Ten Things Tuesday

Yes, I've been a blog slacker lately, but I did have a wonderful holiday weekend. I sincerely hope that all of you enjoyed your holiday, whatever you may celebrate!

Ten Things From This Holiday Season:

1. My slow-roasted turkey - This was my first time hosting the holidays and I was very excited to try a slow-roast recipe that I received from a message board acquaintance. I started it late on the 23rd, babysat it overnight, and it was done the afternoon of the 24th. I apologize for not taking a picture; I don't think there would've been time before my mom started inhaling all the skin. It was incredible, though, and it was a shame to pull it apart to add to my homemade chili (which was also incredible). Next year, I believe we will switch the order, so that we do the turkey/stuffing/potatoes/fruit salad/veggies on Christmas Eve and the turkey chili on Christmas Day. Mmmm.

2. Five stockings - Our holiday was relatively simple, given that the only attendees were my mom, my sister, Jersey, Max (the kitten), and me. What I love is that it was a little bigger than last year's gathering of three, and it was my first Christmas with the love of my life.3. The newest addition - Max, our proposal kitten, handled all of the chaos quite well. I did my best to ease him into everything...I started with the around-the-house decorations, added the tree skirt and stand, added the tree, then added the ornaments. He inspected everything, but didn't get into too much trouble. He was also spoiled with attention and had lots of fun with his new laser pointer. I think Max's only complaint would be the holiday sweater that my sister put on him. Poor guy.

4. The slightest hint of a white Christmas - On Christmas night, probably around 9:00 or so, my mom left my house to return to her own. We closed the door behind her, just to have her knock at it a few moments later. She giggled and waved us outside to see the little snow flurries that were floating toward the ground. It really wasn't much (especially compared to the stuff that actually stuck the week before), but the timing was nice.

5. Presents - Ok, this picture isn't great (none of them are...they're cell phone pics and I don't even have a spiffy cell phone), but there are a LOT of gifts under that tree. It would look even more impressive if not for the large number of "envelope gifts", including some gift cards and IOUs. One of the biggest hits: a console that combines the original Nintendo and Super Nintendo, and an assortment of used games (all of the Super Marios, Zelda, etc.) to be played on the console. Quite a blast to the past.

6. Christmas movies - As an early Christmas present to each other, Jersey and I bought a 47" LCD HDTV in mid-December. We've certainly watched lots of NFL football on it since then, but this was our first time watching DVDs and it was nice to have my mom and sister there for the fun. Our movies of choice? It's a Wonderful Life, Holiday Inn, White Christmas, and Love Actually.

7. A break from work - Well, I don't really have a strict work schedule, but I do stick to the normal office hours for the most part. Having the office officially closed at noon on Christmas Eve and all day on Christmas and the day after, meant that I could avoid work guilt-free... and nobody even called my cell phone to bug me! My mom had that time off as well (and she is actually required to be there during office hours; she's salaried, I'm not) and my sister was on her vacation. Jersey did have to work on the 24th, 26th, and 27th, but it wasn't too bad.

8. Holiday cards - I really love receiving holiday cards and it was fun to display them in this way (I put the picture cards on the fridge). I'm horrendous at doing any sort of keep-in-touch, thinking-of-you thing, but I'd really love to send out cards next year. Maybe my sister can take a nice picture of Jersey, Max, and me. It would help me develop the habit before we have kids and could be fun.


9. Christmas music - I can't stand the stations that start playing 24 hours of Christmas music in early November, but once Thanksgiving has passed, I am all over the holiday CDs! I absolutely love Martina McBride's and I made myself a good mix CD this year. With few exceptions, I love the slower carols more than the upbeat ones and O Holy Night is definitely my favorite.

10. Jersey's birthday - I know this isn't technically part of the holidays, but it ranks high in this household. Jersey's special day was on Sunday and we started with some homemade eggs benedict. Then she opened up her gifts and we watched four great NFL games. Finally, we surprised her by taking her bowling (where we could also watch the Chargers/Broncos game) and then played pool for a couple of hours. She doesn't like a lot of hoopla for her birthday, so she enjoyed the simplicity of it all. Yay!

Wordless Wednesday

Snow on palm trees?!?

Desert Snow

While I am grateful that I do not live in an area that faces severe winter weather on a regular basis (and I am sending lots of warm thoughts for those of you stuck in it), I do appreciate when it's chilly enough to cuddle up in a big sweater with a cup of coffee and a book. I don't particularly celebrating Christmas in warm weather; it just doesn't feel like the right kind of mood. Here in Vegas, we had been facing near-record highs for much of the fall, so I was thrilled to see that there was a cold front moving our way. And this morning...Jersey grabbed my hand and took me to stand outside in the snow! No, we're not new to the cold, white stuff (she was born and raised in NJ and I spent my college years in CT), but it's fun when it's not a common thing. The last time I saw this much snow in Vegas was five or six years ago.


This first picture was taken as I faced the front of my house. The next three pics are all from my neighborhood.


Now, I'm off to snuggle under a blanket and finish the second book in the Twilight series. I hope all of you are safe and sound!

Holiday Food

After a wonderful vacation weekend in California and a busy few days back at home, I'm finally sitting still long enough to post here. I (sort of) apologize for being away, but I expect more of it throughout the holiday season. It's a crazy, fun time and I plan to enjoy it as much as possible.

Recently, I have been in an incredibly domestic mindset...lots of redecorating, cleaning, etc. Along with that has come the desire to experiment with cooking. I don't consider myself to be bad in the kitchen; if I am given a recipe, I can follow it properly. I am just not the type who can whip something up out of whatever is in the kitchen, nor do I branch out much from those recipes with which I am familiar. That's changed lately as I find new ideas I want to try, and it helps that Jersey will eat almost anything I put in front of her.

For Thanksgiving, I made a butternut squash soup (and some desserts, but those weren't new to me). I had never made any kind of soup before, so it was definitely a different experience. So, how did it turn out? Well, I'd say it was not horrible, but nothing great. It was too watered-down and the pureed squash was slightly grainy. I did like the flavor, though, and I learned what to change for next time, so I consider it a general success. Nothing ventured, nothing gained, right?

So, all of this leads me to Christmas...and what I plan to try next. I have lots of ideas bouncing around in my head (I love to eat and I'm a big planner, so I'm almost giddy right now), so I thought I'd toss them out to all of you and see if any of you have gut reactions to them:

Turkey - Kind of traditional, but shortly after Thanksgiving, I read a wonderful slow-roast turkey recipe that guarantees that the meat will fall off the bones in lots of messy glory. I'm not sure I can wait a year to try it out, so Christmas may be perfect. There are only going to be four of us, I think, but Jersey and I are willing to eat turkey leftovers for days!

Christmas Eve - First of all, I called all rights to host Christmas Eve at my house YEARS ago. Seriously, I always wanted to host Christmas Eve once we were grown up with families of our own. We may not be totally there yet, but I think it would be nice to start a new, slightly different tradition this year. I'm still open to fun meal ideas (I read about one family that does pancakes and bacon on Christmas Eve), but so far I came up with...homemade chili! Seriously, I think it's just a tiny bit quirky, and it would be fun to curl up on the sofas with a bowl of chili and a classic Christmas movie.

Day-Old Turkey on Christmas Day?!? - Ok, I want to do the turkey and I want to do the chili. What would be super yummy? Chili with chunks of fresh turkey in it! If I time it right, I can have the turkey done early on the 24th, and then I can make the chili and let it cook for a while. We'll enjoy a wonderful new tradition and then we'll have lots of leftover turkey for Christmas Day. It's a little odd, but it's not like day-old turkey is anything bad and it takes some pressure off of the rest of the meal prep. Basically we can just cook all of the side dishes (and a small roast if my mom wants it) and we'll be good to go!

Dessert - I'm thinking chocolate lave cakes and macaroons.

Adult Beverages - One year, I made hot s'mores shots, with crushed graham cracker rims and mini marshmallows. Last year I drank Captain & Coke most of the day and had Captain & eggnog for dessert. We'll see what happens this year, but I think it might be fun to try a new cocktail.

Any feedback?