Posts Tagged ‘Christmas’

In case you're living in a cave and don't know what's going on in the outside world, there are only four nights before Christmas. In honor of that I am posting four different versions of The Night Before Christmas by Clement Clarke Moore (picture on the right). The parodies of this poem are seemingly endless. The ones I'm posting today all come with attribution to the original authors. This post is longer than usual, but I don't plan to post again until next week.

Twas The Night Before Christmas ... For Moms
by Ruth Carter-Bourdon

'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the abode
Only one creature was stirring, and she was cleaning the commode.
The children were finally sleeping all snug in their beds,
While visions of Nintendo and Barbie flipped through their heads.

The dad was snoring in front of the TV,
With a half-constructed bicycle propped on his knee.
So only Mom heard the reindeer hooves clatter,
Which made her sigh, "Now what is the matter?"

With the toilet bowl brush still clutched in her hand,
She descended the stairs and saw the old man.
He was covered with ashes and soot, which fell with a shrug,
"Oh, great," muttered Mom, "now I have to clean the rug."
Click here to continue reading this post ⇒

If you enjoyed this post, get updates by RSS e-mail or Twitter

Each family handles gift-giving differently, and traditions often have to change through the years as the family grows. For example in many families who used to all exchange gifts, the adults now draw names for the exchange. The story I'm posting today is a classic on a gift exchange that somewhere along the line went ballistic. It's one of my all-time favorites that I always enjoy rereading.

Several years ago when I e-mailed the story as an iv, I checked an urban legend website and learned that it really did happen as recounted. What I'm posting includes the conclusion of the matter.
Click here to continue reading this post ⇒

If you enjoyed this post, get updates by RSS e-mail or Twitter

Do you usually go all out with Christmas decorations, or is your decorating as sparse as Charlie Brown's Christmas tree? I ask because our fairly minimal decorating is still fresh in my mind from this past weekend. Our cats are delighted to be able to lie again under the artificial tree. (And they say cats are finicky....)

With the tight economy, some people want to cut back on their Christmas lights. If you have a neighbor who has gone wild with his outdoor decorating, you can save money by decorating in the way the folks in the house on the right did in the picture below.

As we decorated the tree this weekend, we were frustrated early on. After Christmas last year we bought some strings of lights on sale to replace the string of lights that had died "in action" midseason and that we thought would probably be dead by this year. However we discovered that the new lights had white wires instead of green and stuck out like sore thumbs when we tried them out on the tree. Grr! This necessitated a hasty trip to the store so that decorating could continue. I think we are now done for this year. Phew!

Some counselors claim that hanging lights on a Christmas tree is one of the three most stressful situations in relationships. The other two danger zones are teaching your mate to drive and wallpapering together. With that in mind I present the following to you:

What Not to Say when Hanging Lights on the Christmas Tree...

"Hellooo!!! You've got two red lights right next to each other. You're supposed to go yellow, green, red, blue, not yellow, red, red, green, blue...."

"I don't care if you have found two more strings — I'm done!"
Click here to continue reading this post ⇒

If you enjoyed this post, get updates by RSS e-mail or Twitter

For those of you who are still grappling with leftover turkey, here is another recipe that you might want to try. I think it is just about the ideal after-turkey-dinner recipe because it contains turkey, mashed potatoes, and green beans. I'm not sure where this recipe came from, but it's very tasty.

Green Bean and Turkey Casserole
2 cups cubed cooked turkey or chicken
2 cups fresh or frozen cooked green beans
1 can cream of chicken soup
1/3 cup milk (plus additional for moistening mashed potatoes)
approximately 2 cups cooked mashed potatoes (make extra the day of your feast)
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 cup French fried onions (from can or bag)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Mix turkey, green beans, soup, and milk. Pour into a two quart greased casserole dish. (If you have a little leftover stuffing you can add this too.) Moisten mashed potatoes with a little milk and whisk to fluff them up. Spread on top of turkey/green bean mixture. Sprinkle with cheese. Bake about 25 mins. or until bubbly. Top with french fried onions and return to oven for about 5 more minutes. Enjoy!

Since Rob always gets to post pictures of our grandson Drew, I'm going to take advantage of doing a post to put out a picture we took yesterday while our little guy was napping with his friend (Curious) George - who makes a great pillow!

Becka

If you enjoyed this post, get updates by RSS e-mail or Twitter

This is the first guest post by my wife Becka. Enjoy!
Rob

I have always wanted to make bread bowls. I saw a recipe in a cookbook years ago, but just never quite got around to trying them – until this year. A few weeks ago I saw a recipe for Stuffing Bread Bowls on the King Arthur Baker's Banter Blog. This is a wonderful web-site with many great recipes for all of you who like to bake. I filled the bowls with Turkey à la King using up some of our leftover Thanksgiving turkey. Nora, Rob, and I all really liked them, so I am planning to have them again this weekend to help with the remnants of our Christmas turkey.

So, for all of you who need ideas for leftover turkey, here is one you might like to try. The bowls would also be delicious with just about any type of thick soup or stew.

Stuffing Bread Bowls
1 1/4 cups lukewarm water
1/4 cup oil
3 cups bread flour
1/2 cup semolina (you could substitute cornmeal)
2 tsps. poultry seasoning
1 1/4 tsp. salt
1 Tbsp. sugar
1/2 cup dry potato flakes
2 Tbsps. powdered milk
2 1/2 tsps. yeast
1/4 cup sunflower seeds
1/4 cup sesame seeds

Combine all ingredients in bread machine in the order given. Run the machine on the dough cycle.

After the dough has completed the cycle divide into 6 pieces. Round into balls.

Place on a parchment lined baking sheet and let rise one hour. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 mins. Let cool completely.

Slice off the tops of the bowls and then carefully pull out the insides to form a "bowl". The bread that is removed can be dried in the oven and then ground into herbed bread crumbs.

Chicken or Turkey à la King
1 can (6 oz.) sliced mushrooms, drained
1 cup frozen peas
1/2 cup butter or margarine
1/2 cup flour
2 tsp. chicken bouillon
1/4 tsp. white pepper
2 cups light cream or evaporated skim milk
2 cups water
2 cups cubed cooked chicken or turkey
1/2 cup chopped red bell pepper (or about 1/4 c.pimentos from a jar of olives)

In a large skillet cook and stir the mushrooms and red pepper in the melted margarine for about 5 mins. Blend in the flour and pepper. Cook over low heat until the mixture is bubbly. Stir in the water, the cream or evaporated skim milk, and the peas. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Boil and stir one minute. Stir in the chicken or turkey. Heat through and serve hot. This was wonderful in the bread bowls, but is also good on biscuits.

How about you — any new ideas for using up leftover ham or turkey?

Whatever you will be eating on Christmas day or the days thereafter I hope you will have a blessed Christmas as we contemplate our Lord's sacrifice in coming to earth.

Becka

If you enjoyed this post, get updates by RSS e-mail or Twitter