Beef Wellington and Beatle's 45s More or Less

After 5 hours in the kitchen,

 we were treated to Beef Wellington,

Potatoes Anna, a grapefruit-orange-feta salad,

 and brussel sprouts roasted with bacon. 

That man loves to cook.

I fell asleep on the couch 

while they were doing the "En Croute" 

part of the Wellington

and no one took any pictures...damn..

I hear the process was hilarious.

There were five vintage rolling pins

out on the counter when I went to clean up?

Whenever the kids are here and they are 

cooking, playing a game, or just visiting,

the sound of their voices is like a lullaby to me and

zzzzzzzzzz I'm off to dreamland.

They made fun of me snoring I hear, and 

were amazed I slept through it all 

as they were quite loud, and I was a mere

5 feet from all the action.

These few shots were taken by 

DD on her phone.

Ben had already cut into it so you miss the "presentation"

So beef tenderloin encrusted with a shallot mushroom 

mustard paste wrapped in phyllo and roasted.

Oh my, it was incredibly delicious.

The real Wellington calls for a layer

of Foie Gras. 

That was voted out.

 First Christmas dinner in over 40 years

 I have not prepared.

We ate at a simple setting family style,

turning the little used turntable

that came with my dining table, and doing self serve.

No elaborate dishes, crystal, or silver were needed this year,

AND we ate Christmas Eve not Christmas Day...

and ya know what

it was delightfully stress free and easy..

well easy for me anyway.

I think we have a new tradition.

I received the cutest little turn table for Christmas

and we had a blast playing my old 45 Beatles records

and Fogelberg, Moody Blues, Carole King,

Loggins, The Big Chill Soundtrack and more all

Christmas morning. 

Hannah had never placed a needle

on a record before and had to be taught the difference

between a 45 and a 33.

What a Hoot!

Ben and Anam headed back to LA today.

Hannah is still here until Her Beau Blake returns 

from Memphis.

We have some sewing plans and she'll be going

to work with me a few days to help with 

inventory.

I decorated far less

 Shopped far less

Spent far less

Left the house far less

Cooked FAR less

Cleaned far less

Visited far more

Laughed far more

Relaxed far more

Slept far more

Enjoyed far more

Lessons learned

Hope your holiday was merry 

and still going strong...

Happy New Year to all

May Peace finds it's way to 

the hearts of man.

Z

Like A Duck To Water

Along with directing and script writing, 

DD has been doing a lot of production design

 so mama had this idea that a 

sewing machine might come in handy.

This small Janome in the coolest colors 

was a special on-line

with free shipping so I ordered one 

for her B-day. 

It is lightweight, will require little storage space 

in her teensy place, and has just enough stitches

 to make it practical for her to use.

Yesterday she sat down at the table, 

taught herself how to thread it, run it, 

and after scavenging through my 

enormous supply of wools

popped out with two "art" style pillows

 for her brother and his sweetie 

and the new place they move into this weekend. 

Since they never read the blog, 

I am not spoiling any surprise.

She was so pleased, did a great job, took to it like,

well....you know... quack quack

and I'm hoping I can convince her to 

try a small quilt before she leaves. 

Goodness knows I have enough fabric!

"sigh"

makes mama happy

Kinda wish I had bought one for myself in bright orange.

Merry almost 25th of December (wink)

Happy Merry Festive What The Dickens Holiday

A blogger bud Karen Ann,

one of my politically fearless pals did this post today:

http://thisoldhousetoo.blogspot.com/2014/12/merry-or-happy.html

I had to relate this tale that happened just two days ago to me.

This is my comment to her...

"This issue came out two days ago with another customer, a checker and me in the line of a store. The checker wished him (wearing NFR jacket and spurs- they were in town last week) "a Happy Holiday". He snarled back "It's not happy It's MERRY Christmas." She, the checker, smiled and said "we are told to say Happy Holidays as to wish all faiths a good season"..He said "It is damn Christmas!" While he was bagging up his stuff , I stepped up to her to be rung up and wished her a Happy Kwanza and him Happy Chanukah. He stormed off and she said are you Jewish? I replied no, and we laughed until I peed a little!!!

Get over yourselves people! It is a merry, merry no matter your race, creed or color.

and to you my friend......

a happy merry festive what the dickens holiday....

much love

z

So....

Could *we *just *stop *this nonsense?

No religion in it's pure form teaches

 intolerance

hatred

cruelty

injustice

violence

It is man that twists 

loving beliefs into an unrecognizable mass of 

hatred and greed.

It is man that could change it all,

but chooses not to.

This woMAN

says cut the crap

behave yourselves.

Please dear GODS of all faiths,

I pray that you

show each of us the path to 

everlasting

 PEACE.

Happy Merry Festive What The Dickens Holiday

You and Me Boo

After five horrific days in Neonatal

because of  hospital errors,

we brought you home Christmas Eve

24 years ago, praying all would be well.

You have brought nothing but joy to me

every day since my darling daughter.

..... and now you are a beautiful, funny, talented and smart

young woman

so very happy and in love

and tonight you are sitting in our family room

 with your beau

working on your script.

I hear your conversation and laughter

and smile...

you are home

you are well

Happy Birthday Boo

I love you so very much

mama

GRAB POINT SHOOT

Grabbed the camera,

point - shoot

no edit but a crop here and there,

mainly to remove photo bombing Howie.

Christmas - as of today.

 

merry merry