A Bite Before the Concert

Andy and I went to the concert of Andrea Bocelli Thursday night. Although the large arena was not completely filled, due to prices of tickets I'm sure, his voice took care of that.  His magnificent pipes filled the air with a variety of offerings, each one moving in one way or another. One of the ladies that traveled with him gave the most lilting rendition of Over the Rainbow that I have ever heard.  Amazing Grace was sung like I had never experienced  it before and Andy was thrilled with the opera selections. Ave Maria made the hairs on my arms stand and salute. We brought him back five times and had we, on the second level, dared to stand (because the seats were vertical and I was afraid of tipping over) perhaps he would have come back once again.  Last night he was in DC with six other opportunities for him to be seen in America, three of which will be in various spots in Florida. He was here eleven years ago and I hope he comes again very soon. Thank you Mike and Beth for the gift of tickets.  I hope we can all go together next time, our treat.

The soup pots are on today.  I have decided to venture into the kitchen after all. Bean and ham soup in one and chili in another.  An army isn't on its way, but Sunday is tomorrow and I hope to see some Lechlers here to have a lovely ham.  Since I did not get enough sweet potatoes at Thanksgiving, those yummy items will be on the menu too.  And, a BIG salad.  Don't you crave that after all of the sweets and starches served during the holidays? The Christmas wreaths are in every window, but we are not putting up the porch lights with their special holiday welcoming glow.  Christmas has popped up too fast and there are too many trips on the agenda.  We usually get them up early in November, but that just didn't happen this year.

We have had well over 7,000 hits on this blog and I have only a few people that I know who read it.  Family for sure but who else is reading this? I'd like to know. You are most welcome and I hope you leave some comments and suggestions...be kind. LOL

I hope your holiday is a special treat for you this year, as always. You might want to try this EASY luscious fruit dip for the Christmas office potlucks and parties in general.  They loved it in Hilton Head and it is made in minutes with three or so products:

1 pkg. Jell-o vanilla or lemon flavored instant pudding (small package will do)
1 can crushed pineapple in the juice, undrained
1 cup thawed Cool Whip or sour cream
Whisk it together about two minutes and put it in the frig. to chill.  Surround it with what ever suits you. YUM. EASY.

Another easy dip or salad. Shrimp salad bites:

1/4 cup Kraft sandwich shop hot and spicy flavored mayo (I made my own with Salty Dog hot sauce and Hellmans. I did not know they made spicy mayo in a jar.)

1/2 tsp. zest and 1 tbsp. juice from 1 lemon. (I use a lot of lemon...so to taste.) 1/2 lb. cooked shrimp--I used the tiny salad shrimp. 1/4 cup chopped red peppers, three green onions, crackers of choice. I used broccoli instead of red peppers--really it is a throw together of 'likes'.

These two recipes are from Food and Family magazine and I have made them both. These are Pat and Gina Neely's recipes and though I do not like to watch them on the Food network, they have some good, simple recipes to offer and I am sure they are good cooks too.