Thanksgiving 2012

The 28 pound turkey fit in my oven with no problem, except for the fact it was SO DAMN HEAVY.

Fortunately, DH helped me load it in. And it cooked up beautifully and tastily. Nummy. My guests were happy with the feast, which included rice and giblet gravy. cornbread dressing, sweet potato casserole, squash souffle, green beans, broccoli in a cream sauce, spinach dip & crackers, rolls, cranberry jelly, pumpkin bread, 2 kinds of wine, and 4 kinds of pie (pumpkin, apple, cherry, and chocolate chess).

I'm too stuffed to move, and I ate dinner 7 hrs ago. Oooff.

In other news, my crocheted necklace is coming along nicely. Almost done, in fact. This is done in size 3 Lizbeth with 6/0 beads.

Larry has been working on a castle for his guys. It gives them a place to hang out. Heh.

Lily has discovered a wooden bowl and now sleeps in it.

I need to sleep soon. G'night!

Things I have learned

Miscellaneous things learned after my Christmas holiday...

• If you leave oatmeal in a cup at work for a few 10 days, it becomes something for the Bio-Hazard Disposal crew to deal with. Ew. I cleaned my spoon and mug in scalding water, then filled the mug with water and nuked it until I got a rolling boil in the cup. Die slimy green stuff, die.

• Mint M&M's are really, really good. Especially when they are marked down to $0.75 a bag. Nom nom nom.
• Note - I didn't say they were good for me. I spent yesterday morning at the dentist (soon to come: another root canal!), and I made an appointment with my internist to Try And Do Better.
• Sometimes bumper stickers are a really good thing. Or maybe I'm just lucky. I got pulled over by the state patrol on I-20 heading to Augusta when I blitzed pass 2 cops. "You were doing 74 in a 55 zone - I'll bring it down to 70" said the nice cop. "Thank you - I've never had a speeding ticket!" I said sadly. This is true - I've never ever had a moving violation. (DH says I'm just lucky, as my lead foot is well know in the family.) After a bit, the cop (a cheery young African American woman) came back to the car and said, "God is good! I gave you a warning. And I like your bumper stickers." "God is good! Thank you!" I gulped and happily signed my warning citation. And I didn't approach 74 mph for a good 15 miles, until well outside the I-285 perimeter. Whew!
• Do not trust your husband to put away fragile Christmas ornaments. You know, you'd think I would remember this, as it's a problem every year. I guess it's 'cause DH starts putting things away before I think to, and when someone tells me it's all done and everything is complete & ready to be put in the attic, I want to believe them. *Sigh*  I had to re-pack everything (and find a ton of things left scattered). So there was Shouting and Something Of A Scene. You understand, don't you?
• Curly is not trustworthy around money or anything, including un-opened gift cards addressed to other people. I knew this, but I slipped. And I won't again. I hope.
• Cleaning makes me sneeze, because of the dust created (because I hadn't cleaned in a long time). This is a reason for me not to clean certain rooms for a while. Pardon me while I blow my nose.
• Netflix on our new Wii is very addictive. I've been catching up on a number of Doc Martin episodes. So much fun!
• Finally - going back to work isn't any better than you thought it might be. Because it's still Work and Not Fun.  A brother in law says of Work, "If it wasn't shit, they wouldn't pay you." True that.

 Have you learned anything of value recently?

What I did on my Christmas vacation

• Slept in almost every day.  Ahh.
• Ate Christmas cookies that folks brought to us.  Nom nom nom.
• Wrapped a buncha presents, opened a few.
• Ate lots of Christmas ham and sweet potato cassarole.  Nom nom nom.
• Visited my mom, my sisters, and one sister's family in South Carolina.
• Ate yummy eggplant parmesan and then cheesecake with Mom and the sibs.  Nom nom nom.
• Skipped church on December 27th - slept in.
• Got Curly drug tested.  He thinks drugs stay in his system for 2 days.  I think not.  (Results on Saturday.) 
• Worked on writing up some of my tatting patterns.
• Did NOT send Christmas cards.  Sent a Christmas email instead. (Hey, it's better than nothing!)
• Fussed at my mother for hanging out on her mountain in the snow so long she got stuck up there. (She sent pictures of bear tracks in the snow on her front and back porches, next to her footprints.) Offered her our guest room, which she declined.
• Ate all kinds of candy.  Nom nom nom.
• Watched a bunch of DVDs - 3:10 to Yuma, Star Trek, There Will Be Blood, Harold and Maude.  The Stooges were not aware of Harold and Maude.  Larry loved it.
• Did NOT start my book club book, due soon.
• Beat the Stooges into submission and made them help clean the house, several times.  Faster, slaves!
• Saw Avatar in 3-D with Larry and Moe - lots of fun and really beautiful.
• Ate more cookies, candy, sammiches, whatever there was.  Nom nom nom.
• Did NOT clean off my desk or clean out my office.  Still a mess.  Whee!
• Called my mom after she finally got down off the mountain.  At one point, her car was stuck at the end of her steep driveway, right next to the mailbox.
• Called my daddy's Favorite Cousin and thanked her for letting Mom stay with her.  Whew.
• Got my eyes examined and ordered glasses.  Curly and Moe did the same.
• Busted my toe.
• Made it to church on Sunday and felt better for it, in spite of the lack of heat in the building.
• Decided that going back on my diet might be a good thing.  Right after I eat these last Christmas candies....
• Did NOT win the lottery.  This meant that vacation would end.  Damn.

And yesterday, I went back to work.  *sigh*

Upon request - a fall recipe

Recently, I sent a recipe to Traci of Amazing Mae. She loved it, and asked me to post it. It's an easy recipe for delicious pumpkin bread. (I don't cook things that are hard.  Tatting and parenting are hard enough.)  I wish I remembered where I got the original recipe. I'd link back if I knew.

I usually have some of this sitting out at Thanksgiving for guests to eat while I am finishing cooking the meal. The Stooges beg for this bread.  You need to have a stand mixer and a big bowl to fix this, as it's a large amount. I usually use 3 of those disposable foil loaf pans to bake it. That way I have one loaf to eat, one to share, one to freeze. Mmmm

Pumpkin Spice Bread


Any way you slice it, this pumpkin spice bread won't last long once your kids sample it. That's why this recipe makes two loaves - 3 if you use disposable foil pans

 INGREDIENTS:

2 cups canned pumpkin (I use one 15 oz can)

3 cups sugar

1 cup water

1 cup vegetable oil

4 eggs

3 1/3 cups all-purpose flour

2 tsp. baking soda

2 tsp. cinnamon

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. nutmeg

3/4 tsp. ground cloves

1. Heat the oven to 350 degrees. In a large mixing bowl, combine the pumpkin, sugar, water, vegetable oil and eggs. Beat until well mixed.

2. Measure the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, salt, baking powder, nutmeg and ground cloves into separate bowl, then stir until combined (a great job for kids). Slowly add the dry ingredients to the pumpkin mixture, beating until smooth.

3. Grease two 9- by 5-inch loaf pans and dust them with flour. Evenly divide the batter between the two pans. Bake for 60 to 70 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 to 15 minutes. Then remove from pans by inverting them onto a rack and tapping the bottoms. Slice and serve plain, buttered or with cream cheese.

My mouth is watering just thinking about this.  I think I need to go get some pumpkin now.