I think we’re going to be let out of work soon. An awful lot of people have already left and everyone else wants to go get ready for the party. I’m going to go get a pedicure so my toes look pretty in my strappy sandals tonight. Because it’s just a brilliant idea to wear open-toed shoes at Christmas time when one lives in the frozen North. Oh well. I’ll look pretty while I freeze to death.
I’m off work all next week and traveling to see family and friends and pretty much the greater Northeast. So have a merry Christmas everyone and see y’all on the 31st!
Company party is over. I am officially stuffed like thanksgiving turkey. It was better than expected; the food was of higher quality than I anticipated so that was good. I had a nice Caesar salad to start (awesome croutons), then moved on to a NY Striploin with mashed N.O.T. and veggies, nice and tender, though not Keg quality. Beer, wine and spirits flowed freely. For the third year in a row I won one of the gift drawings – a bottle of Canadian Club whiskey. Too bad I’m not a drinker (other than the occasional beer or specialty coffee; I had my quota of Corona today), but I can regift it.
Rigs/Puggy - Thanks. It’s a recycle from this thread, but I thought today would be a good opportunity to get some extra mileage out of it.
LiLi - Yeah, the weekend temperatures are looking pretty sweet, though I’m seeing rain, which is gonna suck.
Aww, CutiePie, you’re right, I won’t be able to work with the chef’s recipe. Am looking forward to your chocolate pecan pie one, though. Thanks!
Wow, Mindfield, that Christmas tree is beautiful! I don’t know how you can figure out making something like that, but you’re wonderful at it. Thanks for sharing all your artwork.
I am -so- glad that the weekend is here, and especially glad that it will be a four day one! I’m going to do some baking - shopping is done; we’ve got: ham, turkey and beef roast!! I’m also making the candied/marshmallow yams (my kids like em, what can I say?), green bean casserole, homemade macaroni & cheese, greens, molded jello salad, and (maybe) yorkshire puddings to go with the roast beef. Of course, we’ll be having different things on different days; I don’t want to give the impression that we’re gonna just have a pig-out. LOL Dang, now I gotta head back to the grocery store because I forgot the horseradish! Must have that for my roast beast. I think I’ll also get a small container of the Amish potato salad–I doctor it up a bit, and it’s tasty and I don’t have to peel all those N.O.Ts.
And I’m making my son the pecan pie, and some Christmas cookies. So I’ll be busy.
I have a huuuge meatloaf in the oven, and I’m having an adult beverage…
I added some more decorations, but didn’t clean a damn thing. I put little white lights behind my fireplace screen - they look quite jake! Oh, I did too clean something. I washed two dogs! Three is just too dang many, my back gets tired. So the old man, who was the cleanest, got a reprieve.
I took the dogs to the dog park this morning. They got a lot of exercise and got very dirty! That’s what dogs do - but dang they are cute. I love to watch Ernie racing to me from far away - his little ears a-flying in the wind!
I’m gonna chill and watch a movie or two tonight. Tomorrow we’re driving up to Huntsville (about an hour away) to pick up a tiller that Mr Rebo wants to buy - he saw it on Craigslist. So I really oughta do some laundry tonight, but I just don’t feel like it. So there!
ETA: Because it’s just so pretty, I had to steal it:
Home from Bad Chinese. Laundry is done. Kitchen sorta tidied. Plants watered. Van mostly packed. Doggies very suspicious.
Daughter just called - we’re expected at the future in-laws’ at 4. So we’ve got to get to her apartment early enough to load the van and get cleaned up before heading over there. I’m hoping since it’s starting early, it’ll end early.
So, in a little bit, I’m going to pop a melatonin and try to doze off early. Who wants to start a pool - will we be on the road by 3??
Did anyone else notice how Sean snuck out of the thread to go get married? I do believe that today was the day… And he won’t be back till Wednesday! Hmmm…we’ll have to throw a party or something then.
Happy birthday in advance, taxi! (Although I’m guessing it’s already too late…)
-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ Haze has volunteered to be our hostess with the mostest next week.
I hereby put this to a vote.
All in favor?
Aye!!!
All opposed?
::crickets::
-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ Merry Christmas to all of you who are going off to celebrate already.
<Imagine Mork’s tree here.>
I got home around 5:30. By 6:10, I had gone out, purchased a new camera, and come home again. I like to buy from the local photo shop. Their prices are very competitive these days, but they have more knowledgeable sales people and a better selection. Wound up buying a very similar camera to the one that just passed away ::moment of silence for my old camera::, but with way more megapixels, image stabilization and a bigger display screen. It’s not as tiny or as fast as some of the smaller ones (the sales lady said that the biggest difference between the one I bought and the smaller ones is that the smaller ones have a shorter lag between pressing the button and taking the picture because they have a better battery), but it’s much better than what I had and I only spent $250 or so including 2 2-gig memory cards and a card reader.
I’m going to write the last load of Christmas cards and figure out who all I’m missing from my Christmas list. Then I’ll play with the new camera a bit, then probably take inventory of things to do before going on vacation next week (if all goes well, I should be on a plane one week from today - yay!!!).
Hope things get better quickly, kai and Pie. (This rhymes in my mind; should it?)
I’m around. And round, right now. The Guys are behind me, playying Risk, and QD’s on her way over. We’ve had a tacos and nachos and me watching them drink party. And now Driving Husband, Lazy Husband and Mr. Lissar are being not nerdy at all. Dishwashing Husband, Attacks Husband, and Other Friend just left.
I think it’s a sign that we’re getting old. Leaving a party before 2 a.m. (shakes head)
I liked Sweeny Todd. Typical Burton movie - Depp and Carter were brilliant, as always. They pull off demented characters charmingly. On the whole, very dark and bloody. It reminded me a bit of Sleepy Hollow in terms of how the movie looked. I think Burton fans will be enchanted.
Someone stop me from eating all the blackberry cobbler.
Herbs – I’ve got two tried and true recipes for you for pecan pie. One from my family that we’ve used for over 30 years and another that I collected from a friend. I’ve made both; the family recipe has more depth of flavor, but the other is just so easy…
Family Recipe:
8-inch unbaked pie shell
3 eggs
1 cup dark corn syrup
1/2 cup light-brown sugar, firmly packed
1/4 cup butter or margarine, melted
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup broken pecans
2 Tbsp light rum or 1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup heavy whipped cream, whipped
Refrigerate pie shell until ready to fill.
Preheat oven to 350F.
In medium bowl, beat eggs with rotary beater. Add corn syrup, sugar, butter and salt; beat until well combined.
Stir in pecans and rum/vanilla. Pour into shell.
Bake 50 to 55 minutes, or until filling is set in center when pie is gently shaken. (THIS IS KEY!!! DON’T TAKE IT OUT IF IT STILL JIGGLES!!) Let cool completely on wire rack.
Serve garnished with whipped cream, or with vanilla ice cream if desired. (We skip this part…)
Easy-Peasy Version:
Blend together (can actually use a blender):
1 cup LIGHT Karo syrup
1/3 cup melted butter
2/3 cup sugar
3 eggs
Stir in 1 1/2 cups of halved pecans.
Pour into 9-inch deep dish pie shell
Bake at 375F 40 to 50 minutes, but check at 35 to 40. (Same jiggle rule applies.)
Tell no one where you got these recipes, as both are Top Secret!!
I’m home. Interesting day today. I had a customer who looked like gt. I had a customer who looked like LiLi(sans tiny ninjachef). I saw Santa Claus shopping at the Kroger. Nelly has discovered the joys of popping bubble wrap.
LiLi, I left a party at 9 once. Of couse it was because we drained their keg, but still, I left early. Congrats to Mr. Lisslar!
Drive safe, FCM!
Puggy, actually I’m only miserable at work. I’m happy when I am surfing the MMP, at a hockey game, or at Mass.
Thanks, CutiePie! I think I’m going to try your family recipe. My son will greatly appreciate it.
Drive safely, FCM & FCD, and Merry Christmas!! Yes, I think that 12/21 was the day that the Factotum’s were getting married, so Congratulations to them.
Hehe, I hope that Nelly doesn’t go berzerk on the bubble wrap, DogButler!
herbs, alas, it wasn’t me with the family recipe. It was Lemme. Thanks to him/her for sharing. Especially as I am now at TVMan’s house and forgot to look up the chocolate pecan pie before I left my house. :smack:
Ack! Sorry, LemmeOut, for giving credit to CP! Apologies to you too, CP. I was, admittedly, only half awake last night when viewing this thread. Thanks to -you- LemmeOut for giving me two recipes to pick from and I’m sure my son will be appreciative too–as long as he eats most of the pie, that is – any leftovers will surely go into my tummy which does NOT need it, unfortunately.
I’m up and caffeinating before making one (hopefully) last run to the store. Heh. You just know I’ll be back in the grocery store at least before they close on Christmas eve. I think I have everything. Today will be mostly spent baking cookies–a bit labor intensive, but fun.
doggio - heh. People tell me pretty often that I look like someone else they know. I guess you ran into one of my look-alikes.
Forgot somewhere back there: Eid mubarak to you too, Dotty. Earlier in the week, I was going to ask if this Eid was a 3-day celebration like the Eid at the end of Ramadan, but it sounds like it must be. They just started a story about Eid celebrations in Texas (about a halal butcher there) on Weekend Edition and they said today was the last day.
I’ve been up for a while, but not fully awake. I woke up thinking about films I want to see. I think I heard an interview in the past couple weeks about a movie that is set in Afghanistan but doesn’t have anything to do with the war. I didn’t think it was the Kite Runner, but maybe it was. I’ve browsed through the NPR
Web site (which I always get stuck on - there are always interesting diversions on every page) and IMDb and Googled, but I must have only been half-awake while listening to the story I’m thinking about.
Last night was fun. We ate (mmmmmm… good lasagna! One of my better efforts if’n I do say so myself) and went driving around lookin’ at Christmas lights. OOOOOOH! SHINY! Then we went to Dairy Queen for Choco-Dip cones. YUMMY! Then we came back to da cave and just hung out for a while. Just a really nice evening.
All those who are traveling today and over the next few days (self included) be safe! I’m headed up to mom’s on Monday and comin’ back on Wednesday. Not that long of a trip but doubt I’ll be online whilst gone cause she has dialup, so unless I sneak in on sis’s 'puter I won’t be posting.
It’s gloomy lookin’ here today. No real plans. No shoppin’ or stuff to do…YAY! I’m thinkin’ a lazy day at da cave would be good.
Thanks!