Now I've said my ABC's

I don't usually say this, but this is a long post and you might need a cup of hot tea or cocoa to help you meander through it!


It is almost New Year's Eve, and I am set to offer up the traditional set of goals, resolutions, and word of the year...  I have my cabbage and am on track of a harmless, little can of black-eyed peas for some good luck and prosperity. My son, Mom, and I had a wonderful Christmas. My son surprised me and stayed all night in the recliner here. We watched a ton of movies and generally had a great time!

 All subtitled but very Viking and we liked it...

A classic, but I slept through it after lunch...  Bill Murray was so young!

 Not very appropriate for Sunday Christmas, but...  we laughed anyway...

I loved this one...


I made a version of  Pioneer Woman's Cowboy Chili, which is very thick and has no beans.

2 garlic cloves, chopped
1 tbsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper (optional)
2 tbsp chili powder
2 lbs ground beef
One 8-ounce can tomato sauce
1 tsp salt 

I added: 2 T.  molasses

1. Place the ground beef in a large pot and throw in the garlic.

2. Cook the beef until brown and drain off the excess fat.

3. Pour in the tomato sauce, followed by the spices and salt.

4. Stir together well, cover and reduce the heat to low. Cover the pot and simmer for 1 hour, stirring occasionally. If the mixture becomes overly dry, add in 1/2 cup water at a time as needed

A friend came down to spend Christmas Day, and we had several little visits through the weekend from good friends and family.

I fixed a Pioneer Woman Cowboy Quiche for my sister/cousin on Saturday morning... We did our traditional exchange on the Eve of the day... just like always.

My other dear cousins also came by at different times and brought mom some delicious home made treats.

We had a roast and all the trimmings to celebrate our gift exchange with the Thelma, Louise, and Louise gang... (We have run around together so much, but now that I am a stay at home daughter, they come to me!)

Cowboy Quiche

Prep: 30 Minutes	Level: Easy
Cook: 1 Hours	Serves: 10

Ingredients

• 1 whole Unbaked Pie Crust (enough For A Deep Dish Pan)
• 2 whole Yellow Onions, Sliced
• 2 Tablespoons Butter
• 8 slices Bacon
• 8 whole Large Eggs
• 1-1/2 cup Heavy Cream Or Half-and-Half
• Salt And Pepper, to taste
• 2 cups Grated Sharp Cheddar Cheese

Preparation

Fry the onions in the butter in a large skillet over medium-low heat for at least 15 to 20 minutes (maybe longer), stirring occasionally, until the onions are deep golden brown. Set aside to cool.

Fry the bacon until chewy. Chop into large bite-sized pieces and set aside to cool. 

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Roll out the pie crust and press it into a large fluted deep tart pan (or a deep dish pie pan). 

Whip the eggs, cream, salt and pepper in a large bowl, then mix in the onions, bacon, and cheese. Pour the mixture into the pie crust.

Place the pan on a rimmed baking sheet, cover lightly with aluminum foil, and bake it for about 40 to 45 minutes. Remove the foil and continue baking for 10 to 15 minutes, or until the quiche is set and the crust is golden brown. (The quiche will still seem slightly loose, but will continue to set once remove from the oven.)

Remove from the oven and allow to sit for 10 to 15 minutes. If using a tart pan, remove the quiche from the pan, cut into slices with a sharp serrated knife, and serve!

Two friends came down for supper, and we watched a particular favorite movie, The Christmas Tree, directed by Sally Field and extremely hard to find. It is available right now on YouTube HERE, but it may be pulled at any time. Julie Harris and Andrew McCarthy are wonderful!


Mom was able to stay home and out of the hospital in spite of some setbacks she has experienced. Most recently she has started sleeping a lot more, but she still does a lot of singing. She does the alphabet song to the somewhat tune of Twinkle Twinkle, Little Star...and at the end she really belts out, "Now I've said my ABC's. Tell me what you think of me!"  and then if I don't tell her, I can listen carefully to her telling herself...  It varies, but she has said, "No. Don't tell me. I don't even care what you think."  and my favorite, "I think you are a wonderful woman, Norma, who has been through a very tough time." Talk about affirmations!

December 27th tiptoed right by us. I felt so very sad as I watched the clock that morning, thinking that one year ago... here. here......... here........... no, not ever again... would we have my dear mother as she was. It marked the anniversary of her massive stroke. I will say the later part of the day began to seep victorious through the timbres of our souls at the amount of living we have done in this wing-clipped year. I can see the negative doctor at Boone Hospital who shook his head that I would be able to bring her home... who set us up to wither and die from the get-go. Perhaps he might call what we have experienced a death of sorts, and it is... but there is more of life in our days by far...  even now as things have slowed to a crawl...

Back to the post-Christmas festivities... I put the Fontanini nativity set out on the 26th. It was so late, but at last I felt decorated for Christmas

I got my red sheets on my bed yesterday...  When is it Santa is coming?  I enjoyed the week so much, spending time cleaning out little fox holes of clutter and gunk. You can see in my banner my daddy's red lamp, which was in the downstairs room. It gave me a lot of pleasure to clean that lamp and add its deep, red glow to the corner of the living room.  I remember how excited he and my mother were to buy it at a favorite auction...

Yesterday we received quite an amazing gift! My dear friend and her husband brought us loads of gravel and used their bulldozer to fix our long and cantankerous lane...  !!!!!

It is time to get some sleep, so I will snuggle down in the scarlet softness of Amadora sheets from Amazon. I cannot speak to their longevity as I bought several colors to mark my way through the calendar... but they feel heavenly and wash wonderfully... You can check them out HERE on Amazon

Have yourselves a Happy New Year!

Whimsy and Hugs!