflict that swill on starving children! Nice! Lol but it was putrid…so anyways…bad experiment…lol

The other experiment was mulled cider….that was delicious!! I-man told me I make the best apple cider. All the adults had been sipping it out of these fancy cups and he got one of the cups and was sipping it like we were…he is just so stinking cute!! He is really at a great age….he is just a sweet boy so much of the time…bless his little heart. And FAB with her cute little voice…oh my goodness…she is talking so much, not sure what language she speaks in, but she talks all the time and she is really hard to understand. And she can tell when you are not comprehending what she says because she gets really frustrated with you. And new Baby…aww she is just so warm and cuddly…she sleeps so stinking much though!! Lol and snorts…bless her baby heart!

So after dinner we played a game and then everyone just kind of vegged out. Husband and I-man went out and hung up Christmas lights. Then we all went out and ooed and awed…although the lights sort of look psychotic. I’m not in love with the “design” but it’s better than doing it myself so I’m not complaining too much! Lol

Friday, I did not get up and go to Walmart at 4:00 in the morning like my crazy sister and my crazy father…I don’t care how good a sale is that ain’t right! Lol….but reading sister’s description of the experience, I have to admit it did sound a little fun. But ya know what else is fun at 4 AM? Sleeping!! Lol

But we all did go shopping later…I was laughing at sister’s comments about how many cars we took…

The mall we went to was an outdoor type mall so even if the stores were crazy crowded, you could get outside (the day was gorgeous!!) and have some breathing room…so that was nice. Then for some reason, even though we had many days worth of leftovers at home, we went to Cheddars and ate til we couldn’t anymore…lol…

I think everyone was just so tired after that that we went back to mom’s and vegged some more….but it was a really great visit!

Saturday I slept in a little and then husband and I went to the Shelbyville flea market…this is not my shabby chic flea market…this one is more like Ceaser’s Creek flea market only a whole lot more ghetto…lol…that’s a really good way to describe...there were actually a couple of really pretty booths but overall, merely a cultural experience….

We pretty much vegged the rest of the day and most of Sunday…church was wonderful as usual and then I made turkey pot pie for lunch…

Not much else going on….we actually have started our Christmas shopping and we’re wrapping as we go this year so there are several presents under our tree already! For all my griping about putting the tree up, I’m thoroughly enjoying it…I really need to share some pictures very soon!

I think I’ve babbled enough with my random babbling…

praying for each and every one of you!