Easter 2016

I don't have any plans for getting my crew together for Easter, maybe I'll do it in a week or two.  Despite my slackassedness my daughter showed up after church with her son.  YAY!!!  So grandma whipped out her camera and followed him around the yard.  200 pictures later (not exaggerating)... I plucked a few key shots.

This guy is "GB3" GrandBaby3 (#3 out of 4).  He's the only child of my daughter, 20 months old and is SO sweet. 

Golf Balls

Have I mentioned that I live on a golf course?  And that golfballs are frequently found in my yard?  And that I now have a little stash of balls in a glass jar in my livingroom?

It turns out the jar of golfballs is a magnet for a certain grandson, the child who can do no wrong.

He lured his aunt into retrieving the balls out from under the TV. 

And then he rolled them into the office.

The balls came out again over Thanksgiving.  I figured with the crowd that balls on the floor would be a bad idea so I came up with a worse idea - showing grandson how to roll them down the stairs to the basement.  Oh how he giggled with delight over that noise!

So the party was over and the balls returned to the jar... most of them at least.  I was missing a few.  Last night I was loading the washing machine and as I passed the pool table a small pink ball caught my eye.  In the trough were seven golfballs.

I'm not sure what went on in the basement on Thanksgiving, but it looks like the golfballs had a good time!

Friday Fragments - January 4, 2013

Whew, the whirl wind of the holidays is finally over and now we can recuperate.  I hope everyone had a splendid time... and if not that you find a way to make up for it. 

New Year's Eve was a spectacular party with friends.  It's been a very long time, too long, since I've laughed like that.  Laughter is truly good for the soul. 

The party's host has opened their home to us quite a bit over the years.  We felt bad for all the times they paid for firewood.  They didn't believe us that there was wood to be had, so one day we came across a GIGANTIC pile free for the taking.  So we took.  And delivered.  It was several weeks ago and said it was an early Christmas present.  Monday night we had the opportunity to stand around the fire pit, in the freezing cold.

Between the smoke, yelling over the crowd, and laughing I sounded like a very sick seal the next morning.  And smelled like a walking campfire... one of my most favorite scents EVER.

It was hard getting back into the swing of things.  Even though I really haven't been away from work more than a few days, our office has been topsy turvey for the last three weeks.  Today was the first day I really felt like it was back to normal.  My supervisor reviewed all of my current projects and pointed out how much I've got going on.  I guess that might be part of the stress I'm suffering that is now exhibiting as annoying dry skin patches the dermatologist prescribed an expensive oil to heal!

Watching Diners Drive Ins and Dives we saw a recipe for chicken confit (I always thought it was "comfy" and yes, I did take French in high school).  It's an old method where you cure the meat with salt and then cook it low and slow in oil.  The TV show then skillet fried the meat, which is what we did.  It was amazing.  The bones fell off the breast, completely clean of meat.  We had three breasts left over (because we always cook extra for left overs) and I very easily shredded them for fajitas.  We will definitely be doing this again!  I did a little research on confit cooking and it can be used for all sorts of meat which we will be trying as well.

Today I'm going to suggest a movie to avoid - Killer Joe.  I have a very warped sense of humor, enjoy some really sick entertainment, and am very hard to offend.  This movie crossed every line and I was left disgusted.  Even hubby was asking WTF.  I'm pretty sure somebody will pick it up, like we did, and think the description sounds interesting.  WALK ON BY.  You have been warned.  If your husband insists on watching it (because advice of some insane blogger is no reason to impact your household) take up knitting or scrubbing the crud behind the bathroom sink knobs.  Anything.  And by all means DO NOT let kids watch it.

Here's to more posting, more reading, more commenting!  Happy New Year!!!!!!

Movie Monday - Nuns and Christmas!

I've watched two movies, almost back to back, about nuns.  They were aired by TCM as part of their celebration of Christmas.  I'm not so sure what either of these two movies had to do with Christmas other than Christianity.

Let me step to the side and discuss Christmas movies.  I never wanted to like It's a Wonderful Life mostly because everybody and their dog loves it - pretty much a formula for me hating something.  But dammit, I really do like It's a Wonderful Life.  It's a nice wholesome story, with a nice message.  It's funny, and heartfelt, and just... nice.  And in case you are thickheaded like me, it's a twist on A Christmas Carol with a more modern theme and less spooky - those ghosts always freaked me out.

Elf is another family friendly movie, driving home the Christmas message of brotherly love.  It's super cute and very funny but I fear a lot non-kid-toting adults may have missed it.  Basically a child ends up being raised as an elf in Santa's workshop, but when he grows up he decides to find his biological family.  He is a misfit in both worlds.

The one movie could watch any time of the year, over and over and over again, is Christmas Vacation.  I laugh my ass off every single time.  The Griswold gang is their crazy selves but my favorite is the crazy aunt with her cat and that jello mold with Meow Mix.  I don't know how you can't laugh. 

So, about the nun's... like I said I'm not sure what either of these have to do with Christmas, but I liked both of them.

The Nun's Story (1959) takes Audrey Hepburn's character leaving her family's home to join a convent through her struggles as a novice and assuming her vows.  This happens before World War II and deals a little bit with the impact of war.  This is quintessential Oscar material as it shows a person's growth, development, and questioning her life path.  It bored the ever living snot out of my husband as he walked through the room and tried to avoid the screen.  Yeah, it was a little slow, and it was heavy on the churchy music.  What I found intriguing, though, is the process of becoming a nun.  I'm not Catholic and the chicks in the penguin get-ups are more than a little mystifying to me.  In the end, I decided, you know besides not being Catholic, that I would really suck as a nun.  I am really bad about following rules and they are really strict about them rules!  It was intriguing, educational (to me), and overall a nice story.

Come To the Stable (1949) was soooooooo not the movie I was expecting.  I thought it was going to be about the birth of Christ.  Nope, nothing of the sort.  At the end of World War II, two french nuns arrive in Bethlehem, New York and end up staying in a converted stable on a mission to build a children's hospital.  The one nun is completely driven by faith and seems to bulldoze everyone in the sweetest manner possible.  As the owner of the stable asks, "you don't expect to stay here?"  the nun responds, "why thank you for asking!"  And she manages to do that to everyone she encounters.  I liked this movie almost as a natural follow-up, sort of, to The Nun's Story.  It's like the first one is about going to school and the second one is what you do after you graduate.  That's rather simplistic, but the two do fit together.  This one has a lot of humor and even though you're pretty sure they will succeed in getting the hospital built, it's not a clear path.

Sunday In My City - Christmas Ornaments

I've had the hardest time capturing pictures of my Christmas ornaments.  On Friday morning the sun shone brightly on my tree and proved to be the perfect light to photograph its content.

Friday Fragments - December 21, 2012

Aha!  We survived the Mayan apocalypse.  So, are you disappointed or relieved?  Personally, I think we missed a golden opportunity to consume massive amounts of Mexican food.  We thought it was a grand idea at work but we had a whole buffet of food left over from the potluck the day before.  Maybe on Wednesday when we return we'll celebrate the Mayans.

Last weekend my older son got married.  It was a beautiful wedding and a very fun reception. 

After much coaxing my daughter got the teenager on the dance floor.

 

 Of course the star of the show was my grandson, the ring bearer

He promptly passed out

Daddy posing by him

Because our groom had been a ring bearer 20 years ago and also passed out at the reception

Movie suggestion for the Christmas Season - The Bishop's Wife.  I see it's scheduled to play a couple of times on TCM today (Sunday) at 7pm and midnight.  I thought it was a sweet film that captured the Christmas spirit very well.  Please make a point of looking for it.

My plan for the weekend is to make cookies!!!!  Hubby doesn't want me to go overboard, except of course, to make plenty of peanut butter.  I figured I will make the batters and probably use only half of each, freezing the rest.  Then I can have fresh baked cookies later on.  We'll see.  I might just go overboard after all.

May everyone have a very merry Christmas!

Friday Fragments - December 7 2012

How is everyone's holiday preparations?  Ours are kind of on hold as my son's wedding is next week.  I try not to think about things like this because I blow them out of proportion with anticipation.  It's really exciting but if I don't focus on it then I will be able to enjoy it even more.  The surprise of how the day will unfold will be a million times better than anything I could ever concoct in my head.  And I'm one of those people who gets disappointed if things don't go as I anticipate - so I've taught myself to stop anticipating.  It took a long time to learn that and even longer to make it happen.

Chicken strips seem to be the epitome of bad eating... hmm... maybe it's hamburgers... so chicken strips are a close second.  But I have to say I do like eating them.  What I don't like are the pressed meat variety.  I want a genuine hunk of meat, batter dipped, deep fried.  As we contemplated dinner one night I quipped I wanted chicken strips.  And that's what we did, but homemade ones.  They were fabulous and I want to make them again.  We used boneless breasts, cut into chunks, dredged and floured like regular fried chicken.  It was faster than traditional fried chicken, especially with these mutant huge chicken breasts available in the grocery store.   I feel almost brilliant for  making them.  It's the basic stuff, isn't it?

What was the last movie you watched?  It doesn't matter if it was in a theater.  In my book a movie watched in any venue counts.  Cable, online streaming, and movie rentals have opened a whole world of  entertainment to us.  For me cable is relatively new.  I didn't spend my teen years in the 80's watching MTV videos because my parents were sheer evil, denying me this basic NEED.  I do regret not seeing all of the videos my contemporaries saw, but I definitely appreciate the access now.  Instead of catching up with all of the videos from my deprived teen years, I'm now watching more movies than any civilized person should.  I'm watching the full gambit of Oscar contenders to crappy B films.  And I'm loving it.  It's only a phase which one day will pass.  Oh I will eternally love the film medium of telling a story, but this obsession with movie marathons will l eventually subside.

As I write this To Kill A Mockingbird is playing.  The Teenager is reading this for English class.  I suggested that if he wanted to boost his grade to ask his teacher if he can write a paper comparing Mockingbird to the Sand Lot.  He looked at me like I was crazy - more work???  He knows he needs to do some extra credit, but I added that teachers LOVE compare and contrast stuff like that.  Is that cheating?  Knowing how teachers think?  It's just bizarre enough he might do it.  We'll see...

I think this has been a fairly random post - definitely the stuff of a proper Fragmented Friday!

Friday Fragments - November 23, 2012

How was your Thanksgiving???  Mine was great.  All of the essentials were present - turkey, pie, and family.  We will be repeating the process with my side of the family on Saturday. 

The only thing I had to bring was dessert - and not a pie because that was already covered.  Okay, little kids were going to be present so Rice Krispy Treats is pretty easy and always a hit, right?  Yeah, I've made them with stale marshmallows in the past with no problem but this time was not so successful.  It was more like Rice Krispy BRITTLE.  Even my teenager said they were horrid.  That's okay, I've been wanting to make my fruitcake recipe without the fruit.  OMFG, that also turned out horrible.  I didn't toss it out, but soaked it with amaretto and have managed to create something palatable, but not appropriate to bring to a house of teetotalers.

Finally, I broke down and whipped up pumpkin bread.  I cannot even begin to describe the heavenly scents in my house.  The teenager turned up his nose, convinced it was going to taste like shit.  He did manage to choke down a tiny crumb after some coaxing... and ended up with two servings on his plate.  Hubby found the recipe when looking how to improve Bread Pudding.  He found one from Alton Brown that used pumpkin bread instead of a stale loaf of white bread.  The bread pudding was divine, but we also discovered this easy bread recipe was tasty on its own.
Alton Brown's Pumpkin Bread Recipe

 

*****

Are you participating in Black Friday?  I have managed to sleep in and have no plans to leave the house.  Our shopping this year will be online.

My sullen teenager reared his head in this endeavor as well.  He has spent the last several weeks bemoaning the need of a new Xbox so he can play the latest release of Halo (which he is also lacking).  As we scoured the Black Friday ads he discovered large flat screen TV's in his price range.  Suddenly his priorities have changed and he is in DIRE NEED of a new TV.  The measly 32" currently residing in his room is simply insufficient for his gaming and viewing pleasure.  Poor thing. 

*****

Oscar Movie update:  I've started to dedicate my Monday posts to discussing my movie watching adventure so make sure to come back and read more.  The one pick I have to offer you this week is Life Is Beautiful (1998).  Usually I go into these movies blind, unaware of the topic.  Sometimes it burns me and other times, like this, I am pleasantly surprised.  Had I even known the synopsis I would have been prepared for something wildly different.  It was about a Jewish family taken to a concentration camp.  Yet, it was more about the man and his incredible view on life, how he swept his wife off her feet and later how he kept his son shielded from the atrocities going on around them.  I smiled quite a bit and even giggled a few times.  It was truly a touching story (and true).

*****

Christmas preparations are now underway.  Time to listen to carols, pull out decorations, shift through wrapping paper, and send out cards.  Are you ready?  I'm certainly not.  Of course I never am ready.  Ever.

*****

Preparing Menus

What are your Thanksgiving plans this year?

Are you hosting or visiting?

What are you responsible for cooking?


This year Thanksgiving day will be spent with the in-laws and I'm responsible for bringing a dessert, but not pie because someone else is covering that.  I guess I'm making Rice Krispy Treats and a cake.  On Saturday we will be gathering with my family.  We're not hosting but we will be making the turkey and a few side dishes.

Gobble gobble!  Yummy meals ahead!

Halloween Pics

Our pumpkins were carved last Tuesday.  As soon as we opened them we found MOLD. 

Mine was the worse as I had to cut a hole in the bottom to get rid of the rotten flesh

 

 

Not to be super gross but we kept the seeds.  I washed them several times to make sure there was no moldy flesh left on them and then I baked the shit out them.  And they were yummy.

Friday Fragments - July 6 2012

Fourth of July in the middle of the week turns the all-American "alcaholiday" into just another day off.  Add to the fact that we are in the middle of a scorching heatwave, the day was best spent inside.

Except that my husband had bought several large packs of meat that I insisted not go into the freezer until I had grilled them first.  So Wednesday morning I was standing in front of a searing hot grill.  By the time I had parceled it out I had at least 9 days worth of meals.

We spent the evening with family, playing our little niece and nephew.  Most of the firework displays have been cancelled or postponed so we headed home and watched movies.

It wasn't the most festive holiday, but it worked.

Fourth of July - ten years ago

When I crawled into bed last night I realized I was wearing a tshirt from a conference I attended 10 years ago.  When I woke up and remembered it was Fourth of July I suddenly recalled an Independence Day celebration that was exactly ten years ago today.

Ten years ago - my how things have changed!  That Independence Day I was dating someone else and this particular day had me questioning my choices. 

I posted the story on Blogger in 2005 but I had written it for my favorite messageboard a few days following the... "incident"



Originally posted 10/25/05

Being a girl, from the suburbs, in a county that outlaws fireworks, I never really FULLY understood the Bubba-factor that goes into the Fourth. Dear LAWD AWMIGHTY!!!!

Last year was so pleasant, a large group of friends gathered at a house where the back porch overlooked most of south St. Louis County. It was awsome - there were professional displays everywhere you looked and it went on for HOURS. I've never seen anything like it.

This year I was coerced by Mr. Wonderful to go to his family's get together - it's amazing, he said, you've never seen anything as spectacular. I tried to explain what I saw last year but his eyes just glazed over and he re-emphasized how COOL this one is. Oh okay.

So the evening begins with a great spread of food and kids setting off the smoke bombs and sparklers. It gets dark and the men and older boys start setting off the big fireworks - okay, but still doesn't beat last year. THEN, Mr Wonderful pulls out this pack of sparklers -150 or so that he's taped together - warns everybody to stay back because he only heard about doing this and isn't sure what it'll do. It goes bang. Let me rephrase that it goes BOOM! Big fucking BOMB type BOOM! He tee hees and giggles and gets patted on the back by the other guys. Us women are looking at eachother (including the ones related to these men and have endured this crap for eons) wondering what the big deal was. It was fire and it made big noise - grunt grunt grunt. They scramble to find more sparklers and tape. The second one was a failure, it just went up in flames with no big BOOM. They get in a huddle and discuss clearing the shelves of sparklers during after 4th sales so they can make them this weekend. Mr. Wonderful is instructed to bring lots of them next year.

So then it's time for the grand finalé. All women and children are instructed to go inside and watch from the window and the boys pull out the gas cans. Okay, now this ended up being pretty cool, but NEVER would somebody with estrogen flowing through her veins ever dream up such a thing.... The men had spent an hour earlier that day building this box (which involved a power saw, wood, nails, hammers, and a wire cage covering) and then put twelve bajillion bottle rockets in the cage covering. They pulled this "box" out to the end of the driveway, poured gasoline all over it, with a little trail back a ways so they could light it from a distance. It went off for about two minutes with bottle rockets shooting straight up and then fizzled out. THE WOMEN STARTED BOOING! I'm stunned, it was pretty, nobody got hurt. NOOOoooooo I was told, it's supposed to go on and on and on and on and shoot bottle rockets everywhere. So the men huddle again. Out comes the GASTANK from a motorcycle and they REGAS the box and relight it. OH MI GAWD!!!!!! Huge flames, bottle rockets EVERYWHERE, men running.

Oddly enough NO INJURIES and again, Mr Wonderful is the hero for putting out a fabulous display.

All I can say, it's a man thing and I don't understand.

Friday Fragments - Feb 17, 2012

What a week, what a week...

Saturday night I headed out with my friends for a girls night.  We went to see One For The Money and all enjoyed it a lot.  Afterwards we were going to find a watering hole for a few drinks.  I suggested that we go pester my brother who was at a bar across the parking lot trying to meet up with a girl he met the week before.  Well, the girl never showed up so we hung out, basically ruining any chance he had with the rest of the women at the bar.  That's sisterly love, ain't it?

It's been a while since I drank like that and had to endure a whopper of a hangover the next morning.  Aspirin and a tall cup of water fixed me up by noon.  It was totally worth it, though.  I even got out on the dance floor and flailed without injuring innocent bystanders (I may have a history with that).

Monday our big snowstorm hit, it was so pretty.  It was more than a dusting, maybe an inch or so?  Other than a few accidents while it was snowing, it really didn't impact the area much and didn't hang around for long.  BOO...  I never got outside to take a picture of the pretty white stuff.

My daughter spent the week in Las Vegas for work.  Anybody else jealous?  I know she worked her ass off, but still, what a cool job.

I know everybody is looking for something fun to do this weekend - you should come to St. Louis!  We're hosting the second largest Mardi Gras party in the nation.  I guess if you're going to travel somewhere for Mardi Gras you should go to New Orleans.  But you shouldn't dismiss the party happeneing here.  St. Louisans looooooooove an excuse for public intoxication.  I doubt I'll make it down to Soulard (old French district) this year.  It kind of makes me sad.  I've always had a great time when I attended in the past.  Lots of milling around in a very old French neighborhood, stopping at all of the bars and various booths, and of course collecting beads.  No, I've never had to flash to get my beads, usually batting my eyes is enough to get a few strands.  I had an awesome collection for a while.  I'm sure they're hiding in a box somewhere in my basement.

Laissez le bon temps rouler!  Yeah, like anyone in St. Louis could say that correctly.  That's okay, in a month - exactly from today - we'll all be copping an Irish accent and playing up another chance for public intoxication.  Other than the jacked up weather I really do love this town.

If you really do come to St. Louis, make sure you read last Wednesday's post.  It was the truths of driving in and around St. Louis - real important stuff.  AND if you've ever owned a real piece of crap car, maybe preventing you from taking such a roadtrip, you should check out Tuesday's post and see how many points you can claim.  I think I have 35 points. 

Friday Fragments - January 6, 2012

Oh my my - another year down and a new one to screw up every time we try to write it out.  Yes, I've already done that several times in the past few days.

I'm sick at the moment - courtesy of my husband who has been sick all week.  Hacking coughs, body aches, my head is pounding.  This sucks that I have to use up my PTO on the heels of just taking several days off for vacation, but worst of all I was supposed to have the grandbaby tonight.  WAAAAHHHHHH!!!

You'll have to excuse me, I'm in a very whiney mood at the moment.  The Tylenol hasn't kicked in yet.

We spent Saturday night the same way I've spent most every New Years Eve for the past 30 years - with my two best friends and various hangers-on (now spouses)... and copious amounts of alcohol.  I detested hearing people say "I just can't drink like I used to".  Damn if my friends aren't saying it now.  GEEZERS!  Next they'll complain that the music is too loud.  AND we're starting to compare medical ailments.

Sunday was Christmas with the kids.  It was great to be with everyone, but it seriously blew by too fast.  I'm going to have to institute Sunday dinners or something so I have a chance to catch up with their lives.

Monday was a glorious do-nothing day.  We did a little shopping to use up gift cards and then watched movies.

Work for the new year should be hitting a quiet time but for some reason I have a to-do list a mile long.  I'm certainly not suffering boredom, that's for sure!

OH!  This week I found out that you can listen to college lectures for FREE!  I'm sure this has been going on for ages, but it's new to me.  So while I'm busily knocking items off my to-do list at work, I've been listening to the 22 part series by a Yale professor on "Epidemics of the Western World Since 1600".  LOVING IT!  Coworkers ask which contagion I'm listening to.  So far it's been black plague, small pox, cholera and just starting syphallis.  I still have avian flu, AIDS and...um... something else... I forget.

I'm not a resolution-making person, mostly because I'm really prone to procrastination and I would just get really frustrated with myself.  My hopes this year, though, is to blog more and finish some of my quilts.

How I Spent Christmas Eve

On Christmas Eve I made my mom's refrigerator rolls.  I was nervous because they weren't rising properly.  Overall they turned out okay, except it was clear I was short on the salt.

I also made what we call "Grandmother's Dessert" or "Nana's Dessert".  This has been made for every family event since my mom was a little girl, maybe since grandma was a little girl.  It was her mother's specialty.  I have since found the recipe online as "Woolworth's Cheesecake", a depression era recipe that has NO CHEESE.  It uses whipped evaporated milk and jello.  Sounds weird, but it's fabulous.

 
And of course, we watched "The Grinch Who Stole Christmas"

Handmade Ornaments

I throw away NOTHING.  These I have acquired over the years ornaments from Christmas Card exchanges with my favorite messageboard. 

Um, yeah, that would be a knitted turd.  And it makes me smile every time I see it.  It's almost a shame I put these away, because they make me smile.

Sunday In My City - Inflatibles

I was telling coworkers about this house just this week.  Today we happened to drive by it again so I made sure my son was equipped with my camera to PROVE the height of Christmas tackiness.

You can't quite see the extent and may need to click on the picture to make it bigger, but there is a row of inflatible Christmas decorations in the yard with even more up on the porch.

Saturday Survey

How do you prepare for the holidays?  I guess maybe I should first ask what holidays you celebrate in December? 

What puts you in the festive mood?  What traditions does your family practice?  And what preparations do you need to accomplish before the big day?


For me:
1.  Christmas
2.  The music, the piney smells of Christmas Trees, wrapping gifts
3.  We're more of the commercial variety with tree, shop til you drop and gifts on Christmas morning sort of people.  We don't go to church, but I will say that the Sunday services the week before Christmas is by far my most favorite to attend simply because of the music.
4. I need to put up my tree (artificial), send out Christmas cards, figure out my gift lists for everyone and go shopping.  I don't typically make cookies for Christmas, but I kind of have an itch this year... we'll see.  So far, as you read in yesterday's post, not a single thing has been done.


This morning I received my PartyLite shipment of candles.  Among them Winter Spruce.    I'm burning them right now and that piney scent is starting to stir something in me.  Tomorrow I have to venture into a store, maybe that will help too?

Friday Fragments - December 2, 2011

Okay, Thanksgiving is down and it's time to start working on Christmas.  Guess WHO is not anywhere near ready?  Guess whose tree is not up and has no idea when that's going to happen?  Guess who hasn't put together her Christmas Card list or even started working on it?  Guess who hasn't started real Christmas shopping?  Well, okay, there are a few things stashed in a back closet that I picked up ages ago that I've totally forgotten what's been acquired so far... guess who hasn't even peeked in that closet?

The only bright spot in my lagging Christmas Spirit is that I have an extra week to work with.  We are celebrating Christmas a week later because me and my beloved are leaving town for a few days to visit with his side of the family.  The giddy feeling of "OMG I'M TAKING A VACATION" hasn't quite hit, but that's because I won't let myself get excited, at least not until I'm filling my suitcase the night before in true procrastinator fashion.

What's crazy is the excitement starting to brew in my head is that I get not one, but TWO, roadtrips before the end of the year.  One is the Christmas trip to North Carolina, but two weeks before that I have an overnight trip to Nashville.  And yes, I love the thought of sitting in a car driving for hours.  The only thing that would make it better is if I was driving by myself so I could crank the radio and bellow along at the top of my lungs.

 On the downside, I won't get to spend Christmas Day with this little love muffin  :(  Although, postponing our celebration means I get to spend even more time with him because he doesn't have to be whisked away to share with the rest of the family.... yay me!

Friday Fragments - Thanksgiving Wrap Up

It's Black Friday - the crazy day to go out shopping and land incredible deals.  We slept in.  I do need to hit a certain store this morning, but I'm not rushing out to beat the crowds.  My husband got me to do the 4am stand in line thing a couple of times and actually it was fun.  We had a plan, each with a loaded list of must-have deals plotted out.  We'll do it again in the future, I'm sure.  Today, though, we will be retailers and I need to be bright eyed and bushy tailed, not groggy and bitchy from being awake since 3am.

On Wednesday I "surprised" my mom by bringing a birthday cake to her dance group at the mall (they meet every week for a little line dancing exercise).  I say "surprise" because she suggested this several months ago and then she acted surprised when I showed up.  To be honest, I've been so occupied with work and the shop that it never dawned on me to do anything special for her 70th birthday this year.  I feel bad that I didn't come up with this on my own, so the very least I could do is comply with her less than suble request.

Tuesday night I baked her cake - a pineapple upside-down cake, isn't it pretty?

Wednesday night I baked the rest of the stuff for Thanksgiving dinner...

Spiced apples from a recipe my son found online Monday

 -Slice and core several apples (I used up the ones left from last month's CSA box and they were getting soft).  2 cups water, 2 cups sugar, grated lemon rind,  juice from 1 lemon, 1 cinnamon stick (I didn't have one so I just used several teaspoons of ground cinnamon) and I added a teaspoon or two of ground cloves.  VERY yummy and VERY easy.

We had a second birthday to celebrate besides my mom, so I made a requested yellow cake with chocolate frosting.

Unfortuantely I didn't have any chocolate frosting on hand, so I made it from scratch.  I think it needed more chocolate.

Pumpkin Pie!  I love using Pillsbury pie crusts - they're easy and already rolled out AND they bake beautifully.  It's taken a bit for me to master crimping the edges, but it does look homemade.

And finally, my famous baked beans.  Even my kids who never eat anything with a bean in it, dig into this stuff.  It's incredibly sweet and could easily sit on the dessert table.

 -chopped onions, crumbled bacon (I used three strips in this batch), about two cups brown sugar, 2 cans of pork and beans (the brand doesn't matter, just don't mix brands - I've made that mistake), 1 teaspoon of barbeque sauce, 2 teaspoons of mustard, 3 or 4 tablespoons of ketchup, and several shakes of chili powder.

And finally, a little alcohol.  It didn't get added to anything, although it would be fabulous in the spiced apples.  I felt more than a little like Julia Childs with my glass in hand.  I had a tickle in my throat warning a cold was brewing so I battled it with my own brew.  Usually I seek out vodka mixed with fruit juice, but I only had a drop left so I found this in the back of the fridge.  Cured me up just fine!

We made two stops for Thanksgiving - my mom's house and my mother-in-law's house.  Usually I'm pretty good about taking enough small portions that I don't feel like I'm rolling out of the house,  but I royally failed yesterday.  Last night required a dose of Tums before I could go to sleep.

We do have some awesome leftovers for today.  I don't make anything special out of leftovers, just warm up and eat.

Hope everyone has a fabulous weekend!