Posted on 12/25/2005 11:34:51 PM PST by Miss Marple
Good morning! This is an early start since I am up with sleeplessness; I thought I might as well do something productive.
No news to recap at this time of day, but I am sure we will all contribute as the day progresses.
Wednesday we are going to see "The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe" with a bunch of family members.
We had a wonderful Christmas. Our dinner theme this year was Italian; we served up lasagna, spaghetti & meatballs, gnocchi w/alfredo sauce, and Veal Parmigiana, along with Green Beans Italian Style and Cauliflower with Roasted Red Pepper, two recipes I got from Freeper Carlo; along with various other sides/appetizers/etc. Dessert was panettone (store-bought), two kinds of Italian cookies (recipes from Carlo), Grandma's cheesecake, and my traditional English trifle (have to have that regardless of the "theme".:)
There were fourteen of us here. #15 called from Kuwait just as we were finishing dinner; we passed the phone around the table anad everyone got to wish him Merry Christmas. It was 4:00 a.m. over there & he was just coming off a patrol shift.
I'm about half-way through "digging out"....I refuse to wash dishes or clean things up on Christmas Day....much prefer doing it the day after, taking a leisurely pace and napping/snacking as the spirit moves me. There was quite a mess this year, as we had appetizers in the library, buffet table in the kitchen, dining table in the living room, and dessert buffet in the music room.:)
That's okay. Every dirty glass and every scrap of wrapping paper I pick up reminds me of how much fun we had.
I'm having an "A Christmas Carol" marathon as I clean up...........watching every version I have on video (and there are several.:)
Time to get back to work.:)
God bless us, every one.:-)
Can you give us the brisket recipe? I used to have one while we lived in CT but have lost it.
that is a delightful movie. hope you enjoy it. Of course the critic's have trashed it. Memoirs of a Geshia was also good...(so was King Kong, P & P, Syriana etc).
Off to walk Toby w/friend. Her 97 year old dad is dying. Mom & best friend died last year, Only (older) brother in advanced stages of cancer.. She never married. talk about a bummer situation! She is my age & we have been friends since jr high.
have a nice evening! I wanted to find your hubby a shopping cart graphic & make him a nice post but been covered up here with some "murphy stuff"..
later..
It sounds like you have a wonderful day. I am just 'coming to' from the nap I promised myself every day last week when I was in my Marathon Christmas preps.
It was a wonderful day with Pa. He showed me his bullet scar where the NVA shot him in the belly. He's a colorful character. We make quite the pair. LOL!
/johnny
Playstation still in operation. My husband can't figure ot all of the controls, so he is losing to grandson, big time!
/johnny
/johnny
My dad always had a lot of interesting acquaintances. Maybe my problem is that I don't get out much. LOL!
Try their Pepper Bacon. It's outstanding.
It choked me up ... BIG TIME ... but, Mozie, I thought especially of you and your boychild as I listened.
It's quite long but I make no apologies for wasting the bandwidth.
A DIFFERENT CHRISTMAS POEM
The embers glowed softly, and in their dim light,
I gazed round the room and I cherished the sight.
My wife was asleep, her head on my chest,
My daughter beside me, angelic in rest.
Outside the snow fell, a blanket of white,
transforming the yard to a winter delight.
The sparkling lights in the tree I believe,
completed the magic that was Christmas Eve.
My eyelids were heavy, my breathing was deep,
Secure and surrounded by love I would sleep.
In perfect contentment, or so it would seem,
So I slumbered, perhaps I started to dream.
The sound wasn't loud, and it wasn't too near,
But I opened my eyes when it tickled my ear.
Perhaps just a cough, I didn't quite know,
Then the sure sound of footsteps outside in the snow.
My soul gave a tremble, I struggled to hear,
And I crept to the door just to see who was near.
Standing out in the cold and the dark of the night,
a lone figure stood, his face weary and tight.
A soldier, I puzzled, some twenty years old,
Perhaps a Marine, huddled here in the cold.
Alone in the dark, he looked up and smiled,
standing watch over me, and my wife and my child.
"What are you doing?" I asked without fear,
"Come in this moment, it's freezing out here!
Put down your pack, brush the snow from your sleeve,
You should be at hom e on a cold Christmas Eve!"
For barely a moment I saw his eyes shift,
Away from the cold and the snow blown in drifts..
To the window that danced with a warm fire's light.
Then he sighed and said, It's alright,
I'm out here by choice. I'm here every night."
"It's my duty to stand at the front of the line,
That separates you from the darkest of times.
No one had to ask or beg or implore me,
I'm proud to stand here like my fathers before me.
My Gramps died at 'Pearl on a day in December,"
Then he sighed, "That 's a Christmas 'Gram always remembers."
My dad stood his watch in the jungles of 'Nam',
And now it is my turn and so, here I am.
I've not seen my own son in more than a while,
But my wife sends me pictures, he's sure got her smile.
Then he bent and he carefully pulled from his bag,
The red, white, and blue... an American flag.
"I can live through the cold and the being alone,
Away from my family, my house and my home.
I can stand at my post through the rain and the sleet,
I can sleep in a foxhole with little to eat.
I can carry the weight of killing another,
Or lay down my life with my sister and brother..
Who stand at the front against any and all,
To ensure for all time that this flag will not fall."
" So go back inside," he said, "harbor no fright,
Your family is waiting and I'll be all right."
"But isn't there something I can do, at the least,
"Give you money," I asked, "or prepare you a feast?"
It seems all too little for all that you've done,
For being away from your wife and your son."
Then his eye welled a tear that held no regret,
"Just tell us you love us, and never forget.
To fight for our rights back at home while we're gone,
To stand your own watch, no matter how long.
For when we come home, either standing or dead,
To know you remember we fought and we bled.
Is payment enough, and with that we will trust,
That we mattered to you as you mattered to us.
When I find my rennet tablets, I'm going to make some cheese. Milk has started to go on sale around here. I have room. It's my darn refrigerator, and I can set it to whatever temp I want. Henri gave me some sausage casings, so I'm going to be making dried sausage pretty soon too.
It's a blessing to have a home again.
/johnny
Corned beef and swiss on rye crackers, baked
BIG shrimp cocktail
Meatloaf [hamburger, sausage and ground venison] Tasty!
Smoked salmon washed down w' Guiness Extra Stout [TASTY!]
Veggies were provided via the bloody marys... and they were SPICY bloody marys, it's the only way!
And, as you, Christmas With The Duke! From back when they KNEW how to make a good movie! Too bad they didn't feature The Shootist...
Jim, we have the technology. We can rebuild it [to get beers]! Might take an old Erector set and a CCV camera, but when we're done, all you will have to do is click a link and use your arrow buttons... ;)
Moze, glad Ev called when he did. That was so cool!
/johnny
That is one beautiful poem, kayak, and it could be repeated daily without a word of comlaint on our side of the aisle.
I'm writing out a huge grocery list for tomorrow in order to make some new recipes from a cookbook we got for Christmas. I didn't get to cook for a large family gathering this year like a lot of you did and so I'm in the mood.
JRF, are MRE's irridiated? Not paranoid, just wondering...
I don't know of any applewood smoked products. If you find them, PLEASE let me know where.
If you can find an old water heater you can build a smoker from it. I don't know how, I just know it's done here quite a bit to smoke carp.
Gene Autry is on now. I anxiously await next Sunday when the Big Valley marathon begins. Barbara Stanwick in Big Valley was my role model when I moved to the farm in 1967.
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