Posted on 12/01/2025 5:54:31 AM PST by Diana in Wisconsin
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All ‘Blankie Stories’ are special! :)
Love it! I can just see that Blankie with the tire marks on it, LOL!
And ANOTHER thing...LOL! This time of year I am pretty much in the kitchen all the time, either baking, wrapping gifts, making food gifts or our HUGE Christmas Eve Seafood Feast!
But then on top of THAT I need to still FEED US every day - at least once. So, I went looking for some simple ideas to make meal time/planning less hectic.
Enjoy! The recipes all look really good.
Twenty 5-Ingredient December Dinners for When You’re Too Tired* to Cook
https://www.simplyrecipes.com/5-ingredient-december-dinner-recipes-11864201
*or have just had it!
No company until the 25th - a break/breather :-) Today is “wreath” day. I am hoping it will be a pleasant experience! I suspect I don’t have enough background greenery, but the thought occurred I can raid the Leyland Cypress trees & there are some cedar branches growing through the fence that I can cut - they interfere with my mowing along the fenceline so I won’t miss them.
I remember that paint color on kitchenware from the first half of the last century! I am old, but still use my grandmother's rolling pin, so it's over 100 years old for sure. There are still traces of that green paint in the grain of the well-worn handles.
Those look sooooo good!! Thanks for the recipe!
Eating from the Land, your Hand, your Garden.
I have a quart and a half of homemade applesauce that needs to be used up. I didn’t can it; just stuck it in the fridge after I made it thinking I’d use it up by now, but I haven’t. So, I am going to make:
Applesauce Loaf Cake
https://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/applesauce-loaf-cake/#RecipeCard
Applesauce Meatloaf
https://www.thespruceeats.com/moist-applesauce-meatloaf-3058315
IMHO - the BEST reason to make a meatloaf is for meatloaf sandwiches later in the week! The beef I’ll be using is home-grown, too.
(All Gave Some, Some Gave All ‘Chuck’ 2025)
I also had about 8# of beef soup bones in the freezer, also from Chuck. I baked those off yesterday, then put them in the crock pot to further soften up the meat. Made BBQ with the meat I could pull off the bones, and now the bones (there are a good dozen) are going to Good Dogs in the Kennel Shed and Doggie Condos.
Waste Not, Want Not!
I could’ve gone even one step further and made Beef Stock from the bones, but I have WAY too much stock on hand as it is.
Yeah, I have to tell you, I CHERISH the items I have from my grandparents. That’s really cool that you have and use your Grandmother’s rolling pin!
Omg, it’s great to remember stuff like that, isn’t it?! I can almost hear your Dad!
Thank you for that.
I do make an excellent veggie chili, and offered that as one of the choices. Alas, son’s GF hates chili, which is why we came up with veggie lasagna as an option. No worries, though, she’s adorable, and has very few quirks other than this. I’m happy to accommodate her. (Just stay with my son! He’s a happier person with you in his life!)
Ain’t that the truth!
Yes, they are!
A few years ago (2018??) when Anya and her husband were here visiting he bragged she made the best borscht. I love borscht so I got what she needed at the store. She didn’t seem too enthusiastic and wondered where the bones were. Its a two day recipe for her, first day roast the bones and then make beef broth. I showed her a carton of beef broth from the store. She just could not believe something like that existed.
Wreath making is not going well; however, while I was out cutting cedar, our wonderful driveway guy stopped by with a 3 lb. box of European cookies to thank us for our business! I have had 4 already & they are soooo good!
Back to the wreath ... I don’t have wire to wrap the greenery to the frame. All I could find was florist tape. I got one wire form covered, but the berries, etc won’t stick in the greenery. To do it ‘right’, so it doesn’t fall apart, I will have to take the greenery off, then incorporate the berries & ‘blue’ cedar as I rewrap the cedar. I need a beer.
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