Deck the homes with boughs of holly, fa-la-la-la-la, la-la-la-la. Holly, abundant here and often a tree, is just one of the many plants used to decorate the homes in our neighborhood. There are so many evergreens and other plants with cheery red berries that people have cut and fashioned into wreaths, swags, garlands, baskets and jingle bell fillers. It's really quite lovely. Sure, there are many that are doubtless professionally made, but I think my favorites are the ones that allow me to paint a picture in my mind of a family working together to make those that are not so completely symmetrical, with bows that look like they were difficult to fashion, especially for little fingers. And that's not all here either...... they even decorate the trees. No, I don't mean the ones in the house, I mean the now leafless ones in the yards. From small inch 'round ornaments on an azalea and wee Japanese maple, to appropriately sized ones on large trees, there are so many! They're all securely fastened, I've seen nary a broken one. It's delightful!
It's about time here for the "Christmas Star", the planetary conjunction. Sadly, it's still raining, so we won't see it. I really hope some of you in times zones ahead of me were more fortunate!
Okay, let me catch up. My winter blues tendencies are showing themselves, and I'm not generally chatty when that happens, so apologies for my absence.
Lindsey, I'm so sorry. Hugs from here too.
You said you were looking for more soups that are not bean based. Does that mean no beans, or just not as the starring ingredient? What about lentils, whole or split? This is my favorite cookbook this time of the year, although my copyright is older. If you don't have it, see if you can borrow it from the library to see if you like it.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001N ... tkin_p1_i1Did you find Christmas cookies to make with the kids?
Sue, considering the latest developments in the UK, I'm guessing you're extra glad you're already there and had not planned to go back for the holiday. Yikes!
Don't get you started on Brexit?! Good grief, do you even have any reliable information yet? Ah, sighing, a picnic at the beach for Christmas sounds just wonderful. Depending on produce availability this week, we're thinking of making lemon rice, a couple of vegetable dishes, and some cranberry chutney for Christmas.
Erin, how do you use those frozen refried pinto bean clumps? Samosa bites?
Starchyme, congrats on that anniversary.
Hello Daydream.
Years ago when we were here in the RV we ate at a restaurant called Laughing Planet Cafe. I had a wonderful burrito that included sweet potatoes and plantains. It's something I've wanted to experience again, but of course that cannot happen at present. Oh, and it's not on their menus right now anyways. However, yippie, hubby found this:
https://foxflat.wordpress.com/2010/10/2 ... to-remake/ We tweaked it to suit us, and it was delicious. In fact, there is another pair of plantains in the ripening basket so we can use up the rest of the lavash he made before it gets freezer old.
Although there are some leftovers to be had, there was some rice in the fridge that really needed to be used sooner rather than later. Once again, clean out the fridge to the rescue..... fried rice. A chunk of this and that, partial packages, etc. And once again we had that discussion...... isn't is just really nice to be able to cook? To just grab stuff like that and have a good meal. And again we wondered about all the people who cannot, who depend on restaurants to feed them, how difficult that must be now. The last time we ate in a restaurant was February 27th, Sweet Tomatoes in Henderson, outside of Las Vegas, on our cross country relocation journey. It was fitting, but little did we know it was goodbye to our favorite restaurant option.
As we spent a number of Christmases in Hawaii when we were working, it is our custom to wish you all Mele Kalikimaka me ka Hau'oli Makahiki Hou!