Wednesday, November 03, 2010

On your mark...

Go! Here we are heading into the holidays. I got a jump start with all that preserving / canning.

Since I went so crazy last year, with the tree being decorated almost entirely with handmade ornaments (I'm not sure I ever want to see royal icing again) this year will probably be relatively low-key in that respect.

Thanksgiving first, of course. As we ate at home last year, we're going out this time. DH doesn't want to make it into a trip, so we'll be dining locally at one of the "fine" restaurants in the area--we're spoiled for choice, so it's bound to be good, no matter the place.

I think I want to make a dessert, though. Once we climb out of our food coma, there will be something good on hand...a couple of years ago I made a cranberry polenta tart, courtesy of a recipe from the New York Times. That's a front-runner; so is apple pie. We found more RI Greenings!

So what are the Christmas plans?

*See if the tree will be safe with the traditional ornaments, now that the cats are three.

*Finish the (minimal) gift shopping and send things off. I probably won't include cookies this year, it will be preserves instead.

*Do the bind-off on MiL's gift, which is otherwise finished. The second gift is done, too (can't show it, I think the recipient reads the blog), and I need to dig out the pattern for the third gift to be made.

*New this year: mince pies, now that I have the homemade mincemeat. Also, I want to make a plum pudding. On Halloween night I made candied orange and lemon peel, which are necessary for a traditional pudding.

*Dinner at home, as usual, though maybe we'll do the big one on Christmas Eve and then have brunch, followed by tea on Christmas Day.

Everyone take a deep breath, make your lists, and we'll all be fine. (Bookmark this and feel free to come back and laugh at me in about five weeks if you like.)

4 comments:

SusieQT said...

Sometimes I wonder if it's all worth the fuss. I mean, isn't Christmas supposed to be fun? LOL But sounds like you've got the right idea: homemade gifts, and some already done! With the kids, it's so much fun, but so much more pressure to get the right things....grrrr

Eileen said...

Yes, and much harder these days, the way we're slammed with ads everywhere for so many different things...kids are just bombarded now.

But I really do love it. Including the preparations...really, that's my favorite part. And I do a lot of it while listening to Christmas music and OTR--a way to double your fun. :-)

Val said...

I started making gifts in July, no joke. The good news is that that most of the biggies are done now, so the sheer panic stage is gone. Now, hopefully, I can actually enjoy the holidays and not spend it in a craft enduced haze! (Like I did July and August. Oops!)

Eileen said...

Hey, any haze in July that's not heat-induced has to be a good one, right?