MERRY CHRISTMAS

I hope everyone survived. I was doubtful I would... I took a few photos although there were a large amount that weren't quite in focus. Probably due to my spirits of the alcohol kind.

We tried to make things special but it is hard when you are so busy, haven't completely unpacked everything and don't know where most things are. Granddaughter has never had a traditional Christmas with a tree. Her grandparents, she is my Baby Girls step daughter, are of some religion which will remain nameless that does not celebrate Christmas or birthdays. She has never had a birthday party. We were all set to do one when her "grandparents" demanded she come home. Blah... humbug.

The kids were so cute. They wrote letters to Santa asked for verification that he was real. Of course Santa verified them but I "dumb ass" didn't scan them before he wrote on them. And of course Santa had his cookies and milk.
















Earlier that evening grandson #1 and granddaughter made a gingerbread house. They were so proud of themselves. They had a lot of fun. Hubby kept saying it is late and they need to get a bath and go to bed. I said I didn't care if they were covered in crud and didn't have a bath let them have some fun.










Christmas morning grandson #2, aka Baby Candy, got a Go Diego Go tricycle thing. He has not gotten off of it since without a fight. Poor thing can't reach the pedals but he pushes it everywhere and his vroom vroom can be heard all day long. I want to squeeze him.















I thought I would get all gourmet with Tyler Florence's prime rib. You can see that I had all my garlic chopped up and smashed, rosemary, horseradish, kosher salt. I was so oooh, it will be great. I love garlic. I love horseradish. I didn't take an after picture. I was so scared I was going to ruin this $50.00 chunk of beef because I was a little leery of the rosemary on it. Well, it didn't get cooked enough. Finally hubby said he could grill steaks off it for a few because it was way too rare. I like medium. You would think with all the things I put on it you would be able to taste it. Nope. Hubby said it was actually a little bland. What the hellllll.... so much for being all gourmet. Well at least my roasted asparagus and brussel sprouts turned out well.

MY THANKSGIVING

I had a very relaxing day yesterday. Big Baby Girl ordered a fried turkey. I would rather have had a smoked one but she ordered it. When my hubby got home with it I was shocked at how small it seemed. Oh well. But for the cost of that turkey I thought we could have had great steaks. It isn't like I am this big fan of turkey. It really isn't my thing.

I got up and made two pans of cornbread for my standard cornbread dressing. It is the most simple thing but my daughters seem to love it. I make the best buttermilk cornbread using a store bought cornbread mix like White Lilly or Aunt Jemima. I use buttermilk instead of milk. I add to the cooked and finely crumbled cornbread lightly cooked one large onion and several stalks of celery. I make a liquid mixture of two beaten eggs along with two boxes of low sodium chicken broth. I add pepper to that as well. I poor that in and mix all of it very well. To save time and washing dishes I do all of this in the pan I am cooking it in. I then add more broth if needed. I cover in foil and bake at 400 for an hour and then remove the foil and cook until it gets golden brown on top. Nothing fancy at all.


I made the standard green bean casserole. BBG (Big Baby Girl) made a dish called Spinach Maria and it was good along with a corn casserole. Basically this is what we had. Since we are all on crazy schedules we really didn't eat together. BBG and her friend ate, I had a small helping of everything later because the mimosas were starting to get to me. DH ate late in the evening. Same as he always does.

I took a few snapshots playing around. It was fun. I have had this camera almost two years and I still don't know all of what it will do. I took some shots of DH, BGG and #1Grandson. Oh and my little boy Oliver. Best photos I have ever gotten of my little pooch. He is a trip. All in all we had a nice relaxing day.