Well, I'm still with the living!!

Hope I didn't worry anyone by not posting for so long. I just haven't felt like posting lately as my hobbies have been coughing, sneezing, and blowing my nose. I'm getting better so hopefully I'll soon be posting on a more regular basis. Take care everyone!

I don't feel so good...

Forgive my ramblings, I'm not all here right now....
I have come down with the icky crap that is going around Hairballville. I woke up with this mess on New Years Day thinking that if I just got a good night's sleep I could get rid of it as that works for me about 80% of the time. I've been having trouble sleeping all week which is not helping the situation at all!

I decided that no matter what, I was going shopping this afternoon as there were some sales I wanted to take advantage of that end Saturday night. (I'd rather poke needles in my eyes than endure going to the store on a Saturday afternoon as it's just too darn loud and crowded for me!!) I encountered a young man in the dairy section who sounded all snorty, sneezy and congested just like me. (I call that the attack of the bad elves!)By the time I was finished shopping I felt pretty awful. Ugh!

I'm seriously considering taking some NyQuil-like stuff just to get some serious sleep. The problem is I'm one of those who is sensitive to meds so even a 1/4 of a regular dose has me stumbling around and bumping into walls when I need to get up to use the bathroom. I'm a *horrible* patient and I'm always getting out of bed to do stuff which drives Mr. Hairball batty as he tries to take care of me. *grumble grumble*

Hope everybody else that has this gets well ASAP as this stuff really bites! I'm going to finish my tea and try again to get some sleep.

Shoppin' at the Ultra-Super-Duper-Gigantico-MegaMart

Mama Hairball sent us a generous gift card for Christmas this year. [Sandra Lee] Whoot!! [/Sandra Lee] We opened it a week before Christmas and decided to wait till now to go shopping as being surrounded by stressed out Christmas shoppers puts both of us in a really bad mood.

So today we had a late lunch/early dinner at a local deli, returned books to the library, updated our car registration with our new address, and went to the Ultra-Super-Duper-Gigantico-MegaMart (USDGMM). Hells bells, if it was that busy when we arrived today at the USDGMM, did we narrowly miss something like this!?!




So we grabbed a cart, did our stretches and jumped into the fray. So what exciting things did we buy today? We bought some candy canes that were on clearance, a lamp, a lampshade, one of those things that turns on lights when it gets dark, a ceramic crock and stand for bottled water, a plastic storage container, a silicone BBQ brush, a plug in LED light strip for under the kitchen counter, and a bathroom shelving unit. We had a few other things in mind that we were unable to find at our local USDGMM. We talked about maybe going across town to the other USDGMM but, an old injury of mine was starting to hurt so we decided to call it quits for the day.

Tomorrow I'll make some spaghetti and if you are interested in more details about that, then skip down to the last paragragh of this earlier post. *smacks head* In reading over the post I am linking to, I realized that I should be more specific about the garlic bread. Please don't put any almond paste, ricotta cheese, or bizarre extracts on your bread! *grins*

The shrikes are chuckling right now and the rest of you are scratching your heads. Have a good week!!

The day after Christmas

I hope everyone who celebrates Christmas had a wonderful day yesterday!

I did end up including celery in the dressing and Mr. Hairball said it was good. I decided not to put the dressing in the crock pot as I was looking forward to that nice crunchiness that the top layer gets in the oven. I should have put a little more broth on it though since I included some leftover cornbread I had saved in the freezer and decided to go ahead and bake it in the oven. Since I only have one oven, I had to wait till the turkey came out and baked the dressing while the turkey rested. I normally let the turkey rest about 30 minutes as I get everything else finished/plated/reheated. Yesterday it took me a little longer to get everything done, so the turkey ended up resting for about 45 minutes. Mr. Hairball said it was the best turkey he ever had and didn't even want any gravy on it! The man loves his gravy so this was truly stunning news. So from now on I'm going to let the turkey rest that long. It was very moist and juicy so I must have done something right! :)

Here's the link to my original post in case you have no idea what I am talking about

Prepping for Christmas dinner

I'm getting a late start today on cooking as I'm feeling a little under the weather. My throat is feeling kinda sore and scratchy right now. I really hope I don't wake up sick tomorrow! Anyway, today I will :

make a pumpkin pie
start the bread
make the cornbread for the dressing
make the cranberry orange relish
check to see that the turkey is defrosting okay and isn't leaking all over the refrigerator

I forgot to say that I altered the dressing recipe to include celery like in the original recipe. Let's see if Mr. Hairball objects! He's very picky about what cooked vegetables he will eat. Sometimes I just make whatever vegetable I want and he eats his usual salad. I have to remind myself to include salad on the menus I write out as we usually have a big container all washed and ready to go in the refrigerator. Because of that, I don't think about it as something I need to prepare for a certain meal so I forget to include it.

My MIL sent us an Aerogarden for Christmas so we will be eating more fresh herbs in the coming year. I'm excited as I usually just use dried as not having a garden means that we have to buy any fresh herbs and that quickly gets expensive!

Here's the post where I discuss Christmas dinner if you want more details about the menu- clicky

Sandra Lee's Holiday Special 2008

First off, if you are ever in need of a dose of Semi-Homemade snark, then please head over to TWoP and read the Semi-Ho board.

Thoughts on this special:
I watched this twice now and also read all the comments about this special at TWoP to help remind me of everything she did. I've never understood why on her specials it appears that her poor guests have to wait around while she makes everything. What would make sense would be to show us the prep, tell us what order to make the food in, when we need to start cooking so the guests have something to eat when they arrive, and then show us some shots of the guests mingling and eating the food.

The cocktails: Um, she's a lush and should just start mainlining the stuff and be done with it. If you doubt me then watch this video featuring her cocktail tree from a show she did in '06. Thanks to Rosie Hawthorne for the video!




Cranberry Glazed Turkey I love turkey and cranberries but that poor turkey looked so pale before she put the glaze on! I have to cover up my turkey for part of the cooking time or else it gets way too brown. Ugh.

I can't believe I'm saying this but the Sausage Stuffed Mushrooms would probably be pretty good. I think it would be better with homemade cornbread but, compared to some of her other creations this is a big improvement!! You do need to serve this with plates and forks as
this is not a good choice for finger food.

Potato Leek Fondue Soup Well we've got canned potatoes and canned potato soup so it looks like Sandy is back! Since she's now shilling for Ore-Ida, wouldn't this have been a good opportunity to use their product and this recipe?

Sweet Potato Souffles Um, these are not souffles. They are sweet potatoes with marshmallow fluff on them just call it that and be done with it.

Cappuccino "Cup" Cakes Okay, I'm not a fan of Cool Whip or cake mix but, this would be good with some tweaking. Make up your own favorite yellow cake batter and leave off the Cool Whip and use fresh whipped cream or even Reddi-Whip. Why there is an emphasis on making pretty swirls in the batter when the top will be covered up with the Cool Whip or whipped cream?


Brown Butter Almond Brussels Sprouts I hate Brussels sprouts! Wasting butter and almonds on this recipe saddens me and using almond extract on Brussels Sprouts has me mystified.

Holiday Wreath Cupcakes
*Whimpers* Make it stop! So chocolate cupcakes and muffins are interchangeable? Canned icing? Crumpled aluminum foil? Fruit rollups?? How do you eat the darn thing without getting it all over yourself??

There's no room for the food after she got through with her tablescapin'. *confused*

It's arts and crafts time !!

A few years ago I made myself a small microwavable rice filled pad to heat up for my feet, back, etc. The design was very simple, just a rectangle made from a queen size pillow case folded up a few times, filled up halfway with uncooked rice and sewn shut. The rice could flow freely within the pillow so if I wanted it flat, I had to put it down and smooth it out with my hands. Since at that time I wanted it to be versatile, this was fine. Now I have decided I need a different design more suited to keeping both the top and bottom of my feet warm in the winter while I'm at my computer desk.

I'm not very good at explaining my design so go grab a hand towel, lay it on the floor, put your feet on it about an inch from one of the short ends, and then fold up the end farthest away from you so it covers up the top of your feet. Got that? Now imagine that the towel is sectioned off into several sections and has rice inside with more rice on the part that is underneath your feet. The width is such that the sides will overlap when the pad is folded over the top of your feet but the sides will not be sewn together to create a pocket.

Be sure to insert your pad into a clean pillowcase to keep it clean as you would need to remove all the rice before you could wash it if something got on the rice pad. Anyway, just thought I'd share if anybody is trying to save on their heating bills and still keep their feet warm this winter.

Christmas Songs and cookies!!

From one of Mr. Hairball's favorite Christmas shows, The Year Without a Santa Claus







I've always liked Clarice for not freaking out when she discovers that Rudolph is different from the other reindeer. She's so much wiser than the adults who go bonkers and tell him to wear that ridiculous fake nose so he will look just like everybody else.



Once again, I like the message that the so called "misfits" find homes where they are loved and accepted just as they are. I've always felt like a misfit myself so I choke up a little when I see this scene.

I haven't baked as much this Christmas as some of you have. I enjoy seeing the vast variety of goodies and honestly I've had a hard time picking only a few recipes to make. Earlier this week I made sugar cookies and buckeyes. Both recipes turned out great. I didn't have any colored sugar for the top of sugar cookies so mine are not as pretty as Rosie's but, they are tasty!!

Happy weekend everyone!

Country Butter

I found this recipe years ago in a book that is sadly now out of print. When I get all my books unpacked again, I'll try to remember to update this with the correct source. Edited to add: The source is Cheaper & Better Homemade Alternatives to Storebought Goods by Nancy Birnes.


Country Butter

1 lb softened butter or margarine--- I always use butter.
1 cup vegetable oil--- I use extra light olive oil.
1 cup buttermilk-- I use powdered buttermilk and add the water in with the oil.

Unwrap the softened sticks of butter or margarine and place in a mixing bowl or your food processor. If using your mixer, begin beating the butter or margarine till it is fluffy and *slowly* add the buttermilk and oil. Continue beating until it is nice and smooth.

If using your food processor, place all of your ingredients in the work bowl.




Then add the lid and process until smooth. Scrape it out into the covered container of your choice and store in the refrigerator.



This will keep for about a month in the refrigerator. Use as you would any commercial butter or margarine spread that comes in a tub. I don't recommend baking with it as you will likely be disappointed with the results.

Christmas Lights