Merry Christmas

 Beth and I had a glorious run yesterday.  We covered five stores and had lunch...we were the only people in the large restaurant at Easton.  The other five places were hardly crowded.  The only place that was humming was Whole Foods and I must say Whole Foods is back in my good graces, not that they care, but it was not quite as elegant as it once was, but I can trade that for their reasonable prices. I remember when Whole Foods came to town and opened at Sawmill. It reminded me of the markets in California sixty years ago.  Now it is a bit shabby and there is no big display of iced down fish...My neighbor and I would select a whole salmon, I would cook it and give her half. They had fish of every kind.  The produce was so fresh and the bakery was simply glorious... like a French patisserie. I was having a Christmas open house for around 75 people and I bought all of the baked goods from that glorious spot in the Sawmill Whole Foods. (The prices were wonderful for about a month and when they had us hooked, up they went, and out I went.) People started calling it Whole Pay Check instead of Whole Foods.

So, after our runaround, we had a chance to relax for an hour and then new troops arrived for the first Christmas meal and unwrap.  Matt's little family arrived and I must say those two little girls must be outstanding. (We never had girls, so we think everything they do is proof that they are exceptional.)  Madeleine, just four, can hold an intelligent conversation which amazes us. She also tells EVERYTHING she knows, has heard, and a bit more. One serious discussion was how Mother had to call Santa twice this week and he had to put her in the naughty book. She's not too worried, however, because her grandpa will take care of any of her wants and needs. Mike is simply over the moon about those two girls.

Have a glorious Christmas and please pray that 2021 will restore peace and prosperity to our nation.

The company we keep

We can't say we are in the elite line for the vaccine.  We are in the second string along with the prisoners.  Words fail me when it comes to the people running our lives. There are fifty million in our group nationally, so chances are they will forget about us altogether as being a nuisance.

I haven't been blogging, as you may have noticed. For, as mentioned, words fail me during the tail end of this dreadful year, more dreadful for some than others to be sure.

I am not looking forward to cooking Christmas dinner even though I have a glorious beef tenderloin roast marinating as I write. There will be five of us, those who live here. So I hope the five will be hungry because when I bought this roast at Carfagna's I was planning on a crowd.  We will be eating beef for a while, that's for sure. (I can think of worse things.)

Thursday night Escape to the Chateau Christmas is on public television at 9:00.  That show cheers me up.  Reading makes me happy and my Kindle bill is proof of my glee. I read one entire book yesterday afternoon into the early evening. I read fiction, so it is not like studying for the bar.

I am wondering what you all are doing this week. I hope you are having fun while kicking 2020 out the door.

Note: Beth and I are running around today and going for lunch...they think I need to get out and I think they are right!

Then around 4:00 Matt, Stacy, and the girls are coming over--my cup runneth over today.

Harry and David to the rescue

 The three over-ripe bananas shame me each time I enter the kitchen.  They know they should have been put in mighty fine banana bread by now, but, I just can't make myself bake anymore.  I think Nordic bunt pans caused this blow to baking and many fine desserts' recipes are in the recipe drawers now being lost as far as I am concerned. I bought several of the new Nordic bundt cake pans when they came out.  I was giddy with joy planning these elegant cakes that looked so professional.  The first cake from each pan came out beautifully and many people carried on about their beauty.  So. I was having a party and decided to bake three cakes in three different Nordic pans and I could not get one damn cake out of one damn pan. Andy and the dogs fled outside while I made up cuss words when I ran out of the ones I knew. Now before you think she didn't grease the pans well enough, I can assure you each and every crevice was hand greased with great care.  Some were greased with butter and some with Pam, and some with another oil. I wanted to throw the pans away, but I thought better of it. I tried one pan one more time and the same thing happened...it would not leave the pan intact. So now sweets are off the menu here at Many Branches.  That is why when David, our son, sent us a Harry and David Christmas gift box with wine and pears and any number of sweets the fruit cake was the first to be attacked...that can't happen too often because fruitcake has a bad rap, but I must say it was boozy and delicious. The Harry and David box was packed with goodies and it was the best box of that type to be delivered to us.

Merry Christmas to you all.

On to the next...

 Good morning.  I hope your Thanksgiving was better than mine.  I won't bore you with the details because you would not believe them. I hasten to say it was better than a lot of people's, so I will hush.

I just returned from getting gel inserted by needle into my knees.  Now that is a fun birthday present.  I hope it works, but if it does not I hope to stay afoot anyway. It does not work for 4-6 weeks so I can get along as usual.

I crave shrimp salad this day.  I wish I had brioche buns or lettuce leaves for the salad but will have to make do with some other vehicle.

Our first snow is a sticker except for the roads. That is always a good thing.

The Kitchen on tv had a great party dish that I am going to try if we can ever gather again...brie, a round bowl of bread. Cut the top off of the round of bread, pull out a nest of the bread for the circle of brie which has had the top crust sliced off too for this recipe. Making sure the brie has enough room, lay it on the round of bread which has been sealed with cranberry sauce or pepper jelly... any kind of jam so that people can scoop deeply getting some sweet with the brie and then make cuts for single servings of the bread all the way around so the melted brie oozes between the cuts. Put the lid back on the bread, that's the best part because it will be covered with cheese in the end.  A fight for that will break out, but show them how to get a helping by pulling off one of the cut areas that ring around the bread bowl.

 On a baking tray at 350 until the cheese is melted...maybe 20 minutes but each oven is different. I will look for a picture of this to show you. (Or when I make it I will picture it.) This shows the red stuff on top, but then you won't have that luscious lid to fight over.  Put it under the brie. I don't know how long this picture will stay on because it belongs to the food network and the Kitchen show.

Go to the Kitchen on Food network, there are pages of brie/bread recipes...I don't know why I thought this was so different.  Those bread bowls hold a lot of good stuff.

Mild comfort

 I just finished Winter Garden by Kristin Hannah and it was so good. I am starting Angel Falls by the same author who, by the way, is a very good writer of fiction. Don't miss her work, I started with The Nightingale and was hooked.

I was still in my robe at 10:30 on Thanksgiving day when Eric and his crew came to put the property away for the winter. This forced me out of slovenly and made me get dressed, but not for company. It worries the people here when I have an all-day robe day and am not cooking but that is what I wanted to do today until Andy tested one of the Stouffer's Bowl Fulls ahead of the 1:00 eating time for today.  He liked it, I tasted it and immediately started baking potatoes and making chili.  The mashed potatoes looked and tasted like I would imagine wallpaper paste would taste and look like. I have a freezer with several of these awful bowls and I don't know who will eat them.  Maybe Andy???

It's a strange Thanksgiving.  I pulled out some holiday pictures from the past to share again on Thanksgiving.  It is some comfort. 

2020, the year we ate frozen Thanksgiving dinners.

We don't have to eat frozen dinners for Thanksgiving, but the scene calls for it.  2020 is hard for everyone and I am grateful for all we have and all we could have eaten, yet the spunk just went out of me.  There are four of us, one on a diet and eating the food from a freezer anyway, Nate, Andy, and I. I am sure they are as disoriented as I am, those who are in Cincinnati, Oregon, Florida, and many other places...but I bet we are the only ones eating Stouffer's Bowl Fulls for the first time ever. It will be a funny story once we are back to normal; whenever that is. It is raining to boot, so that makes a dreary day, this day before Turkey day.  I have the food, I just can't make myself fix it.

I think we need something or someone, or some group to blame for this year, but since we are all in the same boat, some in a better boat than others, we simply live on. Last January I went to the beauty parlor for the last time in four months. After that all hell broke loose, some realizing it more than others. We started isolation during January.  It must have been instinct or the weather, I don't know why we just did not leave home and then it became too late and we were not supposed to leave home and it just seems like a reset now with January drawing near and nothing getting better.

I miss walking the grocery seeing what is new and interesting and admiring the pristine meat department at Kroger's Graceland.  I miss the compact Carfagna's with the narrow aisles and well-stocked shelves and again with an outstanding meat department. I miss the excitement of company--I had three tables for 18 guests dressed and covered for a month getting ready for tomorrow. The menu was set and four soups rest still in the freezer.  We could have those tomorrow, but it would make me sad.

My dear sister-in-law is not doing well and that adds another layer of unrest she would have been here for Thanksgiving we so looked forward to that, having not seen her for several months.

Well, this too shall pass.

The Great Alone

 If you are looking for books to read during this time of isolation Kristin Hannah's books are really good.  I am finishing The Great Alone and can hardly put it down. (The title seems apt for the way things are now.)

It is November 20th in this awful year of 2020 and yet we are sitting outside in the sun--you don't want to move away from the sun, then it is cold but not the cold of normal Novembers. 

Everything is different this year and I wonder if we will ever get control of our lives again. Some people believe in the virus and others boo-hoo it as the media and the government stirring things up. They can't deny it much longer for it is nearing home, knocking on the door, wanting in to wreck things further.

Even though I have four soups in the freezer, I have an urge to make a very satisfying potato soup with mixed vegetables and cheese. I wish I had some brussel sprouts for this soup because the ingredients please each other and me.

Thank God for the sun today and for books and the art of cooking, and Andy. It gets one through the jagged edges of life.

Cleaning up the mess and making do

 Fresh hell continues with a bad wind storm yesterday with the result of our having to shuffle blindly through the house because the electricity went off.  I think it pained me more because it was during my best tv show night...the only good tv so far this season on public television.  I enjoy Poldark especially. I did get to see the last half hour of it since the electricity came back on but this morning I find candle wax all over the house. There is an especially bad spot on the kitchen floor and bending is a bit of a problem for both of us. I used really drippy candles it seems in several rooms, so we will be working on that throughout the day.  It could have been worse, that's for sure, so I should count my blessings.

I've started on the fridge today.  I had several make-ahead dishes to complete and now that our Thanksgiving table has shrunk to eight from 18, we will be eating well for several days. Well, I have a feeling it is going to get worse with the next announcement from our governor.

So, I am going to complete and freeze this slow cooker corn dish as a side for Thanksgiving.  I've made it for the occasion before and it turned out that people really liked it.  It has ricotta cheese in it. While I am not a fan of ricotta cheese, it works beautifully in this particular dish.

Yesterday's storm did not whip all the leaves off our trees, but it gave it a good try. Today is lovely so far. (I should not write this for fear the other shoe will drop...2020 is still here.)

Undoing

Sadly, we have canceled the Thanksgiving here at Many Branches for the first gathering in a year, due to the virus. It has hit close to home and we feel there is a shut down coming. Andy and I send our love, and hope family members recovering from this heinous virus will continue to recover with speed.

Note:

We are now down to four people for Thanksgiving from 18. This is a sad and ugly year.

Shepherd's pie

 I enjoy a good shepherd's pie. I only make it a couple of times a year and each time I think I should make it more often.  I am trying a new casserole each day for no special reason.  Yesterday it was the hash brown potato dish with tiny shrimp. One serving was left from a dish that was not really big, but the contents were piled high. Andy made short work of the one serving left over today.

I finished the book Between Sisters yesterday.  It was really a good read. I am starting another from the same author.  I was reading her a while ago and skipped to another author. I like to read everything from one author if I enjoy her work.) It makes me feel that I know the author through her work. I don't know why I left her, but, now she is rediscovered.

I am not up to date with the news.  I am not watching or talking politics for three weeks, maybe more. I hope things have settled down for you during this upheaval. 

I made a big batch of those oyster enhanced crackers today.  I burned one tray but managed two big trays that filled the tin for Thanksgiving. They sit in all their glory by the parade of soups gracing the counter on that special day.  They are so easy to make and so tasty.  I am going to enhance the Club crackers the same way tomorrow and make another tray of the oyster crackers which pleases Andy to no end.  It does not take much to entertain him. lol

Talk to you by blog tomorrow and find out the casserole of the day.

                                                         

crack potatoes...because you can't stop eating them

 No family gathering would be complete, for the Lechlers, without the crack potatoes that are so forgiving and can be made ahead for today's dinner or made ahead and frozen for the event. (An unfortunate name but apt.) It just refers to the fact one keeps going back for more.  Also, endless items can be added to the basic recipe, and, at the moment, I am trying them with those tiny salad shrimp that you get in the frozen fish section of the market. That's for today and one for the freezer without shrimp because Joe is allergic to shellfish. That dish is with the bacon bits for Thanksgiving. So, that is four soups and one potato dish checked off the Thanksgiving to-do list.

Crack Potatoes

2 16 ounce containers of sour cream

2 cups sharp cheddar cheese

bacon bits 6 ounces...I guess you can buy that, I just fry some bacon 

2 packages of Ranch Dip mix

1 large bag of frozen hash browns 28-30 ounces

Combine the first 4 ingredients, mix in hash browns, spread in 9x13 baking dish, top with potato chips (crushed) if you like, and bake at 400 for 45-60 minutes.  You can tell, if it is brown and bubbly then it is done.

Thank God for the glorious week, weather-wise, that we have had in Columbus.  It makes things more bearable in 2020.