The meat pies are in the oven. This year used beef instead of pork. They smell good. We shall see. . .
The bread is on the rise. Just a standard loaf for breakfast & suches. Nick will be making yorkshire puddings to accompany the roast beast tomorrow, so we agreed that rolls would be a bit much (even though it would be a tasty bit much).
Jelly will be going on the stovetop in a bit. We'll see how it comes out. Gel or no gel, I'm not reopening the jars. Syrup is tasty. If this fails, I'm sticking to marmalade for a while.I'm really happy with those results. There will be other fruits to jelly. . .like lemons. I DID find 4oz jars at Publix. Now Nick & Bronnie know what I'm talking about and can grab them for me. With smaller jars, I'm planning to experiment with hot pepper jams & jellies. I'm going to start with a tangerine daddle marmalade. Trying to decide between a lemon serano or lemon scotch bonnet jelly (provided I can actually MAKE jelly).
Nick is planning to bake a fresh batch of Ginger Chewies for the arrival of Victoria Goodrich (and hopefully Kyle Goodrich as well) tomorrow. Also Eggnog coffee cake is going in the oven tonight so it will have time to develop that nice crust on the glazey bits instead of being mushy. All dairy free b/c that man is awesome at making tasty treats that I can nibble on the holidays.
We decided not to hang the stockings - I think. We were trying to decide if we wanted to hang them on nails (lacking hooks). I wandered off, and the stockings aren't up - so I'm thinking we decided not to hang them. We're keeping the holiday light materially this year. House. We love this place, and (as happens to many) we weren't quite prepared for how much we would need to do to get it . . .here? there? We aren't where we want to be yet, but we're settling in well. Still have to get the garden boxes in and finish the bordering and get the great room furniture and and and. . .ad infinitum. So that's what we're doing for presents. Some of the ands. Like hitting the after holiday sales for lawn crap and wrapping paper and organizers so that we can finally settle in and start being homey the way we want to. (The can choir was laughed at and nixed). Being me, I made socks for them. They know about them. Bronnie didn't realize until I talked about wrapping them up today, but since I literally knitted them in front of her, I'm not worried about ruining the surprise. She loved the yarn when she admired them - apparently believing they were for me. Huh. Note to self: You're better at surprising Bronnie than you think.
So that's my news on this christmas eve. I've always loved this night more than the rest of the holidays this time of year - though b/c we're us Solstice is quickly becoming a grand accompaniment to this eve. It is just a nice quiet night. We have everything we need, and more. We don't have to face the world for a few days, and the world is unlikely to intrude for those very same few! I love the quiet of it.
So, to you and yours, merry whatever, happy to you, and may you be warm enough, safe enough, and have enough to not worry during the dark of the year.
Nick is planning to bake a fresh batch of Ginger Chewies for the arrival of Victoria Goodrich (and hopefully Kyle Goodrich as well) tomorrow. Also Eggnog coffee cake is going in the oven tonight so it will have time to develop that nice crust on the glazey bits instead of being mushy. All dairy free b/c that man is awesome at making tasty treats that I can nibble on the holidays.
We decided not to hang the stockings - I think. We were trying to decide if we wanted to hang them on nails (lacking hooks). I wandered off, and the stockings aren't up - so I'm thinking we decided not to hang them. We're keeping the holiday light materially this year. House. We love this place, and (as happens to many) we weren't quite prepared for how much we would need to do to get it . . .here? there? We aren't where we want to be yet, but we're settling in well. Still have to get the garden boxes in and finish the bordering and get the great room furniture and and and. . .ad infinitum. So that's what we're doing for presents. Some of the ands. Like hitting the after holiday sales for lawn crap and wrapping paper and organizers so that we can finally settle in and start being homey the way we want to. (The can choir was laughed at and nixed). Being me, I made socks for them. They know about them. Bronnie didn't realize until I talked about wrapping them up today, but since I literally knitted them in front of her, I'm not worried about ruining the surprise. She loved the yarn when she admired them - apparently believing they were for me. Huh. Note to self: You're better at surprising Bronnie than you think.
So that's my news on this christmas eve. I've always loved this night more than the rest of the holidays this time of year - though b/c we're us Solstice is quickly becoming a grand accompaniment to this eve. It is just a nice quiet night. We have everything we need, and more. We don't have to face the world for a few days, and the world is unlikely to intrude for those very same few! I love the quiet of it.
So, to you and yours, merry whatever, happy to you, and may you be warm enough, safe enough, and have enough to not worry during the dark of the year.
