Sunday, December 25, 2022

Merry Christmas to all!

Merry Christmas to all! 


The last step of the Olive-filled cheese puffs... baking them at 450℉ (hot oven), for 10 minutes.

Cool on a rack, and try to avoid snarfing them until time for the gathering!


Christmas morning is for the kids, and since the kids who inhabit my house are the furry kind, he acted in the form of my kid sis Alicia, who brought them a present that's been sitting under the tree for a while.

This morning we opened it, and The Prisoner was immediately interested.  It dances, it dangles, it tempts.


The streamers catch in the claws.  Oh, this bird will be easy to dispatch.  Mommy will have to put it up when they are unsupervised!

Rubia played with the new toy, too, before Mommy hid it on top of the refrigerator.

I'm sipping Earl Grey tea, with Christmas movies in the background.  I'll get up and move some before taking on the last task for Christmas dinner:  roasting brussels sprouts.  I made these last year, and wasn't sure how well they went over, but then I was presented with the specific request from Lacey's mom to do them again.

A little later I will pack up the car with the packages "to go".  I have decided that I can't decide who gets what from the "Shop Blind" from 2 Blind Brothers... so I'm going to ask the gathered loved ones to make the choice of who gets what from this particular "Santa".  I'll let you know what they decided in tomorrow's blog!

Feeling at peace, praying for the world, that the promise of the season will touch hearts and minds, and give us the resolve to make things a little better, day by day, in the corners of the world where we live.  Kindness, always.

Loving thoughts for a Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah (eighth night tonight), and joy for every other holiday that falls in this season.  May we take the best care of ourselves that we can, so that we can also take care for others!

Life is good.  Spark on!

🎄✨💖

18 comments:

  1. Merry Christmas! A gift that DS continues to be free from the horrible virus and your family will be together on Christmas.
    Blessings for you and yours. Stay safe. Be well. ((Hugs))

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    Replies
    1. Amen to that. Looking forward to a cranberry curd tart that Lacey made for the first time... the photo on Facebook looks so festive!

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  2. A comment on the comment you left:
    Chocolate covered cherries were in our stockings at every Christmas. There is no other candy that counts as Christmas candy! ;-)

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    1. Dark chocolate with liquid center were my Dad's Mother's special treat for the family, every Christmas. I look for them every year. Some years they are very hard to find. This year found them early!

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    2. Agree! Thanksgiving is the time to begin the search.

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    3. Truth. The Christmas memories from youth were the morning drive to have breakfast with Dad's Mom, then packages after breakfast, the over the river to Mom's parents (and her grandmother on her mom's side and her grandfather on her dad's side) for the "big" dinner, and packages there... then the overfed sleepy drive home, singing in the backseat all the way.

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    4. MERRY CHRISTMAS from another Spark refugee. I have been dipping into yours and Lynda's blogs every now and then playing catch up. It's good to see that you are still actively enjoying life after enduring the past couple years.

      So far, pretty good in these parts. Managed to survive the past week of nasty temperatures, wind chills, and SNOW drifts. We usually don't get much snow, but I guess this is Mother Nature's way of breaking our drought. I hunkered in for the duration, told the powers that be at work that they wouldn't see me until it warmed up to at least -10F, so have hardly been outside since Monday. Now all I have to do is shovel out to my car and maybe shovel it out, but I have a couple more days to do it. It was a balmy 35F when I got up, but it has been dropping since.

      Give your fur babies an extra pat today for me.

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    5. Merry Christmas, and thanks for popping by! Glad you've survived this challenging weather week, up there in the Frozen tundra (my cousin keeps me up on Montana forecasts!) But sheesh, if you had 35 yesterday, you were warmer than us. We topped out at 24 and were grateful for it!

      Kitties got canned food treat for boxing day, to make up for my leaving them alone Christmas afternoon and evening. Carl got LOTS of extra pats!

      Stay safe and warm!

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  3. By now you should be on your way to dinner. Enjoy and a continues Merry Christmas.

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    1. Thanks, it was great! Carl loves his new light vest, and the mythical son even let me take his photo (you're allowed ONE, mom) in his new warm hat. Daughter in law to be got hand warmers from "Carl" so she can spend more time with him at the dog park. There was a theme going.

      And the best gift of all was being together.

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  4. Those olive filled cheese puffs look great!

    YES! Today is the day for holiday movies and music! Loving it.

    Yes, Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah!

    barb
    1crazydog

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    Replies
    1. The olive cheese puffs were a hit, and there was enough meat and cheese (even a superb mac and cheese) to stuff us all. And cookies of various sorts... ended up being an exchange... taking home the kinds others brought.

      Speaking of Holiday movies... we watched the Mr. Magoo version of A Christmas Carol while waiting for digestion to allow enough room for the cranberry curd custard tart! Oof, it's nearly 7 a.m. and I don't think I'll have any trouble keeping the fast for several more hours.

      Happy Boxing Day, and savor those memories.

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  5. Merry Christmas, Barb…I hope that your day was lovely! I’m sure the treats that you contributed to the gathering were much appreciated!
    People have gifted us with so many cookies…I have just frozen them…seems safer that way!! Love the pics of the kitties enjoying their new toy! Eissa7

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    Replies
    1. Smart move, freezing the treats to eat gradually! Hope your Christmas was just as special as ours was.

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  6. I'm sure you had to test the cheese puffs just to make sure they taste good. I might have to try them a couple of times to make sure. LOL.

    I woke up and started preparing some things while my mom was sleeping. I put on "A Christmas Story" and actually watch the full movie at one time. I normally just catch a little here and there.

    Merry Christmas, Barb! I hope you had a lovely time with your family. I see the cats loved it.

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    1. To be honest, I didn't try the cheese puffs until I was at the host house! I did nibble a bit the day I made the dough, but on Christmas Day when I was baking them, I was holding my fast late to allow the eating window to slide later to accommodate the feast.

      I'm impressed with being able to watch the whole thing in one session! I did that with "It's a Wonderful Life" on Christmas morning.

      Hope your Christmas was as merry and bright as mine was.

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